BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Canadian Svein Tuft powered Orica Green-Edge to victory in the team time trial in Belfast in the ope

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Canadian Svein Tuft powered Orica Green-Edge to victory in the team time trial in Belfast in the opening stage of the Giro dItalia on Friday, taking the overall leaders pink jersey on his 37th birthday. T. J. Leaf Jersey . Orica, which was the overwhelming stage favourite, clocked a time of 24 minutes, 42 seconds along the 21.7-kilometre course, which was lined by more than 140,000 fans. The Australian team benefited from starting second and avoiding most of the rain that fell later. "What an amazing day, I never in my life would have imagined something like this," said Tuft, a native of Langley, B.C. "Im so proud of my team and I just cant thank them enough for that. They gave me the gift, it was really a birthday present. This team is really selfless that way. I feel really fortunate to be given that gift on my birthday." Omega Pharma-QuickStep finished second, five seconds behind Orica, beating third-place BMC by just two seconds. Cadel Evans looked strong for BMC and is one of the favourites after last years third-place finish. With defending champion Vincenzo Nibali not competing, Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana is another of the race favourites and his Movistar team finished eighth, 55 seconds behind Orica. One of his rivals, Joaquim Rodriguez, had a poor start as his Katusha team struggled throughout and only finished 19th. Rodriguez is 1 minute, 33 seconds behind Tuft and 38 seconds behind Quintana. While it has become a tradition for the first Giro stage to be held outside Italy, this is the first time that the Grande Partenza — or the Big Start — took place outside mainland Europe. Despite the wind and rain, it was a festive atmosphere in the Northern Irish city, with large crowds lining the route and cheering the riders on. However, Irish rider Dan Martin crashed after just 15 minutes, leaving him with a suspected broken collarbone. Martin caused the crash when he caught his wheel on a drain cover and went down strongly on his right arm, bringing down several of his Garmin-Sharp teammates. The four cyclists who were able to continue had to wait for teammate Fabian Wegmann — who had been dropped early on — to catch up with them, as rules stipulate a team has to finish with at least five riders for its time to count. Garmin eventually finished last, 3:26 behind Orica. That means Ryder Hesjedals chances of repeating his 2012 Giro success are all but over. "Obviously there was a crash, and there was only four of us that stayed ahead," said Victoria native Hesjedal. "It was right before a corner and you hear something had happened, we were already through the corner, looked back and there was nobody there. "Obviously it was pretty scary because you dont know what the hell is going on. I dont know what happened, it was basically a nightmare." Belfast is also the start and finish point for Saturdays 218-kilometre leg, which takes in picturesque rock formation, the Giants Causeway along its coastal route. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. Reggie Miller Jersey . - A Tuesday funeral is planned in Toronto for 20-year-old Saginaw Spirit forward Terry Trafford. Thaddeus Young Jersey . Johns IceCaps erased an early two-goal deficit to come from behind and defeat the host Portland Pirates 5-4 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. http://www.authenticbasketballshoppacers.com/domantas-sabonis-pacers-jersey/ .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda.MILWAUKEE -- Kyle Lohse pumped his right first waiting in the on-deck circle as Jean Seguras three-run homer cleared the left-field fence in the second inning. It sure felt good for Milwaukees veteran right-hander to get some early run support in Miller Park from a lineup off to a middling start at the plate at home. Lohse allowed five hits and no walks in seven innings, Khris Davis added a solo shot in the fourth and the Brewers improved to a big league-best 16-6 with a 5-2 win Wednesday night over the San Diego Padres. "You get some runs on the board, it is big for us to go out and shut down the next inning to keep the other team down and keep the momentum going," Lohse said. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth for his ninth save, his 313th over 12 full big league seasons. Brewers batters backed up another good outing by the pitching staff with nine hits at home, where the team had been averaging just two runs and six hits entering the night. After four straight one-run games, going 3-1, the Brewers got a relative breather. "Its always nice coming in to the last inning with Frankie coming out there and he doesnt have to be perfect," manager Ron Roenicke said. "If youre two runs up with your closer coming in you feel really good about a ball game." Roenicke said before the game it was only a matter of time before his squad broke out of its hitting slump at home -- and his players backed him up with four runs and five hits in the first two innings. Tyson Ross (2-3) allowed a season-high five earned runs in six innings, regressing after striking out nine and shutting out the Giants over eight innings in his previous start last week. He had little to celebrate Wednesday, a day after he turned 27. Milwaukee was aggressive from the outset and made solid contact early in counts. Ryan Braun doubled home a run in the first on a 1-1 pitch, the same count on which eighth-place hitter Segura hit a 385-foot homer off the green facade over the left-field wall. "He just couldnt get ahead of hitters aand put them away," Padres manager Bud Black said of Ross. Darren Collison Jersey. . "They jumped out on some balls that were out of over the plate. The big blow was the home run." Getting the 24-year-old Segura going will help whats already a potent Brewers lineup. Segura, who was dropped from second to eighth in the order after starting the season hitting .232, hit his first homer since July 30, spanning 269 plate appearances. Segura said being dropped in the order was tough, but he feels hes making progress with the bat. Still, the Brewers are 10 games over .500 even with Segura still finding his way. "Were doing some great things on the field, pitching, bullpen," Segura said. "Were going in the right direction." San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the first off of Seth Smiths sacrifice fly, but was otherwise limited until pinch-hitter Nick Hundleys RBI single with two outs in the seventh. Lohse, in his 14th season in the majors, was changing speeds and mixing his curve effectively with a slider and fastball. "He used both sides of the plate extremely well. It was a veteran pitcher making pitches," Black said. "It was really Pitching 101." NOTES: A fan sitting in the front row next to the Brewers dugout left with an ice pack on her right wrist after apparently being hit by a bat that flew out of the hands of Padres pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal in the seventh on a strikeout. ... Black said RHP Josh Johnson is scheduled for elbow ligament-replacement surgery for the second time in his career and will miss the entire season. Johnson was placed on the DL before the season began. ... Brewers RHP Brandon Kintzler (rotator cuff) had a 40-pitch bullpen session Wednesday and appears on track to return from the DL on Friday. The setup man has been sidelined since April 9. ... The Padres will start LHP Eric Stults (1-2) when they begin a three-game series in Washington on Thursday. ... The Brewers are off Thursday and plan to start RHP Matt Garza (0-2) at home against the Cubs on Friday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '