Kritik » majority of Canadians anticipate following the Games in Sochi

SALSOMAGGIORE TERME, Italy -- French rider Nacer Bouhanni timed another sprint to perfection to win his third stage in this years Giro dItalia, and Cadel Evans overall lead remained unchanged after Tuesdays 10th leg. Bouhanni clocked just over 4 hours on the mostly flat 173-kilometre (108-mile) route from Modena to Salsomaggiore Terme. Italian rider Giacomo Nizzolo finished second for his fourth podium finish of this years race and Michael Matthews of Australia was third, both with the same time as Bouhanni. It was the eighth win this year and the 28th career victory for Bouhanni, who rides for the FDJ.fr team. "The speed was very high at the end. I took Nizzolos wheel and was able to pass him," Bouhanni said of his burst to the line. "My goal is the points jersey." With Mark Cavendish skipping the Giro and with Marcel Kitttle having withdrawn after winning the first two individual stages, Bouhanni doesnt have many rivals in the sprints capable of beating him. "Cavendish is Cavendish and Im Bouhanni," the stage winner said when asked who was faster, adding that he stays fit in the off-season by boxing. A crash in the final kilometre involved American sprinter Tyler Farrar. Belgian rider Yannick Eijssen, a teammate of Evans with BMC, was involved in a fall with about 20 kilometres (12 miles) to go and was put on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance with a brace around his neck. Evans remained 57 seconds ahead of Colombian rival Rigoberto Uran in the overall standings. Stage 11 Wednesday is a 249-kilometre (155-mile) leg from Collecchio to Savona with two minor climbs, including one shortly before the finish. Evans, the 37-year-old Australian who won the 2011 Tour de France, was looking ahead to Thursdays 41.9-kilometre (26-mile) individual time trial from Barbaresco to Barolo, which celebrates two of Italys best-known wines. "I think it suits me better than most of my overall rivals," Evans said. The race ends in Trieste on June 1. 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If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said. Becky Sauerbrunn Jersey . Left-handed reliever Boone Logan agreed to a $16.5 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.OTTAWA -- A majority of Canadians equate mens hockey gold with success at next months Sochi Olympics, a new poll suggests. Seventy-three per cent of those surveyed in the Harris-Decima poll, which was provided to The Canadian Press, said Canada winning gold in mens hockey is "important in determining the success of the Games." But even more say they view avoiding security threats as the most important measure of whether the Sochi Olympics are a success. In total, 83 per cent said it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats. That is a slightly smaller number than the 88 per cent who said in a survey prior to the 2010 Olympics that it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats in Vancouver. Nationally, 58 per cent of those polled suggested they would follow the Sochi Olympics very or somewhat closely, also down from those polled prior to the Vancouver Games. And just over half those polled suggested theyd be paying less attention to these Games than they did to the Vancouver Olympics. "We saw an amazing degree of national enthusiasm for the Games we hosted in Vancouver and we shouldnt expect Canadians to get quite that engaged for any other Winter Olympics," said Harrris-Decima vice-president Megan Tam.dddddddddddd "That being said, a majority of Canadians anticipate following the Games in Sochi and there is clearly some sense of national competitiveness demonstrated with the attitudes expressed about the importance of winning certain gold medals or even the most overall again." B.C. residents were the most likely to say they would be paying a lot less attention to Sochi. Mens hockey gold wasnt the only big item on the list of those who will be following the Olympics. A gold by the Canadian womens hockey team was also picked by 71 per cent as important in gauging success. And 70 per cent said they felt it was important there be no organizational problems that could give the Olympics a black eye on the world stage. Canadas overall standing was also important with 63 per cent saying its important Canada finish in the top three in the medal count, and 58 per cent suggesting Canada winning more medals than any other would be important in their determination of the success of the Olympics. The telephone survey of 1,015 Canadians was done between Jan. 9 and Jan. 13. The survey is considered accurate to a margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. ' ' '