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PLA DADET, France -- On the last of four Pyrenees ascents, Rafal Majka winked at a French TV camera and tugged playfully at a motorcycles antenna. Even this late in the Tour de France, the Polish rider made winning look easy as he took Stage 17 on Wednesday. For Vincenzo Nibali, the second ride in the mountains on Frances border with Spain was more serious. "The Shark" nibbled yet more seconds away from several of his closest challengers, and the yellow jersey that he has worn for all but two days of the race seemed to fit just a little more tightly ahead of the finish Sunday in Paris. Nibali was even businesslike with his own prime minister, imploring him not to get too ahead of himself in celebration. "Its true that I received a text message from Matteo Renzi, who invited me to Chigi Palace to celebrate my victory," the cautious Sicilian said about the premiers official residence. "I replied that only after winning -- if I do so -- Ill be able to say that Ill be present." The 124.5-kilometre (77-mile) trek Wednesday was the shortest stage in this years Tour. It covered three hard Category 1 ascents from Saint-Gaudens and a final push up to Pla dAdet ski station above the town of Saint-Lary-Soulan. Majka, who also won Stage 14 in the Alps, again showed hes the best climber in this Tour and tightened his grip on the polka dot jersey awarded to the races King of the Mountains. Giovanni Visconti got the action going on the last climb with a solo breakaway with about nine kilometres (5 1/2 miles) left, but could not hold off Majka. Visconti, who also is Sicilian, was second, 29 seconds back, and Nibali was third, 46 seconds behind. With a last Pyrenean day ahead Thursday, Majka could ensure that he takes the red-dot jersey home. His closest rival for it when the stage started was Spains Joaquim Rodriguez, who swatted the air in frustration at Majka when the Pole broke away on the last climb. Majka said he felt "comfort" in the last five kilometres in part because hed been saving up energy a day earlier by riding easier. He finished in a bunch 24 1/2 minutes behind Australian teammate Michael Rogers, who won Stage 16. By Wednesday, "I felt really, really good in the last climb," Majka said, after tapping his chest, thrusting his arms skyward and shouting in joy at the victory. "For me, when there are a lot of climbs, its the best." There was a time when seemingly effortless victories smacked of something more sinister at the Tour: the use of performance-enhancers. Few know the scars of cyclings doping past more than Majkas own manager at the Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team, Bjarne Riis. Once a national hero in Denmark after winning the 1996 Tour, he admitted to using blood-booster EPO more than a decade later -- and was vilified for it. He laid low for a while, but then returned to the pro cycling world. "I promised Bjarne today that I would win the stage," said Majka. The echoes of doping resonated Wednesday on the grassy Pyrenean mountainside: The last times that Saint-Lary-Soulan hosted Tour stage finishes were in 2001 and 2005 -- won by Lance Armstrong and teammate George Hincapie. Those wins were later stripped because of doping. Their names have been crossed out in the official Tour history book. Cycling has made great strides in fighting doping with enhanced blood and urine testing, along with the biological passport program, but few experts would claim that the peloton today is entirely clean. Nibali, who has called himself a "flag-bearer of anti-doping", made his latest case to become the first Italian to win cyclings showcase race in 16 years -- since Marco Pantani, who was once convicted for doping. Nibali gained just under a minute on four of his closest rivals. Second-placed Alejandro Valverde of Spain, who made a valiant recovery on the last ascent to avoid even more damage, now trails by 5 minute, 26 seconds. The exception was Jean-Christophe Peraud of France, who hugged closely on the leaders back wheel and finished fourth. With his performance, the 37-year-old Frenchman made it an even closer race for the podium spots. He is fourth overall, 6:08 behind Nibali, but just eight seconds slower than fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, in third. American Tejay van Garderen, in sixth, also lost about a minute to Nibali and trails by 10:19. It came a day after his hopes for a podium spot were dealt a big blow when he lost several minutes to the other aspirants for a top-three finish in Paris. "Yesterday was a pity, it was an off day," the BMC leader said. A podium spot is still possible, he added, "but it will be hard." Stage 18s finale in the Pyrenees takes the pack on a 145.5-kilometre (90-mile) loop from Pau to Hautacam, featuring two ascents that are so hard that they defy cyclings ranking system -- one of them an uphill finish. Then its a flat stage heading northward Friday before an individual time-trial a day later, and then whats likely to be the largely ceremonial ride for the yellow jersey in Stage 21 on Sunday to the Champs-Elysees in Paris for the finish of the races 101st edition. While well-positioned to be in yellow then, Nibali was still attacking Wednesday. "I preferred to go and gain a few more seconds and to be even more serene, just in case something could happen," he said. Cheap Wholesale Nike Sb Shoes . The teams all-time leading scorer, DeRo has won everything there is to win in MLS. Nike Sb Shoes Near Me . TSN platforms will broadcast 75+ live games per season – tripling the networks current slate of MLB games. 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Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, the Titans new-look defence picked off Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith three times, and Tennessee rolled to a 26-10 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday. "I dont want to sound arrogant," Locker said, "but I think we expected it to (go smoothly). We felt that way through minicamp, into fall camp and in the preseason. That was one of our expectations, that we were able to execute and we were going to be efficient on offence." Locker picked apart a Kansas City defence that lost Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles injuries. He finished 22 of 33 while connecting with eight different players, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster. "Jake did great," Whisenhunt said. "All those things weve worked with, footwork-wise and technique-wise, and you saw it. Thats really exciting. But its just one game." Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend. "Theres no question this was a special day," Succop said. "It was an awesome day. Great to come back to Kansas City. Im very thankful the day went the way that it did." Smith, who signed a four-year, $68 million extension last weekend, was just 19 of 35 for 202 yards in a haphazard performance by a Kansas City offence weakened by suspensions. Leading wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was forced to miss the game following an arrest last November, and right tackle Donald Stephenson served the first game of his four-game suspension for violating the leagues policy on performance-enhancing substances. The Chiefs didnt reach the end zone until Anthony Fasanos TD catch in the fourth quarter. Running back Jamaal Charles, who is the Chiefs biggest game-breaker, was a non-factor. He carried seven times for 19 yards and had four catcches for 15 yards.dddddddddddd "All those things we did last year to win, we didnt do them today," Smith said. "We didnt execute, didnt execute in a lot of phases, especially offence." After Kansas City jumped out to a 3-0 lead, when Cairo Santos banged a 35-yard attempt off the right upright and through for the first field goal of his career, just about nothing went right. Santos missed a 47-yarder moments later and the Titans seized control. Locker led his team 62 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, an easy toss to Walker in the back of the end zone. Succop followed with a field goal later in the half for a 10-0 lead. Johnson went down with his Achilles injury just before the half, and DeVito was lost to a nearly identical injury on the first drive of the second half. Locker capped that drive with a short TD pass to Wright, who managed to contort his body just enough to touch the pylon as he was going out of bounds. The touchdown gave Tennessee a 17-3 lead and started a shower of boos from a crowd that had been full of optimism. "Those are guys who are kind of staples of their defence," Locker said. "They were in there almost every snap, especially Derrick. You understand thats going to change up their personnel a little bit. Yeah, you look at it and maybe understand where you can gain an advantage." It was an important opener for the injury-prone Locker. The Titans declined their fifth-year option on him in in the off-season, so the pressure is on Locker to perform this season. He certainly did against a Chiefs defence that was full of questions entering the season, and has even more after a pair of serious injuries to key defensive players. "I have a lot of respect for Coach Reid and this football team and these fans," Whisenhunt said. "We didnt do great all the time, but we did enough. Im very happy for that." Notes: Titans LB Zach Brown left with a shoulder injury. ... 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