ARCALIS, Andorra -- Diminished by a fever and still reeling from crashes on the opening two days of the race, two-time champion Alberto Contador pulled out of the Tour de France during the toughest Pyrenean stage on Sunday.Slightly more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the end of Stage 9 from the Spanish town of Vielha to the ski resort of Arcalis in Andorra, the 33-year-old Spaniard stopped at the side of the road, hopped off his bike and got into the passenger seat of his team car.I could not keep going, Contador later said at his team hotel. This morning I had a fever. And I did not feel good since I crashed on the first day.Contador crashed in each of the opening stages -- damaging his right shoulder, elbow and hip -- and had already lost time on the other overall favorites.He was in 20th position at the end of Saturdays eighth stage -- 3 minutes, 12 seconds behind leader Chris Froome, who said Contadors departure from the race was a big loss for the Tour de France.We are not going to have to chase his attacks 100 kilometers out anymore, its one of the less things for us to worry about, but its maybe a shame of the race, Froome said.During Sundays stage, Contador dropped back to his team car four times before finally withdrawing.He had started the stage in a bright fashion, though, attacking alongside fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde to catch a group of early breakaway riders on the first climb.But Contador could not continue his effort and was quickly brought back by the pack before he pulled out in the Port del Canto climb. He then handed his bike to a mechanic and waved to TV cameras as he exited the race that made him famous.The withdrawal occurred on Contadors home roads near the town of Vilamur in Spain.Its bad news for me, said Tinkoff team owner Oleg Tinkov, who is planning to leave the sport. It was my last try to win the Tour de France. But who knows, maybe Ill come back in a few years.Contador, who won cyclings showpiece race in 2007 and 2009, had made the Tour de France his main goal of the season, skipping the Giro to focus on the Tour.If he recovers, Contador is still expected to compete in the road race at the Rio Olympics last month.I will undergo tests to find out what is going wrong, Contador said.Contador was stripped of the 2010 Tour title and suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned steroid clenbuterol in the final week of the race.He was among the three pre-race favorites this year alongside defending champion Chris Froome and Colombian climber Nairo Quintana.---AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report. Cheap Stitched Islanders Jerseys . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. Cheap Islanders Jerseys Authentic . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. http://www.wholesaleislandersjerseys.com/ . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Wholesale Islanders Jerseys Free Shipping .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Cheap Islanders Jerseys For Sale . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. When the new AFL womens league kicks off next year, it will be more than just something to fill the off-season void.For a generation of female athletes, it will mean another door opening in the male-dominated world of professional team sports.Earning a decent wage as a woman in sport has never been easy, and there are still barriers to participation.Many of the future AFL womens stars started out playing on male football teams because there were no girls teams, or didnt get the chance to play until they finished school.But netball great Liz Ellis can see small steps being made towards equality for girls like her five-year-old daughter Evelyn.The first Saturday of the Olympics, her and I sat and watched the television and we flicked between the womens rugby sevens, the womens basketball and the womens soccer, Ellis told AAP.They were the three things on offer. And she looked at me and said Mummy, why dont boys play sport? ... I said because theyre busy ironing.That whole mindset has changed. Kids this age are looking at the television and saying big girls play sport so of course Im going to play sport and I would imagine that would translate to the schoolyard.Winning over girls like Evelyn is becoming increasingly important for the rival codes.While netball remains a powerhouse, the number of girls playing Auskick grew 21 per cent in 2016 and soccers popularity continues to grow.We keep talking about the competition at the elite level but I actually think the competition is starting now for the junior dollar, Ellis says.Thats good, because it will keep all the sports on their toes. Theyll make sure that their product is exactly what the marketplace wants.Increasingly, the market is demanding fair and equitable pay deals.The AFL drew heavy criticism when it proposed paying most female footballers a $5000 salary for the 22-weeks of their inaugural pre-season and season proper.A fairer deal has since been agreed upon, with the minimum wage lifted by 70 per cent from $5000 to $8500 to help players cover the cost of private health insurance.The deal also covers football boots and runners, an interstate travel allowance, income protection insurance, out-of-pocket medical expenses and childcare for mothers of infants.While the league is not expected to be profitable anytime soon, the AFL views its development as an important step towards engaging more female fans.Netball has lead the way on compensation, increasing its minimum wage to $27,375 and including private health cover for all players, while female cricketers earn at least $18,000 if they play both the one-day and Twenty20 domestic leagues.At the other end of the spectrum, some W-League soccer players receive an allowance of just $60 per week, while the struggling WNBL has no broadcast deal and no minimum wage for its players.ddddddddddddIts a disappointing state of affairs for Lauren Jackson, widely considered Australias greatest female basketballer, who is pushing for change in her role as commercial operations manager with the Melbourne Boomers.The WNBL has always had to fight to retain quality talent given the better pay on offer overseas, and Jackson says its no surprise players are being tempted to swap codes.Right now its happening because professional sports in Australia dont pay women enough money to stay in one code, she told AAP.Basketball is one of the only sports where you can go overseas as a woman and make lucrative money, enough money to mean you dont have to work in the future if you dont want to.The next couple of years are going to be crucial for the survival of the WNBL. I think theres enough people that want to see it succeed that well make it succeed ... (but) systems are going to have to be put in place.Jackson isnt sure if she would have been tempted to try her hand in the AFL womens league. Her mum, a former Opal, played the odd game of footy alongside her big brothers in the Ovens and Murray amateur footy league but basketball was always the family passion.Ellis personally reckons she would have made a decent ruckwoman, and says shes not surprised by the code-hopping.Of course I would have had a go at it, she says.I wasnt surprised to see players sign up for it. I think its terrific. What it does is create that level of competition because its made sports like basketball and cricket all step up and say right, weve got to look after our athletes. I couldnt think of a better thing.But while womens sports have made progress in recent years, theres still a long way to go.Jackson describes a recent phone conversation with a close friend who casually referred to a young male tennis player as acting like a woman on the court.People dont realise theyve got these sort of attitudes but when youre saying you throw like a girl or youre acting like a woman, youre offending the hell out of me, she says.Its so prevalent in our society and its just there. Nobody addresses it because nobody wants to talk about it. Its this attitude that women arent as good as men.Its something that we have to change for the next generation of kids so that they dont have to face these problems and feel like a lot of women in sport. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '