Die Macht » professional Graham Jones who raced on numerous Eu

Ireland will give CJ Stander, Rob Kearney and Simon Zebo every chance to prove their fitness for Saturdays Test clash with Australia.Flanker Stander and full-back Kearney are working through head injury checks after concussions, while Zebo continues to suffer the after-effects of cramping during Saturdays gruelling 21-9 defeat to New Zealand.Ireland are loath to lose any more frontline stars to face the Wallabies at Dublins Aviva Stadium, with Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw already ruled out.So head coach Joe Schmdit could take the rare step of allowing a nucleus of stars to return to full training on Thursday - before settling on his final line-up for Australia.They are on track, they are following the return to play protocols and are covering off those [markers] as we would expect, said Ireland assistant Simon Easterby of Stander and Rob Kearney.We will know later in the week as they go through those protocols.Simon [Zebo] has managed training today and got through some work.He, like some other players in the group, are being managed, to get them right for Thursday, when we can select the team based on who is available.Stander and Kearney must pass all the relevant stages of the rigorous head injury tests before being cleared by Irelands medical team to return to full training.Ireland boss Schmidt would in an ideal world start his Test-match selection process in earnest after training on a Tuesday building up to a Saturday match.The former Leinster coach has delayed his selection to cover the Thursday training run in the past however, and now looks likely to do the same again.Fly-half Sexton will miss Irelands final autumn clash against Australia in Dublin with a hamstring strain, while Henshaw has already been ruled out through concussion.Utility back Keith Earls trained fully on Tuesday after missing the All Blacks defeat through a dead leg, while lock Ultan Dillane has beaten a minor knee issue.Munster star Earls recovery offers a significant midfield boost, with Sexton and centre Henshaw already missing and Zebo and Kearney still doubtful.Earls ability to feature at full-back, centre and wing could almost now guarantee him a start against the Wallabies amid Irelands fluid selection process.Keith has managed to train today, Ultan was carrying a bump from his performance against Canada so those guys are back on board, said Easterby.They will have been disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to play last weekend but it is obviously good to have some guys coming in who are a little bit fresher and ready to put their hands up for selection.First and foremost we want to try and get a performance [on Saturday] and keep building some consistency.Yes we want to build depth; that probably goes back to the World Cup time when we didnt quite have that depth in certain positions.But it is important to get the balance right. We have lost a few players already after the weekend, we want to keep some consistency [in selection] but we always want to build some depth going into the Six Nations and this weekend might allow us to do that.The players put themselves through a hell of a workload at the weekend.Its important we get them right in the first part of the week, so we can build up in to Thursday and Friday and get them in a really good physical and mental state for Saturday. Penguins Jerseys 2020 . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Cheap Penguins Jerseys . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Pittsburgh Penguins Gear . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Fake Penguins Jerseys . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. MONTAUBAN, France -- Serge Pauwels says he is quite a good descender. But as the blue strapping on his left wrist and hand shows, even he can get it wrong and, with it, throw away the chance of a career-defining win in a race like the Tour de France.Climbing prowess is great, especially during Wednesdays 216-kilometer fifth stage from Limoges to Le Lioran in the Massif Central that had six categorised climbs -- four of which were in the last 45 kilometres. And Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) proved to be the best climber, taking the yellow leaders jersey after soloing away from Belgian Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) with 17 kilometres to go.But as Pauwels (Dimension Data) was reminded in a stage that suited his climbing ability, descending can be just as significant an asset. Pauwels was in the original nine-rider breakaway with Van Avermaet. But unlike his countryman, he did not reap the glory he had hoped for, instead crashing on the descent before the last climb and then finishing the stage in 32nd place, 6 minutes and 3 seconds behind Van Avermaet.With his left wrist strapped and still sore for Thursdays sixth stage from Arpajon-sur-Cère, Pauwels told ESPN: I went off the course on the descent before the last climb, which was pretty tricky. Generally, I try and stay within myself and within my limits. But I made a mistake. Im lucky its nothing really bad. In general, I am quite good at [descending]. I normally dont have any problems with it. I am not the kind of guy who likes to take a lot of risks. Normally I can be well focused.However, he said other elements can affect a riders ability to descend. Accumulated fatigue in the Tour -- the peloton raced 1,048km in the first five days -- can impact concentration. Also influential can be the changing weather, like what this years Tour has experienced. After the cooler climes of Normandy where the Tour began, the peloton faced the heat of the Massif Central on Wednesday that turned bitumen on the road into a slippery hazard.[On Wednesday] the asphalt was melting, Pauwels said. Also the fatigue. I was happy to be in the breakaway, but unfortunately I wasnt feeling super great. Maybe the first heat [of the Tour] got me a little. I was expecting to go a little better. Well, I will try and fight again.Pauwels will get his chance possibly in the Pyrenees, where the Tour enters on Friday in stage seven -- 162.5km from LIsle Jourdain to La de Payolle. It remains in the mountain range bordering France and Spain for the weekend with stage eight, 177km from Pau to Bagnères de Luchon and stage nine, 184km from Vielha Val DAran in Spain to Andorra Arcalis.Yes, thats kind of my plan, Pauwels said. Its about taking opportunities and being flexible in the mind with whatever comes. I generally dont make big plans. I like to take my chances when they come. Hopefully everything falls into a good place sooner than later.Tejay van Garderen: Riders must manage the risk of descendingDescending doesnt just impact individual stages; it can have also have a significant impact oon the overall race.dddddddddddd The Giro dItalia in May proved that. Dutch leader Steven Kruijswijk (Lotto-Jumbo), who is not racing in the Tour, crashed on the descent of the Colle DellAgnello in stage 19 while following Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). He had an overall lead of three minutes. But the crash cost Kruiswijk the leaders pink jersey that went to the stage winner, Chaves, who lost it the next day to Nibali who went on to win the Giro. Kruijswijk finished fourth at 1 minutes, 50 seconds.The importance of descending is not lost on American Tour contender Tejay van Garderen, who has twice placed fifth in the Tour -- in 2012, when he also best young rider, and in 2014. You have to have the skills on the bike to go down hill, especially [when] a lot of time, you see in these hot temperatures the tarmac starting to melt. The wheel can slip, van Garderen said before starting Thursdays sixth stage. There are a lot of [stages] that finish after descents. So, its something you have to be good at and manage the risk.Like Pauwels, van Garderen looks forward to the Pyrenees; but while it is a stage winning opportunity for Pauwels, for the American it is with the overall race. He forecasts a shake up of classification in which he is still on the same time as the best placed favourites. There are definitely some hard stages coming up that will shake up the GC [general classification] quite a bit, van Garderen said. There is going to be some attacks.According to former British professional Graham Jones who raced on numerous European teams from 1979 to 1988, this years Tour route will challenge every riders descending. Some people are very good descenders and can take time, but the most important thing -- especially for a GC rider -- is to be able to not lose time, Jones said. So it is important he can at best have the ability to follow the main favourites.Jones says the greatest hazard could be on stage 20, with the descent to Morzine from the Col de Joux Plane. I know the Col de Joux Plane, there is always an incident, he said. Descending may be not quite as significant as climbing, but certainly it is very important.Certainly, it is when one rider detects a weakness in descending in the other, adds Jones. You can force an error into somebody. You might know somebody has got a weakness on the descents, Jones said. Giving it that little bit extra can make somebody make a mistake. Once you lose it on a bend or corner, you have a scare. After that, it is difficult to recover.You will probably take more risks if you need to try and gain time. If you are defending, sometimes you just dont want to take any risks because you dont want to fall off. We have seen it before: People have lost tours. There is also that fine line when it is dry between people who descend very well, but when it is wet, then it completely goes out the window. ' ' '