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LONDON -- At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel. Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Mondays Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeths Buckingham Palace. Two days earlier, he courted royal attention as Prince William and Kate saw him win Stage 1 in Yorkshire in another sprint. The stage wrapped up the English debut to this 101st Tour edition, a rousing success among cycling-crazed British fans. Riders hopped on planes and bid "au revoir" to the UK before flying across the English Channel onto the races home turf. Rain in the City of London doused riders at the end of the 155-kilometre (96-mile) ride from the university town of Cambridge to a dramatic finish past landmarks Big Ben and Westminster. Italys Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leaders yellow jersey with a 2-second lead over the most likely contenders to win the three-week race in Paris on July 27. Svein Tuft was the top Canadian in 138th place, 16 minutes 13 seconds off the lead. Christian Meier, also from Langley, B.C., was 17:31 back in 154th. Kittel, led out perfectly by Giant-Shimano teammates, made it look easy as he sped down a final wide approach on The Mall with Buckingham Palace behind him. Peter Sagan of Slovakia was second and Australias Mark Renshaw was third. "Im really, really happy I could win in front of Buckingham Palace," said Kittel, who won four Tour stages last year. "It was one of the greatest finishes Ive ever seen in front of this great scenery." FIRST PARIS, NOW LONDON The hulking German made it a tale of two cities. He added London glory to his record after also winning on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, in the Tour finale last year. His job in the sprints got a lot easier after Britains Mark Cavendish pulled out of the race after injuring his shoulder in a crash in Saturdays Stage 1. "Its one big opponent that is not in the race anymore," Kittel said. "Of course, that changes things for me, but also for the team." Kittel is no threat for the yellow jersey. Like many sprinters, he struggles on climbs and fell nearly 20 minutes behind Nibali in the overall standings in an up-and-down ride on Sunday through the hills and dales of Yorkshire. Nibalis biggest challengers for the prized leaders shirt remain title-holder Chris Froome of Britain and Spains Alberto Contador, who finished with the same time as the Italian and Kittel in an 84-rider bunch. On Monday, the pack cruised nervously and let two breakaway riders go free on Monday. The duo was caught with about 6 kilometres (4 miles) left. EUROPEAN UNITY AMONG FANS? Tour officials estimated fans made nearly 5 million individual visits -- some may have attended more than one stage -- to the route in the first three stages. In signs of cross-Channel comity, Tour chief Christian Prudhomme took English lessons before the race; Britons waved both French tricolours and their beloved Union Jacks. But the teeming curbs, sidewalks and roadsides again caused trouble for the riders. With about 30 kilometres (19 miles) left, 2010 Tour winner Andy Schleck of Luxembourg was among riders who crashed briefly, and French TV showed a fan on the ground. Schleck, who gingerly returned to the race, said he didnt hit a spectator. "I guess it was my own fault," said Schleck, who collided with another rider and hurtled over his handlebars. His Trek Factory Racing teammate Jens Voigt said: "I saw about 15 crashes today. In the end there were two guys on the ground but I dont know what happened exactly ... Thats the Tour de France. The first week is always nervous." In other spills, Ted King of Cannondale and Jan Bakelants, a Belgian rider on Cavendishs Omega Pharma QuickStep team who wore yellow jersey two days last year, each scraped up their right elbows and knees. Some fans got political. A few held up placards imploring Prime Minister David Cameron not to back a U.S.-European Union free trade pact. Three topless protesters bearing slogans condemning female genital mutilation staged a brief protest near the Houses of Parliament before police bundled them away in fluorescent vests. The course route Monday notably bypassed Trafalgar Square, whose landmark Nelsons Column commemorates a British hero of the Napoleonic Wars. Stage 4 takes riders over 163.5 kilometres (105 miles) from Le Touquet-Paris Plage to Lille Metropole on the border with Belgium. Froomes Team Sky floated the idea that the pack might well ride under the sea rather than fly over it one day, if the Tour ever returns to the UK. The team released a glitzy video Monday saying that last month he became the first man to cycle through the Channel tunnel. In the video, Froome quipped: "This could be a really, really cool stage of a race." Ender Inciarte Braves Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Atlanta Braves Store . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox. https://www.cheapbraves.com/2223o-matt-j...sey-braves.html. They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. Ender Inciarte Jersey . The same for both the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers. Freddie Freeman Jersey . With the results, North America claimed 2.5 of the three available points, opening up a 17.5-12.5 lead in the overall standings. A total of 60 points are available, meaning the first team to 30.5 points will win the Continental Cup.LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Most impressive about Julius Randles latest double-double was that the Kentucky freshman forward achieved it by halftime. Yes, the top-ranked Wildcats had it that easy on Sunday against Northern Kentucky. Randle had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead a 93-63 blowout of the Norse. Two days after the 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward debuted with 23 points and was credited on Sunday with 16 rebounds upon review, he had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the first half for the Wildcats (2-0). Randle added 11 points and four rebounds before heading to the bench after playing 29 productive minutes against the overmatched Norse (0-2) -- with room for improvement in his mind. "Im still missing some opportunities," said Randle, who made 10 of 14 free throws. "(There were) a lot of balls I didnt come up with. I just have to learn from it and improve." Guard Aaron Harrison added 16 points for Kentucky while twin brother Andrew had 13. Alex Poythress contributed nine points while 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein added seven points and 11 rebounds. Needing a good tuneup with Tuesdays showdown looming against No. 2 Michigan State in Chicago, the Wildcats much-heralded freshmen responded by dominating every area. Kentucky shot 30 of 55 from the field (54.5 per cent), outrebounded NKU 51-23 and scored 36 points in the paint. "I thought we played through possessions better," coach John Calipari said. "I thought we got to the second and third drive for the first time. Again, its not their fault because its something that we really zeroed in on yesterday... "Today, we rebounded much better." Daniel Camps 13 points led Northern Kentucky in the first meeting between the schools located 83 miles apart. Tyler White added 12 points and Todd Johnson had 10 for the Norse. The Wildcats were seeking a better start than in Friday nights 89-57, season-opening rout of UNC-Asheville, the first of three games in five days. Kentuckys freshmen had a rough first half in that game and led by just 10 points at halftime before taking control offensively with their athleticism that left UNC-Asheville no choice but to foul; Randle had no problem with that, making 11 of 13 from thhe line en route to 23 points and a double-double.dddddddddddd Calipari took a mostly positive approach considering it was the first game together for his lauded group of rookies, but he noted a lot of blemishes. For example, his teams lack of defensive effort was something he stressed needed improvement -- more against Northern Kentucky before looking ahead to Michigan State. Calipari couldnt complain after Kentucky held NKU to 9-of-31 shooting in the first half on Sunday, though much of that had more to do with the Norses understandable reluctance to try and drive inside against the bigger Wildcats. That left NKU to try and make things up from beyond the arc, a strategy that yielded just 3-of-18 shooting (16.7 per cent) and played right into Kentuckys hands in numerous ways. The Wildcats tallied just four fast-break points in the first half but had 16 second-chance points thanks to 12 offensive rebounds. They dominated the boards 29-12 through 20 minutes. "We pushed the ball hard and Aaron was attacking very well," Andrew Harrison said. "He got to the line and made some shots. I made some shots. Everybody played good. We were playing together." Figure in 5-of-13 shooting from long range (38 per cent) and it quickly added to the expected lopsided outcome. Leading 16-10 after Poythress 3-pointer, the Wildcats closed the half with a 32-12 run for a 48-22 lead. Just two nights after losing its opener 77-76 at Purdue in the final seconds, the Norse endured a rude chapter in their second season playing Division I basketball. And that was just the first half. They finished 21 of 64 from the field (32.8 per cent) including 9 of 35 from beyond the arc. "I may be crazy to say this, but when we had two or three wide-open layups in the first couple of minutes and didnt make them, I thought that relaxed Kentucky a little bit," NKU coach Dave Bezold said of his teams shooting. "When you dont make those shots against tremendous teams when you are outsized and really out-talented, its really difficult to control tempo and it really allows those guys to be relaxed when they shoot the basketball. ... I thought that was the difference in the game." ' ' '