BESANCON, France -- With defending champion Chris Froome and two-time winner Alberto Contador out of the race, the path is wide open for Vincenzo Nibali to become the first Italian to win the Tour de France since the late Marco Pantani in 1998. The French have waited even longer for a champion -- the last was Bernard Hinault way back in 1985 -- but with three riders in the top six places, hopes are growing of at least a first podium place since climber Richard Virenque finished second in 1997. After Tuesdays rest day, the race resumes with Stage 11 on Wednesday, followed by arduous mountain stages on Friday and Saturday which will reveal the genuine contenders. These are where Nibalis climbing skills could set him apart, and give him a chance to fully stamp his authority on the race. There are five days of hard climbing ahead, starting with Fridays 197.5-kilometre (122.4-mile) trek from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse, which ends with a huge ascent of 18 kilometres (11.2 miles). As for Nibalis rivals, Contador broke his shin in a violent fall in Mondays 10th stage and Froome pulled out on stage 5 with a broken wrist. "Im not happy about what happened to Alberto and Chris," the 29-year-old Nibali said. "The climbs would have been better and more spectacular for everyone." Nibali, who won the Spanish Vuelta in 2010 and the Giro dItalia in 2013, is 2 minutes, 23 seconds ahead of Australian Richie Porte and 2:47 clear of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who won the Vuelta five years ago. Three Frenchmen are within four minutes of Nibali -- Romain Bardet, Tony Gallopin and Thibaut Pinot. None has come close to a podium place on a Grand Tour, although the 23-year-old Bardet and the 24-year-old Pinot have strong climbing skills. "Weve got to stay calm and study the situation," Nibali said. "The danger can come from anywhere." Porte rode as a key support rider for Froome last year on the Sky team, but now has free reign to attack. "Porte goes well in the climbs, he goes well in time trials, you have to keep a good distance on him," Nibali said. "You have to watch Valverde, he can attack at any time." The 34-year-old Valverde was handed a two-year suspension in 2010 for his involvement in the Operation Puerto doping plot, which involved dozens of riders over secretly stored blood bags. Like Nibali, Pantani was a courageous cyclist who loved to attack in the tough climbs. Pantani was found dead in a hotel room on Valentines Day in 2004 and a coroner ruled he died from cocaine poisoning. Nibali has one of Pantinis yellow jerseys at home, a gift from Pantinis mother to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. "It would be a great honour to follow on from him," said Nibali. Fridays stage will also be special for Nibali because it marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of two-time Tour champion Gino Bartali, who died in 2000 at the age of 85. "As an Italian, its a huge privilege to be asked about Bartali. I grew up watching documentaries on the big riders, the big wins of (Felice) Gimondi, Bartali and (Fausto) Coppi," Nibali said. "Theyre all in the encyclopedia of cycling. There are others like Hinault, too. Theyve written the history of cycling." The last French heyday came in the 1980s when Hinault, a five-time champion, competed against Laurent Fignon, who won in 83 and 84. Wednesdays stage is a 187.5-kilometre (116.3-mile) route in eastern France from Besancon to Oyonnax and features four small climbs. Veteran Fabian Cancellara wont be among the starters. The 33-year-old Swiss cyclist has pulled out to focus on the Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, from Sept. 21-28. Cancellara withdrew prior to the start of the 11th Tour stage in 2012. 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Clay Buchholz Red Sox Jersey .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday.TORONTO - Corey Hirsch and the rest of his 1994 Canadian Olympic teammates were so focused on Swedish stars Mats Naslund and Hakan Loob that they didnt pay much attention to 20-year-old Peter Forsberg.He just kind of hid in the shadows of those guys, Hirsch said. As far as us, Canadians, we didnt know much about him.By the time Forsberg scored in the shootout to give Sweden the gold medal, he had put his stamp on hockey very early in a career that has led him to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Two years later Mike Modano helped the United States win the World Cup of Hockey, and then in 1998 Dominik Hasek willed the Czech Republic to gold at the Nagano Olympics.On Monday night those three Canada killers go into the Hall of Fame together, along with the late Pat Burns, longtime Canadian defenceman Rob Blake and referee Bill McCreary. To Hirsch, its no shock that this class excelled internationally at Canadas expense.Thats why theyre Hall of Famers because theyve done everything and theyve been able to succeed in high-pressure situations, Hirsch said by phone Friday. Thats what great players do. They do amazing things at opportune times.Haseks domination in Nagano was the most amazing. He shut out Finland earlier in the tournament and then blanked Russia for gold, but before that he took his place in Canadian hockey history.After receiving his Hall of Fame ring Friday, Hasek said he and his teammates started to believe this was a special run after beating the U.S. in the quarters. Then Hasek shined as the Czechs pushed Canada to a shootout.I remember knowing that you had Dominik Hasek in the other net, said Blake, who was named the top defenceman in those Olympics. Theres no gimmes, we knew that going into the game, and then finally when you come down to kind of a one-on-one showdown and you got one of the greatest goalies to play at the other end, it makes it tough.Before the shootout Hasek left his crease to ask McCreary if Wayne Gretzky was shooting.Once I told him I didnt know who was shooting, he went back into his net and as he always did, he stopped everybody, McCreary said.As everyone knows now, Gretzky didnt shoot. Hasek stopped Theo Fleury, Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan.I probably saw him play the best that he could, Blake said.Hasek said winning gold in Nagano was the top accomplishment of his career, slightly ahead of winning the Staanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings.ddddddddddddWe won the gold medal, we flew with a charter our president sent for us and we came back to Prague and we spend one night in Prague and this night I will never, ever forget, Hasek said.Hasek at that time was in the midst of arguably the best stretch of any goaltender in NHL history. Eleven years earlier at the 1987 Canada Cup, he showed the potential to grow into that.You realized how good he was then, said Canadas starter in that tournament, Grant Fuhr. Its just hed never had a chance to show it because the Czechs werent going to beat the Russians and they couldnt beat us because both our teams just happened to be better teams overall.Like Hasek in 1998, Forsberg helped Sweden dispel that at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. With the gold medal on the line, Hirsch did what he thought was his best to stop him in the shootout.As he took me to his left — my right — I really took everything away from him, Hirsch said. I had him. I had him in the sense that he had nothing. The only thing he could do was what he did, and at that point in time was something that nobody had ever really seen before.Forsberg went the other way with a move so memorable its image made it onto a stamp in Sweden.It was kind of a lucky shot, he was so close to saving it, Forsberg said. I was fortunate to be on the better part of that shootout. Fantastic moment. First time Sweden ever won the Olympic gold. It was a great kick-start for me to come over to the NHL right after. For me it was a fantastic moment.Patric Hornqvist of the Pittsburgh Penguins was 7 at the time but recognized the historical importance of Forsbergs goal.After that he became famous all over our country, Hornqvist said. It jump-started his career. He was such a great player and great person. He really deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.Modano didnt have a moment of his own to personally crush Canada. But he was a big part of the 1996 U.S. World Cup of Hockey team that came back to beat Canada to win the three-game final.Canada won Game 1 in Philadelphia before the U.S. bounced back to win Games 2 and 3 in Montreal.You look at Canadas roster and it was the best guys Canada has ever put together in 20 years from top to bottom, Modano said. Our backs were against the wall, it was two (games) in Montreal. Everything there was perfect.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '