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ANNONAY, France -- Self-avowed "ex-doper" David Millar won Fridays stage of the Tour de France by leading a five-man breakaway, and said he hopes it helps fans believe that riders can win clean. Reggie Wayne Jersey . The Scottish rider won the 12th stage of the Tour as the race left the Alps on the longest stage this year, and his compatriot Bradley Wiggins kept the yellow jersey. Millars victory came exactly 45 years after Tom Simpson, the first Briton to wear the yellow jersey, died on the slopes of the daunting Mont Ventoux after using a lethal cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol. The 35-year-old Scotsman on the U.S. Garmin-Sharp team has for years been the pelotons most vocal critic of doping -- saying he learned hard lessons after "making a mess" of his life through drug use. The 226-kilometre ride from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay-Davezieux featured two big climbs, but did not change the top standings because Wiggins and his main rivals for the title finished together. Millar punched the air as he edged Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud at the line in a two-man sprint - five seconds ahead of three others also in the breakaway that dusted the pack on the Granier pass. Millar collected his fourth career Tour stage victory, and his first since 2003. He also became the fourth Briton to win a Tour stage this year, after Mark Cavendish, Christopher Froome and Wiggins. The victory was also a vindication for Garmin-Sharp, which had a terrible first week when it lost two top riders to crashes: Giro dItalia winner Ryder Hesjedal of Canada and Tom Danielson of the United States. "We fought from the beginning in this Tour, and for me personally, its enormous," said Millar. "Today I kinda wanted to show that were still here, and show that Garmin-Sharp is still one of the best teams in the world." As for the British riders looking so strong ahead of the London Olympics starting next week, Millar said: "Yeah, I think were at the top" -- referring to himself as "the old dog" of the bunch. Putting his race savvy to work, Millar sped out ahead of the others in the breakaway with about 2 kilometres to go, and Peraud chased. In the last kilometre, it was a two-man battle for the stage win. Millar kept looking back at Peraud, tight on the Britons wheel. With a few hundred meters, the Frenchman struck and wheeled around, but it was not enough as the Scottish veteran beat him to the line. After the finish, Millar lay on the ground on his back, with microphones and cameras hovering over him as he breathed heavily and put his forearm on his forehead with fatigue. Millar, while riding for French team Cofidis, was banned from cycling for two years in 2004 after admitting to use of banned blood booster EPO -- once the drug of choice for cycling cheats -- earlier in his career. "Im an ex-doper and Im clean now, and I want to show everyone that its possible to win clean on the Tour," Millar said. In the sprint in the main pack, Matt Goss of Australia was penalized for veering slightly to the left and cutting off Slovak sensation Peter Sagan. Goss was relegated to the last place in the peloton and lost key points in their duel for the green jersey of the Tours best sprinter. "Im really angry that we wage war like this, but you cant do like he did," said Sagan, who has won three Tour stages this year. Shortly after the incident, the Slovak gestured angrily at Goss as they neared the line. Wiggins was content to let the breakaway go and his powerful Team Sky did not lay chase because the top-placed rider among the five in the bunch was more than 25 minutes back of the Briton as the stage began. Overall, he leads teammate Christopher Froome, in second, by 2:05, and Vincenzo Nibali of Italy trails third, 2:23 back. Defending champion Cadel Evans is fourth, 3:19 behind. Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Belgium is fifth -- 4:48 off the leaders pace. The riders ranks continued to thin out on Friday. Rabobank said its Dutch team leader Robert Gesink, who had been in 67th place more than an hour behind Wiggins, quit the race to focus on the Spanish Vuelta. Rabobank now has only four of its original nine riders remaining. Dutch rider Tom Veelers of the Argos-Shimano team, after tweeting that Thursdays ride in the Alps was one of the hardest of his career, also pulled out of the race, according to race organizers. And Cofidis star David Moncoutie crashed around the 38-kilometre mark and dropped out of the race. The three-week race heads toward the Mediterranean on Saturday for Frances July 14 national holiday - Bastille Day - with a 217-kilometre jaunt from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Le Cap dAgde, a coastal resort known for its nudist colony. Dwight Freeney Womens Jersey . Coach Mike Munchak announced the decision after practice Monday, saying Lockers time is now in giving the Titans their best chance to win the AFC South. The Titans had let the quarterbacks compete through the off-season with each starting a game each this preseason. Pat Angerer Womens Jersey . -- With a lineup full of big bats, the Texas Rangers arent used to being in a prolonged slump at the plate. http://www.coltsfanstore.com/reggie-wayne-jersey .J. Tucker to a two-year contract. The Suns say the teams front office and coaching staff were impressed with Tuckers performance in the Las Vegas Summer League, leading to the signing. Dwight Freeney Jersey .Peterson won her first match of the competition with a 10-9 victory over Anna Bentley of Great Britain in the opening round.It was the first Olympic Games appearance for the 28-year-old Peterson. Andrew Luck Youth Jersey . And now they are already only one victory from knocking the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs. Unlike the first two games in Oklahoma City, Game 3 wasnt even close. SAN ANTONIO -- The Oklahoma City Thunder almost did it: Almost stopped one of the longest winning streaks in NBA history, started the Western Conference finals with an upset and finally shed their underdog label. Then things got "nasty." Despite carrying a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and having the San Antonio Spurs on their heels -- even by the admission of the Spurs -- the Thunder instead let the road win theyll need in this series slip away with a 101-98 loss in Game 1 on Sunday night. The Spurs rallied after coach Gregg Popovich snarled "I want some nasty!" at his team during a timeout in the fourth quarter. "How it happened is irrelevant," Thunder guard Derek Fisher said of letting a lead slip away. "Whether we lose by 20 or lose by one, we lost." Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right -- face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard. "I shot good shots, made good passes," Durant said. "Unfortunately, we lost." Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row -- tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs. It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didnt last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich -- the NBAs Coach of the Year -- huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to "get nasty." "I said that?" Popovich said afterward. A nationally television audience heard it. "The heat of the game, stuff comes up," Popovich said. "So I talked to them about theyve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it." And when they did, the Thunder couldnt keep up. After being held to just 16 third-quarter points, San Antonio scored 39 in the fourth. Westbrook chalked it up to a defensive breakdown that "got out of hand" but it still left the Thunder in search of the road win theyll need to in this series to reach the NBA finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2009. Game 2 is Tuesday night. Thats something the Spurs havent been able to say since April 11. They joined the 2001 Lakers as the only other team to carry a winning streak this long in the playoffs -- and that Los Angeles team did so on its way to a championship. The Spurs matched the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the fourth team to surpass 20. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Tony Parker shook off a dismal start to finish with 18 points. And of getting "nasty"? "Pops always trying to motivate us," Parker said. But it was Ginobili who steered the Spurs to strike first in a highly anticipated matchup of the Wests top two teams for practically the entire regular season. In his first game against the Thunder this year -- he was sidelined by injury in the three regular-season meetings -- Ginobili put up a playoff high after sputtering through the first two series. "It just happened," Ginobili said. Andrew Luck Jersey. "I dont know how exactly because I havent scored like this all season long, but it happened and I am very happy about it." On the other end, Oklahoma Citys own Big Three struggled to find its shot early before awakening in the second half. Durant, Westbrook and James Harden at one point through the second quarter were 5 of 21 -- a typically ominous stat line for a trio that had been responsible for nearly 70 per cent of Oklahoma Citys points through the playoffs so far. The Thunder were ousted in the Western Conference finals a year ago and were in position for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs until being overtaken by the Spurs in the final month of the season. But it was a fittingly close opener for two franchises with so many similarities. That includes Thunder general manager Sam Presti -- the architect of the Thunders rapid turnaround from a 23-win season to consecutive Western Conference finals in just four years -- getting his big break in the NBA as intern in San Antonio. And the Thunder didnt even need their own Big Three to keep things close. They leaned on none more so than Fisher, whose famous game-winner for the Lakers on this same court in the 2004 playoffs has made "0.4 seconds" a phrase that needs no further explanation to the Spurs. Eight years later, and the oldest player in this series at 37, Fisher already met his playoff average at halftime and finished with 13 points. Gary Neal added 12 points and was the only other Spurs player in double figures. Harden lost in the first round of his matchup with Ginobili, whos also a lefty and a former Sixth Man of the Year winner. Harden finished with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting but started by missing nine of his first dozen shots. Tipping off another conference finals couldnt happen soon enough for Oklahoma City. With nothing to do but prepare for the Spurs all week -- and be asked about the Spurs -- the Thunder grew weary of questions about being perceived underdogs. About not having the same championship pedigree. About how theyll possibly stop a team rolling through one of the 10 longest winning streaks in NBA history. So repetitive were the questions that Durant, visibly annoyed, suggested earlier this week that someone instead ask how the Thunder are going "to come at" the Spurs. That didnt stop Oklahoma City from facing more of the same at shootaround Sunday morning, when Thunder coach Scott Brooks tried quashing again the idea his team was somehow intimidated. "Theyre not going to be in awe. Theyre going to have respect for them," Brooks said. "We know we can beat them." Theyve still got to prove it. Notes: Spurs C DeJuan Blair has given the Thunder fits in his three NBA seasons, including 22 points on them in a March win. But San Antonios starting centre for practically the entire season didnt play for the third consecutive playoff game. "The game will tell us whats appropriate and whats not," Popovich said before tipoff. ...Just because a Boston-Oklahoma City matchup in still possible in the NBA finals doesnt mean centre Kendrick Perkins is hopeful about facing his old team. "I really dont care," Perkins said of the Celtics advancing. ...Gov. Rick Perry took in his first Spurs game this year, sitting courtside next to Spurs owner Peter Holt, a major donor to the former Republican presidential candidate. ' ' '