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A funny thing about the Tour de France is that it can give its competitors the most fabulous terrain to ride over, but it cannot force them to race. Instead of being the very tricky day full of traps and surprises that Tour teams feared and organizers hoped for, Stage Three of the 100th edition proved to be a bit of a dud: 10 out of 10 visually, with some of the most stunning coastal scenery ever visited by the 110-year-old race, but barely 2 out of 10 for drama. In fact, as pretty as Corsica -- Frances "island of beauty" -- was, riders were just as happy to whiz past it. "Twisty roads like that along the coast, stunning scenery, and Im sure it made for great shots from the helicopter," said race favourite Chris Froome. "But thats not what we were interested in." So be it. In a three-week test of endurance, its simply physically impossible for every stage to be a classic and provide great excitement. There are days, like on Monday, when the peloton decides the priority is to get from A to B safely, get back to the hotel, massage, eat and sleep. To have success at the Tour, you first have to survive it. "The race is always what the riders make of it," the Tour director, Christian Prudhomme, said philosophically. Jan Bakelants was happy. The Belgian rider started the day in the yellow jersey that he won with a clever and gutsy spurt of riding on Sunday, and he will wear it again for at least another day, during the team time trial on Stage Four on Tuesday. The teams will race against the clock, heading off one after the other in aerodynamic helmets, on a pancake-flat, 25-kilometre course in Nice, past the coastal towns airport and along its famous beachside avenue, the Promenade des Anglais. With that very technical and quick ordeal awaiting them, and because coastal headwinds slowed the riders, none of the 21 other teams could be bothered to really try hard to take the lead on Monday from Bakelants. His RadioShack teammates did a grand job of protecting him. They rode much of the stage at the front of the pack, not letting breakaway riders get too far ahead and discouraging other teams from any thoughts of making a concerted assault. Their management of the stage helped make for dull racing -- but it kept Bakelants in yellow. "We never panicked," he said. "We managed the gaps." But Tuesday will more than likely be his last day in the leaders precious jersey. There are 71 riders just one second behind him in the standings. One of them on a team that time trials better than RadioShack will be in yellow next. "We have good riders but havent really trained for the team time trial," said Bakelants. "It will be tough to keep the jersey, but Ive already had it two days and thats special ... Its extraordinary to have worn it." At the end of the stage, in the final 15 kilometres, the racing picked up. Several riders tried and failed to get away from the chasing pack. It came down to a sprint in the last 500 metres. Simon Gerrans, an Australian, threw his front wheel over the line just before Peter Sagan, a Slovakian. Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria is in 26th spot overall, while David Velleux of Cap-Rouge, Que., is 117th, and Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., is back in 170th. On paper, Stage Three looked daunting: 145.5 kilometres of narrow roads as sinewy as a blood vessel, with very little flat. On television, the coves, the white beaches and cliffs plunging into turquoise seas looked incredible. The riders strung out like a necklace of coloured pearls as they sped along the coastline on a succession of bends so twisty that, among those who rode the route by car, they made queasy mush of iron stomachs. That is why Corsica paid the Tour to come here: To make it look good. The island gave three million euros to the Tours owners for the right to host the first three stages of the 100th edition, and paid another two million euros in other expenses, said Paul Giacobbi, who heads the regional government. That bought "hours and hours and hours" of worldwide television coverage and "one billion spectators," he said. The logistics were complicated. The Tour was transporting itself on seven ships back across the Mediterranean to the French mainland overnight on Monday so it could continue less than 24 hours later on Stage Four, in Nice. After Mondays trek from the port of Ajaccio, two planes whisked the riders quickly away from the finish in Calvi, so they would sleep in hotels on the French coast that same night. This was the Tours first visit to Corsica. Both came away happy. Prudhomme, the race director, said viewing figures in France for the Corsican leg of the race are the highest theyve been in a decade. "That is because of the 100th edition and the beauty of Corsica," he said. Not that Froome and the other contenders for overall victory much cared. They were happy simply to be heading back in one piece to the French mainland -- where the Tour will be decided on stages in the Pyrenees and Alps far more decisive than anything Corsica could offer. "Im quite relieved to be heading off Corsica now," said Froome. "Hopefully, the race will settle down a little bit."Custom New York Mets Jerseys . 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"I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. Wholesale Mets Jerseys .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check.VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella, who blended magical realism and baseball in the book that became the smash hit film Field of Dreams, has died. He was 81.His literary agent Carolyn Swayze said in a statement that Kinsellas death on Friday in Hope, British Columbia was doctor-assisted. Details about his health were not disclosed. Assisted deaths became legal in Canada in June.In the 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, a farmer hears a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in his corn fields. When he does, Shoeless Joe Jackson and other baseball players of yesteryear come to play. It became the blueprint for the 1989 Oscar-nominated movie, which starred Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta.Key turns of phrases in Kinsellas book -- If you build it, they will come and Go the distance -- have taken their place in literatures lexicon and among Hollywoods most memorable movie lines.Kinsella, a bona fide baseball junkie, loved the movie and said he had tears in his eyes when he first saw it.In 2011 the Canadian baseball Hall of Fame awarded him the Jack Graney Award for a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Canada.I wrote it 30 years ago, and the fact that people are still discovering it makes me proud. It looks like it will stand the test of time, Kinsella said at the time.Scott Crawford, director of operations at the Canadian hall, said he was saddened to learn of the authors death.His work has touched the lives of thousands of baseball fans across Canada and around the world, Crawford said in a statement. His most famous book was the classic `Shoeless Joe, which inspired one of my favorite movies, `Field of Dreams.Kinsella brought back to life Moonlight Graham, who played one major league baseball game but never got to bat. The author noticed Grahams name while thumbing through the Baaseball Encyclopedia he had received as a Christmas gift from his father-in-law.ddddddddddddI found this entry for Moonlight Graham. How could anyone come up with that nickname? He played one game but did not get to bat. I was intrigued, and I made a note that I intended to write something about him, Kinsella told The Associated Press in 2005 on the 100th anniversary of the only game Graham played in the majors.Much of Kinsellas work touched on baseball. He published almost 30 books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry and won the Order of Canada, one of the countrys highest honors.William Patrick Kinsella was born in Edmonton, Alberta. His father John had played minor league baseball, and the young Kinsella fell for the game playing with friends on sandlots in Edmonton.He began writing as a child, winning a YMCA contest at age 14.Kinsella took writing courses at the University of Victoria in 1970, receiving his bachelor of arts in creative writing in 1974. In 1978 he earned a master of fine arts in English through the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa.He had been an English professor at the University of Calgary.Vancouver Writers Festival founder Alma Lee said Kinsella was a private man with a passion for baseball.He was a dedicated story-teller, performer, curmudgeon, an irascible and difficult man, Swayze said in a statement. His fiction has made people laugh, cry, and think for decades and will do so for decades to come.Kinsella was married three times. He is survived by two daughters, who the literary agency says cared for him in his final years, and several grandchildren.Kinsella has asked there be no memorial service.----Gillies reported from Toronto. Ben Walker in New York contributed. ' ' '