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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 on the overall race. 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. Noah Fant Jersey Large . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Cheap Broncos Jerseys . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. http://www.custombroncosjersey.com/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Cheap Custom Broncos Jersey .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Custom Broncos T-shirts . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Devin McCourty had a quick answer for how the New England defense can settle the nerves of fans after last weeks poor performance.Its simple. Weve just got to play better, the defensive captain said Wednesday.Theres nothing I can say to calm that or anything, weve just got to go out there and play better. I think thats what everyone in the locker room and everyone on the defense wants to go out there and do. Theres nothing to say, youve just got to go do it.While attention is being paid to the physical condition of Rob Gronkowski, it is almost easy to forget the defense played so poorly in a 31-24 loss to Seattle on Sunday night. The loss dropped the Patriots to 7-2, and perhaps provided a lesson on what has to be done to keep things on track heading toward the likely postseason berth.It can (be a positive), said McCourty, whose team visits the 49ers (1-8) on Sunday. I think its all up to the players. I think it falls on us to go out there and play better after a loss. I think any type of game, anything you go through adversity-wise, can help you, but its all on how you respond; how you go out there and come back from it.I think that falls on us. Weve been in games where weve won, but we havent particularly played well, and weve learned from those games and the different things we didnt do well in them, and proved that the next week. Now, coming off a loss, its something that we have to improve on, go out there and win and just play better football.This weeks task could be easier -- on paper, anyway. The Niners have lost eight straight after an opening win.But the Niners, with mobile Colin Kaepernick at quarterback, can present another interesting problem for a defense thats been anything but stellar. The 49ers are 29th in the NFL in total offense. But they are seventh in rushing.The Patriots, who allowed 348 passing yards to Russell Wilson last weekk, saw Kaepernick in 2012, and lost to Chip Kellys Eagles last season, giving them some insight on the 49ers.ddddddddddddThey run the ball as much as any team in the league, so that sets up their play action and some of the quarterback movement plays that hes good at, as well as their third-down package, New England coach Bill Belichick said.He has a good group of skill players to work with. The receivers are good, the tight ends are good, the backs are very good. They can move the ball.Still, it all comes down to the Patriots playing better on defense.The club traded linebacker Jamie Collins on the first day of the bye week, and then saw the defense struggle against the Seahawks. Something to prove perhaps?I mean, if wed have played well wed still have something to prove, defensive end Chris Long said. Every week we have something to prove. If you have a mindset any different in this league youre going to get embarrassed because theres good teams every week that you have to play that has weapons. San Francisco certainly has that.Game notes TE Rob Gronkowski sat out Wednesdays practice with what the team said was a chest injury. Gronkowski was briefly staggered in the second quarter Sunday night after taking a hard hit to his chest from safety Earl Thomas, but was able to return to the game. On Monday, Thomas sent best wishes to Gronk via Twitter, calling him One of the best Ive lined up against. Gronkowski responded in his own tweet , saying, The respect is mutual man, you got the best of me on that one. The grind is real, you showed the fans a real football hit.In other Gronkowski family related news, Robs brother, Glenn, was re-signed to the practice squad.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '