BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Canadian Svein Tuft powered Orica Green-Edge to victory in the team time trial in Belfast in the opening stage of the Giro dItalia on Friday, taking the overall leaders pink jersey on his 37th birthday. Orica, which was the overwhelming stage favourite, clocked a time of 24 minutes, 42 seconds along the 21.7-kilometre course, which was lined by more than 140,000 fans. The Australian team benefited from starting second and avoiding most of the rain that fell later. "What an amazing day, I never in my life would have imagined something like this," said Tuft, a native of Langley, B.C. "Im so proud of my team and I just cant thank them enough for that. They gave me the gift, it was really a birthday present. This team is really selfless that way. I feel really fortunate to be given that gift on my birthday." Omega Pharma-QuickStep finished second, five seconds behind Orica, beating third-place BMC by just two seconds. Cadel Evans looked strong for BMC and is one of the favourites after last years third-place finish. With defending champion Vincenzo Nibali not competing, Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana is another of the race favourites and his Movistar team finished eighth, 55 seconds behind Orica. One of his rivals, Joaquim Rodriguez, had a poor start as his Katusha team struggled throughout and only finished 19th. Rodriguez is 1 minute, 33 seconds behind Tuft and 38 seconds behind Quintana. While it has become a tradition for the first Giro stage to be held outside Italy, this is the first time that the Grande Partenza — or the Big Start — took place outside mainland Europe. Despite the wind and rain, it was a festive atmosphere in the Northern Irish city, with large crowds lining the route and cheering the riders on. However, Irish rider Dan Martin crashed after just 15 minutes, leaving him with a suspected broken collarbone. Martin caused the crash when he caught his wheel on a drain cover and went down strongly on his right arm, bringing down several of his Garmin-Sharp teammates. The four cyclists who were able to continue had to wait for teammate Fabian Wegmann — who had been dropped early on — to catch up with them, as rules stipulate a team has to finish with at least five riders for its time to count. Garmin eventually finished last, 3:26 behind Orica. That means Ryder Hesjedals chances of repeating his 2012 Giro success are all but over. "Obviously there was a crash, and there was only four of us that stayed ahead," said Victoria native Hesjedal. "It was right before a corner and you hear something had happened, we were already through the corner, looked back and there was nobody there. "Obviously it was pretty scary because you dont know what the hell is going on. I dont know what happened, it was basically a nightmare." Belfast is also the start and finish point for Saturdays 218-kilometre leg, which takes in picturesque rock formation, the Giants Causeway along its coastal route. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. Cheap Air Max 90 . -- Kael Mouillierat scored three times and set up one more as the St. Womens Air Max Outlet . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning, general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday in announcing the signing. http://www.airmax2018outlet.us/ . The Gatineau Olympiques head coach will lead Canada in its quest to end its gold medal drought at the 2015 world junior hockey championship held in Montreal and Toronto at the end of this year. Black Air Max 90 . Now comes an off-season of questions about manager Matt Williams decisions and a handful of key roster choices, including what to do about Ryan Zimmerman, whether to sign Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond to long-term deals, and how to upgrade an offence that fell flat in October. Authentic Air Max 2017 Sale . That assertion is getting harder and harder to make, especially given the way 23-year-old Danilo Gallinari has been playing this season.PITTSBURGH -- Kenny Perry tried not to get ahead of himself Sunday on the 18th tee at the Senior Players Championship. He knew all too well how quickly fortunes can change on golfs biggest stages. There was the devastation at the PGA Championship in 1996. Disaster at the Masters in 2009. Disappointment at the Senior PGA last month. If there was a way to lose a major tournament, the affable 52-year-old Kentuckian seemed to have found it during his otherwise sterling career. "I thought I was snakebit," Perry said. "I got close so many times and I just seemed to mess up down the homestretch and not make it happen." This time, Perry didnt leave anything to chance. After tap-in birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 gave him a two-shot lead over Fred Couples, Perry made par on the No. 18 to close a spectacular weekend at Fox Chapel. His bogey-free 6-under 64 left him at 19-under 261, two shots ahead of Fred Couples and Duffy Waldorf. "My word was patience," Perry said. "I wasnt going to put any pressure on myself to win the golf tournament because I had so much heartache, so many losses. ... I was just thinking You know what, Im tired of worrying about that." Instead of feeling the pressure, Perry exerted it. He withstood an early charge from Waldorf, who birdied his first four holes, then kept firing at pins on the back nine while Couples putter failed him. The Hall of Famer leads the Champions Tour in putting average but could generate little magic Sunday. He drove the green on the short par-4 seventh only to three-putt for par. Couples later knocked it within 8 feet on the 15th only to send his birdie attempt streaking past the hole. He pulled the comebacker to the left and the bogey gave Perry his opening. Perry stuffed a pitching wedge within inches on the 16th then hit a 6-iron to within 2 feet on the par-3 17th. He tapped in the birdie to maintain his two-stroke lead then played smartly on the 18th. He left it just short of the green in two and watched as Waldorf and Couples both reached the long par-5. Their long eagle attempts never sniffed the cup, and when Perry rolled in his par putt, he thrust the ball in the air just before the sky opened for one last deluge on the water-logged course. Fox Chapel took on more than 4 inches of rain during the week, turning what was supposed to be a stiff test into a pitch and putt for long hitters like Couples and Perry. The conditions begged for players to attack the pins. Rather than simply protect par as he did during his near-misses in earlier majors, Perry knew he could go for it. It paid off with a $405,000 check and one very significant weight off his shoulders. "Im hoping the floodgates are goinng to open," Perry said.dddddddddddd"But I dont know, anytime you get into contention you get nervous, you get antsy. But today I had a peace about me ... if I can kind of draw upon this the next time I get into the heat of things hopefully Ill finish it off like I did today." Couples was hoping to polish off his third major victory on the Champions Tour, but after cruising through the first three rounds he couldnt match Perrys shotmaking on the final day. Couples now has four runner-up finishes this season, including each of the last two majors. "There were a couple shots you always should have back," Couples said. "The putt on (15) looked so easy and I just hammered it and I kind of flinched at it coming down the hill ... it was a little bit of a sour day the way I played after I teed off." Perry trailed by as many as eight shots earlier in the tournament before tracking down Couples over the weekend. He drew within two thanks to consecutive 63s in the second and third rounds and kept it going Sunday. It was sweet vindication for a player who has won more than $31 million during his 31-year career but is better known for those rounds that went all wrong. Perry led Mark Brooks by a shot at the 1996 PGA Tournament at Valhalla just outside Louisville, about two hours north of his hometown of Franklin, Ky., only to bogey the final hole to fall into a playoff with Mark Brooks. Brooks birdied the first extra hole for the victory. The agony grew exponentially 13 years later, when he stood on the 17th tee at Augusta with a two-shot lead. Consecutive bogeys dropped Perry into a three-way tie with Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell. He failed to get up and down on No. 10, the second playoff hole, and Cabrera made par to capture the green jacket. Perry had another close call at the Senior PGA in May. He led through three rounds at Bellerive in St. Louis but was dogged by knee pain and overtaken by unheralded Kohki Idoki. On Sunday, there would be no folding. Buoyed by a hot putter, Perry teamed with Waldorf to wear down Couples. Waldorf began the day four strokes behind Couples but wasted little time making up ground. He rattled off four straight birdies to start his round and shot 29 on the front nine. He cooled off after making the turn and finished with a 6-under 64, giving Perry enough room to pull away. "Its not surprising, (Perry) is obviously a great player," Waldorf said. "Winning these majors isnt easy and he did a great job this week." Michael Allen and first-round leader John Huston tied for fourth at 12 under. Colin Montgomerie, playing in his first Champions Tour event, closed with a 65 to tie for ninth. ' ' '