"I dont think we have seen Contador at his

MIAMI -- Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was a patron at a Miami River bar and restaurant the same night he and two friends were killed in a boat crash, a spokeswoman for the establishment confirmed Tuesday.A friend of one of the victims said he warned him against the post-midnight trip, and Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna said he and at least two other teammates turned down invitations to go and tried to discourage Fernandez from going out.American Social Bar & Kitchen spokeswoman Dana Rhoden said in an email that Fernandez was there before the accident. The statement did not say whether Fernandez had been drinking or what time he left.The bar is along the Miami River in the citys downtown section and allows boats to dock alongside.Fernandez, 24, died when the boat he owned slammed at high speed into a rock jetty early Sunday just off South Beach, investigators say. Emilio Jesus Macias, 27, and 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero also died.A friend of Riveros, Will Bernal, said they texted each other shortly after midnight, before the trio pushed off. Bernal posted the messages on social media.Yo please be careful bro, Bernal texted at 12:07 a.m.I will bro, Rivero said.Try to keep him close to shore if you go out, Bernal wrote back.Trust me, Rivero wrote, its not my time yet.Bernal then asked Rivero to turn on his find iPhone application and to keep Jose cool.Ozuna, perhaps Fernandezs closest friend on the team, said all of the players knew Fernandez planned to go out on the boat that night.It was a bad decision for him, Ozuna said. He heard everybody say, `No, go back to your house and take it easy. Then you wake up and see the news.Fernandez apparently had concerns he might be late to the ballpark for Sundays 1:10 p.m. game, because he asked Ozuna for a wake-up call.He said, `If Im not here by 10, call me, Ozuna said.The Marlins announced a public viewing will be held Wednesday at a Miami church, preceded by a funeral procession scheduled to start at 2:16 p.m. outside the teams downtown ballpark. Fernandez wore No. 16 on his jersey.A private funeral will be held Thursday for the Fernandez family and Marlins players and personnel.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating. Spokesman Rob Klepper said in an interview Tuesday that theres no timetable, and we will provide a complete and thorough investigative report.The 32-foot boat named Kaught Looking -- the K is backwards, signifying a strikeout when the batter does not swing -- will be thoroughly checked for clues as to why the accident occurred, authorities said. Miami-Dade County prosecutors have obtained search warrants for wildlife commission investigators seeking access to the vessel, said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the state attorneys office.As you know, FWC has a duty to investigate fatal boating accidents like this one, Griffith said in an email. Since the incident involved a single boat and there were no survivors, there can be no criminal prosecution derived from the FWC investigation.Klepper said the wildlife commission has no record of any previous citation or warning involving the boat, Fernandez or the other two men who died. Normally vessel stops are not documented unless a warning or citation is issued, he added.The Miami-Dade County medical examiner has not yet released toxicology results that might determine if Fernandez or the other two victims were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Klepper said that report would be part of the wildlife commissions completed investigation. Authorities previously said no evidence of alcohol or drugs was found at the crash scene.On Capitol Hill, Floridas U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, introduced a resolution Tuesday honoring Fernandez for his journey from communist Cuba to Major League Baseball stardom and his contributions to the community.The resolution notes that Fernandez was jailed in Cuba after an unsuccessful attempt to defect and once saved his mother from drowning after she fell from a boat off Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula.He risked his life escaping tyranny in Cuba to seek liberty and opportunity in America, Rubio, also a Cuban-American, said in a news release.Meanwhile, a beachgoer found a bag containing four baseballs signed by the Marlins pitcher, WSVN-TV reported.The station reported a black bag containing Jose Fernandezs checkbook and four autographed baseballs apparently washed ashore on Miami Beach not far from the accident site.Ocean Rescue Division Chief Vincent Canosa said the bag was given to a lifeguard and that it apparently came from the boat.Enormously popular in Miamis large Cuban-American community, Fernandez defected from Cuba at age 15, won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2013 and became a two-time All-Star. He had been scheduled to pitch Monday night against the New York Mets, a game that instead became a tribute to him and remembrance of his life.-----AP Sports Writer Steven Wine contributed to this report.-----Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/miamicurt Custom Jerseys China . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Custom Jerseys . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. 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None will be more important than the last one -- worn by the overall winner on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 21: Many pundits believe that will be either Britains Chris Froome or two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain. But it would be a mistake to reduce the Tour to a two-horse race. Multiple heartbreaks, crashes and other dramas await over the meandering 3,404-kilometre (2,110-mile) trek along wind-swept sea sides, through flat plains and Alpine and Pyrenean mountain punishment, and even to a medieval island citadel in the English Channel. The first story could be written by Cavendish: the "Manx Missile" is a favourite to win the mostly flat Stage 1 over 213 kilometres (132 miles) from Porto Vecchio to Bastia in the race debut on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Saturday. The Briton, whose muscle, timing and accelerations make him the finest sprinter of his generation, has already won other coveted prizes in his sport. In 2011, he won both the green jersey given to the best Tour sprinter and the rainbow-striped jersey awarded to cyclings road-race world champion. The yellow jersey, however, has eluded his grasp. "Its not just one of the most iconic symbols in cycling, its one of the most iconic symbols in the world of sport," Cavendish said. "To be able to wear that for at least a day in your life, its a thing to make any riders career. Its a thing you dream about when youre a child. It would be a beautiful thing." Cycling could use some beautiful things. This is the first Tour since Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record seven victories for doping, which he finally admitted to on U.S. cable TV after years of denials that were exposed as lies by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Despite millions spent on fighting drug use in the peloton, blasts from cyclings checkered past keep on coming: Ahead of this race, French media reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of doping controls pieced together evidence that a urine sample provided by long-beloved French rider Laurent Jalabert contained EPO, cyclings designer drug, at the Tour of 1998. Tour organizers will be hoping the racing drama of the next three weeks will push such miseries to the background. In the traditional pre-race presentation, the 22 teams took a stage one after the other Thursday in Porto Vecchio, with its idyllic mountain backdrop on Frances "isle of beauty." Hundreds of fans clapped politely, as white yachts stuck up like teeth from the shimmering blue Mediterranean. Contador predicts an action-packed race in this comeback year for him. The 30-year-old Spaniard was stripped of his 2010 Tour title and missed out last year ovver a doping ban.dddddddddddd He could be the biggest danger for Froome. Both riders excel in mountain climbs that feature heavily this year. But Contador said there would be more to this Tour than simply their rivalry. "This year wont just be the story of two riders; well have more actors in this film," he said. "This year will see more action than in past years," he added. Of Froome, he said: "I would have no motivation to be here if I thought I couldnt beat him." Among longer-shot contenders are 2011 Tour winner Cadel Evans of Australia -- though at 36, his legs arent the freshest -- and his young BMC teammate Tejay Van Garderen of the United States, plus Spaniards Alejandro Valverde of Movistar and Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha. Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour winner and a Sky teammate of Froome, is sitting out this year due to injury. Last year Froome was more impressive than Wiggins in the mountains, but that race was more heavily weighted to time trials -- Wiggins specialty -- than in this years edition. Like Wiggins last year, Froome has had a nearly flawless run-up to the Tour: the 28-year-old Kenyan-born Briton won four of five races he started. He said hes confident, but not fond of the "favourite" moniker. "Its an absolutely privilege for me to be in this position," he said, but "there is a certain amount of pressure that comes with it." "Coming in as the race favourite sets that precedent of people looking to beat you ... so it definitely opens doors that people may be ganging up," he said, acknowledging the possibility that Valverde, Contador and Rodriguez might form a Spanish alliance against him. Contador is high in Froomes mind. "I dont think we have seen Contador at his best yet," he said. "His goal was never to perform well at any of the races building up to the Tour, but then to come to the Tour at his absolute best. I believe hell be here at his best -- and thats what well expect." Andy Schleck, who inherited the 2010 title stripped from Contador for testing positive for the muscle-building drug clenbuterol, said this years mountainous course would have suited him under normal circumstances. But hes coming off a rough year -- including a crash injury to his lower back that kept him out last year. The Luxembourg rider considers himself an "outsider" -- not a favourite. The race spends three days on Corsicas winding, hilly roads. It then sets off on a clockwise run through mainland France along the Mediterranean, into the Pyrenees, then up to Brittany and the fabled Mont-Saint-Michel island citadel before a slashing jaunt southeastward toward the Alps before the Paris finish. "The Tours always full of surprises," said Garmin-Sharp team director Jonathan Vaughters, insisting his American squad could have contenders like Ryder Hesjedal of Canada and Andrew Talansky of the United States. "The easy answer is: Yes, its Chris Froome vs. Alberto Contador -- but I think were going to try and make the answer not as easy." ' ' '