LIMOGES, France -- Hit by a virus, denied a place on the Tour de France and then parting company with his team, not much went right last season for German sprinter Marcel Kittel.Now hes back with a vengeance.Kittel claimed his ninth stage win at cyclings biggest race in a mass sprint on Tuesday, as the fourth leg of the Tour took the peloton from the medieval town of Saumur to Limoges in central France.For me the victory means a lot, because I know how hard my way back to this moment was, said Kittel, who was fighting back the tears at the podium ceremony.Kittel, who wore the race leaders yellow jersey in 2013 and 2014, joined the Etixx Quick Step team from Giant-Alpecin for this season, replacing the departing Mark Cavendish.The new partnership has been extremely successful so far. Kittel has been the dominant sprinter this year, claiming 11 victories including back-to-back stage wins at the Giro dItalia.At the Tour, he got off to a disappointing start, getting beaten by Cavendish in the opening stage and missing out on a chance to wear the yellow jersey. So when the German held off Frenchman Bryan Coquards surge in a photo finish in Limoges, it was a huge relief.Last year was a huge setback. But I tried to take action to make changes for my future and to be able to win stages again at the Tour, Kittel said. I live for my sport. I never did anything else -- contrary to what some critics said.Kittel began his final surge for the line a little too early for comfort. But he just managed to hang on and edge Coquard.I feel very emotional right now, it feels like my first stage win again, Kittel said. Im mega, mega happy. Im very proud, because the team was really fighting for this win. Things went wrong in the last days, and Im so happy to be back in the Tour and to win a stage like this.World champion Peter Sagan finished third on the 237.5-kilometer ride and kept the yellow jersey. Courtesy of a time bonus, he extended his lead over Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe to 12 seconds in the overall standings. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde is third, 14 seconds back.It was a very fast sprint, I started too early today, the same time as Marcel started, Sagan said. Coquard made a very nice sprint. He was patient and almost won.Coquards aggressive burst for the line almost paid off with his first stage win in cyclings showpiece event. He brushed shoulders with Kittel in the slightly uphill final stretch, but lost by a few millimeters.I think I belong with the greats now, Coquard said. There is no mistake in the sprints, the stronger wins. I was never as close to victory, but I havent won yet. Im young, but Im a winner... and I want to win this year on the Tour.After a first attack fizzled out soon after the start, a group of four riders managed to escape from the pack and build up a five-minute lead over the peloton.Tour debutants Oliver Naesen and Alexis Gougeard, alongside Markel Irizar and Andreas Schillinger, made their move near the 30-kilometer mark and quickly increased the gap, helped by a tail wind.Determined to defend Sagans yellow jersey, the Tinkoff team hit the front of the bunch to step up the pace in hot and sunny conditions. They organized the chase with sprint-specialist teams Lotto-Soudal and Etixx, and the gap was down to four minutes with 100 kilometers left.However, the pack was in no rush to rein in the breakaway riders on the winding roads of the lush green Limousin countryside.Gougeard was dropped from the leading group with 35 kilometers left, moments before the pursuit really started in the hilly finale to Limoges. The remaining trio was swallowed up during a short climb seven kilometers from the finish.On the eve of the first mountain stage, the races main favorites Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana enjoyed a quiet day. Froome, a two-time Tour champion, is in fifth position overall, 18 seconds behind Sagan. Quintana is seventh with the same time as Froome.Wednesdays Stage 5 features four difficult climbs including the second-category Pas de Peyrol, the highest road pass in the Massif Central with an average gradient of 8.1 percent. Jerome Baker Dolphins Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Ryan Fitzpatrick Youth Jersey . 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He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Indias challenge at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold came to an end on Friday after Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth lost their respective quarterfinal clashes. ?Top seed Saina, whose ranking improved one place to No. 10 on Thursday, suffered a straight-game defeat, losing to World No. 226 Yiman Zhang of China 12-21, 17-21 in a match that lasted 35 minutes. Praneeth, on the other hand, lost to?Chinas Peng Jun Zhao 19-21, 9-21 in 30 minutes.Since her comeback, this was Sainas second consecutive quarterfinal finish after last weeks Hong Kong Open Superseries.?The loss brings an end to this season for Saina, who will next turn out for Hyderabad Hotshots in the Premier Badminton League in January 2017.Against Zhang, Saina appeared to have been affected by back-to-back three-game matches she played in the previous two rounds of the tournament. Since her return from surgery, Saina has been stretched to a third game in six matches.?In the first game, the unseeded Zhang took an early 4-2 lead, staying ahead at 9-8. From there on, the she dominated the game, reeling off five straight poiints for a 14-8 lead and allowing Saina only four more points in the game.ddddddddddddSaina jumped out to a 6-0 lead to begin the second game. Zhang, however, fought back to level at 7-7. Leading 14-12 after the break, the Chinese won five consecutive points before Saina fought back to reduce the deficit to 16-19. Zhang then brought up three match points and converted on her second.In Praneeths match, the first game was a tightly-contested affair, with both players rarely winning consecutive points and neither able to dominate. At 18-18, Zhao won two straight points to earn two game points and although the Indian saved one game point, Zhao converted the second to take the game.Zhao dominated the second game. The 37th-ranked Chinese ran out to an 8-3 lead after separate bursts of three and five points on the trot. From there on, Zhao continued to extend his lead as Praneeth, ranked 37, failed to offer the kind of challenge he did in the first game. ' ' '