NICE, France -- The world championships marked the one and only full competition for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir last season, coming after another frustrating few months of rehabilitation for Virtue. cheap jerseys . A year later, Virtue insists shes never felt better. Canadas Olympic ice dance champions are looking to reclaim their world figure skating title this week, and for the first in four years, have a full season of training and competing -- painfree -- to bolster their quest. How much better prepared are they this time around? They did more run-throughs of their programs in practice last week than they managed in all of last season combined. "The cool feeling now is weve already accomplished so much with this whole season, right from summer and training all the way through and the Grand Prix circuit to now," Virtue said. "The work is done. Now we just get to enjoy it. Were in a place we havent been in a really long time." Virtue and Moir will skate their short dance Wednesday to kick off whats expected to be the most closely contested event at the competition. The pairs short program is also Wednesday, while Canadas Patrick Chan begins his quest for a second straight world mens title on Friday. The 22-year-old Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, 24, from Ilderton, Ont., havent had a decent season of training, they say, since 2007-08, because of Virtues relentless leg issues. Even in 2010, when they claimed Olympic and world gold, they only had a two-month window when Virtue skated without pain. Shes undergone surgery twice on both legs to alleviate the compartment syndrome that causes constant pain -- the second of which kept the two off the competitive ice last season for almost all but the world championships. (They skated at Four Continents two months earlier but pulled out during the free dance when Virtue felt tightness in her thigh). The pain struck again after last years world championships in Moscow, where they lost to American rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White, but rather than go under the knife for a third surgery last summer, her Saskatoon-based trainer Bruce Craven developed a program to retrain Virtues muscles to help take the pressure off her ailing lower legs. "We were back to the drawing board," Virtue said. "Part of that process was training the mechanics of my body and how I move so that I would take the stress and the load out of my shins and calves and that was a bit of a tedious process. But it forced us to go back to basics and we spent a lot of time on the ice working on our fundamentals and thats paid off." There were numerous times last season when the Canadians couldnt make it to the end of their program in practice -- not great for the confidence prior to competition. "You need to be really prepared when youre going into a world championship, especially when youre defending Olympic champions, you want to show everybody that that wasnt a flash in the pan, and you still have that magic," said Moir. "So your mind starts playing tricks on you and its a lot of pressure. Luckily those are in the rear-view mirror." Davis and White edged the Canadians at the Grand Prix Final this past December, but Virtue and Moir came out on top at the Four Continents in February. They aim to stay there. "We feel prepared and confident, and were not taking that feeling for granted," Virtue said. "We know just how awful it is to not feel that way and not feel trained and ready. I think it will be different stepping on the ice, having the ability to take it in and enjoy it and not necessarily worry about making it to the end of the program. But rather focus on expression and just being in the moment and performing the programs that we love so much." Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., won the bronze medal at the Four Continents championship, and are top-five contenders. Kharis Ralph of Toronto and Asher Hill of Pickering, Ont., will make their world championship debut. The competition is making its second appearance in Nice, an unlikely destination for an ice sport in the sun-soaked city at the heart of the Cote dAzur. Towering palm trees line the walkway up to the Palais des Expositions, while people in shorts and sundresses stroll the promenade along the Mediterranean seaside enjoying the 20 C heat. In the pairs, meanwhile, Germanys Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy will be favoured to win their second straight title and fourth overall. Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are looking for a top-five result after finishing seventh last year in a performance made memorable by Radfords gruesome broken nose. Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., smashed Radford in the face on a triple twist lift in the short program, leaving her partner a bloody mess. Canadian doctor Marni Wesner set Radfords nose and the two returned to skate the free program the next day. "I was just looking at a picture of it yesterday and remembering that moment," said Radford, who considered skating the long program with a protective mask. "The first signal that something was wrong was Meagans face on the landing. And I could see out of the corner of my eye my nose was over here, and I normally cant see it. And then it started bleeding and bleeding and bleeding, and my eyes were watering and it hurt a lot." Jessica Dube of St-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Que., and Sebastien Wolfe of Terrebonne, Que., are Canadas other pairs entry. Dube is an Olympic and world champion veteran with former partner Bryce Davison, whose career was cut short by a knee injury. Wolfe is making his world debut. Chan hopes to become the first skater to repeat as mens champion since Stephane Lambiel in 2006. The 21-year-old from Toronto, who hasnt lost a competition in over a year, is the overwhelming favourite. Daisuke Takahashi, the 2010 world champion, American Jeremy Abbott and Javier Fernandez of Spain should also be in the mix. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., who was 11th last year, will make his third world appearance. Amelie Lacoste of Delson, Que., is Canadas lone entry in a womens field considered the weakest in recent memory. Neither last years champion Miki Ando nor Olympic champ Kim Yu-na are here, leaving world bronze medallist Carolina Kostner of Italy and Japans Mao Asada the favourites. Lacoste said the goal is a top-10 finish, which would give Canada two womens spots at next years world championships in London, Ont. "Obviously I want a top-10, but in my head its a top-five," Lacoste said. "But Im not focusing on the result. I need to focus on myself and what I can control, and just enjoy every day in Nice." The women skate the short program Thursday. cheap nfl jerseys . -- There were some emotional moments and some funny stories as Joakim Noah accepted the NBAs Defensive Player of the Year award on Monday, like this one. wholesale jerseys . -- Sporting Kansas City acquired midfielder Jimmy Medranda from Colombias Deportivo Pereira on Thursday for an undisclosed transfer fee and signed him to a multi-year contract.LONG BEACH, Calif. - Ryan Hunter-Reay, determined to rebound from a disappointing season, is off to a strong start in what he hopes will be another run toward the IndyCar championship. Hunter-Reay won the pole Saturday for the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, knocking teammate James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., from the top spot while ensuring an all-Andretti Autosport front row. Hunter-Reay won three poles last year, but as his performance tapered off in the second half of the season, he was unable to defend his 2012 championship. He opened this year with a second-place finish at St. Petersburg, and now will try for his first win of the season Sunday at Long Beach. "It just comes down to this team giving me what I need when I need it," the American said after turning a lap in 1 minute, 7.8219 seconds on the temporary course through the streets of downtown. Hinchcliffe wound up second after his lap at 1 minute, 7.9403 seconds. "If you are going to lose pole, it might as well be to a teammate," Hinchcliffe said. Sebastien Bourdais was third, followed by Josef Newgarden, rookie Jack Hawksworth and Simon Pagenaud. Honda drivers made up five of the Fast Six spots, with Bourdais the only Chevrolet representative. "What a qualifying session — you never knew who was going to put in the best lap," Hunter-Reay said. "It was anybodys session." Well, not anybody. The session was surprising for who didnt advance into the later rounds. Defending race winner Takuma Sato didnt make it out of the first group, and was penalized for interfering with Hunter-Reay during his lap. The punishment stripped Sato of his two fastest laps in the session. "Tough qualifying session," Sato said. Also failing to advance was Indianapolis 500 winnner Tony Kanaan, making his second start for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. wholesale nfl jerseys. In the next group, Will Power failed to move on for just the second time in his career. He last failed to advance out of the first round at Brazil last season. "Obviously, the team is starting a lot further back then we had hoped," Power said. "We just have to try to make that work from where we are and do the best we can tomorrow." Defending series champion Scott Dixon did advance into the second round, as did runner-up Helio Castroneves. But neither made it into the Fast Six round, shutting both Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing out of the final group. Juan Pablo Montoya continued to struggle in his return to IndyCar after seven seasons in NASCAR. As he was pushing for more speed on his last qualifying attempt, he lost control of his car and hit the wall. Hell start 16th on Sunday. "We keep gaining on it and I definitely think we had a car that was capable of the Fast Six. We just brushed the wall in turn four," he said. "I was trying hard to get that extra two tenths and it didnt work out." Also struggling on Saturday was Graham Rahal, who has not found much speed and qualified last in the 23-car field. Oriol Servia, making his first start of the season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, also struggled in morning practice but picked up some speed in qualifying and advanced into the second round. Servia was eliminated in that round and will start 12th. "We tried to make more changes to get the balance in the car better and then tried some bigger ones for qualifying," Rahal said. "We are just struggling with overall grip. Oriol had a big grip gain on alternate tires and I didnt feel it. We have a lot of work to do." ' ' '
