BRUSSELS--Belgium will look to appoint a coach with proven international experience, their Football Association said on Friday as they begin the search to replace Marc Wilmots.Former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has been linked with the job and Belgian FA president Francois de Keersmaecker said he would be a "potential candidate" if he chose to apply.

MONT VENTOUX, France--A lanky guy in a yellow shirt runs on an asphalt road. Marathon runner? No, Tour de France overall leader Chris Froome on the slopes of Mont Ventoux.

The Briton looked set to extend his advantage over main rival Nairo Quintana after only Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema could follow his brutal acceleration 3km from the finish line on Thursday.
But as Porte was leading the trio, the TV motorbike in front of them stopped behind other motorbikes as hundreds of spectators blocked the road and the Australian crashed into it face first and fell off his bike. Behind him, Froome and Mollema also took a tumble but the Dutchman quickly got back on his bike. Not Froome.
"Ventoux is full of surprises. In the final kilometre we had to push hard on the brakes and the three of us hit the motorbike," said Froome. "There was another motorbike behind us which broke my bike."
Talking to his sports director Nicolas Portal through radio communication, Froome started to run towards the line as Porte came past him on his bike. "I told myself 'I don't have a bike and my car is five minutes behind with another bike, it's too far away, I'm going to run a bit," he added. "I had to run."
As the service car drove up to him, Froome paused and mounted the bike he was handed, only to realise the clips did not match his shoes. He dismounted the bike and waited a few seconds for his Team Sky car to arrive at the 400 metre banner, then completed the stage on a spare bike.
Despite losing over a minute Quintana of Colombia on the line, Froome eventually retained the yellow jersey after a decision by the race commissaries. "It was a nightmare," said Portal.
All ended well for Froome, however, as he was credited with the same time as Porte and Mollema and extended his lead to 47 seconds over compatriot Adam Yates.
Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford joked that Froome might have a bright future in running. "Maybe he'll run the Paris marathon next year," he said.
The cycling season has been marred by incidents involving motorbikes. In March, Belgian Antoine Demoitie, 25, died after being run over by a race motorbike during the Gent-Wevelgem classic race.

VALLON PONT-D'ARC, France--Chris Froome turned the screw on his Tour de France rivals when he took second place in Friday's windswept individual time trial behind Tom Dumoulin as the race continued under heightened security and in a low-key mood after the deadly Nice attack.

TROON, Scotland--Phil Mickelson charged up the leaderboard at the British Open on Thursday, grabbing the first-day lead and a share of the record for the best score in a major championship.

Aided by birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 17 on Royal Troon's tricky back nine, the 46-year-old American posted a 63, equalling the record low for majors first set by Johnny Miller in the 1973 U.S. Open. Mickelson came within a fraction of an inch of breaking the record outright. His curling 15-foot putt for birdie circled the hole on 18 before settling just outside it.
"That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical," Mickelson said at a news conference. "I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it... and then I had the heartbreak that I didn't and watched that ball lip out. It was, wow, that stings."
It was still good enough for an eight-under effort and a bogey-free round, and it put him three ahead of compatriot Patrick Reed and Martin Kaymer of Germany. All three seemed to be well-positioned for the second day, but Kaymer at least was not getting ahead of himself.
"It's only a quarter of a marathon..." he said. "It's a good start, It's a very good start. But tomorrow we'll see how the weather will turn out and then play another good round. That's all you can do."
Reed's early 66, a round punctuated by an eagle from the fairway on the par-four third hole, set the clubhouse lead for much of the day. He has no intention of changing his approach, although the weather is forecast to turn wet and cold after Thursday's warm sun and gentle winds.
"My game plan is to play to certain areas on each hole," he said. "I'm not really going to stray too far away from that. It's just going to probably determine what club off the tee. Some holes today might have been a 4-iron, but if the wind is howling, it might be a 2-iron ... you just never know."
Just behind Reed and Kaymer were a shifting cast of players who kept threatening and the falling back throughout the day, making four-under a bar that was hard to clear. Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson, among others, advanced to four or five-under and then retreated.
Northern Irishman McIlroy double-bogeyed the 13th to drop back from four under. Watson fell farther and faster: he was leading the championship on five under until he triple-bogeyed the short eighth, the Postage Stamp. Reed's eagle showed early on that it was possible to jump in the right direction, too.
Former champion Louis Oosthuizen emphasised the point when he aced the 14th hole, his tee shot taking two hops and diving out of sight, helping him to finish with a 71.
The day began with local favourite Colin Montgomerie hitting the opening drive, his first appearance at the Open in six years and what may well be his last. He carded a double-bogey on the first hole after finding one of Troon's deep greenside bunkers. But he took one shot back with a birdie on the third and another on the fourth.
The Scot narrowly missed a third straight birdie on the fifth, then went ahead and made one on the sixth. On the Postage Stamp, his tee shot landed within six feet of the pin. He made that birdie and added a fifth on the ninth, meaning as he finished his front nine, Montgomerie was tied for the lead on three-under.
He fared less well on the back nine but still finished at even-par.