Now they file up the aisles in search of Belgian-style pale ale.

During a period of decline in overall beer consumption, the market for craft brews is rapidly expanding, and the trend is evident at ballparks from coast to coast. Many stadiums offer upward of 60 varieties, everything from Budweiser and Coors Light to Henry Weinhard’s IPA.

In the mood for a porter, with a hint of chocolate and caramel? Ask for a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald at the Irish pub inside Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Taste trending toward Scottish ale? Order up Erie Brewing Company’s Railbender Ale at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, one of the most beer-friendly ballparks in baseball.

Looking for something with a cloudy appearance and citrusy flavour? You can find Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat at stands throughout Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

“Every market is different,” said Bob Sullivan, vice-president of sales and marketing for Boulevard Brewing Company. “But what you’re seeing now is that stadiums are saying, ‘We really need to carry the local beers.’ People pay a lot of money for their season tickets, and there’s some obligation to give them what they want.”

The big breweries still rule the ballpark — Miller Park and Busch Stadium, anyone? They have the unique ability to spend lavishly on marketing: billboards inside and outside the gates, subway cars on the way to Yankee Stadium, television and radio spots during a broadcast.

Smaller brewers simply can’t compete.

Then there’s the fact that Anheuser-Busch and Major League Baseball renewed their exclusive sponsorship deal in 2010, making Budweiser the league’s official beer.

Yet the groundswell of support for premium, often-kitschy, sometimes expensive and usually irreverent brands has been heard loud and clear by the baseball’s establishment.

“There’s been a shift, a cultural shift, in the beer culture in the U.S. No longer does a light American lager satisfy every occasion,” said Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association, an organization made up of more than 1,400 brewery members.

The Brewers Association documents 140 beer styles worldwide, Herz said, and the United States is the most diverse destination globally, with 13,000-plus beer labels in the marketplace.

In the past, the Royals had limited their beer category to two sponsors, and they ended up going to the highest bidders. Companies such as Boulevard couldn’t compete with heavyweights such as MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, so even though Boulevard was able to offer its brews at the ballpark, it became a scavenger hunt for fans trying to locate the taps.

That changed this year, when the Royals decided to extend to more than two partners.

“I’d say in the last six or seven years, the overall concessions business has become much more sophisticated than in the early days, when it was a hotdog, a beer and popcorn,” said Mike Bucek, the Royals’ vice-president in charge of marketing and business development.

Earlier this season, when the Royals announced the branding of the new “Budweiser Patio,” they also announced the new Boulevard Pub and Boulevard Grill, where fans in Kansas City can grab a seat and catch the game while also enjoying their local beer.

It doesn’t take long to notice Boulevard’s expanded presence, either. While there’s a big sign for Budweiser in right field at Kauffman Stadium, and a large sign for Coors Light in centre, Boulevard’s new sponsorship means it has its own sign beyond the left-field wall.

“We’ve seen a growth in craft beer sales, there’s no question,” Bucek said. “When you see the category grow, there’s so much more to offer. It’s pretty broad-based compared to what it was back in the day, and it’s definitely evolving and continuing to grow.”

Large-scaled brewers such as MillerCoors have noticed the shift, too, and that’s in part why it offers Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Sunset Wheat and Berry Weiss at Kauffman Stadium.

Craft beers remain a small segment of the market, representing about 5.7 per cent of all sales by volume and 9.1 per cent by dollar last year. But that segment is rapidly growing, especially as overall beer consumption in the United States continues to slide.

Beer sales were down an estimated 1.2 per cent by volume in 2010, and 1.3 per cent last year, according to the Brewers Association. Meanwhile, the craft brewing industry grew 13 per cent by volume and 15 per cent by dollars in 2011, the second straight year of double-digit increases.

“This is an entire shift in the beer community, and culturally how we enjoy and what we enjoy for beer,” Herz said. “This is a market-driven demand, not a marketing-driven demand. This was the market itself demanding, I want to go to my local baseball stadium, and enough people have asked where the beverage buyers say, ‘Yes, we will sell it.’”

Premium products, of course, demand premium prices.

At Safeco Field in Seattle, a beer from the mainstream brewers will set you back about $7.75, but tack on another couple bucks for one of several dozen microbrews.

“I’d rather enjoy a couple good beers than drink the watered-down domestics that just fill you up without much flavour,” said Larissa Jackson, a credit analyst from Shawnee, Kan., who heads to the ballpark about half a dozen times each summer.

The San Francisco Giants have heard the drumbeat of fans. They’ll hold their third annual “Brewfest” at AT&T Park on July 14, where fans will receive a commemorative tasting mug and have the chance to sample craft breweries during a 3-hour window before the Giants play the Astros.

Rick Cloues, a software engineer from Overland Park, Kan., noticed the increase in craft beer options while buying partial season-ticket packages to the Royals the past few years.

“I don’t want a watery, light beer that lacks any meaningful flavour,” Cloues said. “I love the wheat beers. I like the flavour, the body, and even the lemon wedge that every bar tender knows to drop in the glass. I see more micro beers popping up in the ballpark.

“Not that I could afford them at nine dollars a pop,” Cloues added. “That just means my tailgating starts a little earlier than most.”

The 57th-ranked Wozniack trailed 4-1 in Sunday’s opening set against El Tabakh. But the Toronto resident, ranked 183rd in the world, missed on three nervous set points and was broken in her last two service games as Wozniak turned the momentum.

The Blaineville, Que., native rolled through the second set against El Tabakh to move onto the second round at Roland Garros for the fifth straight year.

“I don’t like playing Heidi. I remember when we were juniors and travelling with our moms together. She also came with a lot of energy to the court,” Wozniak said. “After I saved those set points I adjusted my game, I started moving her around more. In the second set the match totally changed, it was a completely different match.”

El Tabakh said she had her chances with the set points, but let them get away.

“She ripped a few shots and I made some errors. I got tight and once she won the set she picked up her game,” El Tabakh said. “I didn’t even think I’d be in (qualifying) here, so it’s all a bonus.”

Earlier Sunday, the first two Canadians on court lost their opening matches, with Vasek Pospisil admitting he’s burned out on the clay.

The Vancouver resident made a promising start but fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

“I started pretty well and had good momentum,” Pospisil said. “I played a pretty decent second set and had chances after that.

“But the crowd was into it and I didn’t get my intensity up. It’s tough to play a French guy here. I had maybe a week too much on clay, the surface which is my least favourite.”

In women’s play, Israel’s Shahar Peer defeated 98th-ranked Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., 6-2, 6-2.

Pospisil, ranked No. 102, won the first set in 40 minutes but could not keep pace as the match wore on.

He saved four match points in the fourth set before ending his debut at Roland Garros on a wide forehand for his 55th unforced error.

“I’ve had two months on clay and I’m not that excited about it right now,” said Pospisil. “I burnt myself out last week in Nice (in a first-round qualifying loss) when I thought I was playing pretty well.

“I’m ready for a change of surface.”

On Monday, 19th seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., is schedule to open his tournament against Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo while Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., is slated to take on Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.

(All times Eastern)

Memorial Cup

Championship Game

Shawinigan vs London, 7 p.m.

—

NBA Playoffs

Western Conference final

Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

(First game of series)

—

Baseball

American League

Kansas City 2 Baltimore 1 (bottom 4th)

Tampa Bay 1 Boston 0 (bottom 4th)

Cleveland 3 Chicago White Sox 3 (top 2nd)

Detroit 2 Minnesota 0 (top 3rd)

Toronto at Texas, 3:05 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 4:05 p.m.

L.A. Angels at Seattle, 4:10 p.m.

–

National League

Cincinnati 7 Colorado 4 (bottom 6th)

N.Y. Mets 2 San Diego 0 (top 6th)

San Francisco 3 Miami 1 (bottom 6th)

Pittsburgh 3 Chicago Cubs 0 (bottom 4th)

St. Louis 4 Philadelphia 0 (top 3rd)

Houston at L.A. Dodgers, 4:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Arizona, 4:10 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 8:05 p.m.

–

MLS

San Jose at Kansas City, 4:30 p.m.

–

Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, recovered from a slow start to beat 19-year-old Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. It was her first match at a major tournament since revealing she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

The 31-year-old Williams, a former top-ranked player who is now No. 53, is 12-4 this season. She pulled out of the U.S. Open last August before her second-round match, saying she had Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain. She returned to the tour in March.

Early in the day, Sam Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova were first up on the main two courts, and both won in straight sets. Juan Carlos Ferrero and Juan Martin del Potro soon followed on the same courts, and with similar results. And 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic then made it 5 for 5.

The lone loser was Andy Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion from the United States.

“It’s a bit of an early start, but always nice to get through it now,” said Stosur, the U.S. Open champion who beat Elena Baltacha of Britain 6-4, 6-0. “You have the whole day and whatever else to recover and, yeah, enjoy.”

Roddick lost to 88th-ranked Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, exiting in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2007. The 26th-seeded Roddick is 7-10 this season, 0-4 on clay.

“I move just horrendously out here. My first step is just so bad on this stuff,” Roddick said. “I feel like I’m always shuffling or hopping or not stopping or something. So my footwork on this stuff now is just really bad.”

None of the top three men was in action on Day 1. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be on court Monday, while Rafael Nadal is slated to begin his attempt for a record-breaking seventh French Open title on Tuesday.

The ninth-seeded Del Potro made his way into the second round despite some problems with his left knee, beating Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1.

The 2009 U.S. Open champion played with tape on his knee early in the match. Del Potro then added wrapping after a massage from a trainer following the second set.

“It’s a problem when you can’t find your balance like you’re used to, but I’ll use these few days of rest to get better,” Del Potro said. “If I go on the court, it’s because I feel good. I want to continue playing.”

Del Potro reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2009, but lost to eventual champion Federer in five sets. A few months later, the Argentine defeated Federer in the U.S. Open final.

Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, beat Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. The 32-year-old Spaniard is one of 37 men in this year’s draw that is 30 or older, an Open era record for Grand Slam tournaments.

“I saw myself in the mirror, and when I walk on the court I don’t think about whether I’m younger or older. The only thing I try to do is play well,” Ferrero said. “And I’m at Roland Garros, and the idea is to play well today.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the highest-seeded player in action on Sunday at No. 5, also advanced. The Frenchman defeated Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Fabio Fognini of Italy was the first man to reach the second round Sunday, beating Adrian Mannarino of France 6-0, 7-5, 6-1. No. 21 Marin Cilic of Croatia was next, defeating Daniel Munoz-De la Nava of Spain 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Kuznetsova won the French Open title in 2009 and the U.S. Open in 2004 but is seeded No. 26 this year. Against Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, the Russian faced little trouble despite being broken twice in the second set. She eventually won 6-1, 6-3.

“I love this tournament. Even before I won I always enjoyed coming here,” Kuznetsova said. “It’s (a) special atmosphere here.”

Ivanovic beat Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain 6-1, 6-1. The 13th-seeded Serb won her only major title at Roland Garros in 2008, but then lost in the fourth round a year later. She fell in the second round in 2010, and then lost in the first round last year.

No. 10 Angelique Kerber of Germany and No. 20 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic also advanced to the second round, along with American players Melanie Oudin and Irina Falconi.

The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that starts on a Sunday. The other three all start on Mondays.

“I don’t think it’s too big a deal now that it’s more of a proper schedule,” Stosur said. “I think the first year there was only a handful of matches, and, yeah, if you were on the schedule then, it really didn’t feel like the tournament started. Nobody else was thinking that the tournament had started.”

The Dartmouth solo canoeist became the first Nova Scotian paddler to qualify for London on Sunday with a fifth-place finish in the C-1 200 metres at a World Cup sprint canoe-kayak regatta in Duisburg, Germany.

McCoombs was the top finishing Canadian for the second straight week on the World Cup circuit, crossing in 41.415 seconds, 0.312 of a second faster than Aaron Rublee of Kamloops, B.C.

“It feels pretty surreal right now,” McCoombs said afterward. “My focus in the race was to have a great start and stay as close to the front in the first 100. The aspect I’ve improved the most this year is my last half and I think that’s what showed today.”

McCoombs had lost to Rublee by 0.051 of a second at the first set of Olympic trials in Gainesville, Ga., in early May, putting him in a must-win situation heading to Europe for the World Cups.

He was the lone Canadian to qualify for the A final last week in Poznan, Poland, and placed eighth.

McCoombs, who declined interview requests this past week in an effort to stay in the zone for the biggest race of his career, said he gained confidence with his strong finish in Gainesville.

“That race at the trials is what really gave me a lot of confidence,” said McCoombs. “That was the first time I had raced against those guys and it was the best race I’ve ever had. I was pretty nervous all this week but I always try to approach each race the same way.”

Windsor’s Ryan Cochrane and Montreal’s Hugues Fournel finished fifth in the K-2 200 metres on Sunday with a time of 33.195 seconds. Combined with last week’s bronze medal in Poland, the duo appears to have the inside track to go to the Olympics as Canada’s K-2 boat.

Cochrane considers Windsor his hometown, but he also lived in Hammonds Plains and represented the Maskwa Aquatic Club before moving to Montreal to train.

“We came out to show that last weekend’s result was not a fluke,” Cochrane said. “It was a crazy close race today. We didn’t feel like we accelerated as well at the start and that made it tough for us. Still we hung tough and we were happy with the finish.”

In non-Olympic relays, four Nova Scotians won bronze: McCoombs and Dartmouth’s Ben Russell in 4×200 men’s canoe; Dartmouth’s Michelle Russell in 4×200 women’s canoe; and Waverley’s Connor Taras in 4×200 men’s kayak.

Black secured a top-eight finish at the Canadian gymnastics championships in Regina on the weekend to earn an automatic invitation to Canada’s final Olympic selection camp in Gatineau, Que., in late June.

Canada is taking five women’s gymnasts and a reserve to London.

Black’s highlights at nationals included a win in the vault event with a score of 14.475 points and a third-place finish in floor exercise. Her all-around total ranks her seventh.

The top three ranked gymnasts so far are Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Ont., Victoria Moors of Cambridge, Ont., and Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Ont.

On the men’s side, Dartmouth’s Hugh Smith finished sixth in all-around points and was eliminated from contention for Canada’s lone men’s spot in London.

— With files from The Canadian Press

Aware he had a chance to overcome Joaquin Rodriguez’s 31-second overall lead in Sunday’s final stage, Hesjedal broke out onto the streets of Milan determined to keep victory from slipping away.

Only near the end did he find out he would become the first Canadian to win the one of cycling’s three major tour races.

“Nothing anyone could have said to me could have changed how hard I rode,” he said.

Hesjedal took 34 minutes 15 seconds to complete Sunday’s 28.2-kilometre individual time trial in sixth — 20 places ahead of his Spanish rival. His 16-second margin of victory was the second closest in Giro history.

“It’s just been an unreal experience from day one, what the team was able to do. It’s unbelievable,” said the Victoria native, who finished the race in 91 hours 39 minutes two seconds.

“This is incredible. It’s a dream come true.”

Like the rest of the riders, Hesjedal had been through a demanding mountain ride to the top of the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy on Saturday.

“Yesterday was extremely hard,” he said. “I got through it and I knew as I was on the helicopter descending into Milan that I still had a shot. This morning I just felt incredible on my bike and I knew I could do it.”

Though he hadn’t taken his victory chances seriously before the race, Hesjedal’s thinking started to change after he first wore the overall leader’s pink jersey in Stage 7, following a fifth-placed finish.

“I never thought ‘I’m going to win,’” he said. “I was always just focused on having a good ride and I knew that would put me up there. The day I pulled on the jersey for the first time I knew I was good and could accomplish something great and that drove me harder.”

The 31-year-old Hesjedal became only the third non-Italian to win the Giro in the past 15 years.

Hesjedal and Rodriguez were the last two riders to start on Sunday. Although Rodriguez had worn the pink jersey for 10 days over the course of the race and gave it his all in the time trial, he ended the stage in 35:02.

“I believed it until the end and so it’s almost harder for me,” said Rodriguez. “It’s only now, with hindsight, that you see the mistakes. Maybe we should have distanced Ryder in the first week. But it went how it went and Ryder won.

“He was the strongest in the three weeks. I did my best and I don’t have any regrets.”

Marco Pinotti won the final stage in 33:06, 39 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas.

Thomas De Gendt, who rode to a memorable solo win atop the Stelvio Pass on Saturday, put in another good performance to finish third overall, 1:39 behind Hesjedal. The Belgian had been 5:40 behind Rodriguez at the start of stage 20.

Defending champion Michele Scarponi was fourth. It is the first time since 1995 that an Italian has not finished on the podium in the Giro, one of the sport’s top three races along with the Tour de France and the Spanish Vuelta. Two-time Giro winner Ivan Basso was fifth, 3:44 off the pace.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was among the Canadians celebrating Hesjedal’s victory.

“This remarkable win in one of bicycle racing’s most gruelling competitions is a testimony to Mr. Hesjedal’s training, endurance, skill and competitive spirit,” Harper said in a statement.

On Twitter, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong praised Hesjedal’s achievement.

“Congratulations to @ryder_hesjedal on his incredible victory in the #giro. Gotta love it when the best man wins,” tweeted Armstrong.

Toronto cyclist Michael Barry added: “Emotional moment watching the Canadian flags go up in Milan and hearing the anthem. Congrats @ryder_hesjedal You’ve inspired us all.”

Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., capped a tough race with a ninth-place result on the final stage to finish 148th overall.

Tuft’s GreenEdge teammate Christian Meier of Sussex, N.B., was 135th overall after finishing 150th in the time trial.

Hesjedal found out in November he would lead the Garmin-Barracuda team into the Giro. Despite a seventh-place overall finish at the 2010 Tour de France, he hadn’t considered that he might be the designated leader ahead of teammate Christian Vande Velde.

“When they told me that, my first reaction was I hadn’t had that in my mind. But the first thing I thought of was ‘Well that’s a huge opportunity and a huge compliment to be selected.’

“I just worked for it every day and we put a plan together and I did what I thought that I needed to do. I couldn’t be more happy.”

From here, Hesjedal and his team will take time to consider whether he participates in the Tour de France after a demanding three weeks in Italy. Canada also has one yet-too-be-filled cycling spot available for the London Olympics.

But neither the Tour nor the Olympics were on Hesjedal’s mind Sunday. He was still trying to grasp winning the Giro, and just how close he came to losing it.

“Who would have thought it would be that close after three weeks? That’s what makes it exciting.”

— With files from The Associated Press.

It’s not uncommon for KHL teams to take fliers on Canadian Hockey League stars, but it’s never resulted in a player leaving for the Russia-based circuit.

“Just got drafted to the KHL, Call me Nathan MacKinnOV,” MacKinnon posted on his Twitter account, @mackinnon9, on Saturday.

Saint John Sea Dogs star Jonathan Huberdeau was taken fifth overall by Vityaz Chekhov in 2011.

Ex-Mooseheads forward Yuri Chermetiev was taken by CSKA Moscow in the second round of the 2009 KHL draft and Mooseheads winger Martin Frk was taken in the first round by Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk in 2010 prior to his QMJHL rookie season.

MacKinnon, 16, is ranked first overall for the 2013 NHL draft by Red Line Report.

“There will be a lot of days when I’ll Have Another, strictly galloping, will pass a lot of workers,” O’Neill said Sunday morning after taking a red-eye flight from his West Coast base and being reunited with his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner.

The last three Triple Crown champions, Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978), all drilled at least one mile in preparation for the 1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion.” The Belmont is the longest of the Triple Crown races.

O’Neill said his plan has everything to do with the vigour the colt brings to his daily morning regimen.

“If anyone got a chance to see him, he stretches and puts a lot of effort into his morning gallops,” he said.

I’ll Have Another was shipped to Belmont Park the morning after he and jockey Mario Gutierrez, 25, ran down Bodemeister by a neck in the Preakness on May 19. His trainer was encouraged by everything he observed.

“His appetite is strong, his stride is great and his coat is there,” he said.

O’Neill added, “We have all the confidence in the world in I’ll Have Another. As long as he stays healthy and injury-free, we think he’ll be very tough.”

His pre-race handling of the colt is likely to spark discussion and debate. Seattle Slew, for instance, was given three workouts to fortify him for the Belmont marathon. He went three furlongs in a sizzling 35 4/5 seconds the day before he beat Run Dusty Run by four lengths.

O’Neill appears to be as confident and carefree as he was through the opening two legs of the three-races-in-five-weeks grind that comprise the Triple Crown. He opened what are expected to be daily briefings by saying, “How cool is this to be part of such an historical event?”

I’ll Have Another appears to be well prepared for the challenge ahead from a freshness standpoint. Shin problems sidelined him after he ran sixth in the Hopeful last Sept. 5, ending his 2-year-old season with three starts. He was the fifth consecutive Derby winner to compete in two prep races, pulling an upset at 43-1 in the Robert Lewis on Feb. 4 before edging Creative Cause by a nose in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

O’Neill, 44, gained a major victory last Thursday when a hearing officer determined that he was not guilty of “milkshaking” in a case involving one of his horses, Argenta. The horse was found to have an elevated carbon dioxide level after finishing eighth in a race at Del Mar on Aug. 25, 2010. The California Horse Racing Board reduced his original suspension of 180 days to 45 days and a $15,000 fine. The remainder of the suspension will be stayed as long as he does not have any Class 1, 2 or 3 medical violations in the next 18 months.

“I was thrilled that they said what I have been saying all along, that there had been no wrongdoing,” he said. The suspension won’t begin before July 1.

Trainers who “milkshake” horses in an attempt to combat fatigue give them a mix of bicarbonate of soda, sugar and electrolytes. O’Neill has had four carbon dioxide violations in his career.

“I run so many horses, and horses can naturally test high,” O’Neill said of a history that is sure to be scrutinized as I’ll Have Another attempts to become the 12th Triple Crown champion.

For the first time ever in the sport, a sixth different driver has won each of the six opening races.

It’s some contrast to last season, when Sebastian Vettel was coasting to the title after winning five of the first six, and Red Bull was crushing Ferrari. That hardly captured the imagination of racing fans, but this season is turning out to be a golden one for F1.

“It’s interesting to see the constant surprises we’re having this season, you never know who’s going to be in pole and win the race,” said Fernando Alonso, who took the championship lead on Sunday as the Spaniard bids for his third title.

Vettel, the two-time defending F1 champion, is tied for second place with his teammate Webber, three points behind Alonso.

“The number of different winners is good for (the fans) but for us it’s very difficult to know what’s happening,” the German said. “It’s a long year, it will be crucial to keep scoring points.”

Despite not even winning a race, Lewis Hamilton is only 13 points behind Alonso and still a title contender. Even Nico Rosberg, who finished second on Sunday, is just 17 points back in fifth spot.

Hamilton could make up ground up if he wins in Canada in two weeks’ time.

“Who knows?” Hamilton said after finishing fifth on Sunday. “I’m still there. We are falling behind bit by bit, which is tough for us, but we’ll keep pushing and keep fighting.”

With drivers favouring a one-stop tire strategy on the most difficult track for overtaking, Webber effectively needed to make it to the first corner in front and then negotiate a clean pit stop.

“When days like this come along you can’t afford to let them go,” the 35-year-old Webber said. “You have to grab them with both hands and feet and hold on like hell.”

He beat Rosberg by 0.6 seconds and Alonso by 0.9 for his eighth career win — his second in three years at Monaco for Red Bull, which has won the last three here from pole position.

“It was reasonably straightforward at the start,” Webber said. “It’s just a matter of then getting back into a reasonable gap (with) the weather threatening.”

Alonso, who headed into Monaco level on 61 points with Vettel, stayed clear of trouble as the rain lashed down toward the end.

“It’s difficult in Monaco, but we managed the traffic,” he said. “We were praying for no more rain at the end because we know how difficult it can be.”

Several others failed to finish, including Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher.

Vettel drove brilliantly to place fourth, after starting from ninth, and Red Bull’s clever strategy of keeping him on the same set of tires for 46 laps worked to perfection.

McLaren’s Hamilton finished fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

“My start was one of the worst I’ve had in a long time,” Hamilton said.

Although the front six were relatively untroubled, there was chaos elsewhere.

The race was only seconds old when a crash took out four drivers, including Romain Grosjean, one of the pre-race favourites.

Schumacher appeared to nudge his Mercedes into Grosjean as they jostled for position, sending Grosjean’s Lotus spinning sideways.

Pastor Malonado’s Williams ran into Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT and both went out, while Schumacher continued. Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, whose Sauber was also damaged, failed to restart after making a pit stop.

Button, starting from 12th place, was caught behind the early traffic and dropped down to 14th as Vettel squeezed through a gap.

The top three positions stayed unchanged for the first third of the race, with Rosberg tucking in behind Webber, followed by Hamilton and the Ferraris.

With rain looming, drivers pushed their supersoft tires hard — while Vettel started out on soft, having saved some by sitting out Saturday’s third qualifying session.

Rosberg was first to pit, switching to soft tires on lap 28. Webber and Hamilton soon followed suit, with Alonso and then Massa making the same swap.

That put Vettel into the lead, 16 seconds ahead of Webber, and with Rosberg, Alonso, Hamilton and Massa behind them.

Button’s miserable day saw him change tires halfway through, but lose ground to Heikki Kovalainen as he emerged from the pits. A late crash saw the 2009 champion spin out of the race.

Vettel, meanwhile, stayed out on his softs until lap 46, and when he came out he was just behind Alonso and ahead of Hamilton, who nearly rammed into him.

Vitaly Petrov retired due to electrical problem, while Schumacher, Charles Pic (Marussia) and Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) retired near the end.