Pogacar second-youngest to win Tour de France
Tour de France rookie Tadej Pogacar won cycling ’s showpiece race Sunday in Paris on the eve of his 22nd birthday, becoming the second-youngest winner of the 117-year-old event that this year braved, and overcame, France’s worsening COVID-19 epidemic.
With a yellow face mask to match the race winner’s yellow jersey, Pogacar stood atop the podium, the youngest winner since World War II and the first from Slovenia.
“This is just the top of the top,” he said.
His victory was sealed in Saturday’s stage before Sunday’s finish on Paris’ Champs-Elysees. Pogacar conquered the race and fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic in a high-drama time trial Saturday by snatching away the jersey that Roglic had worn for 11 days.
Their 1-2 finish is the first for a country since British riders Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome took the top two spots at the 2012 Tour. Australian Richie Porte finished third this year.
Joop Zoetemelk, the 1980 Tour de France champion, was hit by a car while riding his bike and hospitalized with leg and arm fractures, the French press reported. The accident happened in the Seine-et-Marne region, where Zoetemelk, 73, has lived for decades. hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
In Djokovic’s 10th Rome final Monday — he has won four — he will face eighthseeded Diego Schwartzman, who edged 12th-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4).
In the women’s final, topseeded Simona Halep will play second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, the defending champion. Halep beat Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and Pliskova defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 6-4.
The French Open starts next weekend.
Two players in the qualifying rounds for the French Open tested positive for the coronavirus, the French Tennis Federation said, while three others were in close contact with a coach who also tested positive. The FFT said all five players will isolate for seven days and none will participate in the qualifiers starting Monday.
Jim Furyk joined Arnold Palmer and Bruce Fleisher as the only players to win in their first two PGA Tour Champions starts, beating Jerry Kelly with a birdie on the par-five 18th on the first hole of a playoff at the Pure Insurance Championship in Pebble Beach.
Georgia Hall of England won the Cambia Portland (Ore.) Classic for her first LPGA Tour victory in the U.S., beating Ashleigh Buhai with a par on the second hole of a playoff.
At No. 25, Marshall is ranked in the Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 2014, and Miami jumped to No. 12 after a conference road victory over Louisville.
Clemson remained a nearly unanimous No. 1 in the top 25 after another light week in college football. The Tigers received 59 of 61 firstplace votes.
Toyota Gazoo’s No. 8 car comfortably won the 24 Hours of Le Mans by five laps over Rebellion No. 1 to secure a third straight victory in the prestigious endurance race in France.
Sophia Smith, the No. 1 overall pick in the National Women’s Soccer League draft this year, scored in her Portland debut as the Thorns beat the visiting Utah Royals 3-0 . ... Sadio Mane scored twice as visiting Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 for a second straight win to begin its English Premier League title defense.
Albert Langlois, a threetime Stanley Cup-winning defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens, died at 85.