POGACAR CRUSHES ROGLIC TO SEAL TOUR DE FRANCE TITLE

In an incredible climax to the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar crushed fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic in the last stage Saturday before the finish in Paris, snatching away his race lead to all but guarantee that he’ll win cycling’s showpiece event at his first attempt.

At one day shy of 22, and niow set to become the youngest post-world War II champion, Pogacar flew on the penultimate stage, a lung-burning uphill time trial, and devoured the 57-second lead that had made Roglic look impregnable before the showdown in the mountains of eastern France.

Equally amazing: This is Pogacar’s first Tour. Among others who pulled off the feat of winning at their first attempt: the great Eddy Merckx. The Belgian also won his next four Tours after his first in 1969. Given his young age and breathtaking talent, Pogacar’s first also looks unlikely to be his last.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Pogacar said. “My head will explode.”

In the end, it wasn’t even close. Pogacar was sensational, not only ripping the iconic race leader’s yellow jersey from Roglic, but comfortably winning the time trial, too. He gobbled through the 36 kilometers (22 miles), slicing through the air in an aerodynamic tuck on a slick time-trial bike and then switching to a road bike for the sharp finishing ascent to the Planches des

Belles Filles ski station.

Tennis

Rafael Nadal’s first tournament in seven months ended with a 6-2, 7-5 loss to Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open at Rome. Earlier, Novak Djokovic lost his cool again midway through a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over German qualifier Dominik Koepfer — less than two weeks after getting defaulted from the U.S. Open.

In the women’s tournament, top-seeded Simona Halep reached the last four when Kazakh opponent Yulia Putintseva retired midway through their match with a lower back injury.

Golf

Ernie Els shot a 1-under 70 in the second round at Pebble Beach for a one-shot lead over

Dicky Pride with five players, including first-round leader Jim Furyk and Fred Couples,

another shot back at the Pure Insurance Championship.

Mel Reid shot a 7-under 65 on her 33rd birthday to take a two-stroke lead over defending champion Hannah Green

into the final round of the Cambia Portland (Ore.) Classic.

Soccer

Manchester United began its Premier League campaign with a performance as disjointed as its offseason. Maybe the 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace shouldn’t really have come as a surprise. On a day when 21 goals were scored in four games, there were also wins for Everton, Leeds and Arsenal.

Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 86th minute,

Franco Jara had two goals and FC Dallas (5-2-4) beat host Sporting Kansas City (64-2) 3-2 in MLS play.

Juan Agudelo and Brek Shea scored a goal in an early nine-minute span early and Inter Miami (3-7-2) beat host Atlanta United (3-7-2) 2-1.

Chris Mueller had a goal and an assist, Luis Carlos “Nani” Almeida da Cunha also scored, and host Orlando City (6-2-4) beat the Chicago Fire (2-3-7) 4-1.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin Yow scored his first career MLS goal to help D.C. United (2-5-5) salvage a 2-2 tie with visiting Toronto FC (6-4-2).

Pedro Santos scored in the 50th minute to help host Columbus (8-1-3) beat Nashville SC (3-5-3) 2-0.

The Colorado Rapids scored a goal in each half to beat host L.A. Galaxy 2-0.

Rubio Rubin scored three first half goals and the San Diego Loyal held on for a 3-2 victory at the Phoenix Rising FC in USL Championship play.

Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had four saves and the Orlando Pride, playing their first game in nearly a year due to the coronavirus, played to a scoreless draw with the host North Carolina Courage in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Death

Gary Hughes, a beloved pro scout for numerous bigleague organizations during a 54-year career, died in Northern California after a battle with cancer. He was 79. He was a regular at Bay Area ballparks in recent years working for the Red Sox and D-backs.

Tadej Pogacar