Pogacar wins Tour stage in nail-biter

From the moment Tadej Pogacar heard the Tour de France would return to the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles, France this year, he wanted to win there again.

The Slovenian pulled it off on Friday in a nail-biting finish on the steep gravel slope of the mountain where he took the yellow jersey for the first time in 2020.

Victory in the first summit finish of this year’s Tour extended his lead after taking over the yellow jersey on Thursday.

“It was in my mind already a really, really long time, maybe since the route was already (revealed). It was a big, big goal to win today,” Pogacar said.

Pogacar caught, first, Lennard Kämna, who came agonizingly close to a breakaway win, and then Jonas Vingegaard with one last sprint at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles, a ski resort in the Vosges mountains of eastern France, near the German border. Poga ar had his family watching on and had extra motivation to win to mark the launch of his own cancer research foundation on Friday.

“It was really, really difficult, especially in the end, the last part. When Jonas attacked, he was so strong,” Poga ar said. “I had to push to the finish line.”

He started the 109-mile stage with a four-second lead over Neilson Powless and ended it with a 35-second advantage over Vingegaard. “A little bit is always good, but still, we know in cycling no gap is enough,” was the verdict of Poga ar, who praised Danish rider Vingegaard as “probably the best climber in the world” at the moment.

Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour winner, sat third, 1 minute, 10 seconds back, and his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Adam Yates was 8 seconds further behind.

American rider Powless, Aleksandr Vlasov and Daniel Martinez were among the general classification contenders who lost time.

Blazers, Lillard agree on two-year extension

Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed on a $122 million, two-year extension that puts the Olympic gold medalist under contract through the 2026-27 season, a source said Friday.

Lillard will make about $59 million in 2025-26, then about $63 million the next year, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Friday because the extension has not been announced.

He’ll make about $137 million over the next three seasons, before the extension begins.

• James Harden is taking less for the team. Harden is set receive a $15 million pay cut next season and will sign a two-year deal with a player option in the second year, according to The Athletic.

This comes after the 76ers guard opted out of his $47.36 million player option for the 2022-23 season.

By picking up that option, the perennial All-NBA selection would have been eligible to sign a four-year, $233 million contract extension.

Instead, Harden opted out of his deal to take less money and clear enough salary-cap space for the Sixers to sign his former Houston Rockets teammate and friend P.J. Tucker.

• Hornets reserve guard Scottie Lewis underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg he sustained during an NBA Summer League practice session in Las Vegas on Thursday.

The team said Friday the surgery was successful and that Lewis is expected to make a full recovery.

• The Hawks are adding another veteran presence to their roster. The team plans to sign veteran center Frank Kaminsky, according to a person familiar with the situation.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, reported the move first. He added that the Hawks would likely use Kaminsky as a forward in addition to his role as a center.

Kaminsky, who will be signed at the veteran minimum.

Tringale retains lead in Scottish Open

Cameron Tringale finally saw The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland in windy weather and held his own Friday to stay three shots ahead in the Scottish Open as he tries to win for the first time in his 13th year on the PGA Tour.

Tringale stayed on track after making four straight bogeys around the turn and finished with three pars for a 2-over 72. He had a threeshot lead over Gary Woodland (72) and Doug Ghim, whose 69 raised hopes he could earn one of three spots available for the British Open.

The Scottish Open is the first time the PGA Tour is co-sanctioning a European tour event, and it led to the strongest field in tournament history, featuring 14 of the top 15 players in the world ranking. Tringale won’t have to contend with half of them.

There was only a wee breeze Thursday morning when Tringale opened with a 61 and Woodland shot 64. By the afternoon, the wind was gusting to 30 mph, and the difference was just over three shots. Scotty Scheffler (72) was on the good side of the draw and got a taste of quirky bounces, finding pot bunkers and other trouble that kept him from making up ground. PGA champion Justin Thomas had a 77 and missed the cut by seven shots. He got the bad end of the draw.

Xander Schauffele and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick also got the bad end but made it through just fine. Schauffele started his day with a big wind at his back, 225 yards to the pin and an 8-iron in his hand. He was trying to figure out how short to land it, and he judged it well. It rolled out to 15 feet for an eagle, and while the round wasn’t flawless, his 65 was the best of the day.

Steven Alker shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 on Friday for a share of the second-round lead in the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship with Joe Durant, Tim Petrovic and Alex Cejka in Akron, Ohio.

A three-time winner this season and the Charles Schwab Cup points leader, Alker had three straight birdies on Nos. 14-16 on his first nine and added another on the par-5 second on Firestone’s South Course.

• Adam Svensson shot a 5-under 67 and had a threestroke lead in the Barbasol Championship at Nicholasville, Ky., when secondround play Friday at water-logged Keene Trace was suspended because of darkness.

Svensson had a 15-under 129 total, where a midday thunderstorm followed dense morning fog. Play was delayed a total of 5 hours, 20 minutes, with half the field unable to finish the round.

Verstappen wins pole for F1 sprint race

Both Mercedes cars crashed at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday in a dramatic ending to a qualifying session that set the field for Saturday’s sprint.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell walked back to the paddock after separate crashes, while Formula One leader Max Verstappen narrowly won the pole for the sprint race ahead of both Ferraris.

The sprint race sets the starting lineup for Sunday’s grand prix.

Verstappen earned his third pole of the year.

Verstappen found his pace on the last attempt to edge out Charles Leclerc by just .029 seconds and Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., by .82.

Semenya a surprise entrant in Oregon

Caster Semenya is listed to compete at next week’s world championships in Oregon, potentially setting up a surprise return to the big stage for the two-time Olympic champion and one of the most contentious athletes.

Semenya was listed on Friday for the women’s 5,000 meters.

Semenya’s inclusion on a competitor list released by World Athletics was unexpected after she didn’t make the qualifying time for the 5,000 and was not included in the South Africa team for the worlds named this week.

NBC reported that Semenya was moved up onto the list for the worlds after some higher-ranked runners didn’t enter the championships.