Vingegaard closes in on Tour win
Jonas Vingegaard thundered through the last serious test of the Tour de France to increase his overall lead on Saturday and all but guarantee winning cycling’s biggest race.
After three weeks of exhausting racing, the JumboVisma leader dug deep in his reserves to deliver yet another impressive performance in a long time trial in southern France.
Vingegaard, who is not a pure specialist of the race against the clock, could have played it safe given his lead of more than three minutes at the start. He instead took all the risks on the technical course and had a scare close to the finish when he misjudged a curve and had to brake hard to avoid a crash.
Vingegaard then slowed down dramatically as he approached the finish line. He finished the 20th stage in second place, 19 seconds behind winner Wout van Aert.
ETC. Smith clinches Truck Series title
Zane Smith clinched the regular-season NASCAR
Truck Series championship and Chandler Smith took the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
Zane Smith and Chandler Smith (they are not related), Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are in the playoffs. The run to the championship opens Friday at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Noah Gragson kept a hard-charging Ty Gibbs at bay down the stretch and held on to win his third Xfinity Series race of the season at Pocono Raceway . ... Josef Newgarden extended the Team Penske dominance at Iowa Speedway, winning the first race of a weekend doubleheader for his fourth victory at the shortest track on the IndyCar schedule . ... Denny Hamlin turned the fastest lap at Pocono Raceway and will lead the field to green Sunday in the NASCAR Cup race . ... Charles Leclerc used help from Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. to beat Formula One leader Max Verstappen and take pole position for the French Grand Prix.
The Kings signed Gabriel Vilardi and Jaret AndersonDolan to contract extensions. Vilardi’s one-year, one-way contract is worth an annual average value of $825,000 through the 2022-23 season while Anderson-Dolan’s oneyear, two-way contract is worth $750,000 for the 2022-23 season . ... Jordin Tootoo is the third member of Canada’s 2003 world junior hockey team to deny any involvement in an alleged group sexual assault. Tootoo, who was a member of the silver medal-winning team and played in the NHL for several seasons with Nashville, Detroit, New Jersey and Chicago, issued a statement calling for a full investigation into the “disturbing allegations.”
New York Yankees reliever Michael King is out for the season after he fractured his right elbow in a game against Baltimore this weekend . ... Left-hander Aaron Ashby and Milwaukee agreed to a $20.5-million, five-year contract through 2027.
American player Bernarda Pera stunned topseeded Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-4 to win the Hamburg European Open for her second title in seven days.
France beat the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time to advance to the semifinals of the Women’s European Championship for the first time.