Tour de France podium standings shakeup on Alpe d’Huez

By OlympicTalkJul 14, 2022, 12:51 PM EDT

Brit Tom Pidcock became the youngest man to win a Tour de France stage at Alpe d’Huez, while the overall podium standings shifted again in the French Alps on Thursday.

“It made my Tour de France,” said Pidcock, a 22-year-old in his first Tour, a year after winning the Olympic mountain bike title. “If I get dropped every other day now, I don’t care.”

Pidcock won from a breakaway by 48 seconds over South African Louis Meintjes. Chris Froome, a four-time Tour winner, finished third for his best Tour stage result since career-threatening crash injuries in 2019.

TOUR DE FRANCE: Standings | Broadcast Schedule | Stage by Stage

Behind them, two-time defending Tour champ Tadej Pogacar twice attacked race leader Jonas Vingegaard on the 21 switchbacks of the Alpe d’Huez, a day after Vingegaard took the yellow jersey from Pogacar.

The Dane Vingegaard responded to each of Pogacar’s surges and crossed the finish line Thursday in the same time as Pogacar.

“After yesterday I didn’t have the best legs today,” said Vingegaard, who on Wednesday won a summit finish stage, distancing Pogacar by nearly three minutes. “I didn’t feel bad, but I think everyone was suffering so much in the heat. It was such a hard race. Today, I didn’t think about taking additional time. I was just thinking about maintaining the gap on everyone, on Tadej.”

Vingegaard remains 2 minutes, 22 seconds ahead of Pogacar as the Tour goes back to a flat stage on Friday for the first time in 12 days.

Pogacar said he cracked on Wednesday because he was “a little bit stupid” putting too much energy into the penultimate climb of that day’s stage. He’s looking forward to next week, when the Tour will be decided in the Pyrenees and in an individual time trial.

“Today I have my legs back,” the Slovenian said. “I tried [to attack Vingegaard], but with not 100 percent confidence because of yesterday. I think I can go [with my] head up, motivated, for the next week.”

Frenchman Romain Bardet, who was in second place going into Thursday’s stage, dropped into fourth place overall, behind 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas.

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 3:38 PM EDT

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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 12 Frances Tiafoe and No. 16 Tommy Paul are the highest-seeded Americans, all looking to become the first U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. Since then, five different American men combined to make the fourth round on eight occasions.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

CJ Nickolas ends U.S. men’s taekwondo medal drought at world championships

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 3:29 PM EDT

US Performance Center/USA Taekwondo

CJ Nickolas became the first American man to win a world taekwondo championships medal since 2009, taking silver in the 80kg division in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday.

Nickolas, 21, beat Olympic bronze medalist Seif Eissa of Egypt in the semifinals, then dropped the final to Italian Simone Alessio, the world’s top-ranked man in the division. Nickolas is ranked third in the world at 80kg.

Nickolas moved up to the senior ranks after taking silver at the 2018 World Junior Championships in the 68kg division. He lost in the round of 32 at the last two worlds in 2019 and 2022, but did take bronze at a Grand Prix last September in the 2024 Olympic host city of Paris.

At the Tokyo Games, the U.S. had zero male taekwondo athletes at an Olympics for the first time since it debuted as a medal sport in 2000.

Anastasija Zolotic took gold for the U.S. women in Tokyo but is not at worlds after February right hip surgery. She is back in training.

Makayla Greenwood is the 2022 World champion at the non-Olympic 53kg, which is the weight just below Zolotic’s 57kg. Greenwood, who is due to compete at worlds on Sunday, must move up to 57kg or down to 49kg for an Olympic pursuit.

A nation can enter no more than one athlete per division at the Olympics.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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