Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard duel to Tour de France mountain stage finish

By OlympicTalkJul 20, 2022, 11:12 AM EDT

Tadej Pogacar won the penultimate mountain stage of the Tour de France, but race leader Jonas Vingegaard stuck right behind him to move closer to his first Tour title.

Pogacar, the two-time defending Tour champion, prevailed atop an air strip summit finish in Peyragudes. Vingegaard finished in the same time, losing just four seconds (due to Pogacar’s time bonus) of his comfortable lead of 2 minutes, 22 seconds.

“On a finish like this, he’s a bit more explosive than I am,” Vingegaard said. “In the end, I can be happy with how it went. I am pretty satisfied.”

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

The Dane Vingegaard, runner-up to Pogacar last year, can all but clinch his first Tour de France title if he sticks with Pogacar again to Thursday’s summit finish at Hautacam.

After that, the only other realistic chance for Pogacar to gain time is in Saturday’s flat, 25-mile time trial. In the Tour’s other time trial, on the opening day, Pogacar beat VIngegaard by eight seconds on an 8.2-mile course.

The Slovenian Pogacar was pulled up Wednesday’s final climb by American teammate Brandon McNulty, with Vingegaard closing out the lead trio. Pogacar waited until 300 meters left to attack, and by then he had no chance to gain significant time. Vingegaard countered before Pogacar pulled back ahead in the final straightaway with Vingegaard sticking to his back wheel.

Pogacar lamented that half of his UAE Team Emirates squad has been knocked out of the Tour, including key climber Rafal Majka before Wednesday’s stage due to a thigh injury.

“We were only four [riders], and to take the stage win is already incredible,” Pogacar said. “We cannot try more. We see tomorrow is another chance, but for now I’m happy that I win today.”

Pogacar said he was optimistic he can still win the Tour.

“Tomorrow is a more hard day,” he said.

Vingegaard isn’t ready to celebrate with the ceremonial ride into Paris coming on Sunday.

“I don’t want to think about it,” he said. “I take it day by day.”

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Coco Gauff into French Open quarterfinals, where Iga Swiatek may await

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 11:52 AM EDT

Getty

Coco Gauff swept into the French Open quarterfinals, where she could play Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year’s final.

Gauff, the sixth seed, beat 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. She next plays Swiatek or 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who meet later Monday.

Gauff earned a 37th consecutive win over a player ranked outside the top 50, dating to February 2022. She hasn’t faced a player in the world top 60 in four matches at Roland Garros, but the degree of difficulty is likely to ratchet up in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won all 12 sets she’s played against Gauff, who at 19 is the only teenager in the top 49 in the world.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Also Monday, No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur next faces 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 over Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, who played on a protected ranking of 68. Haddad Maia became the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era (since 1968) after Maria Bueno, who won seven majors from 1959-1966.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat left Gauff as the lone American singles player remaining out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

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U.S. earns first three-peat in Para hockey world championship history

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 8:49 AM EDT

International Paralympic Committee

The U.S. trounced rival Canada 6-1 to become the first nation to three-peat in world Para hockey championship history.

Tournament MVP Declan Farmer scored twice, and Josh Misiewicz, David Eustace, Jack Wallace and Kevin McKee added goals. Jen Lee made eight saves in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, on Sunday.

Farmer, who had nine goals in five games for the tournament, also scored twice in Paralympic final wins over Canada in 2018 and 2022 and the last world championship final against Canada in 2021. Farmer, 25, already owns the career national team record of more than 250 points.

The U.S. beat Canada in a third consecutive world final dating to 2019, but this was the most lopsided gold-medal game in championship history. The U.S. also won the last four Paralympic titles dating to 2010.

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