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Fifth scepter for Pogacar

Tadej Pogacar confirmed his place among cycling legends by winning his fifth Tour de France. The 27-year-old Slovenian equaled Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only ones with five titles.

“I’m left speechless. It’s an incredible day,” he declared after the last stage in Paris. His final lead over Remco Evenepoel was 6 minutes and 26 seconds.

Mexican Isaac Del Toro, 22 years old and Pogacar’s teammate on the UAE Team Emirates XRG, made his debut in the Tour and finished third overall, 9:42 behind.

The final stage, an 88.7km circuit around Paris, included the climb to Montmartre three times. Victory of the day went to Mathieu van der Poel, who overtook Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen in the final sprint. “I thought the sprinters would catch up with us, so I launched my attack from very far away,” explained the Dutchman.

Pogacar tried to win the stage, but gave in to the power of Van der Poel and finished in 30th place. “Now I have to find a new goal to pursue,” said the Slovenian, without ruling out the Vuelta a España that starts on August 22.

The Dane Jonas Vingegaard, two-time Tour champion and Pogacar’s main rival, abandoned after a fall in the 15th stage. “It’s a shame that Jonas and others fell. I hope we can all fight again next year,” lamented Pogacar.

Richard Carapaz took the polka dot jersey as best climber. “I fought hard to win it, it’s the best feeling,” said the 33-year-old Ecuadorian.

With five stage victories in this edition, Pogacar has 26 in total. His dominance in the mountains and his cold blood made the difference. The crowd roared on the Champs-Elysees as his teammates posed with him after confirming the title.

Physical discomfort forced us to stop

Noah Lyles stopped midway through the 200-meter final at the U.S. track and field championships in New York on Sunday. The four-time world champion in the distance felt a muscle pull and decided not to force it. “I thought: this is the time to stop. There is no reason to force this,” he declared. Garrett Kaalund, 22 years old and fresh from the NCAA college title, took advantage of the opportunity and took the win with a time of 20.04.

Lyles, who a week earlier had won the 100 meters, explained that the discomfort was “kind of like a cramp.” He assured that he is fine and just needs to stretch and replenish electrolytes. This was just the fourth time Lyles has lost the 200 since dominating the event in 2018. His other losses occurred in the last two Olympic Games. Still, he remains tied with Michael Johnson with five national titles in the distance.

In the women’s division, world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden defended her title with a time of 21.69, her best mark of the season. Her main rival, Gabby Thomas, did not participate in nationals. Jefferson-Wooden was optimistic about the future: “I feel like women’s sprinting today is interesting from the moment we get to the starting line. These next few years are going to be interesting to watch.”

There are no world championships this year, but World Athletics is preparing the Ultimate Championships, with a first prize of $150,000. The Los Angeles Olympics are two years away, and the competition in the 200 meters promises to be intense.

The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, responded harshly to the criticism that the 2026 World Cup, organized in the United States, Mexico and Canada, has received. In an official statement, he accused the media of being “consumed by hate and criticism” and of having “missed our beautiful sport.”

“While you stand on the sidelines, we at FIFA are on the front line organizing, working hard and putting on the most beautiful spectacle in the world. While you divide, we unite,” wrote Infantino.

The case of Iran as an example of unity

Infantino gave as an example the participation of the Iranian team, which due to the political context had to travel from Mexico to the United States for each match and return to the neighboring country after each match. The FIFA president highlighted that Iran entered US territory “without incident or conflict” and that the chants against it were transformed into a single anthem during their matches.

“This is the power of football; the Iranian team was granted visas to enter because football is synonymous with peace,” said Infantino.

He also criticized the media for focusing on the few cases of denied visas, ignoring the millions of fans who were able to enter. He recalled that the tournament brought Haiti to the world stage, a country that many do not visit. “Maybe it’s time to put aside the pens and keyboards and show some respect to the teams that played with their hearts,” he said.

Infantino concluded by stating that this World Cup – the first with 48 teams – celebrated the best of humanity. “At FIFA we could not be prouder or more moved to experience these moments of love, joy and unity,” he said.