WEATHER ALERT
Cavendish struggles with apparent stomach and heat issues during opening Tour de France stage
Read full article: Cavendish struggles with apparent stomach and heat issues during opening Tour de France stageMark Cavendish has appeared to struggle with stomach and heat issues during the opening stage of the Tour de France.
U.S. fencers gear up for sport's 'magical' showcase at Paris Olympics
Read full article: U.S. fencers gear up for sport's 'magical' showcase at Paris OlympicsTeam USA fencers explain what makes France such a special destination for the sport of fencing ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is expected to showcase fencing like never before.
Grand Palais to Versailles: The iconic venues of the 2024 Paris Olympics
Read full article: Grand Palais to Versailles: The iconic venues of the 2024 Paris OlympicsThe 2024 Paris Olympics will see athletic competitions held in some of the most culturally important venues in France, including the Palace of Versailles, Roland Garros and more.
Tour de France won't finish in Paris for first time in more than a century because of the Olympics
Read full article: Tour de France won't finish in Paris for first time in more than a century because of the OlympicsThe final stage of next year’s Tour de France will be held outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a clash with the Olympics.
Tour de France teams ask fans to behave better after mass pileup in 15th stage
Read full article: Tour de France teams ask fans to behave better after mass pileup in 15th stageTour de France overall leader Jonas Vingegaard is calling on fans to behave better at cycling’s biggest race after another mass crash marred the 15th stage.
Adam Yates beats twin brother Simon Yates to win first stage of Tour de France
Read full article: Adam Yates beats twin brother Simon Yates to win first stage of Tour de FranceAdam Yates has pulled away from his twin brother Simon Yates to win the first stage of the Tour de France, with race favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finishing not far behind.
Groenewegen pips Van Aert to win TDF stage 3 in photo finish
Read full article: Groenewegen pips Van Aert to win TDF stage 3 in photo finishDutchman Dylan Groenewegen overtook Wout van Aert and Peter Sagan at the line to win the third stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish while Van Aert extended his overall lead.
Podcast: Lawson Craddock’s bumps, bruises and fundraising prowess
Read full article: Podcast: Lawson Craddock’s bumps, bruises and fundraising prowessLawson Craddock covers a wide array of topics in this episode of In The Village with podcast host Elizabeth Beisel. The cyclist discusses raising big bucks to repair his hurricane battered velodrome back home in Houston, his collection of too many bicycles and he imparts this piece of wisdom: “I can tell you that racing these days is a whole lot easier when you don’t have a fracture in your shoulder blade.”
Carapaz outlasts Pogacar, U.S. rider McNulty to win road race
Read full article: Carapaz outlasts Pogacar, U.S. rider McNulty to win road raceEcuador's Richard Carapaz, star of a recent Netflix documentary, stole the show from Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and unheralded American Brandon McNulty to win the Olympic men's cycling road race.
France's Macron orders all health workers to get vaccinated
Read full article: France's Macron orders all health workers to get vaccinatedFrench President Emmanuel Macron has ordered all French health care workers to get virus vaccines by Sept. 15 and urged all of his compatriots to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
American Sepp Kuss wins Tour de France's grueling 15th stage
Read full article: American Sepp Kuss wins Tour de France's grueling 15th stageAmerican rider Sepp Kuss has won the grueling 15th stage of the Tour de France while overall race leader Tadej Pogacar remained on course for his second overall victory.
Fan holding sign causes massive pileup of cyclists during Tour de France
Read full article: Fan holding sign causes massive pileup of cyclists during Tour de FranceIf you didn’t know that Saturday marked the first day of the annual Tour de France, the viral incident that took place during the first stage sure made people take note.
Virus again slashes French Open crowd sizes; now only 1,000
Read full article: Virus again slashes French Open crowd sizes; now only 1,000Damir Dzumhur's coach called Roland Garros organizers "inhuman on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for excluding the Bosnian player from the tournament, because the coach failed a coronavirus test. Whereas the three-week Tour reached Paris last Sunday having pulled off the coup of getting through the country's worsening epidemic without any virus positives among its 176 riders, the French Open isn't proving so lucky with its timing. Nobody likes to play with these conditions, no?” 12-time French Open champion Nadal said Friday about having so few spectators. Forget congratulated him for the cycling roadshow that drew smaller but still sizable and enthusiastic crowds, and looked forward to welcoming 5,000 spectators per day at Roland Garros. Vehicles that are disinfected after each trip ferry players to Roland Garros.
Pair freed after questioning in Tour de France doping probe
Read full article: Pair freed after questioning in Tour de France doping probeLE PECQ – Two people questioned in a Tour de France doping probe around the team of former runner-up Nairo Quintana have been released without charge, a French prosecutor said Wednesday. Police released the pair, a doctor and a physiotherapist, on Tuesday night, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens said in a statement. Colombian rider Quintana, runner-up in 2013 and 2015 but 17th this year, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement late Tuesday, he said police who searched his hotel room after a Tour stage in the Alps found only “perfectly legal” vitamin supplements. Quintana said French officials questioned him Monday, the day after the Tour finished in Paris, and that he responded voluntarily to the summons.
Vive le Tour! With young winner, thrilling race defies virus
Read full article: Vive le Tour! With young winner, thrilling race defies virus(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – In a first, the Tour de France winner wore a face mask on the podium Sunday, bright yellow to match the color of the iconic jersey so snug on his young shoulders. “Really, I was scared we wouldn't get to the end,” race director Christian Prudhomme conceded at the finish. And against the virus that doesn't care how old or young its victims are, how hopeful it seemed that the Tour's winner should come from the same generation asking itself: What is life going to be like for us? In an astounding reversal, he dethroned race leader Primoz Roglic, his countryman who had held the yellow jersey for 11 days. “Even in September, the Tour de France is magic!” Macron tweeted Saturday after Pogacar's demolition of Roglic in the time trial.
Pogacar crushes Roglic to seal Tour de France title
Read full article: Pogacar crushes Roglic to seal Tour de France titlePogacar was sensational, not only ripping the iconic race leader's yellow jersey from Roglic, but comfortably winning the time trial, too. Roglic had taken the race lead on Stage 9 and held it all the way to Saturday, Stage 20, the worst day to lose it. On Stage 7, Pogacar plummeted from third to 16th overall, when he was caught out in crosswinds. A win on Stage 9 ahead of Roglic in the Pyrenees soon followed and helped put him back in contention. While Roglic was surrounded at the Tour by powerful support riders who labored tirelessly to protect his race lead, Pogacar had no such luxuries.
Andersen doubles down at Tour de France, wins Stage 19
Read full article: Andersen doubles down at Tour de France, wins Stage 19Denmark's Soren Kragh Andersen celebrates as he crosses the line to win the 19th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 166.5 kilometers between Bourg-En-Bresse and Champagole, France Friday, Sept. 3, 2020. (Marco Bertorello/Pool via AP)CHAMPAGNOLE – That's deux for Soren Kragh Andersen at the Tour de France. The Danish rider who won Stage 14 doubled down and raised his arms in victory again on Stage 19 on Friday, with another cunningly timed attack. He is 1 minute, 27 seconds off the race lead, which should put Roglic out of reach for him. But as they locked horns again on Stage 19, Andersen outsmarted them both.
French prime minister targeted by lawsuit over virus policy
Read full article: French prime minister targeted by lawsuit over virus policy(AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – A group of COVID-19 survivors and patients' families is suing French Prime Minister Jean Castex, accusing him of potentially dangerous and contradictory management of the virus crisis even as infections have multiplied in recent weeks. Castex and the government have pushed to reopen the economy and “learn to live with the virus,” refusing to impose new nationwide lockdowns as hospitals in some French regions start to fill up with virus patients again. The patients’ group also asks why the government pushed for mask requirements outdoors over the summer but didn’t require them inside offices until Sep. 1. More than 30,600 people with the virus have died in France, including more than 10,000 in nursing homes. An investigation is already under way into alleged pandemic mismanagement by three other current or former French government ministers, after the country's hospitals were quickly saturated with virus patients in the first wave of the pandemic.
Pogacar wins Stage 15 at Tour de France, Roglic retains lead
Read full article: Pogacar wins Stage 15 at Tour de France, Roglic retains leadTeam Jumbo - Visma riders lead the pack during the stage 15 of the Tour de France cycling race over 174 kilometers (108 miles), with start in Lyon and finish in Grand Colombier, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)GRAND COLOMBIER – Tadej Pogacar won Stage 15 of the Tour de France on a brutal final climb Sunday as his fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic retained the yellow jersey. Pogacar powered past Roglic on the final sprint at the top of Grand Colombier for his second stage win. Roglic leads Pogacar by 40 seconds overall, down from 44 seconds before the stage. Last year's winner, Egan Bernal, dropped off the lead group on the long Grand Colombier climb and appeared to lose his chance of retaining the title as he dropped out of the top 10.
Andersen wins Stage 14 at Tour de France led by Roglic
Read full article: Andersen wins Stage 14 at Tour de France led by RoglicDenmark's Soren Kragh Andersen crosses the finish line to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 194 kilometers (120,5 miles) with start in Clermont-Ferrand and finish in Lyon, France, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)LYON – Soren Kragh Andersen broke clear in a fast-changing finish on the roads of Lyon to win Stage 14 of the Tour de France on Saturday. Primoz Roglic, the overall leader, had a drama-free day to finish safely and keep the yellow jersey he claimed last Sunday. After two sharp climbs and several attacks in the last 10 kilometers (six miles), Andersen broke away with three kilometres (two miles) left to finish 15 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. In a stellar Tour for Slovenia, Luka Mezgec took the sprint for second and Simon Consonni was third.
Martinez wins Tour de France Stage 13
Read full article: Martinez wins Tour de France Stage 13Slovenia's Primoz Roglic wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey and Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar ride during the stage 13 of the Tour de France cycling race over 191 kilometers from Chatel-Guyon to Puy Mary, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Martinez wins Tour de France Stage 13
Read full article: Martinez wins Tour de France Stage 13The pack rides during the stage 13 of the Tour de France cycling race over 191 kilometers from Chatel-Guyon to Puy Mary, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)Colombian rider Daniel Martinez won the intense Stage 13 of the Tour de France on Friday, grinding up the steep slopes of the remains of a giant volcano. German rider Lennard Kämna was second on the climb up to the Puy Mary. The race's top contenders, racing for the overall lead, were still riding as Martinez beat Kämna in a sprint at the top. ___More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Tour de France rookie Hirschi wins race's longest stage
Read full article: Tour de France rookie Hirschi wins race's longest stageThe pack rides during the stage 12 of the Tour de France cycling race over 218 kilometers from Chauvigny to Sarran, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)SARRAN Tour de France rookie Marc Hirschi won the longest stage with a bold solo breakaway on a previously unused sharp ascent, signaling a precious talent on Thursday. The Swiss rider powered away on the Suc au May climb, new to the 117-year-old Tour. This marked his inaugural victory at his inaugural Tour. Roglic kept the overall race lead, still 21 seconds ahead of Egan Bernal, last years winner from Colombia.
Remaining 166 Tour riders cleared of virus but not director
Read full article: Remaining 166 Tour riders cleared of virus but not directorOrganizers announced that Prudhomme tested positive after taking a COVID-19 test, without providing further details. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)The 166 remaining Tour de France riders have been cleared to continue racing ahead of Tuesdays Stage 10 after undergoing COVID-19 tests, but the race director is going home. Tour organizers said that all the riders tests returned negative but announced that race director Christian Prudhomme tested positive along with four staff members from four different teams who have been dropped from the race bubble. Organizers said 841 tests were performed over the past two days on riders and team members, with most of the riders tested during the first rest day on Monday. To avoid false positive results that could rule healthy riders out of contention, Tour organizers perform a retest and a blood analysis as quickly as possible in case of a positive test.
Roglic seizes Tour yellow jersey, Pogacar wins Stage 9
Read full article: Roglic seizes Tour yellow jersey, Pogacar wins Stage 9Switzerland's Marc Hirschi rides during the ninth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 153 kilometers (95 miles), with start in Pau and finish in Laruns, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)LARUNS Primoz Roglic seized the race leaders yellow jersey as debutant Marc Hirschi of Switzerland delivered an impressive 90-kilometer solo effort across four Pyrenean climbs during Sunday's frenetic Stage 9 of the Tour de France. Hirschi launched a sprint to the finish line but was not fast enough as Tadej Pogacar prevailed to win the stage ahead of Roglic. Ahead of Monday's first rest day, Roglic dethroned overnight leader Adam Yates thanks to the bonus time he amassed at the top of the final climb and on the finish line. As the battle between the top riders came alive in the monster climb, Hirschi saw his lead vanish in the thin air but fought until the very end.