Jonas Vingegaard took the first leader’s yellow jersey of the 113th edition of the Tour de France as his Visma-Lease a Bike outfit won Saturday’s opening team time-trial in Barcelona.

Vingegaard will wear the yellow jersey on Sunday for the first time since he last won the Grand Boucle in 2023.

He finished the 19.6km course eight seconds quicker than Filippo Ganna for Netcompany Ineos, with reigning champion Tadej Pogacar earning third place for UAE Team Emirates at 12sec.

The first of 21 stages took riders along the Mediterranean coast, past the city’s famous Sagrada Familia basilica and finished with a short climb up a hill overlooking the popular tourist destination.

Read moreFive 2026 Tour de France key stages to watch out for

Throughout the stage, Visma had been almost neck-and-neck with Netcompany and the Lidl-Trek team of Spaniard Juan Ayuso.

But Visma went quicker over the second half and Vingegaard made the difference on the final 800-metre uphill drag to the finish.

Pogacar remains the overall favourite thanks to his Tour victories in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, as well as his strong form this year. 

The Slovenian sensation is aiming to join the select crowd of Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to have won cycling‘s most prestigious race on five occasions.

Vingegaard is once again his biggest challenger. The Dane took home the yellow jersey in 2022 and 2023 and is aiming to complete the men’s Giro-Tour double. 

The three-week race will cross into the French Pyrenees on Stage 3. Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d’Huez climb in the Alps, which comes just 24 hours before the 21st and final stage ending on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — South Africa tore apart England 45-21 after a stunning three-try blastoff in Nations Championship rugby at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The shock and awe start by the Springboks for a 17-0 lead inside the first 12 minutes gave the double world champions a cushion they rode to their biggest win over England in 18 years.

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The English impressively fought back to trail by only three by halftime but they succumbed to South Africa’s heavy carries and clinical finishing, and were down to 13 players at fulltime.

England was barely sweating when Boks fullback Damian Willemse charged the tryline and prop Thomas du Toit burrowed over. A Willemse chip and catch was followed by prop Ox Nche shrugging off England’s Ollie Chessum and Jamie George and shooting away for Cheslin Kolbe to cross in the right corner. Kolbe converted his try.

Nche left injured and moments later Kurt-Lee Arendse swept past Marcus Smith and went over in the left corner. Three entries into the England 22 and three tries.

The explosive start made light of the late forced changes by the Springboks. Captain Siya Kolisi was ruled out by an ankle strain and Eben Etzebeth reportedly by concussion. England also had to reshuffle when fullback George Furbank was sidelined by appendicitis after working for two years for his test recall.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Shakur Stevenson has been called out for a clash under Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing banner as reports suggest he will soon confirm he is joining the new promotional outfit.

The 29-year-old’s last outing saw him dethrone Teofimo Lopez in January, becoming a four-division world champion by unanimously outpointing his fellow American.

But despite claiming the WBO super-lightweight title, Stevenson has not ruled out a move back down to 135lbs, where he made three successful defences of his WBC strap.

The crafty southpaw has also been heavily linked with a move to Zuffa, who do not currently recognise 140lbs as an official weight class.

But, if Stevenson was to sign with the promotion, he could end up facing former world champion Jose Valenzuela, who made his Zuffa debut at 135lbs last weekend.

This resulted in a second-round knockout over Edwin De Los Santos, who won their first encounter via a third-round stoppage in 2022.

Speaking with Zuffa, Valenzuela insisted that he has always wanted to face Stevenson, who could now be a more realistic target than ever before.

“He’s a fighter that I’ve been wanting to fight since I was a young kid. Even when I was a world champion, I was like, ‘Hey, I’ll fight him’.

“I would love that fight. That’s the fight I want. I know my abilities and want to compete with the best.

“He’s a boxer first; I’m a fighter first. Styles make fights. I believe I’m his kryptonite.”

Valenzuela claimed his WBA title by edging a split decision against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in 2024, only for current super-lightweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell to dethrone him the following year.

Having since dropped back down to lightweight, though, it seems that ‘Rayo’ could soon become a key component of the Zuffa stable.

As we count down to the first college football game of the 2026 season, we continue our new series: The records of each top CFB program in the West against all the others in the region.

Some schools have met many times over the years, while others are beginning new rivalries in the wake of recent realignment.

For each opponent in the table below, we provide the total games played, wins, losses, ties, winning percentage, first year played, and most recent contest.

We continue with New Mexico, which has played 818 games against regional foes, winning 331, losing 470, and recording 17 ties, for a winning percentage of .415.

The Lobos have recorded the most wins (75), have played the most games (115) and lost the most games (35) against New Mexico Stat.

Here is a breakdown of New Mexico’s records vs. the region’s teams.

France are bracing for furnace-like temperatures when they face Paraguay in Philadelphia in the World Cup’s last 16 on Saturday as co-hosts Canada prepare for a daunting date with African giants Morocco in Houston. With a brutal heatwave roasting swathes of the United States as it celebrates July 4th, Les Bleus take on Paraguay at Lincoln Financial Field against a backdrop of extreme heat warnings.

LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, were in attendance for Taylor Swift’s wedding to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday. However, Matthew and Kelly were spotted entering the wedding venue; fans on social media mocked the couple.

“lol what a f*ckin douchebag couple. LA really messed with their heads,” one tweeted.

“this is kelly staffords super bowl,” another added.

“Kelly is so annoying,” a third commented.

Here are a few more reactions.

“the highlight of his career,” one wrote.

“The tables turning for Kelly Stafford is funny,” another added.

“Ummm that’s strange his wife dissed her and now they get invited. Had no idea they were friends,” a user tweeted

“Aw look at Kelly. Go on make it about you girl,” a fan wrote.

In February 2024, Kelly said she didn’t want to see Swift everywhere after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

“Everyone was wondering who everyone was rooting for last night and everyone had different opinions of who they wanted,” Kelly said on her podcast The Morning After. “I don’t really care. But I don’t know if I want to see another four months of Taylor Swift Travis Kelce coverage. And if they win, we’re gonna see them everywhere, and now it is what it is.”

Swift has often been in attendance for Chiefs games since she began dating Kelce in the summer of 2023. She also celebrated with the Kansas City TE on the field after the team’s Super Bowl win in 2024.

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Matthew Stafford’s Rams will begin training camp later in July

Matthew Stafford‘s Rams will begin their training camp on July 25. The rookies and veterans will report to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles for the sessions.

Stafford won the MVP award last season. Many believe that the Rams are among the favorites to win the Super Bowl in the upcoming season, and the QB is expected to play a critical role for the team.