Sports
Mathieu van der Poel wins hilly, hot Tour de France Stage 9
Mathieu van der Poel celebrates winning Stage 9 of the Tour de France from Malemort to Ussel on Sunday. Belgian-born Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel powered through the heat and hills of central France on Sunday to win Stage 9 of the Tour de France.
Known as “The Flying Dutchman,” van der Poel needed three hours, 27 minutes, 51 seconds to complete the heat-shortened stage from Malemort to Ussel and give his Alpecin-Premier Tech team its first win of the race.
On the day’s fourth and final ascent, van der Poel attacked the Category 4 climb and eventually broke away from Tobias Johannessen of Norway and Tom Pidcock of England. Uno-X Mobility’s Johannessen, Pinarello’s Pidcock and EF Education-EasyPost’s Alex Baudin of France finished directly behind van der Poel.
Though race officials made accommodations for the heat by slicing Stage 9 from 185.5 kilometers to 155.5, van der Poel suggested the 90-degree-plus conditions weren’t the worst of the race.
“It was for sure better than the first few days,” van der Poel told TNT. “I was struggling and finding it difficult to recover, even from the easier (days). The past few days I’ve felt a bit better and today I finally had some legs to go for it.
“I was not so sure (about the finish), I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive with all the pressure from the bunch. The roads are horrible (with) head winds and we fought for it and I’m happy to finish it off.”
Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia finished 11th overall — six seconds behind van der Poel — to maintain the overall lead. The four-time champion sits at 32:17.04 heading into Monday’s rest day, the first of the race.
Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, who finished in the same bunch as Pogacar, remains two minutes and 42 seconds behind. Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, stayed in third place.
After a rest day, Tour de France organizers will celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday by sending the riders on an ambitious 166.6-kilometer ride through the mountains from Aurillac to Le Lioran.
When they scheduled a similar finishing climb in the 2024 Tour de France, Vingegaard rallied to catch Pogacar and win the stage in a photo finish.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Senegal fire coach Pape Thiaw after World Cup elimination
June 26, 2026; Toronto, Canada; Senegal coach Pape Thiaw before the match. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images Senegal have terminated the contract of head coach Pape Thiaw after the country’s elimination in the 2026 World Cup.
The Senegalese Football Federation announced on Sunday that it had parted ways with the 45-year-old coach, who had been on the job since 2024.
“It was decided to initiate a procedure to terminate the functions of the national coach, Mr. Pape Thiaw, as well as his entire technical staff,” the federation said in a news release.
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“After a thorough evaluation of the sporting results and prospects of the national team, the Executive Committee deemed it necessary to initiate this procedure in the best interests of Senegalese football.”
On July 1 in Seattle, Senegal lost to Belgium 3-2 in the round of 32, considered a failure by the federation. Thiaw’s side held a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, then allowed two late goals and a penalty in extra time to be eliminated.
In Group I action, Senegal defeated Iraq but lost to Norway and France. They advanced to the knockout stage as one of the eight third-place finishers, thanks to their five-goal win over Iraq.
More than 25% of the World Cup coaches have been fired or resigned since the their teams were eliminated.
In addition to Senegal, coaches from these countries are out of a job: Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea, Tunisia, Scotland and Uruguay.
More departures could occur, as well.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Haeran Ryu wins Evian in playoffs, earns second straight major title
Jun 27, 2026; Chaska, Minnesota, USA; Haeran Ryu hits her tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Haeran Ryu captured her second major title in three weeks on Sunday after recording a birdie on the first playoff hole, defeating Brooke Henderson to win the Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Sunday.
Henderson, of Canada, benefited from a hole-in-one on the eighth hole and her second eagle of the day on the 18th to finish 7-under-par 64 at the Evian Resort Golf Club. That pulled her even with third-round leader Ryu (71), of South Korea, at 19-under-par 265.
The pair returned to the 18th hole, where Henderson settled for par after she found the rough off the tee and her ensuing shot missed the green.
Ryu, of South Korea, rolled in a 3-foot birdie putt to secure her fifth LPGA Tour win. She won the Women’s PGA Championship on June 28.
“Yeah, this is just a dream right now because before the three weeks I don’t have a major championship, but now two in a row,” Ryu said. “So I’m so happy and I’m — I can’t believe it right now.”
Ryu followed up the lowest round in major championship history (60) on Saturday with one birdie and one bogey during the final round. Her lone birdie in regulation came on the 18th hole.
“Yeah, I know how important that putt (was), so that’s why I’m so nervous,” Ryu said. “But I made it and then almost like a little bit celebrate. Yeah, so happy on last two birdies.”
Henderson was proud of her spirited play on Sunday as she bid to win this tournament for the second time since 2022.
“Yeah, played awesome today, which is really exciting. To finish second in a major and third a couple weeks ago, definitely game is in a really good spot,” Henderson said.
“Obviously very exciting to get into the playoff. Wish I had played a little bit better, but Haeran has been playing great. Congrats to her.
“I am happy how I played. Lots of birdies and eagles, which is really fun.”
Japan’s Aki Iwai (69 on Sunday) finished in third place, one stroke behind the leaders.
Miyu Yamashita (66) and Mao Saigo (68), also of Japan, joined South Korean Jin Hee Im (65) in a tie for fourth place.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Why Christian Pulisic’s USMNT Story Isn’t Over Despite World Cup Criticism
Ten years ago, Argentina’s Lionel Messi was so wounded by his penalty misfire in the Copa America final that he briefly retired from international football.
Back then, Messi was two years older than United States attacker Christian Pulisic right now.
And today, he’s a universally beloved national hero, a 2022 World Cup winner and, at age 39, still the most important player for a 2026 semifinalist.
No one is confusing Pulisic with the greatest footballer who ever roamed the Earth.
But when you zoom out, the unprecedented criticism the 27-year-old AC Milan star is receiving after the USMNT’s embarrassing 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 resembles the turbulence Messi faced with his national team in his late 20s. And it suggests there is more time for the Hershey, Pa., native to rescue his image than the moment suggests.
Like Messi, Pulisic came of age during a time when his country’s fans were looking for someone to pick up the mantle carried by previous legends.
For Messi, it was Diego Maradona, the man who led Argentina to their second World Cup crown in 1986 and remained relevant through the 1994 cycle. For Pulisic, it’s Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, whose attacking partnership elevated the United States to a consistent knockout stage participant in the early part of this century. Donovan was even a breakout star on the 2002 team that reached the quarterfinals.
And like Messi, Pulisic’s introverted personality has been an awkward fit with the team leadership hoisted upon him, complete with the corporate visibility he has willingly accepted
When you listen to Donovan’s criticism of Pulisic’s camp, claiming they keep him at an unnecessary distance from the rest of the group, there are obvious echoes of the grievances against mid-2010s Messi, who by then had already achieved nearly everything possible in an FC Barcelona jersey, but hadn’t won a single major title for Argentina.
So we’d be foolish to discount a Pulisic second act, though he may face some obstacles that Messi hasn’t.
There’s his durability. Pulisic has now left three of his seven career World Cup starts before 90 minutes due to injury. In his club career, he is typically removed before full-time while Milan try to manage what has been described as a chronic hip issue.
It may also be difficult to find a coach as amenable to building a system around Pulisic’s strengths as Lionel Scaloni has catered to Messi since he took the job in 2018. It’s one thing to build an entire team around one of the world’s all-time greats. It would be something different to do so for someone who might not be his country’s most talented footballer by the time the 2030 World Cup rolls around.
But Pulisic also has advantages, mainly lower public standards. A return to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 would be rightly hailed as a success. Even similar competitive results could be laudable if the final defeats came against better sides than a Belgium squad in decline.
Messi is not only uniquely great, but also uniquely effective in the latest years of a great career. Pulisic’s career resurrection will have to come sooner than at age 34, when Messi first won Copa America.
But there will be chances before then, potentially at the 2028 Copa America and definitely at the 2030 World Cup. And the burden of expectation will almost certainly be lighter than this summer at a home World Cup.
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