16/07/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2026 28 FOUR-TIME Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar launched a blistering solo attack late on Tuesday’s 10th stage to claim victory and extend his overall lead ahead of Jonas Vingegaard to three minutes and 36 seconds. Vingegaard’s attempt to chase down the 27 year-old UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider failed as Pogacar, chasing his third straight Tour de France title, sped away to the finish line 32 seconds ahead of second-placed Remco Evenepoel, while Paul Seixas came in third. “Today was incredible… we targeted this stage from a long time ago,” Pogacar said after the 24th Tour stage win of his career. “My legs were destroyed in the end. I didn’t know I was going to win until the last kilometre. I remembered it was Bastille Day, and wanted to

Pogacar wins Bastille Day showdown

mate Davide Piganzoli led the peloton. But one kilometre from the summit the Slovenian attacked and flew past Carapaz and went over the top first. Pogacar sped down the descent to go 30 seconds ahead of his general classifica tion rivals with 7km left, as two-time win ner Vingegaard set the pace for the chasing group that also included local favourite Seixas and Juan Ayuso. But Pogacar kept his lead with a controlled push, without looking like he was over-exerting himself, and was greeted by a packed crowd at Le Lioran – some of whom booed him for his sheer dominance. “To all the guys who were booing: They give us more power,” Pogacar said. – Reuters

him before the ascent to Puy Mary-Pas de Peyrol, the highest summit of the day, and within moments, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) sped ahead of the pack. Carapaz built a 40-second lead with 24km to go, while Tom Pidcock, Matteo Jorgenson and Chris Harper crashed during the climb, with Harper needing some time before he could continue. As the riders approached the last category one climb of the day to Col de Pertus, Pogacar was still happy to stay in the bunch as Vingegaard’s team

honour the yellow jersey.” The general classification contenders had taken a back seat in the last three stages, which included two sprinter-friendly flat rides, but Tuesday’s 166.6km mountainous ride from Aurillac to Le Lioran brought them back into the mix. Large holiday crowds gathered along the route, which tested the riders with two steep category one climbs towards the end. After the peloton reined in early attackers, Javier Romo (Movistar) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) pulled ahead, before Romo launched a solo attack on the climb to Col de la Griffoul. Romo rode solo until the peloton finally caught

Rory Mcilroy

Aaron Rai

Justin Rose

Links challenge

JACK NICKLAUS sent a handwritten letter to him. The British royal family tweeted at him. “I couldn’t quite believe that when I saw it,” Aaron Rai said yesterday, recalling the correspondence he received two months ago after winning the PGA Championship in Pennsylvania in May. And the return to Europe by the 31-year-old Englishman has shown him just what the victory meant back home. Imagine the reaction he would receive should he win The Open Championship, which begins today at Royal Birkdale. The Wolverhampton native stayed in the United States to compete on the PGA Tour for six weeks after claiming his first major victory on May 14 at Aronimink Golf Club. He has been back across the pond for just two weeks. Journalists from Wolverhampton, India – where his par ents and his wife, Guarika, were born – and elsewhere swooned over him during a pre-tournament news confer ence on yesterday at Royal Birkdale. “People sent me articles and got a feel of how it was received in England, which was great and a lot warmer than what I would have ever expected and more widespread than I would have thought,” Aaron said. “But in terms of purely the local area, I think because I was so far away with being in Florida and playing a lot of events, I didn’t really get a sense of how that felt or the magnitude of it in that respect.” Aaron would have no such trouble understanding the magnitude if he were to win the Open. When he was a teen ager, he and his father attended an Open practice round at Muirfield – but Aaron started paying attention to the Open much sooner. “They used to show highlights on BBC in the evenings,” Aaron said. “We used to watch it from 5-6 years old. I remem ber David Duval winning (in 2001 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes). “I used to support Tiger Woods a lot. It was great to see David win, but I was supporting Tiger. That’s what sticks out, that Tiger didn’t win that one. “Obviously I’m British, and this is a home Open, so very, very special tournament.” – Field Level Media Aaron returns to hero’s welcome

Rose says still time to realise dream

McIlroy seeks end to British Open drought as out-of-sorts Scheffler defends title

R ORY MCILROY has his sights set on a first British Open win since 2014 as world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler tries to get his game back on track to defend the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale. McIlroy ended a long wait for his fifth major by winning the Masters last year to complete the grand slam of golf’s majors and backed up that victory by securing another green jacket in April. Yet, his drought at his home major in front of an adoring crowd of fans goes on since his only British Open win at Royal Liverpool. McIlroy has limited his appear ances on the PGA Tour to prioritise the majors this year, playing just three non-major events since the Masters in April. The Northern Irishman looked good in a seventh-placed finish at last week’s Scottish Open, which could have been even better but for a fog-disrupted third round. “Obviously there was some good in there today, but there was some bad as well. So, I’m going to need to work a little bit over the next couple days to be ready for Thursday,” said McIlroy. “At least I know what I’m doing. It’s a matter of trying to sort of rectify it.” Scheffler, by contrast, hit a new low in a frustrating season for the world No. 1 at the Renaissance Club. After a four-year run of 78 succes sive made cuts, the American failed

JUSTIN ROSE is confident time is still on his side as he bids to win a first British Open title, with this year’s edition taking place on the Royal Birkdale course where he made his name. Back in 1998, as a 17-year-old amateur, Rose spectacu larly holed a pitch shot on the last hole in the final round of the British Open at the northwest course to finish joint fourth. He promptly turned professional only to experience 21 consecutive missed cuts. But 28 years on, Rose returns for his third appearance at Birkdale with a US Open title, an Olympic gold medal and 25 other professional wins to his credit. And he is adamant the clock remains in his favour as he bids to become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1992 to win the British Open and lift the Claret Jug trophy. “The Open Championship for a British player is the pin nacle of the game for sure,” Rose told reporters on Tuesday, two days before the start of the tournament. “It’s the one that I would love to win the most, for sure,” added the 45-year-old. “To step through my career and not have a jug at the end of it, I’ll always look back at it and go, ‘yeah, that’s a shame’. “But I think the Open Championship offers you the long est runway of an opportunity to win one so there’s plenty of time left.” Rose’s lone major success to date came at the 2013 US Open at Merion. Asked if his career had turned out as he hoped, Rose replied: “It’s almost an impossible answer… I’ve had a very good career and 28 years later I’m playing in the Open Championship. If I think about it is still an amazing achieve ment, just to have the will to keep wanting to be here. “I’m very happy with where I’m at. Could I have done more? Could I have won more of what I’ve already won? Yes. Would I love to be a multiple major champion? Yes. Do I feel I could have pushed towards close to a grand slam? Yes.” Rose, however, added: “But ultimately, if I look at it, I got to world number one, I’m a major champion, Olympic gold medallist, FedEx Cup winner – I’ve kind of achieved pretty much what there is to achieve in the game, albeit once only.” – AFP

to make the cut at the Scottish Open. Any doubts over Scheffler’s abil ity to master the seaside links condi tions appeared to be put to bed in his dominant display to win at Royal Portrush 12 months ago. “Getting some extra rest going into a major championship is never the worst thing, but I really hate missing cuts, too,” said the American. Matt Fitzpatrick finished in a tie for third at the Scottish Open to maintain his supreme consistency on tour that has seen the Englishman rise to third in the world rankings. But Fitzpatrick has struggled to produce his best at the majors since winning the 2022 US Open. He appears best placed to end the 34-year wait for an English win ner of the Open, but Tommy Fleetwood is the local hero on his hometown course. Aaron Rai is another of the English contenders after his shock win at the US PGA Championship. Despite a boom period for European golf, the last three winners of the British Open have been American. Behind Scheffler, world No. 3 Cameron Young and US Open champion Wyndham Clark lead the American charge, while Jordan Spieth was the victor the last time the Open was held at Birkdale in 2017 and remains adamant his major winning days are not over. – AFP