Primoz Roglic has withdrawn from the Tour de France due to injury, dealing a blow to Jumbo-Visma team-mate Jonas Vingegaard's hopes of winning the competition.
Roglic played an integral role as Vingegaard claimed the yellow jersey at stage 11, with Jumbo-Visma executing their game plan in perfect fashion to displace Tadej Pogacar.
Le Tour heads through Rodez and finishes in Carcassonne as part of stage 15 on Sunday, but Slovenian Roglic will play no further part in the event.
The 32-year-old, who is a three-time stage winner on Le Tour, is unable to continue after battling back problems following a fall that saw him collide with a hay bale at stage 5 between Lille and Arenberg.
"To allow my injuries to heal properly, we have decided that I won't start today [Stage 15]," said Roglic, who occupied 21st position in the standings.
"I'm proud of my contribution to the current standings and I trust that the team will realise our yellow and green [jersey] ambitions. Thanks to everybody for your great support."
Roglic will hope to recover for the upcoming Vuelta a Espana, which begins on August 19, while Magnus Cort (EF Education–EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) have both also withdrawn from Le Tour due to COVID-19.
Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert will remain in the race, though, and will aim to again support Vingegaard, who held a 2:22 second advantage over Pogacar in the general classification standings heading into stage 15.
Thomas Tuchel has suggested that Chelsea could avoid signing players who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 in future.
N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have both missed the Blues' tour of the United States due to being unvaccinated, with their pre-season preparations taking place back in London with the youth teams instead.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of Chelsea's friendly against Mexican side Club America, Tuchel was asked if he would take vaccine status into consideration when it came to future transfer targets.
"Yes, it has to [be a factor]," Tuchel said.. "I knew some players who I would also take without vaccination. I have to say, but yes, it is a part of daily life at the moment.
"We cannot force [players to get vaccinated]. It is at the moment a very normal decision to get vaccinated. Both players took the decision not to. We need to follow the rules. They cannot join us. They know about the consequences.
"We don't like it. Of course not. We would love to have them here and it is not an ideal solution. Far from ideal. But, once the situation is like this you need to come up with a solution.
"They train with the Under-23s. Then they go with the Under-19s... but it will not compensate. It will not be the same [as being with the first team]."
Chelsea went on to secure a 2-1 win against Club America on Saturday thanks to second-half goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount either side of a Reece James own goal.
After the victory, Tuchel was asked by reporters about the arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly, who joined Chelsea on Saturday from Napoli for a reported fee of £33.8million (€40m).
"He brings experience, quality, top defending, quality, height, everything we're looking for to play a back three of back four," Tuchel said about his new centre-back.
"It's a brilliant signing, another brilliant signing for us, and we hope that he can show his quality as soon as possible. He is now training outside after he arrived yesterday, and we're very happy.
"He knows some of the players – he plays with [Edouard Mendy] with the national team and knows [Jorginho] from Napoli – so I think from this side, it will be quick that he feels welcome in the group. It's a nice group, and everyone is happy he is with us now."
The 31-year-old will likely line up alongside Thiago Silva, who joined the club two seasons ago as a 35-year-old, and Tuchel is backing Koulibaly to have a similar impact to the Brazil international despite arriving in the latter stages of his career.
"That's what we believe [that his peak years are still to come], and that's what he is here for," the Blues head coach added.
"There were always rumours about him leaving Napoli, and it was always super difficult – and in the end impossible – to get him because he was a key player.
"It's nice he takes the challenge right now, and we have Thiago Silva, who is even older and super experienced and still at the peak of his game.
"We hope Kalidou can do the same and play for many years for us. He is totally fit and ready for the challenge, and he needs to be because we need him in top shape."
Charles Oliveira will face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in the headline event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.
Oliveira has long been viewed as the defending lightweight champion, though the fight will be for the vacant 155-pound belt at the Etihad Arena on October 22.
The Brazilian secured the title last year after knocking out Michael Chandler before defending his title against Dustin Poirier in December.
But Oliveira surrendered his belt after he failed to make the weight for his next defence in May against Justin Gaethje, who he then defeated by submission in a non-title fight at UFC 274.
Retired former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will be backing team-mate and long-time friend Makhachev in the United Arab Emirates, with the former winning his last 10 UFC fights in a row.
Oliveira has also triumphed in his last 11 consecutive bouts, including 10 finishes, setting up a highly anticipated fight between two of the most talented fighters in the world at present.
Yet Oliveira will pose the toughest task Makhachev has faced in UFC, given Dan Hooker and Arman Tsarukyan are the only two top-15 lightweight fighters the Russian has defeated in his 11 UFC wins.
Harry Kane acknowledged Tottenham have failed to deliver trophies in recent years, but believes Antonio Conte and the new signings will help create "something special" in north London.
Spurs have not won a major trophy since their EFL Cup success back in 2008, though they pipped fierce rivals Arsenal to Champions League qualification in the 2021-22 season.
A run of five goals in the final five league games from Kane guided Tottenham into Europe, the England international finishing the top-flight campaign with 17 goals.
That marked Kane's joint-lowest tally in the Premier League in his eight seasons as a regular, alongside 2018-19, and was down on the 23 goals registered in 2020-21.
But after Conte bolstered his squad with five new signings – Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Richarlison and loanee Clement Lenglet – Kane insists Spurs are on the brink of success.
Asked about his aims for the upcoming season, Kane told Sky Sports: "Just to have another good year, another consistent year to help the team as much as possible, try to score as many goals as I can.
"From a team point of view, [the aim] is always to win trophies. There's a good buzz around the club at the moment but you've got to go out there and perform and show what you can do when it's crunch time.
"We haven't quite done that over years – with this manager, with this squad, we can really push on and try and do something special."
Conte's side opened their pre-season campaign with a 6-3 victory over a select K League XI before sharing the spoils against Sevilla with a 1-1 draw in Japan.
New arrival Richarlison has featured in both those games and is expected to offer stern competition for attacking trio Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min and Kane.
But Son sees the competition with the "quality" Richarlison, who scored (10) and assisted (five) more Premier League goals than any other Everton player in the 2021-22 season, as a positive.
"Competition is always good. You improve yourself and also your team-mates," he told reporters after the Sevilla friendly.
"We can rotate, or we can have a different style of football, or we can have different movements.
"Adding players like Richy is incredible. He's a quality player so I'm really enjoying that. I've been with him only four days but he's become like a really close friend."
Son will hope for another productive season in front of goal, having shared the Premier League Golden Boot award with Mohamed Salah last season (both scoring 23 goals each).
But the focus will be on how Kane starts the season, having failed to score in his first eight Premier League games of the last term amid uncertainty over whether he would join Manchester City.
"We talked about this last season – Harry didn't score at the start of the season but how many goals did he finish with?" Son added.
"Goals for Harry, I think there is no doubt. We don't have to worry about him scoring goals because he is, for me, the best partner, the best striker in the world still. He's working hard and he's an unselfish player."
The 2021-22 season was one to forget for Manchester United, with the club failing to even come close to finishing in the top four in the Premier League.
A campaign that saw them replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager with interim coach Ralf Rangnick eventually ended in a sixth-place finish, 13 points behind Tottenham in fourth and a whopping 35 away from champions Manchester City.
One player who came in for particular criticism last season was captain Harry Maguire, who has struggled to recreate his impressive form for England at club level since a big money move from Leicester City in 2019.
Speaking during United's pre-season tour of Australia, Maguire said: "Last year was disappointing. As an individual I didn't play well and as a team, we certainly didn't play well.
"But a good career can last 10 to 15 years and you're never going to have every year where it's plain sailing and you don't have any difficulties.
"You're going to have to fight, you're going to have setbacks and last year was certainly a setback for myself on my career path.
"But it's behind us now and we look forward to the future and getting this club back to winning trophies, which is what it’s all about."
United ended the season by losing six consecutive away league matches for the first time since March 1981, and failed to end a league campaign with a positive goal difference for the first time since 1989-90.
The club has moved to improve their fortunes next season by appointing Erik ten Hag as manager, and the arrival of the former Ajax boss has seen a renewed sense of optimism at Old Trafford.
United have made a promising start to pre-season, with a 4-0 win against rivals Liverpool in Bangkok followed by a 4-1 success against Melbourne Victory in Australia.
Anthony Elanga had been full of praise for Ten Hag's focus on improving running on and off the ball, and Maguire echoed the praise from his young team-mate about the early impact of the new manager's methods.
"It's been tough. The running has been hard but we're really looking forward to the new season," he added. "Everyone knows last year was nowhere near good enough but it's a fresh start and we've got a big season ahead.
"Erik and his coaching staff are bringing their ideas and the first two games you've seen little glimpses of the principles.
"We're working towards being ready for that first Premier League game, that's what matters. Everything we're doing now is building for that first game."
Mikel Arteta hailed Gabriel Jesus's "chaotic" nature after the forward continued his impressive start for new side Arsenal in Saturday's pre-season win over Everton.
The Brazil international, recently signed from Manchester City in a reported £45million deal, made it three goals in two outings as Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners in Baltimore.
Jesus, who scored his first two goals for Arsenal in last week's 5-3 win over Nurnberg, also assisted Bukayo Saka for the Gunners' second goal against Everton.
Arteta has been impressed by the 25-year-old's instant impact and in particular his ability to disrupt opposition defences.
"He creates chaos, he creates uncertainty and he's always on your shoulder," Arteta said.
"He's always there to nick the ball off you, he's always in front of the goal. He's a real threat and this is what we need.
"The moment we give the ball away he is straight away active and putting pressure and getting his team behind him.
"He has a lot of leadership skills. I can see straight away what he's doing with the boys and he's the type of guy that we want.
"He looks really sharp, really dynamic. He's got a really good understanding with his team-mates straight away.
"They are looking for him, he's generating chances, good connections around specific spaces we want to exploit with him especially, and yeah, we're really happy."
Excluding penalties, former Palmeiras ace Jesus averaged 0.81 goal involvements per 90 minutes between signing for City in 2016 and his departure this month.
Of players to have played at least 5,000 minutes over that period, only former City colleague Sergio Aguero (0.91) and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (0.88) boast a better return.
Jesus was often used in a wide position at City, but Arteta has so far used the versatile forward through the middle.
"He's very versatile, but obviously, the way we would like to develop him is in that position," Arteta said when asked if he sees Jesus as a number nine.
"In relation to what the opponent does in certain games, we are going to have to use him in different positions. He's open to that and he knows it's part of his strength as well."
William Saliba was given his first run-out of the close season against Everton, the centre-back featuring for 71 minutes before being replaced by Pablo Mari.
He completed more passes (53) than any other player on the field and Arteta confirmed the 21-year-old – who has spent three seasons out on loan – is part of his plans.
"He is in the plans, yes," Arteta said. "We cannot guarantee first-team football to anybody in this team – you can ask that question to anybody.
"What we guarantee is that the ones we really see and think are going to take us to the next level, they're going to be playing a lot of minutes.
"He's a proper talent and he's shown in the last year what he can do. But in football it's about what you do the next day.
"What everybody did three months ago or a month ago, it doesn't really matter. It's about what you do tomorrow and he's going to have the chance to play."
Chile pulled off an upset by overcoming the United States 31-29 in Colorado on Saturday to qualify for the Rugby World Cup for the first time ever.
The South American nation lost last week's first leg 22-21 in Santiago, but pulled off a huge result away from home to advance by a single point on aggregate.
Not until the 75th minute of the second leg, when Santiago Videla kicked over a penalty, did Chile take the lead for the first time.
Pablo Lemoine's side, who were 19-0 down at one stage in the second leg, will now join England, Argentina, Japan and Samoa in Pool D at next year's tournament in France.
USA will have a second chance to advance when they compete in a final qualification tournament in November, where Portugal, Kenya and the loser of the Asia/Pacific play-off await.
Speaking on the back of an historic win for his side, Chile captain Martin Sigren said: "It really means so much... the sacrifices that this team has made.
"There were times when it seemed like it was uphill. I want to thank all the family who came here. They were the ones who kept us pushing."
Fred Kerley is hopeful of achieving more historic feats after leading a clean sweep for the United States in the men's 100 metres at the World Athletics Championships.
The 27-year-old, who dropped down from 400m to 100m last year, powered past Marvin Bracy-Williams and Trayvon Bromell late on to claim gold in a time of 9.86 seconds.
With Bracy-Williams and Bromell taking silver and bronze respectively, it is the first time any nation has won all three medals in the world 100m since USA themselves in 1991.
After adding to the 100m Olympic silver won in Tokyo last year and the 400m world bronze from 2019, Kerley believes there is still more to come.
"I know today opened up many doors for me," he said. "The future is bright for me.
"It's amazing to be among the greats. They did it in 1991, we did in 2022. It's history. To be part of something that has only happened three times just means the world to me."
Bracy-Williams and Bromell clocked a time of 9.88 in Oregon to finish just behind Kerley in front of a full crowd in the first World Championships held in the USA.
"It's a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep," Kerley added. "I feel we can dominate again at next year's World Championships [in Budapest].
"We all put the work in, come back home and return again next year. This win means I can do 100m, 200m and 400m. I've got a medal in 400m and 100m."
Justin Verlander was in impressive form as he reached his MLB-leading 12th win of the season, leading the Houston Astros to a 5-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
Verlander put in a solid shift on the mount, striking out 10 while allowing just six hits and a walk over 106 pitches in six innings, lowering his ERA to 1.89, third in the major leagues.
The 39-year-old moved past Curt Schilling (3,116) and Bob Gibson (3,117) to 3,121 career Ks with his 10 on the night, moving to a 15th-ranked 108 for the season.
Martin Maldonado also hit a grand slam in the second inning, blasting A's rookie Jared Koenig over his head past centre-field for the third four-run shot of his career.
Moving to 59-31 for the yeat, the Astros extended their lead atop the American League West to 10 games over the Seattle Mariners, while the A's hold the AL's worst record on 31-61.
Yankees smash Red Sox to build momentum
Aaron Judge and Matt Carpenter led the way for the New York Yankees as they gave the Boston Red Sox 14-1 belting in the Bronx.
The team with the MLB's best record lost five of the previous six games and it threatened to be another glum night, at home to their fierce rivals, after Rafael Devers' home run off Jameson Taillon in the first inning.
Judge and Carpenter more than steadied the ship, however. Judge scored two home runs while also Carpenter went long twice, driving in seven runs on the night as the Yankees moved to 63-28 for the year.
Dodgers beat city rivals
Julio Urias and Trea Turner propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to their 60th win of the season, routing the Los Angeles Angels 7-1.
Trea Turner hit two home runs on the night, including a two-run shot to set up a five-run third inning for the Dodgers, who had the same amount of hits as the Angels with seven.
Julio Urias gave up five of those, but struck out eight Angels batters over 91 pitches in seven innings, moving his ERA to 2.89 for the season.
Freddie Freeman also recorded his 1,000th career RBI as the Dodgers moved to 60-30 for the year, extending their lead over the New York Mets atop the National League to three games.
Defending 100m world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has expressed satisfaction with a seemingly effortless first-round trot to the line, at the Oregon World Championships, on Saturday.
The Jamaican looked in superb form as she stopped the clocked at 10.87, easily covering the field before shutting down comfortably ahead of Britain’s Daryll Neita and Germany’s
Gina Lückenkemper who also qualified.
In fact, overall, as expected, there was no drama in the opening round as Fraser-Pryce compatriots Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah also won their heats, while the fourth Jamaican Kemba Nelson also advanced to the semi-finals after being third in Heat 4.
“I was trying to qualify as easy as possible and I hope I was able to do that and just look forward to the next round,” Fraser-Pryce said after the race.
“I couldn’t see the start from where I was so I’m not sure how that was executed but I’m sure when I go around the coach will have it and I’ll be able to look at it and see if I was able to execute. First rounds are usually hit and miss because there are so many things happening.”
Fraser-Pryce, who will be looking for a 5th world title, has come into the event with the fastest time in the world this year, 10.67, recorded in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jamaica’s Oblique Seville narrowly missed out on a podium spot in the men’s 100 finals an event that was entirely swept by the United States at the Oregon World Championships on Saturday.
Pre-race favourite Fred Kerley recovered late on to just edge out compatriot Marvin Bracey who seemed destined for gold after getting off to a brilliant start. A third American Trayvon Brommel was just behind. Timewise Kerley never quite lived up to the explosive promise of a 9.79 clocking in the first round, but still took the event in a respectable 9.86. Just ahead of Bracey who clocked 9.88 for second place. Brommel stopped the clock in an identical time.
Just behind Brommel was Seville who was fourth in 9.97. Despite missing out on the podium the result capped off a strong season for the 21-year-old who broke 10 seconds for the first time earlier this year and clocked a personal best of 9.86 in May of this year. Seville is coached by Glen Mills at the Racers Track Club the same place sprint legend Usain Bolt was conditioned.
Earlier the country’s 100m national champion Yohan Blake failed to make it to the final after finishing 6th in the semi-finals.
Ryan Jones says he feels like his "world is falling apart" after the former Wales captain was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of 41.
Jones revealed he was given a diagnosis of probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) last December.
The back row won 75 caps for Wales and three for the British and Irish Lions on the 2005 tour of New Zealand in an illustrious career.
Jones said in an interview with The Sunday Times: "I feel like my world is falling apart.
"I am really scared. I lived 15 years of my life like a superhero and I'm not. I don't know what the future holds.
"I am a product of an environment that is all about process and human performance. I'm not able to perform like I could. I just want to lead a happy, healthy, normal life.
"I feel that's been taken away and there is nothing I can do."
The ex-Ospreys skipper says he was initially diagnosed with depression after retiring seven years ago and started to have short-term memory issues, while also becoming forgetful.
He added: "I've got three children and three step-children and I want to be a fantastic dad. I can't train harder, I can't play the referee. I don't know what the rules of the game are anymore.
"We don't know where to go, where to find support. We haven't got any friends in this space. It terrifies me. That's the fear. That's the bit that never leaves. That’s the bit I can’t shake off."
Jones says more must be done to prevent an increasing number of players from suffering.
"It [rugby union] is walking headlong with its eyes closed into a catastrophic situation," he added.
Maxime Cressy will face Alexander Bublik in the final of the Hall of Fame Open after beating four-time champion John Isner on Saturday.
Cressy will play his third championship match of the year on Sunday following a 6-2 4-6 6-3 defeat of his fellow American in Newport.
The 25-year-old fired down 22 aces and won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve, breaking three times to move into the final.
Cressy had a stroke of luck for the only break of the deciding set, when he lobbed a shot just over the net and it bounced back onto his side to leave Isner 5-3 down. He then served out the match to end Isner's 10-match winning run in this event.
Bublik sealed his place in the final with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Jason Kubler.
Third seed Bublik did not face a break point and broke the Australian three times, sealing his victory in an hour and nine minutes.
There will be an all-Argentinian final at the Swedish Open between Francisco Cerundolo and Sebastian Baez.
Baez produced an upset, securing his first win against a top-10 opponent with a 6-2 6-4 defeat of second seed Andrey Rublev in Bastad.
Cerundolo got the better of Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-2, ensuring he will face his compatriot for the first time at tour-level.
2020 Olympic Champion Hansle Parchment ran 13.17 to advance to the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Saturday.
Parchment’s time was second fastest in qualifying behind American defending World Champion Grant Holloway’s 13.14.
Also advancing to the semi-finals were Jamaicans Rasheed Broadbell (13.36) and Orlando Bennett (13.55) as well as Barbados’ Shane Brathwaite (13.47).
The Men’s 400m hurdles saw four Caribbean athletes progress to the semi-finals.
Jamaica’s Kemar Mowatt ran 49.44 to finish second in his heat behind Olympic bronze medallist and 2022 world leader Alison Dos Santos of Brazil (49.41).
Mowatt’s Jamaican teammate Jaheel Hyde finished third in his heat in 50.03 behind Norewgian Olympic Champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm (49.34) and Belgium’s Julien Watrin (49.83).
Jamaica's Shawn Rowe finished sixth in heat four but his time of 49.51 was good enough to see him advance.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands also advanced safely after a 49.98 effort for fourth in his heat behind the USA’s Khalifah Rosser (48.62), Ramsey Angela of the Netherlands (49.62) and Sweden’s Carl Bengstrom (49.64). American Olympic silver medallist Rai Benjamin ran 49.06 to in his heat and also safely advance.
In the field, Shanieka Ricketts, Kimberley Williams and Ackelia Smith all advanced to the final of the Women’s triple jump.
Ricketts jumped 14.45m to advance with the fifth furthest jump in qualifying while Smith was eighth furthest with a personal best 14.36m. Williams was the 12th furthest jumper in qualifying with 14.27m.
Ana Lucia Jose Tima of the Dominican Republic had the third farthest jump in qualifying with a new national record 14.52m while Dominica’s Thea Lafond (14.39m) and Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez (14.30m) will also be in Monday’s final. Venezuelan world record holder Yulimar Rojas led all qualifiers with 14.73m.
Jamaicans Lamara Distin and Kimberly Williamson both jumped 1.90m to advance to the final of the Women’s high jump.
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