Tim Merlier is the sprinter of this Tour de France. The Soudal Quick-Step rider won stage 12 into Chalon-sur-Saône on Thursday, timing his effort to perfection to take his third stage victory of the 2026 race, ahead of Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen.

It was the closest bunch finish of the Tour so far, the fast men packed together as they hit the long, dead-flat finishing straight. Philipsen had the lead-out he wanted, but once again Merlier found another gear off his rival's wheel and had time to sit up and celebrate. The sprint was not without cost: a crash inside the final few hundred metres brought down Fernando Gaviria and Søren Wærenskjold and held up part of the peloton, though no serious injuries were reported.

The finale was chaotic before the sprinters took over. Lidl-Trek spent the closing kilometres trying to blow the race apart, and green jersey Mads Pedersen attacked repeatedly, committing to aggression rather than waiting for a sprint he might not win. Nothing stuck. The sprint trains reasserted control inside the final three kilometres, and the day resolved into the bunch kick everyone had expected.

The stage began somewhere unusual for a bike race, rolling out from the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours, a former Formula 1 venue, before covering 179 largely flat kilometres. It was billed as perhaps the last pure sprint chance before the Tour turns into the Vosges and the Alps, which sharpened both the stage win and the points battle. Tadej Pogačar stays in the yellow jersey, his overall lead untouched on a day the general classification riders were content to let pass.

For Merlier, stage 12 follows his wins on stages 7 and 8, confirming him as the dominant pure sprinter of the 2026 Tour.

Argentina against Spain. The 2026 World Cup will be decided on Sunday, 19 July at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the reigning world champions meet the reigning European champions in a final that sets raw attacking star power against the stingiest defence of the tournament.

Argentina booked their place with a 2-1 win over England in Atlanta, a late goal completing yet another comeback from Lionel Scaloni's side. It has not been a procession. The holders were dragged to extra time by Cape Verde and Switzerland and had to claw back a two-goal deficit against Egypt, but they keep finding a way, and they keep finding Lionel Messi. At 39, in what may be his last World Cup match, Messi has eight goals and set up both against England to move ahead in the Golden Boot race.

Spain arrived first, and arrived differently. A 2-0 win over France in Arlington, built on an Oyarzabal penalty and a Pedro Porro strike, sent La Roja to their first final since they lifted the trophy in 2010. De la Fuente's side have run on control and a back line that has conceded just once all tournament, keeping six clean sheets on the way. Teenager Lamine Yamal remains the spark most likely to unpick a disciplined defence.

The subplots write themselves. Messi first met Yamal when the Barcelona prodigy was a baby; their next meeting is a World Cup final. Argentina chase back-to-back titles and a fourth star, Spain a second. It is late-game magic against relentless organisation, and on Sunday only one side lifts the trophy.

Argentina are back in the World Cup final. The defending champions produced a stunning late comeback to beat England 2-1 in Atlanta on Wednesday, scoring twice in the closing six minutes to break English hearts and set up a Sunday showdown with Spain.

For most of the night England looked the more likely. Anthony Gordon put them ahead in the 55th minute, tapping home after Morgan Rogers broke clear in transition, and the Three Lions defended their lead deep into the closing stages. Then Argentina, and Lionel Messi, found another gear.

Two goals in six minutes

Enzo Fernandez levelled in the 85th minute to haul his nation back into it, and with the game seemingly drifting to extra time, Lautaro Martinez rose to head home in the 92nd minute to complete the turnaround. Messi had a hand in both goals, the veteran pulling the strings as Argentina threw everything forward. He finishes the tournament as a joint top scorer with eight goals, a reminder that his influence has not dimmed.

Heartbreak for England, a repeat bid for Argentina

For England it is more agony. Their long wait for a second world title, still stuck on the 1966 triumph, goes on, and they now drop into Saturday's third-place playoff. For Argentina, La Albiceleste move within one match of a feat almost no one manages: retaining the World Cup. No nation has won back-to-back titles since Brazil in 1962.

Sunday's final pairs Argentina with a Spain side that has looked imperious all tournament, having dismissed France 2-0 in the other semi. It sets up a heavyweight finale between the holders and the team many have tipped as the best in the field.

Søren Wærenskjold produced the turnaround of the 2026 Tour de France on Wednesday, winning stage 11 in Nevers barely 24 hours after crossing the line last on the brutal climbs of the Massif Central. The Uno-X Mobility sprinter timed his effort to perfection on the flat run into town, launching from distance off his team's lead-out and holding off Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen to the line.

The 161.3km stage from Vichy ran on wet, cooler roads that the sprinters welcomed after the previous day's mountains. A four-man break featuring Julian Alaphilippe went clear early but was hauled back inside the closing kilometres, setting up the expected bunch finish. As the peloton strung out through the final corners, Wærenskjold committed early and backed himself, and neither Kooij nor Philipsen could quite come around him.

A breakneck finish

It was a furiously fast run to the line. Reports put the average speed at around 50.9km/h across the stage, making it one of the quickest road stages in Tour history and eclipsing the mark Mario Cipollini set back in 1999. Nevers had not hosted the Tour since 2003, when Alessandro Petacchi won its last bunch sprint there.

Redemption and the bigger picture

The win was sweet vindication for Wærenskjold, who had been caught up in a sprint controversy earlier in the race, forced to brake to avoid the barriers and left fuming as he finished 11th on an earlier stage. Out front, nothing changed at the top: Tadej Pogačar kept the yellow jersey, his overall lead intact as the race turns towards the high mountains in the days ahead.

The American League turned the Midsummer Classic into a pitching clinic on Tuesday night, shutting out the National League 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to claim the 2026 All-Star Game. On a night built around the host Phillies, it was the visitors who spoiled the party.

The AL went to work immediately against hometown starter Cristopher Sanchez. The Phillies left-hander, the first Philadelphia pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Roy Halladay, was tagged for three runs in the opening inning, with Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice both delivering run-scoring hits. That early cushion was all the American League's arms would need.

A near-record night on the mound

What followed was one of the most dominant pitching displays the game has seen. American League bowlers struck out 15 batters, one short of the nine-inning All-Star record of 16, and ten of the eleven pitchers used recorded at least one strikeout. The National League managed just three hits, all singles, tying for the second-lowest total ever in the exhibition.

Bellinger takes the honours

Cody Bellinger was named Most Valuable Player, his two first-inning runs batted in proving decisive. The only extra-base hit of the entire evening came late, when Miguel Vargas launched a solo home run in the eighth to round out the scoring. For all the star power in both dugouts, the story of the night was pitching and defence rather than the fireworks the Home Run Derby had promised 24 hours earlier.

The result hands the American League bragging rights heading into the season's second half, and sends the National League into the break still looking for answers in a game that got away from it early.

Golf's oldest major returns to England's north-west coast this week as Royal Birkdale prepares to stage the 154th Open Championship, with the world's best teeing off from Thursday 16 July through Sunday 19 July. It is the 11th time the Southport links has hosted the event, making it the most frequently used venue in the modern rota behind only St Andrews, a run that stretches back to Birkdale's Open debut in 1954.

Scheffler the man to beat

Scottie Scheffler arrives as both defending champion and clear favourite, having lifted the Claret Jug last year at 17 under. The world number one is a short price with the bookmakers at around 7-1, though his season has been unusually quiet by his standards. A single win and a missed cut at the recent Genesis Scottish Open have left the door ajar. Rory McIlroy, chasing a second Open title, heads the chasing pack, with home favourite Tommy Fleetwood and a deep field of major winners close behind.

A links with history

Laid out among towering sand dunes and redesigned into its current shape in 1922, Birkdale is regarded as one of the fairest and most demanding of the Open venues. It was here in 2017 that Jordan Spieth produced one of the championship's great final rounds to win at 12 under. The course has been quietly reworked since, with changes to its closing stretch, and organisers have added new spectator options for a championship that has grown into one of the summer's biggest sporting draws.

As ever, the British weather may have the final say. Forecasters expect scattered showers and a stiffening breeze across the four days, the kind of conditions that separate links specialists from the rest.

Spain are back in the World Cup final. A composed, ruthless 2-0 win over France in Arlington on Tuesday carried La Roja to the showpiece for the first time since they lifted the trophy in 2010, and they did it in the manner that has defined their tournament: score early, then suffocate.

The breakthrough came in the 22nd minute. Lamine Yamal, a constant menace down the right, was hauled down in the box by Lucas Digne, and Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up to convert the penalty for his fifth goal of the tournament. It was the first time either side had trailed at any stage of the competition. Spain doubled the lead in the 58th, Pedro Porro exchanging passes with Dani Olmo before side-footing past Mike Maignan. Yamal thought he had a third but was flagged offside.

France's stars smothered

For all their firepower, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue barely threatened, held to a meagre 0.3 expected goals from ten shots. France's night grew harder when centre-back William Saliba limped off injured after half an hour. Spain, meanwhile, have conceded only one goal across the entire tournament, the defensive backbone of a side that has now drawn level with Italy's record of 37 matches unbeaten.

A rivalry firmly one-sided

This was a third straight win over France, after the Euro 2024 and 2025 Nations League semi-finals, denying the top-ranked side a third consecutive World Cup final. Spain now await the winner of England versus Argentina in Sunday's final at MetLife Stadium; France drop into Saturday's third-place game.

Tadej Pogacar turned Bastille Day into a statement, attacking alone on the Col de Pertus and soloing to victory at Le Lioran on stage 10 of the 2026 Tour de France. It was the exact summit where the Slovenian suffered one of his most painful defeats, and this time he settled the score.

The 166.6km run from Aurillac through the volcanic Cantal packed 3,800m of climbing into seven categorised ascents, and the race blew apart in the final hour. When Pogacar jumped clear on the day's last major climb none of his rivals could follow, and he rode the closing kilometres unchallenged to add another stage to a dominant Tour.

Vingegaard cracks, Evenepoel salvages second

Behind, the chase was frantic. Jonas Vingegaard did much of the pulling on the climb but paid for it in the final metres, dropped by the very group he had helped drive and conceding a few more seconds to the yellow jersey. Remco Evenepoel clawed his way back on the descent and had the legs to win the sprint for second, ahead of Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz. Isaac del Toro, still fighting for the podium, came home alone about a minute and a half down.

A debt repaid at Le Lioran

Le Lioran carried heavy history. In 2024 Pogacar attacked here in yellow only to fade, reportedly after a hunger knock, and Vingegaard reeled him in and outsprinted him at the line. UAE Team Emirates had openly used that memory as motivation coming into the day. This time the roles reversed, and Pogacar tightened his grip on a Tour he has led since the opening week.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker pulled off one of the Home Run Derby's great upsets on Monday night, overhauling hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber to win the 2026 edition in front of a partisan crowd at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Competing in the Derby for the first time, Walker saved his best for last. Trailing the Phillies slugger and down to his closing swings, he needed a late flurry to catch Schwarber and delivered it, finishing with 12 home runs to Schwarber's 11. Walker got there on 18 swings; Schwarber, who had thrilled the home fans all night, fell one short on 15. Walker becomes the first Cardinal ever to take the title.

Schwarber's home crowd left waiting

The result denied Philadelphia a storybook night. Schwarber had carried the building through the earlier rounds, and fellow Phillie Bryce Harper, a former champion, drew the loudest roars before bowing out in the opening round. In the end it was the visiting 24-year-old who quieted the 43,863 in attendance.

Caminero's monster night falls short

Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero, the runner-up a year earlier, again provided the fireworks. He launched the longest blast of the night, a 491-foot drive, and crushed a dozen homers in the first round, several travelling beyond 470 feet. But he cooled in the semifinals and was eliminated, with Boston's Willson Contreras also falling in the last four to set up the Schwarber-Walker final. The Yankees' Ben Rice exited early with the night's lowest total.

The Derby traditionally opens Major League Baseball's All-Star week, with the Midsummer Classic still to come as its centrepiece. Walker's comeback gave the marquee opener a finish worthy of the occasion.

Jannik Sinner is a Wimbledon champion for the second year running. The world number one produced a ruthless display on Centre Court to beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, defending the title he won in 2025 and underlining his command of the men's game.

It was a final that matched the top two seeds, but never a contest of equals. Sinner served with authority, struck cleanly off both wings, and gave the German almost nothing to work with. Three tight but one-sided sets later, the Italian sank to the grass as champion, having dropped serve rarely all afternoon and closed the match out with the same calm that has defined his season.

For Zverev, it was a chastening end to a breakthrough summer. The 29-year-old had arrived chasing the 'Channel Slam' after finally landing his maiden Grand Slam at Roland-Garros weeks earlier, and a first Wimbledon final confirmed his form on a surface that had long been his weakest. But he ran into an opponent who has now beaten him in every meeting of a lengthy head-to-head, and the drought at the All England Club goes on.

Sinner reached the final by ending Novak Djokovic's latest bid for a record-extending Grand Slam, winning their semifinal 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3. Djokovic still left his mark on the fortnight, passing Roger Federer's record for most Wimbledon men's singles match wins along the way.

The victory caps a remarkable run for Sinner, who bounced back from an early French Open exit to reassert himself as the man to beat, and it hands Wimbledon back-to-back champions in the same name for the first time in years.