Your Tour de France cheatsheet, plus a World Cup classic

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🎆 Happy birthday, America! 🎆 250, wow … nearly old enough to rent a car. Inside today:

🚴 Pogačar’s record bid

🇨🇻 An all-time near-upset

💒 Travis & Taylor 4ever

Tour de Pulse: More international sporting greatness is here

July often comes with a hint of … twisted dread at Pulse HQ. It’s typically a relative breather in the sports calendar, sure, but can also really force our creative process.

This year, however, we’re fully enraptured by the biggest World Cup ever. We know nothing of a summer slog! This is a soccer country now. But I humbly ask you to find space for another multi-week competition with global touchpoints: the Tour de France, which runs from today through July 26.

I probably say this every year, but this one really has everything, including likely GOAT debates. To cater to our soccer-pilled brains, I asked our Jacob Whitehead for a Tour cheatsheet in the form of a storyline Starting XI:

Can Tadej Pogačar secure a fifth Tour de France yellow jersey, equalling the record?

Who will be faster of the two Belgians in the sprints — Tim Merlier or Jasper Philipsen?

Can 19-year-old Paul Seixas prove that he has the talent to end France’s 41-year wait for a Tour winner?

Will Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s dual leadership strategy work, or will Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz end up at each other’s throats?

Is Jonas Vingegaard really in career-best form? If so, is even that level enough to beat his eternal rival, Pogačar?

Who will take yellow on today’s opening team time trial? Will we see identical tactics, or will some squads attempt to take a risk on the Barcelona city streets?

Can American champion and breakaway specialist Quinn Simmons finally win his first Tour stage?

Just how special will it be to have back-to-back summit finishes at Alpe d’Huez on the race’s final weekend?

Can British rider Tom Pidcock challenge for the podium on Q36.5’s Tour debut?

Just how impressively will Mexican climber Isaac del Toro perform as he makes his Tour debut in support of Pogačar?

Will the early visit to the Pyrenees scatter the field within days — or will the race remain alive into its final week?

Twenty-one days of racing? Light work now. We also have a full, in-depth preview here, and you can follow our cycling coverage here.

One more pro tip: This thing starts early in the U.S. every day — stack the Tour with World Cup viewing and you’ll basically never have a reason to turn the TV off (you can stream every stage live on Peacock). Welcome to the Pulse peloton.

News to Know

Cape Verde nearly shocks the champs

In certainly the best game of this World Cup and one of the great upset bids in recent sports history, little Cape Verde took Argentina to the absolute brink before the champs got the winner off an own goal in the 111th minute. It wasn’t a cynical effort, either: Cape Verde took risks and tried to play through Argentina as if they were the soccer heavyweight, scoring two excellent goals — including this o-u-t-r-a-g-e-o-u-s extra-time equalizer from Sidny Lopes Cabral:

This is a country with a half-million people, ranked No. 67 in FIFA’s official standings, that leaves this tournament having played Spain, Uruguay and Argentina even through 90 minutes. Incredible run. Read more about it here.

In other action, Egypt edged Australia on pens — it’s Argentina next for Mo Salah and co. — while Colombia looked more dominant against Ghana than a 1-0 scoreline suggests. They’ll play Switzerland.

Travis and Taylor tie the knot

No, this is not sports. But it did involve Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Madison Square Garden, and … look, we can’t control what’s interesting to people, OK?! If you do care, we’ve got fantastic coverage of who showed up and what happened at The Wedding here. If you don’t, you probably don’t need to be the 10,000th person to say that in the comments … … but maybe you do. Maybe you do.

More News

The Flyers tendered Leo Carlsson a deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NHL — the Ducks have a week to match. Details here.

Putting $25 on Joey Chestnut to eat the most hot dogs today will earn you a whopping $1. (It’s expected to be 95 degrees. Yuck.)

The Rangers announced that owner James Dolan is handing over day-to-day responsibilities to his 32-year-old son Quentin. More here.

Blackhawks center Connor Bedard left a training session clutching his left arm after an awkward fall.

Chelsea signed North Carolina Courage midfielder Manaka Matsukubo, considered one of the world’s most promising young players. Full story here.

Fever star Caitlin Clark said of online harassment targeting Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, including death threats: “None of that is OK.”

Meanwhile Clark teammate Sophie Cunningham said she hasn’t given a second thought to the Trump administration’s use of that viral finger-pointing meme.

The Timberwolves believe they’re real contenders in the LeBron James sweepstakes.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 World Cup: Canada vs. Morocco

1 p.m. ET on Fox

The round of 16 begins, with Morocco the clear favorite on paper. The Canadians are already deeper into this tournament than they’ve ever gotten in a World Cup.

📺 World Cup: Paraguay vs. France

5 p.m. ET on Fox

It would require a colossal upset for Paraguay, but then, that’s what they delivered against Germany last week. The South Americans have the 2022 runner-ups’ full attention.

📺 Wimbledon: Anisimova vs. Keys

10:30 a.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Unlimited

Details on an All-American showdown, via our Grand Slam Briefing newsletter: Amanda Anisimova, last year’s finalist, found her serve just at the right time to scrape past Sofia Kenin in the previous round, with her timing on her forehand having been all over the place. But the 24-year-old much prefers playing the likes of Madison Keys, 31, in matches that can descend into first-strike blitzes. Don’t look for a ton of long rallies in this one.

Get tickets to games like this here.

Pulse Picks

The 1990s were a time of experimentation in uniforms across all sports. But ICYMI earlier this week, this piece on the “hella atrocious” history of college football’s most daring designs is worth your time.

Test your knowledge of this week’s sports news with our quiz. Play here.

My most-played lawn game is this life-size Connect Four. I love it so much. If you need me this weekend, I’ll probably be three feet from it at most times. — Lauren Merola

The rise of social media and smartphones is the most disruptive change to athletes’ mental performance in decades. Here’s why.

Loved this homage to children’s book author Sandra Boynton and her expansive collection of works, and felt seen by this separate distillation of her most essential reads. A little hit of dopamine with every “have read” click. — Torrey Hart

Why do male soccer players hike their shorts up during matches? The psychology behind it is deeper than you might think.

With swaths of the country facing scorching heat this weekend, it’s a good reminder that we should be preparing for extreme heat the same we do any other natural hazard. My fellow emergency preparedness experts at Wirecutter and I have some strategies to prepare for sweltering temps. — Colleen Hagerty

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The “snick-o-meter.”

Click here to read article