Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier won the ninth stage of the Tour de France in a mass sprint after Mathieu van der Poel spent the whole day at the front before being caught by the chasing pack less than a half-mile from the finish.

There was no significant change in the overall standings and three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogacar kept the race leader’s yellow jersey.

Sunday’s stage headed into Chateauroux central France on a 108-mile flat stretch for sprinters.

But van der Poel, a one-day classics specialist with a flamboyant style of riding, almost foiled their plans.

The Dutch rider joined his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jonas Rickaert in an early breakaway and produced a tremendous effort over 107 miles at a speed of about 30 mph but could not go all the way and was swallowed less than a half-mile from the line.

“It’s hard not to be able to finish it off,” van der Poel said.

Merlier won the sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan, the winner of Saturday’s stage, with Arnaud De Lie completing the podium. It was Merlier’s second stage win of this year’s Tour.

“I got boxed in a bit but then I managed to go all in and I was able to do my sprint like I wanted to and I’m happy to win my second stage here,” Merlier said. “It’s the second time I manage to beat Milan but he’s a really strong sprinter. It’s just nice we can show a nice battle between the two of us.”

In the overall standings, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel remained 54 seconds behind Pogacar in second place. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was third at 1 minutes, 11 seconds, and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard sat 1:17 behind in fourth spot.

Ealier in the stage, João Almeida, a key teammate of Pogacar, abandoned the race due to an injured rib.

WNBA

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers each produced remarkably efficient stat lines in their first professional matchup. The ultimate result wasn’t nearly as close.

Clark helped Indiana dominate the second quarter, leading the Fever past the Dallas Wings 102-83 in Indianapolis. Clark had 14 points and a season-high 13 assists, needing only 25 minutes to earn the 19th double-double of her two-year career. Bueckers wound up with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 turnovers in 33 minutes in a head-to-head matchup that lived up to the hype of the past two No. 1 overall picks squaring off.

“It’s fun to watch, not as an opponent on the other sideline. But for a lot of young players that come into this league, there’s a learning curve,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “And how quickly they figure it out is always interesting to see.

“Paige, she’s figured it out.”

Liberty 79, Dream 72: Leonie Fiebich scored 21 points and the host New York rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half. Breanna Stewart added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty.

Mystics 74, Storm 69: Brittney Sykes scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, Sonia Citron added 17 points for Washington in Seattle. Kiki Iriafen (USC) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Washington and her six double-doubles this season are tied with Chamique Holdsclaw for franchise’s single-season rookie record.

NBA

Cooper Flagg’s time in the Summer League has come to an end after two games. The Dallas Mavericks rookie reportedly has been shut down by the team for the rest of the summer, per NBA insider Marc Stein.

Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, played in two Summer League games: a win over the Lakers on Thursday, and Saturday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Flagg had an outstanding second game with Dallas Saturday, scoring 31 points.