Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen attacked from the start and won the 11th stage of the Tour de France while race favorite Tadej Pogacar crashed near the finish on Wednesday in Toulouse, France.

Pogacar, the three-time champion, crashed with 3.9 kilometers remaining. His rivals for the general classification slowed down so he could get back on his bike and rejoin them. Pogacar, who was able to reattach the chain on his otherwise undamaged bike, thanked them for waiting.

“All good, all good,” Pogacar said over the UAE Team Emirates XRG radio. “Respect to the peloton, respect to everybody.”

Abrahamsen beat Swiss rider Mauro Schmid in a photo finish in a final sprint after Belgian-born Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel made a late push to catch them.

It was the Norwegian rider’s first stage win at the Tour and the first in this race for his team, Uno-X Mobility.

Abrahamsen, 29, wasn’t sure he’d even be racing at the Tour when he broke his collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Belgium last month.

Van der Poel dropped his head and slouched on his bike as he finished 7 seconds behind in third, while the GC group including Pogacar and yellow jersey-holder Ben Healy finished 3:28 back.

Healy, only the fourth Irish rider ever to hold the yellow jersey, still leads by 29 seconds from Pogacar.

After the first rest day on Tuesday, Wednesday’s stage was a 156.8-kilometer loop from Toulouse back to the southern “Pink City” with views of the Pyrenees. It was expected to suit the sprinters, though there was a sting in the tail with a 20% incline on the Côte de Pech David before the finish.

COLLEGES

The Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences are headed back to court after failing to reach a settlement agreement in mediation over $55 million in “poaching” fees.

The conferences failed to reach an agreement by Tuesday’s deadline in mediation that began in May. The Pac-12 has requested a hearing on the pending motion to dismiss on Sept. 9.

“The Pac-12 remains committed to moving forward with legal action in response to the Mountain West’s attempt to impose so-called ‘poaching penalties,’ provisions we believe are unlawful and intended to obstruct our ability to act in the best interests of our student-athletes and member institutions,” the Pac-12 said in a statement.

The Pac-12 and some of the schools it is adding filed lawsuits last year, claiming the poaching clause it agreed to when it signed a scheduling agreement for its football teams for last season was invalid.

The clause called for payments to the Mountain West of $10 million for the first team that left, with the amount growing by $500,000 for every additional team. That was on top of the $17 million-plus exit fees schools were responsible for as part of a different agreement.

Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Boise State are all set to join the Pac-12 starting in 2026. The conference added Texas State last month to reach the eight-team minimum to be eligible for an automatic bid for its conference champion in the College Football Playoff.

The University of Memphis’ athletic department has been put on probation for two years and fined $30,000 by the NCAA after an investigation found an academic counselor paid two softball players to help a men’s basketball player with schoolwork.

The NCAA announced the mutually-agreed-to punishment Wednesday, saying in a report that former Memphis academic counselor Leslie Brooks paid two unidentified softball players a total of $550 to provide test answers and complete assignments for an unidentified basketball player during a period from Jan. 25-Feb. 18, 2024.

In addition to the fine, Memphis was docked 1% of the combined budget of the men’s basketball and softball programs for violating seven NCAA bylaws. The NCAA said the three players involved competed in 20 games while ineligible, and the probationary period begins immediately and runs through July 15, 2027.

TENNIS

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from the tour stop that begins July 27 in Montreal, opting for additional rest before beginning preparations for her U.S. Open title defense. Sabalenka is coming off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, where she lost to Amanda Anisimova.

Jannik Sinner’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon men’s final averaged nearly 2.9 million viewers, a 31% increase over last year’s title match, ESPN said Tuesday. The men’s semifinals averaged 1.3 million viewers, up 34% from 2024.