Tadej Pogacar powered to an impressive stage win on the first day in the Pyrenees to take back the Tour de France yellow jersey on Thursday.

On a day when many wondered if he would suffer any ill effects from his crash the day before, Pogacar showed none and put himself in prime position for his fourth Tour victory with a break on the stage-ending climb to Hautacam.

He finished more than two minutes ahead of main rival Jonas Vingegaard.

“You don’t know how the body reacts after the crash, but it was not too bad, it was not a bad crash,” said Pogacar, the defending champion. “I feel my hip only when I do acrobatics, but here I’m just riding the bike.”

Hautacam is the resort overlooking Lourdes and Stage 12 must have felt like a pilgrimage for all the riders. Ben Healy, who wore the yellow jersey for two stages, finished well behind on a brutal day for the Irish rider.

In 2022, Vingegaard dominated Pogacar at Hautacam on his way to his first Tour victory. But the Danish rider is now 3½ minutes behind his main rival in the general classification. Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel is third, 4:45 behind Pogacar.

As if in a rush to face the grueling challenges awaiting in the mountains, the riders sped through the first 50 kilometers in just under an hour with the peloton chasing a large 52-man breakaway group.

But their efforts on the narrow, twisting roads through spectacular landscapes and stone-house villages took their toll as exhausted riders dropped behind, one by one.

Birds of prey circled overhead as the riders suffered below.

Pogacar made his move with 7.3 miles remaining with help from UAE teammate Jhonatan Narváez, who looked over his shoulder and allowed Pogacar to accelerate past. Vingegaard initially gave chase but couldn’t keep up with his rival, who overtook French rider Bruno Armirail for the lead with 6.8 miles to go for his 20th stage victory — third in this race.

“I was just looking forward for today. And then all the people were all the time coming to me and saying, ‘Oh yeah, this is the revenge time,’ and blah blah blah. And then when we approached the bottom of the climb, it was just a reverse story of a few years ago,” said Pogacar, a 26-year-old Slovenian.

Pogacar finished 2:10 ahead of Vingegaard, with German rider Florian Lipowitz 2:23 off the pace in third.

Armirail, who had been leading, followed 10:46 after Pogacar. Healy finished 13:38 off the pace.

Tributes for young Italian rider who died

Riders took time before the stage in memory of Samuele Privitera, the 19-year-old who died after a crash while racing in Italy the day before.

Privitera crashed in the first stage of the Tour of Valle D’Aosta.

“The risk that we are taking sometimes is too far.” Pogacar said before racing.

WNBA

Breanna Stewart had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the Liberty to a 98-77 win over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night in New York.

Indiana was without star guard Caitlin Clark, who missed the game after injuring her right groin on Tuesday night in the final minute of the game against Connecticut in Boston.

Sabrina Ionescu added 15 points and nine assists for the Liberty (15-6), who played without star center Jonquel Jones, the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, who has been out since June 19 with an ankle injury. Jones said she plans to return for the Liberty’s first game after the All-Star break on Tuesday, which is also against Indiana.

Kelsey Mitchell had 16 points for Indiana (12-11), which is 4-6 without Clark.

Aces 90, Wings 86: A’ja Wilson had 37 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season as Las Vegas won in Dallas on Wednesday night.

Wilson, the reigning league MVP, who had 34 points and 16 rebounds in a 104-102 win over Golden State on Saturday, finished 15 of 25 from the field to reach 30-plus points for the fourth time this season for Las Vegas (11-11). Her 37 points tied for most points in a WNBA game this season.

Paige Bueckers scored 10 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas (6-17).

In Seattle’s 67-58 victory over Golden State earlier on Wednesday, Storm star Nneka Ogwumike’s 22 points moved her past Candice Dupree (6,895 points) by one point into sixth place on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list.

NHL

The NHL released its 2025-26 schedule on Wednesday, 1,312 games set to be played from Oct. 7-April 16 before the chase for the Stanley Cup.

Soon, there will be 1,344, with each of the league’s 32 teams playing 84 games starting in 2026-27.

The league takes a break for the Winter Olympics in Milan between Feb. 6-24.

The Kings open Oct. 7 playing host to the Colorado Avalanche, face the Ducks in Anaheim — the first of four Freeway Faceoff meetings — on Nov. 28, and close at Calgary on April 16.

The Ducks open at Seattle on Oct. 9, face Pittsburgh in their home opener on Oct. 14, and close in Nashville on April 16.

Find six must-see games for the Ducks and Kings, plus the teams’ full 2025-26 schedules online at ocregister.com/sports.

DOPING

Women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich was provisionally suspended for a positive doping test on Thursday.

Track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said Chepngetich, 30, tested positive for a banned diuretic and masking agent in March and “opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU’s investigation was ongoing.”

The Kenyan runner set the world record by almost two minutes at the Chicago Marathon last October in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 56 seconds. It was her third win in Chicago. She also won the marathon at the 2019 world championships in Qatar.

The substance Chepngetich tested positive for, hydrochlorothiazide or HCTZ, can be used to disguise the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

MEDIA

The countdown to Lee Corso’s final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” kicked off when the longtime analyst and former coach was honored at the ESPYS on Wednesday night.

“My goal on TV was to bring a smile to everybody’s face. I hope I have done that,” Corso said on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles after a video aired and comments by “GameDay” analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.

Corso — the lone remaining member of the show’s original cast who turns 90 in August — previously announced that his final show would be Aug. 30 in Columbus, Ohio, before defending national champion Ohio State plays host to Texas. This is the 39th season of “GameDay” on ESPN.