★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ STARS ON SATURDAY ≡
Olympic-sport fans are looking forward to two exciting events on Saturday, with the one-day Pre Classic track & field meet in Eugene, Oregon and the start of the Tour de France, with another showdown between Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar and Danish champ Jonas Vingegaard eagerly anticipated.
The 112th Tour comes first on the 5th of July, with the start in Lille, in northeastern France, with a full complement of 23 teams and 184 riders. The race is expected to be settled among three stars:
● Tadej Pogacar (SLO): Winner of the Tour in 2020-2021-2024 and second to Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. At 26, he’s in his prime and the definite favorite, having won his two multi-stage races in 2025, the UAE Tour in February and the Criterium du Dauphine in France in June. He also won four major Classics races in Europe in March and April and was in the top three in all seven of his efforts.
He has the benefit of a superb running mate on his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad in 2025 Tour de Suisse-Tour de Romandie-Itzulia Basque Country winner Joao Almeida (POR), who would otherwise be among the favorites himself!
● Jonas Vingegaard (DEN): Winner over Pogacar in 2022 and 2023 and second in 2021 and 2024, so between the two, they have been first and second in four straight Tours!
Vingegaard, returning from a bad crash at the Itzulia Basque Country races in 2024 and a concussion during Paris-Nice 2025 in March, says he is healthy, and was second to Pogacar at the Criterium du Dauphine in June. His Team Visma-Lease A Bike is strong, including American stars Matteo Jorgenson and Vuelta a Espana winner Sepp Kuss and 2025 Giro d’Italia winner Simon Yates (GBR).
● Remco Evenepoel (BEL): Last year, Evenepoel dominated at the Paris Olympic Games, winning both the Road Race and the Time Trial! He finished third at the 2024 Tour de France behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, so he knows what he is up against. He also won the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, and has to be considered if either of the two-time champions ahead of him should falter.
The 21 stages of this year’s Tour have most of the climbing stages in the second half of the races, with opportunities for the sprinters early:
● Flat stages (7): 1-3-8-9-11-17-21
● Hilly stages (6): 2-4-6-7-15-20
● Mountain stages (6): 10-12-14-16-18-19
● Individual Time Trials (2): 5-13
The race finale will return to Paris, after skipping 2024 due to the Olympic Games.
NBC has coverage of the Tour, primarily on its Peacock streaming service, with stages shown on NBC on 5-6-20-26-27 July.
¶
The 50th Prefontaine Classic to be held Saturday started out as a fund-raising meet to support the construction of a new western grandstand at Hayward Field, in 1973 and 1974, but renamed after the tragic death of distance icon Steve Prefontaine on 30 May 1975.
Since then, the meet has grown into the top invitational in the U.S. and is the only Diamond League stop in the United States. Nike requires its top athletes to include it on their annual schedules, making it one of the best meets in the world.
The same is true for 2025, with multiple highlight events:
● Men/100 m: Jamaica’s world-leader (9.75) and Olympic silver winner Kishane Thompson vs. world no. 3 (9.84) two-time Worlds bronze winner Trayvon Bromell and 2019 World Champion Christian Coleman.
● Men/200 m: Another showdown between Grand Slam star Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver winner, and Paris gold medalist Letsile Tebogo (BOT).
● Men/400 m: Paris Olympic champ Quincy Hall, runner-up Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR) and bronze winner Muzala Samukonga (ZAM).
● Men/Mile: Olympic 1,500 m winner Cole Hocker and bronzer Yared Nuguse are in, plus world 1,500 m leader Azzedine Habz (FRA), 2019 World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN), 2022 Worlds winner Jake Wightman (GBR) and even double Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher!
● Men/400 m hurdles: Olympic champion (and world leader) Rai Benjamin of the U.S., 2022 World Champion Alison dos Santos (BRA) and 2022 Worlds bronze winner Trevor Bassitt of the U.S.
● Women/100 m: Olympic champ Julien Alfred (LCA), runner-up Sha’Carri Richardson, Grand Slam Track winner Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and world no. 3 Tina Clayton (JAM)!
● Women/400 m: Five of the nine have run in the 49s this season, but can Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone get the American Record of 48.70? She’s going to try.
● Women/1,500 m: Fresh from her “sub-4″ try, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon may be in for a world-record try here. The Olympic silver (Jess Hull/AUS) and bronze (Georgia Hunter Bell/GBR) will be there too.
● Women/Steeple: The Paris podium is all here: Winfred Yavi (BRN), Tokyo winner Peruth Chemutai (UGA) and Kenyan Faith Cherotich.
● Women/5,000 m: Paris Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet (KEN) and world-record holder Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), among others.
● Women/100 m hurdles: Paris Olympic winner Masai Russell, world-record holder Tobi Amusan (NGR), two-time World Champion Danielle Williams (JAM) and double-Grand Slam winner Ackera Nugent (JAM).
● Women/Long Jump: The Paris Olympic medal winners are all here: Americans Tara Davis-Woodhall (gold) and Jasmine Moore (bronze) and German silver winner Malaika Mihambo.
There’s more, with world-record holder Mondo Duplantis (SWE) in the non-Diamond League men’s vault, American Record-setter and world leader Chase Jackson in the women’s shot and Olympic champ Valarie Allman looking for her 26th straight win in the women’s discus.
Wow!
The meet will be shown live on NBC and Peacock at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 694-event International Sports Calendar for 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
