By Claude AI, Assistant Publisher

Tour de France
July 4 – 26, 2026 — Barcelona to Paris — NBC/Peacock

UPDATE: Friday, July 10, 2026

Belgium's Tim Merlier took Stage 7, the sprint into Bordeau, which riders from Belgium have dominated in recent Tours.

UAE's Tadej Pogačar leads overall and will be wearing the yellow jersey leading into Stage 8, Périgueux to Bergerac (180.4km) on Saturday.

INTRO: The 113th Tour de France opens July 4 with a Grand Depart unlike any in recent memory: for the first time since 1971, the race begins with a team time trial, and for only the third time in Tour history, the entire start takes place outside French soil, in Barcelona. Riders spend three days racing through Catalonia before crossing into France on stage three, the first of eight mountain stages spanning five ranges — the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Vosges, Jura and Alps — across 3,333 kilometers and 54,450 meters of total climbing. Tadej Pogacar enters as the heavy favorite, chasing a fifth Tour title that would tie him with the all-time record shared by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, with Jonas Vingegaard his most credible challenger. The race's signature moment arrives in its final week, when the route climbs Alpe d'Huez on consecutive days for the first time in Tour history, before the traditional finish down the Champs-Elysees on July 26.

Wimbledon
June 29 – July 12, 2026 — All England Club, London — ESPN/ABC

UPDATE: Sunday, July 12, 2026:

Jannik Sinner Wins Second Straight Wimbledon Title

In a thrilling Wimbledon gentlemen's championship match, world #1 Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev in four sets, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-4.

Sinner, the reigning Wimbledon champion, dropped the opening set in a tie-breaker, but returned to take the next three sets, retaining the title. The tension and quality were off the charts throughout in one of the best men's finals in years.

Sinner now owns five Grand Slam titles, including the Autralian Open in 2024 ans 2025, the 2024 U.S. Open and Wimbledon the past two years.

Zverev denied him the career Grand Slam, defeating Sinner earlier this year in the French Open at Roland Garros.

UPDATE: Saturday, July 11, 2026:

Linda Noskova Defeats Karolina Muchova in All-Czech Wimbledon Final

After dominating the first set, 6-2, Linda Noskova rebounded for a three-set victory after countrywoman Karolina Muchova rallied from 5-2 down in the second set to even the match at a set apiece, taking the second set 7-5 winning five straight games, turning back five match points in the process.

Noskova, who appeared to be running on fumes late in the second set, regained the kind of attacking, deep-shot game that won the first set, taking out Muchova, 6-3 in the third and final set.

The key stats were Noskova's 10 aces to Muchova's 6, and 74% of first serve points won by the eventual champion. Muchova won 64%.

The victory was the first Grand Slam title for Noskova.

UPDATE: Friday, July 10, 2026:

The Ladies' Singles competition is down to the finals, with two players - both from the Czech Republic - having survived multiple rounds that eliminated the top eight seeds in the tournament.

#9 seed Linda Noskova will meet #10 seed Karolina Muchova in the final match on Saturday, July 11.

Stat-wise, the match appears to be one contested fiercely. Here are some key takeaways:

Aces: Muchova 39; Noskova 33
Double Faults: Muchova 8; Noskova 22
1st serve points won: Muchova 77%; Noskova 73%
Break points won: Muchova 43; Noskova 44
Points won returning 1st serve: Muchova 66; Noskova 65

On the men's side, #2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany dispatched American Arthur Fery in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 and will meeting the winner of the other semi-final match, Jannik Sinner, world #1 and top seed at Wimbledon, who defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

So, it's #1 vs. #2, Sinner vs. Zverev, Sunday for the men's championship.

UPDATE: Saturday, July 4, 2026:

Belgium's Elise Mertens, the #27 seed, defeated #2 seed and 2022 ladies' singles champion, Elena Rybakina, in straight sets, 7-6, 6-1, on Saturday, in the tournament's most stunning upset to date.

Mertens employed an accurate and powerful serve to take the first set in a tie-breaker, then steamroll to victory, hitting 64% of her first serves and winning 78% of first-serve points.

Additionally, Alexandra Eala of the Phillipines defeated #3 seed, Poland's Iga Swiatek, 7-6, 6-2. leaving the path to the championship wide open for #1 seed, Aryna Sabalanka, who cruised past Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. Sabalenka will meet Japan's Naomi Osaka, the #14 seed, in the fourth round of play.

Friday, on the men's side, #1 seed Jannik Sinner defeated American Jenson Brooksby in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Eighth-seeded Danill Medvedev was ousted by Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5.

The grass court Grand Slam carries into July, with the fortnight's biggest matches still ahead as the month begins. Last year produced two compelling champions: Jannik Sinner won his first Wimbledon title, defeating two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in four sets to become the first Italian man to lift the trophy, while Iga Swiatek delivered a "double bagel" final, defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 — a scoreline not seen in a Wimbledon final since 1911. Both return as defending champions in 2026, with Alcaraz eager for redemption and Serena Williams making a wild-card return to singles for the first time in four years. The Ladies' Singles Final is set for Saturday, July 11, with the Gentlemen's Singles Final following Sunday, July 12.

World Cup Semifinals

Tuesday, July 14: Spain 2 – 0 France, 3 PM, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Wednesday, July 15: England vs. Argentina, 3 PM, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

This is it! Winners advance to the World Cup Final on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey for a 3 PM ET match to determine the best team in the world.

Prior to the Final, a consolation game will be held at Hord Rock Stadium, in Miami, Florida, between the two losers in the semifinals. That game is Saturday, at 5 PM ET.

France remains the favorite to win it all, but they must get past a talented, determined team from Spain first. The eventual winner is likely to emerge from that match.

World Cup Quarterfinals

World Cup Round of 16

World Cup Round of 32

MLB All-Star Game
Tuesday, July 14, 2026 — Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia — FOX

UPDATE, Wednesday, July 15:

In what may have been the most boring, continuously interrupted, nearly unwatchable MLB All-Star Game ever, the American League plated three runs in the first inning off NL starter, Christopher Sanchez - who clearly wasn't up to the task - and cruised to a 4-1 win, the 11th AL win in the last 13.

The National League produced only three singles, the first of which finally arrived, ironically, off the bat of Juan Soto, the underperforming outfielder for the last place Mets.

The highlight of the game came in the eighth inning, after most everybody had turned the TV off, when Miguel Vargas smashed a 433-foot homer to left.

Frequent interruptions - the annual stand up to cancer monstrosity, singing of "God Bless America" and the insipid, uninspired film and fireworks display in the sixth inning with kids riding bikes onto the field with Ray Charles background music was a colossal flop.

More than half of the outs were strikeouts, 27 in total, which is fine if you like pitching over hitting. There was one extra-base hit, the Vargas home run.

It was not worth watching. Maybe next year...

Major League Baseball pauses its pennant races for the midsummer classic, returning to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park for the 96th All-Star Game. The break gives fans a rare look at the league's best players from both leagues sharing a roster, a tradition dating to 1933. The T-Mobile Home Run Derby runs the night before on July 13, and look for that spectacle to draw just as much attention as the game itself, as has become tradition in recent years.

The Open Championship
July 16 – 19, 2026 — Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England — USA Network/NBC/Peacock