PARIS (AP) — Tadej Pogačar produced a dominant display ahead of his Tour de France defense by winning the Critérium du Dauphiné for the first time.
The UAE Team Emirates rider finished 59 seconds ahead of second-placed Jonas Vingegaard overall after controlling the eighth and final 133-kilometer (83-mile) stage on Sunday from Val-d’Arc to the Plateau du Mont-Cenis.
“Once again today, the team did a great job,” Pogačar said. “We managed to defend the jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour.”
Pogačar will seek his fourth Tour de France title in July.
The Slovenian finished third Sunday with the same time as his major rival, two-time Tour champion Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, who was second.
Lenny Martinez won the final stage in 3 hours, 34 minutes, 18 seconds for Bahrain Victorious, atop the Plateau du Mont-Cenis located on the French-Italian border. The French rider finished 34 seconds ahead of Vingegaard and Pogačar.
Pogačar reacted with ease to Vingegaard's attack on the final climb to Col du Mont-Cenis in a tough race that Tour contenders use to fine-tune their preparations.
After winning the opening stage, outsprinting Vingegaard and Mathieu van der Poel, Pogačar went on the attack in the mountains.
He took charge by winning the sixth stage on Friday, climbing to the finish line alone to beat Vingegaard by 1:01 and take an overall lead of 43 seconds over the Dane.
He captured the seventh stage on Saturday in a similar fashion, beating Vingegaard by 14 seconds and extending his overall lead to 1:01.
Sunday’s stage was the last day of Romain Bardet's professional career. The Frenchman, who is retiring, finished second in the 2016 Tour.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports
FILE - Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates URG team crosses the finish line to win the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Liege Bastogne Liege, in Liege, Belgium, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, file)
BERLIN (AP) — Europeans were reeling Sunday from U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that eight countries will face 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland.
The responses to Trump's decision on Saturday ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”
Trump's threat sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Trump's announcement came Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders were wrapping up a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading, according to a European diplomat who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and the Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."
Trump's move also was panned domestically.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Norway and the U.K. are not part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.
António Costa, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, pledged to continue their full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they wrote in a joint statement late Saturday.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year's tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.
__
Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
