Evenepoel's stunning time trial win as Pogačar takes Tour de France yellow jersey

CAEN, France (AP) — Race-against-the-clock specialist Remco Evenepoel produced a stunning display of power to win the first time trial of the Tour de France on Wednesday and defending champion Tadej Pogačar cemented his favorite status by grabbing the yellow jersey.

Evenepoel, the reigning time trial Olympic and world champion, was expected to win the stage in the absence of time trial specialists — Filippo Ganna and Stefan Bissegger, who both crashed and exited the race on the first day of the Tour last week.

The mainly flat 33-kilometer (20.5-mile) stage 5 in Normandy favored powerful riders like Evenepoel, who already had won a time trial in a similiar fashion last year, when the Belgian rider finished third overall in the general classification.

Evenepoel, who has fully recovered from multiple injuries sustained in a big crash last year, was 16 seconds faster than Pogačar. Edoardo Affini, the time trial European champion, was third, 33 seconds off the pace.

Tucked on his bike in a perfect aerodynamic position, Evenepoel was in a class of his own. He made the most of the back wind in the second half of the race, reaching the finish at an average speed of more than 54 kph (33.5 mph).

“I didn’t really feel like I could go any faster,” Evenepoel said.

But the day's big winner was Pogačar, who was back in the yellow jersey a day after taking his 100th career win. The three-time Tour winner opened a big gap on his main rival Jonas Vingegaard, who endured a bad day and lost more than one minute to his rival from Slovenia.

Pogačar, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader, blasted off the starting ramp and set up a very high tempo from the start. He could not match Evenepoel's performance but his strong challenge put him at the top of the overall standings, with a 42-second lead over Evenepoel. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was in third place overall, 59 seconds off the pace.

“To be 16 seconds behind the world champion, Olympic champion, the best time trialist probably right now in the world, I'm super, super happy,” Pogačar said. “I lost a little bit to Remco but gained on the others, it's a very good day.”

Pogačar found himself holding the yellow jersey, the green jersey for best sprinter and the polka dot jersey for best climber. It's unclear whether Pogačar will want to defend the yellow jersey so early in the race before the big mountain stages.

“The most important is the yellow, and to have it on the Champs-Elysees on the finish line in Paris,” Pogačar said.

Evenepoel was satisfied that he moved up to second place overall, yet downplayed his chances of winning the Tour.

“It’s a big step towards the podium but there’s still a long way to go,” Evenepoel said. "Everybody knows what’s coming next week and the week after. One year, I will come to win the Tour but it’s a bit too early this year.”

Vingegaard was never in the mix and now lags 1:13 behind Pogačar, in fourth place overall. Previous leader Mathieu van der Poel, who was under no illusion he could keep the coveted yellow jersey, dropped to sixth place, 1:28 back.

Grischa Niermann, the head of racing at Vingegaard's Team Visma-Lease a Bike, said the Danish rider “did not have enough power today.”

Stage 6 will take the peloton from Bayeux to Vire in a region of France known as Norman Switzerland featuring some high hills and stunning views. The stage finale should be spectacular with the Côte de Vaudry likely to feature some attacks from top contenders before an uphill finish with a 10% gradient.

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Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard competes during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an indivdual time-trial over 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) with start and finish in Caen, France, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar wearing the best climber's dotted jersey competes during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an indivdual time-trial over 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) with start and finish in Caen, France, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar wearing the best climber's dotted jersey crosses the finish line during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an indivdual time-trial over 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) with start and finish in Caen, France, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar wearing the best climber's dotted jersey competes during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an indivdual time-trial over 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) with start and finish in Caen, France, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Belgium's Remco Evenepoel crosses the finish line during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an indivdual time-trial over 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) with start and finish in Caen, France, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)