MUR-DE--BRETAGNE, France (AP) — Less than a week after the Tour de France began, world champion Tadej Pogačar secured a second stage win at the top of a challenging climb and and reclaimed the yellow jersey on Friday.
The 197-kilometer (122-mile) Stage 7 between Saint-Malo and Mûr-de-Bretagne did not feature a major difficulty until the finishing loop, including the iconic Mur-de-Bretagne ascent. Called the “Alpe d’Huez of Brittany” by the cycling-crazed Bretons because of its steep gradient, the climb was tackled twice and the finish line was set up at the top.
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The pack rides during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
The pack with Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey rides along the beach during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A spectator with sunflowers on the head poses during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
France's Ewen Costiou looks back to the pack as he rides during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Italy's Mattia Cattaneo 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)
Pogačar and his teammates from UAE Team Emirates-XRG were in total control in the stage finale, which was contested by a small group of riders including two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard — Pogačar's main rival — and Remco Evenepoel.
Pogačar launched the sprint some 200 meters from the finish and Vingegaard jumped on his wheel but was unable to overtake his rival. Pogačar had time to raise his right arm in triumph as he crossed. Behind Vingegaard, Oscar Onley completed the stage podium.
“We did an amazing job, all the teammates were perfect,” Pogačar said. “We had a plan, we stuck to it, and we won. Tim (Wellens) led me out to the bottom of the final climb. And then (Jhonatan) Narvaez did a superb job to keep things under control until the sprint.”
Pogačar is the overwhelming favorite to win a fourth Tour title. He has been in supreme form since the start of the season and has been the best rider since the start of the Tour last weekend.
His latest win marked his 19th Tour stage victory overall. This week, the defending champion claimed the 100th professional victory of his stellar career in typically flamboyant style, beating Mathieu van der Poel in a dash to the line to win the hilly fourth stage.
Pogačar was also impressive during the first time trial of the race and is expected to dominate even more when the Tour reaches the mountains.
This is the 42nd time Pogacar leads the overall standings.
Overall, Pogačar has a 54-second lead over Evenepoel, with Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin in third place, 1:11 off the pace. Jonas Vingegaard was fourth, 1:17 behind, followed by Van der Poel, the overnight leader who was dropped early in the final climb.
A five-man break including former Tour champion Geraint Thomas formed soon after the start, gaining an early lead of 1 minute, 40 seconds. Frenchman Ewen Costiou, a Tour debutant, attacked from that group and tried to go solo, leading the race over the first ascent of the Mûr-de-Bretagne. But with the chase raging behind him, the task was way too big and he was caught by the group including all of the main contenders with 12 kilometers left.
As riders scrambled for position at the front, a dozen of them were caught in a high-speed crash on a downhill some six kilometers from the finish line. Pogačar's teammate Joao Almeida was among those involved.
“I’m super happy with the win today. But not everything is perfect, Joao is going for X-rays after his crash," Pogačar said. “He’s in great shape so I really hope it’s nothing broken and he can continue.”
Almeida escaped without a concussion but has “an uncomplicated left-sided rib fracture, as well as some profound abrasions to his body," UAE Team Emirates-XRG said. He is expected to start Saturday's stage.
The peloton exits Brittany during Stage 8, a 171-kilometer (106.5-mile) mainly flat trek from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval on roads sheltered from the wind. Expect a bunch sprint.
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The pack rides during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
The pack with Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey rides along the beach during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A spectator with sunflowers on the head poses during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
France's Ewen Costiou looks back to the pack as he rides during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Italy's Mattia Cattaneo 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)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his administration and allies have put the president’s name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.
“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.
The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.
For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.
That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.
Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.
“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”
Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.
Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.
“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”
“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.
The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.
“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.
He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
