CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Australian Football

Better Hate An Owner

Bowling

Chess

Climbing

Cricket

Curling

Cycling

Darts

Death To The NCAA

Disc Sports

Gaelic Football

Gambling

Golf

High School Sports

Horse Racing

Hurling

Infinite Replay

Jamboroo

Lacrosse

Olympics

Parasports

Pro Softball

Pro Wrestling

Racing

Rugby

Running

Skateboarding

Soccer

Sports Highlight Of The Day

Tennis

The Fights

The Great Outdoors

Volleyball

Why Your Team Sucks

Wings Week

Sports

Patrick Redford

Ben Healy of Ireland and Team EF Education - EasyPost celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 112th Tour de France, Stage 6 a 201.5km stage from Bayeux to Vire Normandie

Ben Healy Wins One For The Romantics

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the 2025 Tour de France cycling, Amien Metropole - Rouen (173 km), on Tuesday 08 July 2025 in France. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, France, and will finish in Paris, France on the 27th of July. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)

Tadej Pogacar Strikes The First Blow With Some “Pure Racing”

SAINT-PAUL-TROIS-CHATEAUX, FRANCE - JULY 17: (L-R) Jonas Vingegaard Hansen of Denmark and Team Visma | Lease a Bike - Polka dot Mountain Jersey, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - Yellow Leader Jersey, Biniam Girmay of Eritrea and Team Intermarche - Wanty - Green Sprint Jersey, Jasper Philipsen of Belgium and Team Alpecin - Deceuninck and Thomas Gachignard of France and Team TotalEnergies prior to the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 17 a 177.8km stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Superdevoluy 1500m / #UCIWT / on July 17, 2024 in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Your Guide To The 2025 Tour de France

LE GRAND BORNAND, FRANCE - AUGUST 17: (L-R) Audrey Cordon-Ragot of France and Team Human Powered Health and a general view of the peloton competing during the 3rd Tour de France Femmes 2024, Stage 7 a 166.4km stage from Champagnole to Le Grand Bornand 1265m / #UCIWWT / on August 17, 2024 in Le Grand Bornand, France. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

How Team Tactics Shape The Tour de France, And Vice Versa

The pack of the Tour de France cross a railway line during a stage of the Great Loop, in July 1933. (Photo by STF / AFP) (Photo credit should read STF/AFP via Getty Images)

How To Watch Cycling

Cyclists in a race are in the background. There is a house or wall on the left side of the road. There is a man in front, looking at the peloton, squatting halfway with his arms spread just past his knees. Next to him in the center of the road is a bicycle laid across the ground.

Defector Reads A Book

Why ‘The Rider’ Is The Best Sports Book I’ve Ever Read

BORMIO, ITALY - MAY 28: Isaac Del Toro of Mexico and Team UAE Team Emirates - XRG - Pink Leader Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 108th Giro d'Italia 2025, Stage 17 a 155km stage from San Michele all'Adige to Bormio 1200m / #UCIWT / on May 28, 2025 in Bormio, Italy. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Isaac Del Toro Meets The Moment

Defector Reads A Book: Defector Rides A Bike

Team Visma-Lease a Bike's French rider Pauline Ferrand Prevot cycles in a breakaway during the fifth edition of the Paris-Roubaix women's race, 148,5 km between Denain and Roubaix, northern France on April 12, 2025. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s Quick Return Makes A Great Cycling Season Better

Team Visma-Lease a Bike's Belgian rider Wout van Aert (C) reacts at the end of the men's elite race 'Dwars Door Vlaanderen', 184,2 km from Roeselare to Waregem, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by DIRK WAEM / Belga / AFP) / Belgium OUT

Wout van Aert Tried So Hard To Win, He Forgot Not To Lose

SANREMO, ITALY - MARCH 22: (L-R) Mathieu Van Der Poel of Netherlands and Team Alpecin – Deceuninck and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and Team UAE Team Emirates compete in the breakaway during the 116th Milano-Sanremo 2025 a 289km one day race from Pavia to Sanremo / #UCIWT / on March 22, 2025 in Sanremo, Italy. (Photo byFabio Ferrari - Pool/Getty Images)

Mathieu van der Poel And Tadej Pogacar Tear Up The Script

SIENA, ITALY - MARCH 08: Demi Vollering of Netherlands and Team FDJ - SUEZ celebrates at podium as race winner during the 11st Strade Bianche 2025, Women's Elite a 136km one day race from Siena to Siena 320m / #UCIWWT / on March 08, 2025 in Siena, Italy. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

The Demi Vollering Revenge Tour Is Officially On

Eva Holland is a freelance writer and editor based in Whitehorse, Yukon. She&#8217;s a correspondent for Outside magazine and the author of the books Nerve and <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/no-sleep-til-fairbanks#/">No Sleep &#8216;Til Fairbanks</a>.

Eva Holland

Lael Wilcox pedaling past a field of poppes in Spain

Trying To Catch Up With Lael Wilcox As She Biked Around The World In 108 Days

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - AUGUST 10: Marc Hirschi of Switzerland and UAE Team Emirates celebrates at finish line as race winner during the 44th Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa 2024 a 236km one day race from San Sebastian to San Sebastian / #UCIWT / on August 10, 2024 in San Sebastian, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Marc Hirschi Is Finally Flying Free Again

LUGO, SPAIN - AUGUST 30: (EDITORS NOTE: Multiple exposures were combined in camera to produce this image.) Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Red Bull Bora - hansgrohe prior to the La Vuelta - 79th Tour of Spain 2024 - Stage 13 a 176km stage from Lugo to Puerto de Ancares 1659m / #UCIWT / on August 30, 2024 in Lugo, Spain. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Primoz Roglic Shows He’s Up For The Fight

Canyon//SRAM Racing team's Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma celebrates after crossing the finish line and winning the third edition of the Women's Tour de France cycling race, after the 8th and last stage of the Tour de France, a 149.9 km between Le Grand Bornand and the Alpe d'Huez, in south-eastern France, on August 18, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

The Tour de France Femmes Ending Was As Dramatic As It Gets

Stage winner Team SD Worx - Protime's Hungarian rider Blanka Vas (L) speaks with Team SD Worx - Protime's Dutch rider Demi Vollering after the 5th stage (out of 8) of the third edition of the Women's Tour de France cycling race, a 152.5 km between Bastogne in southeastern Belgium and Amneville in northeastern France, on August 15, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Untimely Crash Throws Tour de France Femmes Into Chaos

Cédrine Kerbaol of France and Team CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling - White best young jersey, Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Poland and Team Canyon//SRAM Racing - Polka dot Mountain Jersey, Demi Vollering of The Netherlands - Yellow leader jersey and Lotte Kopecky of Belgium and Team SD Worx - Protime - Green points jersey celebrate at podium during the 2nd Tour de France Femmes 2023, Stage 8 a 22.6km individual time trial stage from Pau to Pau / #UCIWWT / on July 30, 2023 in Pau, France. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

The Tour de France Femmes Is The Perfect Post-Olympics Spectacle

PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 04: Kristen Faulkner of Team United States celebrates at finish line as Gold medal winner during the Women's Road Race on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Trocadero on August 04, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Kristen Faulkner’s Gold Medal Ride Was A Masterpiece Of Bravery

ELANCOURT, FRANCE - JULY 29: Thomas Pidcock of Team Great Britain competes during the Men's Cross-Country on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Elancourt Hill on July 29, 2024 in Elancourt, France. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

Tom Pidcock Scandalizes Delicate French Fans By Being Too Good At Bike Racing

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and has written for The Guardian, The Second Serve, The Athletic, and other publications.

Owen Lewis

Remco Evenepoel with his third-place honors at the 2024 Tour de France.

Cycling’s Belgian Brat Just Needs To Get A Little More Deranged

COL DE LA COUILLOLE, FRANCE - JULY 20: Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - Yellow Leader Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 20 a 132.8km stage from Nice to Col de la Couillole 1676m / #UCIWT / on July 20, 2024 in Col de la Couillole, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Tadej Pogačar Is Insatiable

Time Is Running Out To Clip Tadej Pogačar’s Wings

VILLENEUVE-SUR-LOT, FRANCE - JULY 11: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) Biniam Girmay of Eritrea and Team Intermarche - Wanty - Green Sprint Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of (L-R) Wout Van Aert of Belgium and Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Pascal Ackermann of Germany and Team Israel - Premier Tech and Jasper Philipsen of Belgium and Team Alpecin - Deceuninck during the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 12 a 203.6km stage from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot / #UCIWT / on July 11, 2024 in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Biniam Girmay Is The New Sprint King

Mark Cavendish of Astana Qazaqstan celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France.