Cycling

Triple world champion Peter Sagan withdrew from the Tour de France on Thursday because of a knee injury. The 31-year-old from Slovakia was unable to start the Tour’s 12th stage. He said: “In a sprint stage I hurt my knee. Yesterday I managed to finish the stage but was in a lot of pain and

Luke Rowe is “gutted” to leave the Tour de France early after missing the time cut on a stage for the first time in his career. The Ineos Grenadiers rider fell behind early in the day on arguably the toughest stage of this year’s race. Fellow Welsh rider Geraint Thomas, Rowe’s team-mate, finished more than

Belgium’s Wout van Aert claimed a fine solo win on stage 11 of the Tour de France as leader Tadej Pogacar showed a first glimpse of vulnerability. Van Aert dominated the double ascent of Mont Ventoux to finish one minute 14 seconds ahead of Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema. Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard distanced Pogacar on

Mark Cavendish sprinted to his 33rd stage victory at the Tour de France to move within one win of Belgian legend Eddy Merckx’s all-time record. The Manx rider, 36, held off Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen to win stage 10 in Valence. Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Cavendish also won stages four and six of this year’s

From an opening stage mass-crash in the peloton caused by a spectators’ cardboard sign, to Tadej Pogacar’s obliteration of the general classification field so far, the 2021 Tour de France has been breathless from the start. Mark Cavendish, Britain’s top sprinter who tearfully claimed his own glittering career looked over last year, after years of

Geraint Thomas will continue to ride when the Tour de France resumes after the first rest day on Monday. The 2018 champion conceded over 30 minutes on Saturday’s mountainous stage eight, ending any prospects of victory. Despite an improved performance on stage nine Thomas indicated afterwards he would still consider whether or not to pull

Australia’s Ben O’Connor produced a brilliantly composed ride to win stage nine of the Tour de France but fell short of taking the yellow jersey. The AG2R Citroen rider conquered the bruising mountainous finish in Tignes and is second behind defending champion Tadej Pogacar in the overall standings. O’Connor looked as if he would overtake

Geraint Thomas has said he will make a decision during Monday’s rest day on whether he will continue in this year’s Tour de France. The 2018 Le Tour champion was expecting another tough ride in the mountains on Sunday. “To be honest I can’t see today being much different than yesterday,” Thomas said in a

Belgium’s Dylan Teuns took a fine solo victory on stage eight of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar claimed the yellow jersey in Le Grand-Bornand. Defending champion Pogacar, 22, rode away from his rivals for the overall victory on the penultimate climb of the Tour’s first day in the mountains. Ion Izagirre was second,

Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric earned his first Tour de France victory with a fine breakaway win on stage seven. The Bahrain Victorious team rider was part of a breakaway with 50km remaining and left his challengers to cross the line in Le Creusot one minute and 20 seconds ahead of Jasper Stuyven. Overall leader Mathieu van

Mark Cavendish won his 32nd Tour de France stage victory to move within two stages of the all-time record held by Belgian legend Eddie Merckx. It is the second stage win of this year’s Tour for Cavendish, who feared he would never return to the race after a long illness threatened his career. He was

Gendarmerie du finistere The Tour de France has withdrawn a lawsuit against a spectator suspected of causing a huge crash by waving a sign in the riders’ path on Saturday. The peloton was 45km (28 miles) from the end of the first stage, when her sign clipped German rider Tony Martin. He fell to the

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar claimed a dominant time trial victory on stage five as Mathieu van der Poel narrowly retained the yellow jersey. Pogacar finished the 27.2km course in 32 minutes – 19 seconds quicker than Stefan Kung in second. The Slovenian’s stunning ride saw him put more time into his rivals and almost claim

Gendarmerie du finistere French police say they have arrested a woman suspected of causing a huge crash during the Tour de France by waving a sign in the riders’ path on Saturday. The peloton was 45km (28 miles) from the end of the first stage, when her sign clipped German rider Tony Martin. He fell

Chris Boardman has been appointed as the new chair of Sport England, while Dame Katherine Grainger has been reappointed as the chair of UK Sport. Boardman, who won Olympic cycling gold in 1992, will replace Nick Bitel, who has held the post since 2013. Part of his remit will be “supporting and developing grassroots sport

Britain’s Mark Cavendish won his first stage at the Tour de France in five years after a thrilling sprint finale to stage four in Brittany. Cavendish produced a stunning sprint to finish ahead of Nacer Bouhanni and Jasper Philipsen. Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. The win came at

Welsh rider Luke Rowe has been fined and docked points for “assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct” after stage three of the Tour de France. Rowe had dropped back to help Ineos Grenadiers colleague Geraint Thomas, who injured a shoulder in a crash. After the £235 fine and 20 UCI points were imposed, Rowe tried

Geraint Thomas was one of several riders involved in crashes as Tim Merlier won a dramatic stage three of the Tour de France. Welshman Thomas and fellow race favourite Primoz Roglic both lost time after falls during the the 183km stage. Caleb Ewan also crashed in the closing stages, bringing down former world champion Peter