Cycling

Germany have withdrawn from next month’s European Track Championships in Minsk because of the ongoing political situation in Belarus. The German cycling federation (BDR) has called for the event to be moved following the incident, which has been criticised by the European Union. The five-day European Track Championships start on 23 June. The BDR said:

Simon Yates’ general classification hopes at the Giro d’Italia suffered a blow as he dropped from second to fifth overall after struggling on the rain-hit stage 16. The Briton lost two minutes and 37 seconds to leader Egan Bernal over the Cima Coppi. Team BikeExchange leader Yates is now 4:20 down on the Colombian, who

Italy’s Lorenzo Fortunato impressively climbed to his maiden career win on stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia, as Egan Bernal added to his overall lead at the summit of Monte Zoncolan. Fortunato, riding for Eolo-Kometa, won the 205km stage in five hours 17 minutes 22 seconds. Colombian Bernal came fourth, but crucially extended his race

Italy’s Andrea Vendrame claimed victory on stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia as compatriot and former race leader Alessandro de Marchi crashed out. Movistar’s Marc Soler and De Marchi’s British team-mate Alex Dowsett were among those to also withdraw as the riders contended with tough conditions. Colombian Egan Bernal remains 45 seconds ahead of Russian

Colombia’s Egan Bernal took control of the overall standings in the Giro d’Italia by extending his lead in the race to 45 seconds. Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid won a dramatic stage 11 from a breakaway as riders struggled with the intense gravel roads of Tuscany. British duo Hugh Carthy and Simon Yates moved up to fourth

Remco Evenepoel says his mother had to help him stand during his recovery from the broken pelvis he suffered in a crash last year. Evenpoel is a surprising second in the Giro d’Italia on his return to racing after nine months. “Two or three doctors had to hold me up because I would fall down

London will host two rounds of the inaugural UCI Track Champions League. The format, featuring six events over six weeks in five countries, will start in Mallorca in Spain on 6 November. Lee Valley VeloPark will stage the fourth and fifth rounds on 3 and 4 December respectively. Four riders will be crowned champions –

One rider struck by a car, a painful early exit for a key contender, a signal of intent from Egan Bernal – and could we see the comeback of all comebacks from one of cycling’s most exciting talents? The first Grand Tour of the year is under way and there’s been plenty to unpack in

Colombia’s Egan Bernal took the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia after storming to victory on the ninth stage. The 2019 Tour de France winner got his first win of the season as Hungary’s Attila Valter – the previous overall leader – lost pace on the final ascent. Bernal won the 158km stage – from

Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock won his first elite World Cup mountain bike race, beating Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel in the cross-country final in Nove Mesto, Croatia. It is the first World Cup victory for a British man since 1994. Pidcock, 21, dropped Van der Poel on lap three to win by exactly a

Britain’s Simon Yates and Hugh Carthy both gained time on a soggy stage six at the Giro d’Italia which saw another rider hit by a car. Carthy of EF Education-Nippo is sixth, 38 seconds down, and Yates 49 seconds back in 10th for Team Bike Exchange. But Yates’ team car hit Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Pieter Serry

Australia’s Caleb Ewan won stage five of the Giro d’Italia, but one of the general classification favourites, Mikel Landa, crashed out in Cattolica. Ewan came from behind to outsprint Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo and Elia Viviani and win his fourth career Giro stage. Spain’s Landa was unable to finish and left in an ambulance after crashing

Dame Sarah Storey and the British Paralympic Association “followed the appropriate process” over a retrospective therapeutic use exemption, British Cycling says. The Times reportedexternal-link the TUE was applied for Storey after an adverse analytical finding for asthma drug salbutamol in a urine sample at London 2012. British Cycling said the report raised concerns of a

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel said he had “tears in my eyes” as he made an emotional comeback at the Giro d’Italia, as Italy’s Filippo Ganna won the opening time trial in Turin. Evenepoel, 21, was competing for the first time since fracturing his pelvis in a fall from a bridge at the Il Lombardia race in

Britain’s Simon Yates begins his bid for Giro d’Italia victory on Saturday looking to end three years of heartbreak and misfortune at the race. Having won three stages and led for 13 days in 2018, he cracked in the final week, before an underwhelming eighth-place finish in 2019 was followed by an early exit last

Chris Froome says critics calling for him to retire “make me laugh”, as he battles to regain form for next month’s Tour de France. The four-time Tour winner responded to comments on social media about recent performances as he recovers from injuries suffered in a 2019 crash. “Over the last couple of races people said:

Italian Matteo Spreafico has been banned for three years by cycling’s world governing body after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance at last year’s Giro d’Italia. Spreafico, 28, who was riding for the Vini Zabu-KTM team, returned two adverse analytical findings for enobosarm on 15 and 16 October. Enobosarm, also known as ostarine, is a

Tensions between the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and cycling’s governing body over the controversial closure of the investigation into four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome’s use of salbutamol in 2018 have been revealed. The rider was cleared of any wrongdoing over the legal asthma drug almost three years ago. In correspondence days later, now