CHRIS MURPHY IN BRUSSELS: Geraint Thomas and his Ineos team-mates were beaten in a tense finish to Saturday's second stage of the Tour de France, a 27.6-kilometre time trial.

CHRIS MURPHY IN EPERNAY: Geraint Thomas slipped behind Ineos team-mate Egan Bernal in the Tour de France pecking order on stage three after losing five seconds in Epernay.

CHRIS MURPHY IN NANCY: Elia Viviani won stage four of the Tour de France in a sprint finish in Nancy as Deceuninck-Quick Step team-mate Julian Alaphilippe retained the yellow jersey.

Geraint Thomas survived the first day of racing through the climbs of the 2019 Tour de France but then suggested that team-mate Egan Bernal is favourite for the first summit finish on stage six.

Geraint Thomas took back control of the Tour de France on Thursday, with a surge of power taking him clear of his main rivals on the backbreaking finish to stage six in the Vosges mountains.

Dylan Groenewegen of Holland - who crashed on the opening day of this Tour de France - took the third stage win of this year's race for the Jumbo-Visma team on Friday.

Geraint Thomas breathed a sigh of relief at the finish of stage eight of the Tour de France after he survived a team pile-up at the bottom of a fast downhill section on the approach to Saint-Etienne.

South African Daryl Impey added an individual stage win to his Tour de France happy memories when he prevailed at the end of a long breakaway from St Etienne on Sunday.

Geraint Thomas and Ineos team-mate Egan Bernal profited hugely as French rival Thibaut Pinot was caught in a group who lost 100 seconds on the 217.5km stage from Saint-Flour to Albi.

The startling scene was recorded by an onlooker during the ninth stage of the Tour de France from Saint-Etienne to Brioude in central-eastern France.

Geraint Thomas and Team Ineos had every reason to be satisfied as they reached the first rest day of the Tour de France in an enviable position. He is in second place in the general classification.

Valentin Anouilh, 21, spent six months training for the stunt which saw him soar over the heads of the elite riders as they sprinted through a valley near Saint Flour, Auvergne.

The Australian rider pulled out of the race with about 80 kilometers left on Thursday before the two big climbs in Stage 12 following reports of clashes with team officials.

MATT LAWTON IN BAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE: The race for the big prize might have failed to ignite here on the first day in the Pyrenees but there was no shortage of fireworks

Tour de France organisers are looking to launch a women's equivalent of the most prestigious race in men's cycling, they said on Friday.

MATT LAWTON IN PAU: The sight of Julian Alaphilippe rising out of his saddle and powering up the steep ramp that came at the end of this individual time trial is sure to trouble Geraint Thomas .

Thibaut Pinot led a French one-two ahead of overall leader Julian Alaphilippe to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France, a 117.5-km mountain trek from Tarbes on Saturday.

MATT LAWTON ON THE COL DU TOURMALET: Owner of Ineos Jim Ratcliffe must have sat in the team car on Saturday afternoon and wondered if he had just bought a cycling team in decline.

MATT LAWTON IN FOIX: There was a second stage win for Simon Yates, a first sign of human weakness from Julian Alaphilippe, not to mention further difficulties for Geraint Thomas on Sunday.

Thomas has blamed a 'minor fuelling issue' on his seventh-placed finish during the Pyrenean stages over the weekend, which saw him twice left behind by his rivals.

MATT LAWTON IN NIMES: The tone was one of defiance; the message that Team Ineos are not dead yet. As Sir Dave Brailsford was quick to point out, they sit second and fifth.

The defending champion came off on a right-hander with around 130km of the 177km stage, which started and finished in Nimes, remaining. He was though soon able to rejoin the race.

Forecasters also predicted new temperatures highs in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, where the mercury is set to reach 104F (40C) for the first time on Thursday.

MATT LAWTON IN NIMES: There is a reluctance in France to imagine how the scenes on the Champs-Elysees might compare to the night of the 1998 World Cup final.

Trentin won by 36 seconds, while there was no change at the top of the general classification, with Julian Alaphilippe still leading ajnd Geraint Thomas trailing by 95 seconds.

MATT LAWTON IN GAP: Team Ineos go into three massive days in the Alps that will determine the outcome of the most mesmerising Tour de France in decades, without captain Luke Rowe.

MATT LAWTON IN VALLOIRE: To some extent it felt like normal service had been resumed here in the Alps, the sight of five Team Ineos riders leading the yellow jersey group up the final climb.

Thibaut Pinot's dream of becoming the first French winner of the Tour de France for 34 years is over after the Groupama-FDJ rider was forced to abandon early on stage 19 to Tignes.

MATT LAWTON IN VALLOIRE: Thibaut Pinot abandoned the race in tears and Julian Alaphilippe lost the yellow jersey on the brutal ascent of the highest paved pass in Europe.

MATT LAWTON IN VAL THORENS: The 22-year-old Colombian held on to the yellow jersey in stage 20, and is set to be crowned the youngest Tour winner in 110 years.

MATT LAWTON IN PARIS: Brailsford believes Bernal is capable of maintaining the team's dominance of the Tour de France for years to come. At 22, he is the youngest man to win in Paris since 1909.

MATT LAWTON IN PARIS: Wiggins and Thomas believe Team Ineos will continue to dominate the Tour de France with a young Colombian cyclist who could turn out to be the greatest in history.

The 34-year-old suffered multiple broken bones after he collided with a wall during this year's event, but is ahead in his recovery and is targeting next year's race as a potential return date.

Tour de France organisers put a spring in the step of the climbers after unveiling the 2020 route featuring a mountain stage on the second day and one time trial on the eve of the final Champs Elysees parade.

We've already seen coronavirus decimate the sporting calendar, with Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics among dozens of events either postponed or cancelled. So what will be the next event to fall?

The Tour de France's organisers are focusing on a postponement of this year's race rather than a cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic. 'Le Tour' was set to roll out of Nice on June 27th.

The legendary road race is scheduled to start in Nice on June 27 but it will now either be postponed or scrapped altogether, with a decision expected later this week.

The Tour has not been cancelled since 1946 when France was recovering from the War but has now been cancelled is in its 107th year after France's lockdown extension.

Chris Froome called the rescheduling of the Tour de France a 'light at the end of the tunnel' after it was postponed for two months rather than scrapped.

French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu looked to clarify the situation around the biggest race in cycling, which has already been rearranged to take place on August 29.

When Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner eloped in Las Vegas on Wednesday fans wondered about plans for their summer wedding in France but a source says that wedding is still on.

Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned champions of France despite the season being ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic. Lorient have been promoted as champions of Ligue 2.

DEREK LAWRENSON - WORLD OF GOLF: The best golfer of last year says he needs to wait until the end of the season to work out why this campaign has not gone to plan.

With the Commonwealth Games soon to offer another stage on which the green and gold will shine, it's time to pick your favourite sporting moment of all time.

Francesca Packer-Barham has sold her luxurious apartment in Sydney's Elizabeth Bay for $2.6million, just four years after purchasing the pad.

Some 24 hours before Team INEOS announced that Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal would start the Tour de France as joint leaders, the cycling team offered their defending champion to the media.

Geraint Thomas joked he would be happy with an 'uneventful' Tour de France as long as a Team Ineos rider is stood on the top step in Paris at the end of the month.

MATT LAWTON ON THE COL DU TOURMALET: Owner of Ineos Jim Ratcliffe must have sat in the team car on Saturday afternoon and wondered if he had just bought a cycling team in decline.

The 34-year-old suffered multiple broken bones after he collided with a wall during this year's event, but is ahead in his recovery and is targeting next year's race as a potential return date.

Tour de France organisers put a spring in the step of the climbers after unveiling the 2020 route featuring a mountain stage on the second day and one time trial on the eve of the final Champs Elysees parade.