Cycling

He has ridden in a cycle rally in the Emirates, recruited star cyclist Chris Froome to Israel's Tour de France team and was mentor to the first Israeli Formula One driver. Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams is playing the sports card to try to change the image of Israel as mired in conflict and to promote its normalisation with the Arab world. "The Israel that I know and love is not the Israel that is often shown in the media," he said.

Chris Froome is to leave Team Ineos at the end of the season to join Israel Start-Up Nation, ending a decade-long partnership that produced four Tour de France wins. Froome, Britain's most successful rider, won the Tour de France four times in five years from 2013 in the colours of Team Sky, which last year became Team Ineos. Team Ineos boss Dave Brailsford hailed seven-time Grand Tour winner Froome as a "great champion" but said it was the right time to part ways.

Chris Froome's contract with Team Ineos will not be renewed after this season, it was announced seven weeks before Froome goes for his fifth Tour de France title.

Chris Froome will leave Team Ineos for Israel Start-Up Nation at the end of 2020, it has been confirmed. The split ends one of the most successful partnerships in professional cycling history. It also raises serious questions about Froome’s participation in next month’s Tour de France. Froome has been with Ineos since the team’s inception, as Team Sky, over a decade ago. During that time he has racked up seven grand tour titles, including four Tour crowns, making him one of the most successful grand tour riders in history. But the 35 year-old had been strongly linked with a move away in recent months. Froome, who is in the final year of his contract, is desperate to win what would be a record-equalling fifth Tour title, and is adamant that he is physically capable of doing so following a career-threatening crash 12 months ago. However, with Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas - the last two winners of the Tour - also on Ineos’ books, the British team have three potential leaders and there was no way Froome was going to be given sole leadership this year. Bernal is very much seen as the rising star. That was one of the reasons Froome was rumoured to be considering a rare mid-season switch, with Israel understood to have offered him a three-year deal, matching his £5 million a year salary and guaranteeing him sole Tour leadership this year. In the end that did not happen. Any mid-season move would have needed the blessing of Ineos team principal Sir Dave Brailsford, and that was not forthcoming.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will leave Team Ineos at the end of the season, the team announced on Thursday. The BBC reported that Froome, Britain's most successful cyclist, would join the Israel Start-Up Nation team. Froome first won the Tour de France in 2013, going on to dominate cycling's leading race for the three years from 2015 in the colours of Team Sky, which became Team Ineos last year.

VIDEO SHOWS: FILE FOOTAGE OF CHRIS FROOME SHOWS: LINTON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MAY 1, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. CHRIS FROOME RIDING BIKE 2. FROOME WITH INEOS TEAM BOSS DAVE BRAILSFORD (RIGHT) AND TEAM INEOS OWNER JIM RATCLIFFE 3. CLOSE UP OF FROOME, BRAILSFORD AND RATCLIFFE 4. FROOME RIDING 5. FROOME RIDING UP TO BRAILSFORD AND RATCLIFFE 6. FROOME AND RATCLIFFE ALCUDIA, MALLORCA, SPAIN (FILE - JANUARY 11, 2015) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. FROOME ON TRAINING RIDE WITH THEN TEAM SKY ZEIST, NETHERLANDS (FILE - JULY 3, 2015) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. FROOME SIGNING AUTOGRAPH AS HE WALKS PAST 9. FROOME TALKING TO TEAM SKY COLLEAGUE PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JULY 21, 2013) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. VARIOUS OF FROOME ON PODIUM RECEIVING HIS YELLOW JERSEY AND CELEBRATING AFTER WINNING THE 2013 TOUR DE FRANCE STORY: Four times Tour de France champion Chris Froome will leave Team INEOS at the end of the season, the team said in a statement on Thursday (July 8). Froome, who won the Tour in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 is one win away from matching the record of five victories held jointly by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. "Chris's current contract comes to an end in December and we have taken the decision now not to renew it. We are making this announcement earlier than would usually be the case to put an end to recent speculation and allow the Team to focus on the season ahead," general manager Dave Brailsford said. Froome, who suffered a horrible accident last year and returned to racing in February, said he was focused on winning his fifth Tour title with the team. "It has been a phenomenal decade with the Team, we have achieved so much together and I will always treasure the memories," he added.

The already much-delayed medical tribunal involving Richard Freeman, the former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor, will reconvene on October 6, it has been announced. Freeman stands accused by the General Medical Council of ordering a batch of testosterone to British Cycling’s Manchester headquarters in 2011 "knowing or believing" that it was intended for an athlete. Freeman denies that central charge, although he does admit 18 of the GMC’s 22 charges against him. In the matter of the testosterone, Freeman alleges that he was bullied by former head coach Shane Sutton into ordering 30 sachets of Testogel to treat Sutton’s alleged erectile dysfunction. Sutton denies that he has ever suffered from that condition. The Australian stormed out of the hearing last November after denying further sensational claims from Freeman's lawyer Mary O'Rourke that he was a “serial liar�, a “bully" and a “doper with a doping history�. A furious Sutton complained that the bully was in fact O’Rourke, saying his 12-year-old son was upset at what he was reading in the media. He declined to return to finish giving evidence. The hearing ended up going part-heard, with O’Rourke busy with other cases in the early part of this year, and then coronavirus getting in the way. It will be confirmed nearer the time whether the hearing will be held remotely or in person at the MPTS building in Manchester. The hearing window has been set from October 6-November 26.

Niels De Vriendt, 20, reportedly suffered heart failure during a practice race.

Gary Longhi, a four-time Paralympian road cyclist and Canada’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, has died. The Canadian Paralympic Committee announced his death Friday. Longhi competed in the 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 Games, winning gold and bronze in ’96 in Atlanta and silver in ’92 in Barcelona.

SHOWS: DIEGEM, BELGIUM (FILE - JULY 4, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. COLOMBIAN CYCLIST, NAIRO QUINTANA PREPARING HIS BIKE 2. QUINTANA POSING FOR PICTURE WITH HIS BIKE 3. QUINTANA ON BIKE HEADED OUT TO TRAIN WITH TEAM MATES INTERNET (JULY 3, 2020) (TWITTER / @NairoQuinCO - MUST COURTESY @NairoQuinCO) 4. SCREENSHOT FROM QUINTANA'S TWITTER FEED READING (Spanish): "Hello friends thank you to everyone for the encouraging messages and support. I am well, we are taking all the pertinent tests." DIEGEM, BELGIUM (FILE - JULY 4, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 5. VARIOUS OF QUINTANA AND FELLOW RIDER, ALEJANDRO VALVERDE, SMILING AND POSING FOR PICTURES BEFORE A NEWS CONFERENCE 6. QUINTANA SPEAKING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (NOT A SOUNDBITE) LA ROCHE SUR YON, FRANCE (FILE - JULY 5, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. QUINTANA ON HIS BIKE SPEAKING TO LINE OF REPORTERS STORY: Former Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana said he had not suffered any serious injuries after being hit by a car during training in Colombia on Friday (July 3). The 30-year-old Colombian, who won the Giro in 2014, the Vuelta in 2016 and twice finished runner-up on the Tour de France, was knocked down by a car that overtook him and his support team. His Arkea-Samsic team feared a possible knee injury but Quintana said he had grazed his left arm and hurt his right knee and left leg. "Thank you to everyone for the encouraging messages and support. I am well, we are taking all the pertinent tests," Quintana posted to his Twitter account along with a short video. Quintana is scheduled to resume racing at the Tour de l'Ain on August 7. (Production: Kurt Michael Hall)

Colombian Tour de France hopeful Nairo Quintana was knocked down by a car in central Colombia on Friday but said he was feeling "good." "This morning I was hit by a car ... I had no way of seeing it," said the 30-year-old in a video published on Twitter. The winner of two Grand Tours, who was on a training ride with his brother and teammate Dayer, said he hurt his right knee, left thigh and left elbow.

Two-time Grand Tour winner Nairo Quintana was hit by a car while training in Colombia.

Petronas Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo will face an FIM hearing during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend for an alleged breach of private testing rules.

Get unlimited access to our expert analysis with a sport-only Telegraph subscription - £40 for 12 months (less than £1 a week) Chris Froome’s mooted midseason switch to Israel Start-Up Nation is not happening, with the only question now whether the 35 year-old will race in this year's Tour de France for Team Ineos. Froome is desperate to win what would be a record-equalling fifth title in September and is adamant that he is physically capable of doing so following a career-threatening crash 12 months ago. However, with Ineos also having Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas - the last two winners of the Tour - in their ranks, the British team have three potential leaders. That was one of the reasons that Froome, who is in the final year of his contract, was so heavily linked with a mid-season switch, with Israel understood to have tabled a lucrative three-year offer for the seven-time grand tour winner. Any move would need to have been sanctioned by Ineos principal Sir Dave Brailsford, however, and sources have suggested to The Telegraph that Brailsford would rather leave Froome out of his Tour lineup, if he felt three leaders was going to be a problem, than allow him go to a rival team where he could potentially hurt Ineos’ chances of winning the race. It remains to be seen who Ineos select for the Tour. Brailsford was extremely positive about Froome’s chances in an interview with The Telegraph in April, saying he felt the coronavirus delay really played into the British rider's hands. However, with no contract extension on the table from Ineos, and with Froome now looking almost certain to leave the team in 2021, and openly casting about, it remains to be seen how their relationship might have been affected. Bernal, the reigning champion and rising star, is certain to ride, meaning either Froome or Thomas will have to drop out and potentially refocus on a different grand tour if Team Ineos decide three leaders is too many.

Get unlimited access to our expert analysis with a sport-only Telegraph subscription — £40 for 12 months (less than £1 a week) British champion Alice Barnes has hailed a new collaboration between online e-racing platform Zwift and Tour de France organisers ASO, describing it as a “massive opportunity� for women’s cycling. Zwift and ASO confirmed on Monday that, with the real Tour de France postponed this year due to coronavirus, they were planning to host a 'virtual Tour de France’ beginning this weekend for 40 professional teams (23 men's teams and 17 women's teams). The stages will be broadcast in over 130 countries worldwide. Zwift CEO Eric Min told Telegraph Sport that if the event went well it could be expanded into a full three-week virtual women’s Tour de France next year. This year’s event, which will run over three consecutive weekends in July (two stages each weekend, each stage lasting one hour) will feature star riders including Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal on the men’s side, and Marianne Vos and Chloe Dygert on the women’s. Zwift power: How amateur cyclists can log on and join the pros from the safety of their own home Each team will be made up of four riders who will swap from weekend to weekend. No male rider will be allowed to ride more than two stages, and no female rider more than four. The parcours will include a virtual recreation of Mont Ventoux (albeit only as far as Chalet Reynard) as well as the iconic Champs Élysées finish in Paris. And riders will be awarded the famous yellow, green, polka-dot and white jerseys. Amateur riders will also be able to get involved through the online L’Etape du Tour mass participation event.

The WorldTour is due to return on Aug. 1 with the Strade Bianche one-day event in Tuscany but racing will resume before that with Lefevere's team involved in the inaugural Belgian Grote Prijs Vermac one-day race in Rotselaar on July 5. Several other leading teams will be involved but Lefevere has watched the debacle of Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour tennis event after which he and several other players tested positive.

Cycling's Tour de France should have embarked from the Mediterranean city of Nice this weekend, but the two-month coronavirus delay will heighten the drama on a "unique edition", race organiser Christian Prudhomme has told AFP. The breathtaking vistas, raucous pop-up campervan villages straddling mountain summit finishes and charming French chateaux will all still be on the menu for global television audiences, as will the party atmosphere for the millions of roadside fans when the race starts at the end of August. Proof of the race's domestic popularity can be detected in the fact that France put a swift end to its rugby and football seasons, but the general and political will to go on with the cycling saw the Tour survive.

Get unlimited access to our expert analysis with a sport-only Telegraph subscription — £40 for 12 months (less than £1 a week) Not since the Second World War has France experienced a July without its most precious of gifts to the sporting world taking place. Having been moved provisionally to later in the year following the Covid-19 crisis, those whose lives are shaped by the race reflect on a Tour de France-free July. Rod Ellingworth — general manager, Bahrain-Merida Cycling’s calendar is so familiar to us we don’t tend to talk in days or dates. I was chatting to Roger Hammond, our performance director, about this recently. In cycling we tend to say ‘After the classics’ or ‘Before the start of the Giro’. Everyone knows what you mean. The Tour is the biggest race out there. It dwarfs the rest. So of course its absence is going to be felt. Late June or early July means only one thing for cycling fans: the grand départ followed by three weeks on the road. There are the familiar butterflies. How are your riders going to go after all that work? Have you picked the right team? Have you recce’d every stage properly? Where are you going to attack? So yes it’s going to feel weird on Saturday. It’s unsettling. Apart from anything else, this is the longest I’ve spent at home in 30-odd years. My kids don’t know what’s going on. To be honest, I was on something of a learning curve anyway, getting used to running a team [Ellingworth took over at Bahrain-Merida last year]. So I’m trying to look at it as an opportunity. We have been able to build our protocols and infrastructures. I think we’re in decent shape. Most of the guys have trainers at home and can go out and cycle on the roads near them. I was right up front with them from the start, telling them ‘There’s no f------ excuse’. For me it’s about getting our heads on. Forget what is ‘normal’ in terms of the rhythm of the season. This is now the rhythm of the season. Michael Morkov — rider, Deceuninck-Quick-Step My father was a cycling fan so I always watched the Tour growing up. Cycling is very popular in Denmark. It’s a tradition for many families to watch the race in their summer holidays. When [Danish rider] Bjarne Riis won in 1996, that was huge. That was when I got really hooked. I have two smaller brothers and we used to watch the stage each day and then we would race each other around a parking lot near to our local school, pretending to be our heroes. One brother had a TVM jersey, I had a Rabobank jersey and my smallest brother had a Team Telekom jersey. How Deceuninck-Quick Step became the world's No 1 cycling team I’ve raced it four times as a rider now and it’s so special. Of course, it’s going to feel strange this year that fans won’t be able to watch the Tour their holidays but for me anyway it doesn’t feel that strange any more. We’ve had the new race programme for a while now so I’ve got used to it. It feels like a different world when I won the Madison gold at the track world championships in Berlin in early March after spending 34 hours in isolation due to a suspected outbreak at the UAE Tour, where I had been earlier in the week. Now I’m just focused on being in the best shape I can be for the start of the season in August. Ned Boulting — commentator, ITV This would have been my 18th consecutive summer spent following the Tour. It will be the first time I have ever spent my July birthday in the company of my youngest child, who is now 17. There are shrubs and flowers in the garden I have never seen in bloom, because I have always been in France when they do. If I am honest, I’d swap all of this for the chance once again to slip on my accreditation, and wake up on the morning of stage one of the Tour de France with a sense of happy tension that is, for an adult, the closest thing I know to childhood memories of Christmas morning. When Saturday comes and there is no Tour de France, I will be downcast. Perhaps we will all return in September to witness the planned, extraordinary variant of the great race. Perhaps not. But this race-less summer that stretches before me has laid bare just how profound my relationship with the Tour has become. I am, in a word, addicted. July will be one, long, unwanted desert. Servais Knaven — sports director, Ineos I was 17 years a professional cyclist and now I'm in my 10th season as a sports director. So that is 27 years that the Tour has formed the structure of my entire year. And that's all gone now. For me I’ve lost all sense of what month I’m living. Okay, you know it is summer because of the weather but for me it doesn't feel like the Tour is about to start. I only thought about it for the first time on Wednesday because that was the day I was going to be driving to Nice. As a DS (directeur sportif), it feels more like November. Pre-season. For Ineos this whole period has been difficult following the death of Nico [Portal, Team Ineos’s lead sports director] in March. We all went to the funeral and then I drove home to Belgium and then lockdown happened almost the next day. It is going to be very different at the Tour without Nico but I’m confident we can fill the gap. We will go with four DSs if that’s allowed rather than three. We have so much experience to fall back on. We also have three Tour winners in our rider group. It could make it difficult but the most important thing is that Ineos win the Tour. It can also be an advantage to have three leaders. It gives you tactical options. We are confident we can make it work. Rupert Guinness — freelance journalist In a parallel universe I would be sitting in Nice right now sipping a nice cool rosé. I usually go over a week or so beforehand. I’ve covered 33 of the last 35 races since my Tour first in 1987 (I missed 1996 when I moved from Europe back to my native Australia, and 2007 when I joined the Sydney Morning Herald as a rugby writer and was told in no uncertain terms by the editor that I was a rugby writer and not to mention the ‘c’ word. Cadel Evans was second that year by 23 seconds. I remember I was very happy he didn’t win because I didn’t miss out on reporting on an Aussie win! In actual fact I’m sitting on a home trainer in a car showroom in Sydney. That’s because this year I find myself racing in the Virtual Ride Across America [VRAAM]. I’m riding 18-20hrs a day. It’s getting pretty sore down there. I was meant to be doing the real thing only for coronavirus to force a 12-month delay. It’s funny how things work out. Because of RAAM I was kind of preparing to miss this year’s Tour, or at least the first half. The irony is that now I may be able to do the whole thing if it goes ahead in September. I hope it does, even if it’s not the same grand adventure it used to be. I remember in 1987 when the start was in West Berlin, and I was working for Winning Magazine, we carried a daily diary from Stephen Roche which was agreed on a handshake — no money. Gone are the days you would sit on a gutter outside the cars to do your interviews. The buses have killed all that. But I still love the sights, the sounds, the colours of summer in France. I don’t want to become a curmudgeon. The day I become a curmudgeon is the day I stop covering the Tour. Matt Rabin — head of physical therapy, EF Education First I was meant to be at the European Championships with the Wales football team this month, before meeting up with EF Education First at the Critérium du Dauphiné. But that’s obviously been postponed. It actually doesn’t feel that weird anymore, because everything feels weird. And there have been upsides. My kids are six, four and three. And while you have those moments when you want to wring their necks, it has been special to spend this time with them. We travel so much in this job. The funny thing is I always assumed my wife and I had a strong relationship because I went away a lot. But having spent more time together than we ever have done before, we’re getting on better now than we were at the start of lockdown. And we should still get a Tour in September, albeit it will look very different. Will there be fans? Will there be media? Sponsors? There are so many unknowns. But I’m not worried. I had Covid-19 in March. I’ve tested positive for antibodies three times since. So firstly I have no issues in terms of exposing myself to the virus, although I’d understand if anyone else did. In any case I'm a firm believer in dealing with the facts as they are presented rather than dealing with hypotheticals. What I think will be weird is when we go away in September rather than now. It will hit you when the Tour finishes and it’s only 12 weeks until Christmas. Taryn Kirby — press officer, Mitchelton-Scott This period has certainly made my job tougher. We’ve actually done more than ever before because the difference with our role is that the racing created the content for us. We just had to polish it. But during this period there has been no racing so we became the creator — Zwift, a new podcasts and so on. It took a lot more effort because you were the builder not just the decorator. I was in Colombia on holiday when Covid hit Europe, riding my bike from Bogotá to Medellín. My holiday turned into a work trip as I found myself drafting press releases at 3am. I flew back to my home in Andorra a couple of days later and it was months before I saw anyone again. I live on my own so it was really intense.

Ryan Zagata, president of the Brooklyn Bicycle Company, discussed how the cycling industry has changed during the coronavirus crisis.

Ayesha McGowan has watched the wave of Black Lives Matter protests from her home in Atlanta’s suburbs with a mixture of pride, weariness, fury – and hope. “I know a lot of it is performative and I know most of the people probably don’t actually care,� she says, referring to “Insta� protesters who “look like they care�. “But there definitely are people who do, and who are taking action. This is momentum which in my lifetime we have never had. And things are happening, things that are long overdue. So, I am cautiously optimistic.� Unfortunately, that optimism does not extend to her own sport. McGowan, the first professional African-American in women’s pro cycling, has been left distinctly unimpressed by her sport’s collective response to the protests. Unimpressed but not surprised. “I don’t know whether cycling is the whitest sport on Earth,� she says. “Maybe, like, Lacrosse or something? There are some pretty white sports out there. But it’s real white.� That is no understatement. There are at present just five black riders in the WorldTour and five in the Pro Continental ranks, the second tier of professional racing. It is a lack of representation which is reflected right through the sport, top to bottom, from team staff to media to governing bodies. There is not a single black person on the boards of either British Cycling or USA Cycling, nor on the management committee of the UCI. Cycling’s world governing body took two weeks to say anything, and when it did it was generic stuff about cycling’s rainbow needing “all its colours�. “I’m afraid that a lot of the statements that we’re seeing in the cycling industry are real empty and vague,� McGowan says. “And that’s dangerous because … how can we hold them accountable if they don’t actually say what they’re going to do? They say ‘We’re committed to change. We’re going to make ourselves better.’ Well, that’s great. But how?�

Former Giro d'Italia stage winner Kanstantsin Siutsou was banned for four years by the International Cycling Union after he tested positive for EPO.

AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) -- Former Giro d'Italia stage winner Kanstantsin Siutsou was banned for four years by the International Cycling Union on Tuesday after he tested positive for EPO.

At WWDC, Apple unveils new Maps features like cycling routes and charging stations for electric vehicles.

Chris Froome has told team-mates he will stay with Ineos for this year’s Tour de France, at least according to one of them, the Dutch rider Dylan van Baarle. Froome, who is in the final year of his contract, has been strongly linked with a move away from the British team in recent weeks. The seven-time grand tour champion has just turned 35 and while he insists he still has a few seasons left at the top, and is desperate to win a record-equalling fifth Tour title, Ineos have two other Tour winners in their ranks in Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas, both of whom want to race this year’s Tour. Bernal and Thomas would both expect to be given joint leadership. It was reported earlier this week that Israel Start-Up Nation had offered Froome a lucrative three-year deal starting on August 1, guaranteeing him sole Tour leadership. And with Ineos yet to offer the Briton a new deal, it was suggested that Froome might be close to signing with an ambitious young team, albeit one without any winning pedigree. However, any mid-season move would require the consent of Ineos principal Sir Dave Brailsford. And sources have suggested to Telegraph Sport that Brailsford would rather bench Froome for this year’s Tour — if it looks as if a three-pronged attack might become too tricky to manage — than to see him race for a rival team. Either way, Van Baarle, who is currently on an Ineos training camp with Froome and others from their Tour longlist, revealed that the Briton had told them he would not be leaving before the Tour, which is due to start on August 29. "Of course we've talked about it, because it's in the news all the time,� Van Baarle told Dutch newspaper AD. “But, as far as I know, he's staying and wants to ride the Tour with Ineos. In the end, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes with him either, but that's what he says to us, so I assume he'll be there.� Van Baarle added that Froome had not told them anything about his plans for next year or beyond, only saying he would not be lining up against Ineos in August. "That would be strange," Van Baarle said. "And I don't think it will happen that he will go early.� Froome’s rival Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) won the Slovenian national road race title on Sunday against a high-quality field which included another Tour contender in Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). It was the first cycling race since coronavirus stopped the season back in March. Roglic beat Pogacar up the final climb to win by 10 seconds.

As Chloé Dygert stood atop the podium, after the most dominant time trial in world road cycling championships history, she had to remind herself to smile.

The Tour de France isn't during its usual summer slot -- it will run from August 29 to September 20 and be shown on NBCSN -- but cycling fans can still watch some of the best the sport has to offer in late June and in July with the Ultimate Tour. NBCSN will air 25

Dani Christmas took victory in the opening stage of the ŠKODA V-Women’s Tour virtual race on Wednesday. The Lotto-Soudal Ladies rider beat fellow Britons Illi Gardner (CAMS-Tifosi) and Amelia Sharpe (Team Breeze) at the end of the 38.4km run into Bury St Edmunds, a finish which was used at the inaugural Women’s Tour back in 2014. The three-stage virtual race, which is being broadcast live via the BBC Sport website, app and BBC iPlayer, has replaced the Women’s Tour this year following its cancellation due to coronavirus. “The legs were nipping a bit at the end but it was fun to do,� said Christmas after winning the bunch sprint. “It was hard from the start and you really have to pay attention as soon as there is a small gap you really have to push a few watts to get back to the bunch. I think there were a few people caught out that way.� Christmas had initially tried to break away in the closing kilometres only to be reeled back in. Dame Sarah Storey [Storey Racing], who finished 15th, told Telegraph Sport it was “brilliant� that the BBC was giving the race exposure. “Every single sport has had to adapt to the situation we find ourselves in,� said the 14-time Paralympic champion who switched from swimming to cycling midway through her career. “I feel for swimmers right now because they don’t really have an option. “It [virtual racing] is a way to ensure there is some continuity, although it’s almost like a different sport. There’s an element of luck involved in whether you time your efforts just right to get the draft from the on-screen graphic. But it’s almost like a time trial - a race of truth. If you’ve got the power then your avatar will be at the front of the race."

Get unlimited access to our expert Premier League analysis with a sport-only Telegraph subscription - £40 for 12 months (less than £1 a week) Speculation is mounting that Chris Froome will leave Team Ineos before this year’s Tour de France, with Italian website Tuttobici reporting that Israel Start-Up Nation have offered the four-time champion a lucrative three-year deal starting on August 1. Froome, who is out of contract at the end of the season, admitted last month that he was weighing up his options for 2021 with a number of teams said to be interested in acquiring his services. The 35 year-old did not mention moving on this summer but that looks increasingly like being a possibility with Froome wishing to nail down his future. Bahrain-McLaren were mentioned as one possible option but Telegraph Sport understands there is no chance of that move happening. Tuttobici reported on Thursday that Israel Start-Up Nation - which was established in 2014 and is owned by Sylvan Adams, an Israeli-Canadian real estate billionaire - have offered Froome a deal starting on August 1, before this year’s rearranged Tour de France which starts on Aug 29. Froome currently earns around £5 million a year, a figure Israel would be able to match. Any agreement would require the consent of Ineos principal Sir Dave Brailsford and it remains to be seen whether he would want one of his stars racing for a rival team at the Tour. Brailsford told the Telegraph last month that he felt Froome had a great opportunity to win a record-equalling fifth Tour with Ineos this year, with the Covid hiatus working in his favour. However, it is understood that Ineos are yet to offer Froome a new deal beyond this season and Brailsford may not stand in his way. Froome believes he still has a number of years left at the top and the temptation, at 35, to sign a new long term deal will be attractive. Against that, he must decide how badly he wants to win another Tour, and whether that would be a possibility at a young team with no track record of success. Although Froome would have sole leadership at Israel, there may not be the necessary support for him. Israel Start-Up currently have Dan Martin, Daniel Navarro and Ben Hermans on their books, and would surely have to sign many others to tempt Froome. A spokesperson for Team Ineos said: “We don’t comment on speculation or rider contracts.�

Sophie Thornhill, the reigning Paralympic, double world and double Commonwealth champion, has announced her retirement from elite sport. The Poynton-born rider, who was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a condition which affects pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes, joined British Cycling’s Olympic Development Programme as a 16 year-old and swiftly won world titles (and world records). Initially piloted by Rachel James, sister of Olympic silver medallist Becky, Thornhill switched to Helen Scott in 2014. The pair went on to dominate the tandem sprint and tandem kilo disciplines together, winning multiple world, Commonwealth and Paralympic medals. Thornhill, however, underwent surgery on her hip last year and in an interview with Telegraph Sport in January, just before this year’s Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Milton, Canada, she admitted that she felt like “a 23 year-old with the hip of a 90 year-old�. She has now decided that with the 12-month postponement to Tokyo 2020, she would prefer to focus on her education. “My plan was always to retire after Tokyo,� Thornhill said in a statement. “So when the dates changed, I had a really difficult decision to make. After a lot of thought and support, I am ready to move onto the next chapter of my life and focus my energy on another of my passions. I am thrilled to say I will begin studying history at Manchester Metropolitan University in September. “Cycling has been a huge part of my life for the last 12 years and has provided me with some of the biggest highlights in my life, including becoming Paralympic Champion in 2016 and setting world records at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. “I have met and worked with amazing people along the journey, the most important of which is Scottie (pilot, Helen Scott). I cannot thank her enough for the amazing memories we have made together. “I have also worked with the most amazing support team, many of whom have gone above and beyond for me and they have been unbelievable in their support. I’d like to thank everyone in the Great Britain Cycling Team for everything they have done for me and my career, and I’d like to wish them the absolute best of luck for Tokyo next year.� Stephen Park, Performance Director for the Great Britain Cycling Team, said: “On behalf of everyone on the team, I would like to congratulate Sophie on an outstanding career and thank her for the contributions she has made not just to para-cycling but to para sport in general. “Sophie can take pride in the fact that she was undeniably the best female tandem sprinter in the world for over six years, taking victories in differing track condition with different pilots. “Off the bike, I’ve been impressed with the incredible maturity and composure Sophie shows, which has made her a valuable member of our Rider Representative Commission and over the years I have known her she has really found her voice which has helped with her passion for advancing para sport. “Of course, with 432 days to go until the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Sophie’s departure means there is an opportunity for a blind or visually impaired rider to join the team and to train with Paralympic champion Helen Scott who is as keen as ever to retain her title in Tokyo.�

For Rohan Dennis, the last year included the most difficult two months of his life, the best moment of his career and a move to the world's dominant team.

Cycling superstar Peter Sagan will race the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, but will skip the majority of the one-day classics this season, he told a press conference on Tuesday. "Yes, it's green and pink," Sagan confirmed when asked if his main season came down to the bold double bid of the Tour and the Giro, where the leader wears the revered pink jersey. The programme means Sagan, known for exceptional endurance, will race a staggering 42 Grand Tour stages in just 58 days after the original cycling calendar was crammed into a few months following the coronavirus lockdown.

Dutch cyclist Niki Terpstra suffered multiple injuries in a training crash in the Netherlands on Tuesday and was helicoptered to hospital, his wife said. Terpstra, of the French Total-Direct Energy team, is a multiple classics winner. The rider's wife, Ramona Terpstra, confirmed Terpstra's fall in a tweet.

The Slovak was due to participate in both the cobbled classics and the Giro but the reshuffled, tightly packed racing calendar due to the COVID-19 crisis meant the rider had to make some tough choices. The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, which Sagan won in 2016 and 2018 respectively, are usually scheduled in April with the Giro taking place in May.

German sprinter Andre Greipel has extended his contract with Israel Start-Up Nation until 2022, the team announced on Monday. Greipel, who turns 38 in July, joined the World Tour team this year. "Andre Greipel will continue his brilliant career with the Israel Start-Up Nation team... well beyond his 40th birthday," the team said in a statement.

Future factory Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo says reigning world champion Marc Marquez has forced the entire championship to train harder, and has prompted the Frenchman to rethink his approach.

VIDEO SHOWS: PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST RIGOBERTO URAN RIDING ON COUNTRY ROAD WITH A RURAL FARM WORKER RIGHT BEHIND HIM, TWO SOUNDBITES FROM URAN, URAN MEETING FARM WORKER AT HIS WORKPLACE, URAN BUYING CYCLING GEAR FOR WORKER, URAN AND WORKER PARTICIPATING IN VIRTUAL TOURNAMENT EDITORS NOTE: PART FILMED IN PORTRAIT RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SHOTLIST AND SCRIPT SHOWS: LA CEJA, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY IN PORTRAIT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 1. PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST, RIGOBERTO URAN, CYCLING WITH RURAL FARMWORKER, IVAN DARIO JIMENEZ, COMING UP FROM BEHIND 2. URAN AND JIMENEZ ON COUNTRY ROAD 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST, RIGOBERTO URAN, SAYING: (APPROXIMATE TRANSLATION) "Look who I found going 45 kilometers per hour (28 miles per hour)." 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST, RIGOBERTO URAN, SAYING: (APPROXIMATE TRANSLATION) [SOUNDBITE BEGINS OVER SHOT OF JIMENEZ WHO IS SPEAKING] "He caught up to me. I was doing [URAN ON CAMERA] an individual time trial training when they told me: there's a man coming up on your tail, and I thought, he must be all aerodynamic and just look." LA CEJA, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 5. VARIOUS, URAN MEETING JIMENEZ AT THE FLOWER FARM WHERE HE WORKS MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY IN PORTRAIT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST, RIGOBERTO URAN, SAYING: "Well ladies and gentlemen, we're here with Ivancho (Jimenez), we brought him from La Ceja, we took him away from work, they lent him to us for a little bit, we'll be fast. I brought him to my store in Medellin, the Go Rigo Go! store and we're going to suit him up. We have some surprises for our friend." MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 7. VARIOUS, URAN PICKING OUT CLOTHING AND ITEMS FOR JIMENEZ MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY IN PORTRAIT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 8. URAN KNOCKING ON DRESSING ROOM DOOR 9. JIMENEZ MODELLING CYCLIST CLOTHING 10. URAN PRESENTING JIMENEZ WITH NEW BICYCLE 11. URAN AND JIMENEZ PREPARING FOR VIRTUAL CYCLING TOURNAMENT MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 12. SCREEN SHOWING VIRTUAL TOURNAMENT MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY IN PORTRAIT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 13. URAN AND JIMENEZ CYCLING DURING VIRTUAL TOURNAMENT MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (GO RIGO GO! - MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY GO RIGO GO!, NO RESALE) 14. VARIOUS, SCREEN SHOWING VIRTUAL TOURNAMENT STORY: Colombian cyclist Rigoberto Uran is used to stiff competition from fellow road racers, but he was shocked recently when a humble Colombian farm worker came right up on his tail while he was out training. Uran was doing an individual time trial while training on the rural highways outside Medellin, Colombia when he peeked behind him to see Ivan Dario Jimenez, a worker at a flower farm, easily keeping pace behind. Uran was so impressed he later showed up at Jimenez's workplace, ostensibly to take him to Medellin so that the pair could participate in a virtual tournament together. But, when Jimenez arrived, Uran surprised him by outfitting him with a brand new bike and gear from his Go Rigo Go! store. Uran has finished in second place at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France and won the silver medal in the road race at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (Production: Herbert Villarraga, Javier Andres Rojas)

Officials from USA Cycling plan to take advantage of the yearlong delay of the Tokyo Olympics caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and a big step came with the announcement Thursday of a preliminary roster in three of its disciplines. The governing body revealed the names of 38 riders who could eventually compete in Tokyo in road racing, mountain biking and track cycling - the BMX teams will be announced at a later date. ''This is one of the few areas where the COVID situation is helping us,'' USA Cycling chief executive Rob DeMartini told The Associated Press.

Kate Courtney, a world champion mountain biker, leads 38 finalists for the U.S. Olympic cycling team across the road, track and mountain events.

Kyrgyzstan's coronavirus restrictions may have been relaxed in recent weeks, but 73-year-old diabetes patient Lyudmila Kutenkova isn't yet ready to part ways with the man she calls "my guy". "He is such a wonderful guy, so helpful and kind," Kutenkova gushed after Akynbekov, a fit, lean bike fanatic and cameraman by trade, ran the gauntlet of Bishkek's morning traffic to hand her a brown package containing the vital medicine. The emergence in March of coronavirus cases in Kyrgyzstan -- one of the poorest of the countries that gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union -- created unprecedented challenges for the Central Asian country's underfunded health system.

Thousands of tracksuit-wearing officials in Turkmenistan were brought along for the ride Wednesday as eccentric leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov spearheaded a cycling parade to mark World Bicycle Day. Turkmenistan -- one of the few countries that has not reported a single case of the coronavirus -- has given little thought to social distancing in recent months, celebrating key occasions in the national calendar with customary pomp. World Bicycle Day, a date that the United Nations recognised in 2018 following a proposal by Turkmenistan, saw a large throng of officials follow Berdymukhamedov on a trip through the capital Ashgabat where roads were closed for the occasion.

For some reason, Armstrong keeps getting opportunities at redemption he clearly hasn't earned and continues to throw away.

Our Giro reaches Milan after three weeks on the virtual road. We set out from Budapest in Hungary, then spent a few days in Sicily before making the familiar journey the length of Italy, visiting the Dolomites and the Alps and now it's the last leg. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe look back to the 2017 Giro, won by Tom Dumoulin, who famously had to stop to answer the call of nature by the roadside on the stage to Bormio.

Is stage 20 of Our Giro the 'queen stage'? Well, that's a matter of debate but we have got a bumper episode looking back to the final Friday of the 2018 edition when Chris Froome turned the race on its head. Simon Yates had looked so good for two and a half weeks, winning stages in pink and with panache. Froome had endured crashes and stuttering form in the first half of the race and his victory on Monte Zoncalon over the penultimate weekend looked at the time to be like a consolation prize.

This episode of Our Giro looks at the relationship between the Giro d'Italia and the literary tradition of journalists, writers and poets covering the race. We look at the 1949 Giro and the continuing rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali through the pages of a collection of writing by novellist and poet Dino Buzzati.

Stage 18 of Our Giro reunites us with Brian Nygaard, who stood in for Lionel during his brief trip home from the race to watch his football team get walloped in the FA Cup final.

Cavendish, who has won 30 Tour de France stages, has struggled with injuries the last couple of years and missed the 2019 Tour after being left out of the Dimension Data squad. With the cycling season on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak, Cavendish, who joined Bahrain-McLaren on a one-year deal last October, has been denied the opportunities to prove his form and fitness.

In this episode of Our Giro, we meet Trek-Segafredo general manager Luca Guercilena and learn about his career in professional cycling. Guercilena was not a pro rider but a sports scientist, whose career began with the Mapei team – where he tested a certain Daniel Friebe and, according to some observers, failed to spot the talent in front of his eyes(!)

Cycling clubs could resume some group activity in July as part of a tentative new plan for the phased reintroduction of local and national racing over the next four months. Although the implementation will depend on further government lockdown decisions and the wider ability to suppress the coronavirus, British Cycling are working towards a roadmap that could see organised activity return this summer. England Athletics have also produced similar timescales for the possible resumption of some club activity after tracks were reopened earlier this month at the discretion of the local operators. Although British Cycling’s communication to its members on Wednesday highlighted the extension of their current coronavirus suspension, it was significant that the time-frame for potentially restarting ‘club and group activity’, such as club rides, coaching and possibly individual time-trialling, was only increased by four days from June 30 to July 4. This signified a hope that, while cycling has never stopped at an individual or recreational level during the lockdown, it might be possible to resume some of the more traditional club activities in just over five weeks. The suspension of international and national level cycling races has been extended, however, until September and, owing to their shorter travel distances, regional races and mass sportive events have been put back until at least August. The various timescales are being reviewed on a fortnightly basis and final decisions will follow further talks with Government. “We plan to publish next month guidelines on what a staged return to all forms of activity might look like,� said a British Cycling statement. “This is a changing situation but we are committed to updating all those who care for our sport as often as we can and with as much information as we can.� England Athletics also produced guidance for individual and paired training or coaching following the latest easing of lockdown measures and have published a potential framework to resume more traditional club and group activity from July, with a view to again staging some socially distanced competition. As with cycling, the modelling starts with club activity in July before moving towards regional, national and international competition. Many indoor sports are also in talks with Government over proposals to resume activities, whilst maintaining social distancing, in July. Outdoor sports courts, including basketball and tennis, bowling greens and playing spaces like golf courses have already re-opened. Other outdoor sports facilities such as angling, and all forms of water sports practised on open waterways, are also permitted. Outdoor gyms and swimming pools currently remain closed due to the higher risk of close contact and touching surfaces. Indoor gyms are also tailoring proposals to reopen and new research will be published on Thursday by ukactive, which projects 700 million lost visits to facilities over a full year of lockdown. It found that gym visits had already dropped by 42 per cent in the week before lockdown on March 23, as fears about the spread of the coronavirus mounted. It also predicts a loss of more than £2bn in social value provided in benefits to UK health and wellbeing on the basis of restrictions remaining in place for six months. The earliest possible reopening date for gyms is July 4.

Fewer than a million people watched the premiere of part one of "Lance."

In this episode of Our Giro we hear from 1988 Giro d'Italia champion Andy Hampsten, the only American to win the race. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe look back at the 1988 Giro which was shaped by terrible whether on the stage to Bormio, which went over the Gavia.

New York (AFP) - World number one golfer Rory McIlroy, NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward and six-time Olympic track champion Allyson Felix are among the sports stars set for a made-for-television spinning class to air Saturday.