15 h. ago Who is leading the Tour de France? Yellow jersey and general classification standings

The 112th edition of the Tour de France got underway with a bang in Lille

Politics

17 h. ago Tour de France 2025: stage one heads for finish and battle for yellow jersey – live

Le Grand Départ, starting and ending at Lille MétropoleAny comments or thoughts? Feel free to email AmyAccording to the Tour’s live coverage, the peloton has stopped at Porte de Paris, one of Lille’s city gates, where an orchestra is playing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.And the Tour de France 2025 is off! Well, the controlled, 11km slow rollout before the official race starts is on. There are 184 riders taking part and the TV coverage is showing quite a few smiling faces as they parade around during the neutralised start in Lille. Continue reading...

Society

18 h. ago Tour de France 2025: stage one sets battle for yellow jersey but Ganna out – live

Le Grand Départ, starting and ending at Lille MétropoleAny comments or thoughts? Feel free to email AmyAccording to the Tour’s live coverage, the peloton has stopped at Porte de Paris, one of Lille’s city gates, where an orchestra is playing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.And the Tour de France 2025 is off! Well, the controlled, 11km slow rollout before the official race starts is on. There are 184 riders taking part and the TV coverage is showing quite a few smiling faces as they parade around during the neutralised start in Lille. Continue reading...

Society

22 h. ago Tour de France 2025: stage one sets battle for yellow jersey around Lille – live

Le Grand Départ, starting and ending at Lille MétropoleAny comments or thoughts? Feel free to email AmyMy colleague Jeremy Whittle has written about Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard’s rivalry – sure to be a key theme again at this year’s TdF:The pair, whose rivalry is becoming one of the Tour’s most longstanding, will be locked in battle again this month with Pogačar widely expected to hammer home the supremacy of the past 18 months with another win.A lot can happen in such a long race, but I’m looking forward to racing against Jonas again. He’s in great shape. It will be a great month for people in front of the TV and beside the road.The climbs of Mont Cassel and Le Mont Noir won’t be enough to split the peloton, so this is almost guaranteed to be a bunch sprint, unless it gets windy. A strong westerly would make this a nightmare with more than 140km of crosswinds, but if it stays calm it’s a first big test for Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and the other fast men. For the favouri...

Society

25 h. ago France’s wait for Tour win rumbles on with no prospect of victory in sight | William Fotheringham

Bernard Hinault was the last home champion as the sport has gone international, with winners from Colombia and SloveniaAge is not just about the policemen getting younger and trying to figure out how to operate an iPhone. It may also be when you are able to tell your children that you once saw an actual French cyclist wearing the actual yellow jersey of the Tour de France having actually just won la grande boucle.It’s 39 years, 11 months and about three weeks since I watched a tired and slightly diminished-looking Bernard Hinault get out of a car in a backstreet in Lisieux – once the massive crowd pressing on the car doors had been moved on by the heavies – before pulling on that maillot jaune, getting wearily on to his bike, before spinning past, time after time in the late-evening sunlight in the town’s annual post-Tour critérium, an exhibition race which still takes place on the first Tuesday after the Tour. Continue reading...

Politics

27 h. ago How to watch Tour de France 2025 for FREE: TV channel and live stream

Tadej Pogacar chases history at Tour de France, seeking a fourth yellow jersey

Society

27 h. ago Tour de France stage one preview: Sprinters set sights on claiming yellow jersey in Grand Depart

The likes of Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan are all set to do battle on a fast and furious opening to the Tour de France

Politics

42 h. ago Tour de France team boss Jonathan Vaughters blasts UCI over rider safety

Cycling’s governing body accused of dangerous inaction‘People with real knowledge are pushed to the outside’A leading Tour de France team manager, Jonathan Vaughters, has launched a scathing attack on cycling’s governing body on the eve of the race, accusing the UCI of being “unable to make good decisions when it comes to safety or the governance of the sport”.Vaughters, who leads EF Education-Easypost and raced in four Tours as a professional, described cycling’s governing body as “managed by politicians and bureaucrats who do not understand the reality of the sport” and added that “they were put in place by the votes of other politicians who have never had their skin ripped off by the road”. Continue reading...

Politics

44 h. ago Why the dominance of Tadej Pogacar and the ‘big four’ will warp the 2025 Tour de France

Pogacar will be the outstanding favourite for the yellow jersey when the Tour de France begins in Lille on Saturday, and his attacking style will leave the rest of the peloton feeding off scraps

Events

49 h. ago The Tour de France’s version of VAR? Get ready for yellow card controversy

Aggressive, dangerous or unsporting behaviour will be subject to review, as will ‘anything that arouses suspicion’The 2025 Tour de France could see yellow cards issued for bad behaviour by riders thanks to cycling’s answer to football’s VAR. Every touch of shoulders, switch of wheels, dramatic acceleration and multilingual insult in the peloton will be scrutinised by a growing number of in-race cameras and UCI commissaires.As part of the UCI’s bid to expand its repertoire of disciplinary and investigative tools, cards can be awarded for everything from celebrating a teammate’s win to riding on the pavement. The card system was trialled last year and is now being integrated into World Tour racing. Continue reading...

Politics

66 h. ago Dave Brailsford is back leading Ineos Grenadiers on the hunt for Tour de France stage wins

The old boss has returned from his stint trying to revive Manchester United but faces another huge challenge pulling Ineos Grenadiers out of the doldrums

Events

3 d. ago ‘Like a kid in a sweet shop’: Brailsford back calling shots at Ineos Grenadiers

Former team principal will be present at Tour de FranceJohn Allert says 61-year-old ‘a not-so-secret weapon’Dave Brailsford has returned to a leading role at Ineos Grenadiers on the eve of the 2025 Tour de France, calling the shots on team selection and performance objectives, barely a month after he stepped back from his role at Manchester United.“Dave’s definitely coming to the Tour,” John Allert, the team CEO, said. “He’s like a kid in a sweet shop, talking about climbs and getting back to the mountains. That’s the battlefield that he knows and loves.” Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Quel triomphe! Tour de France celebrates 50 years of finishes on Champs

From LeMond’s astonishing comeback to Cavendish’s four victories, the final dash up the great avenue is now part of race folkloreIt is impossible now to conceive of the Tour de France without two things: the race leader’s yellow jersey and the finale on the Champs-Élysées, a spectacle that is half a century old this summer. The finish has moved away from the great avenue once in the last 50 years, during the Olympic buildup in 2024, and the Tour cannot really be imagined without that final dash up the great avenue with its high-end shops and cafes, its gardens and plane trees.The Tour had always finished in Paris, postwar on the velodromes at the Parc des Princes and the Cipale velodrome in the Bois de Vincennes, and it had frequently used the Champs for a ceremonial start; the idea for an “apotheosis” on the great avenue seems to have been inspired by the 1974 Giro d’Italia, which included a circuit race within Milan. The suggestion came from a television presenter, Yves Mourosi, w...

Politics

5 d. ago Oasis reunion tour leads to Aldi store rebrand as new product range tribute unveiled

Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher will be reuniting on stage from later this week when the new Oasis tour kicks off and Aldi has unveiled a rebrand at a store ahead of then

Politics

8 d. ago The 1975 at Glastonbury review – amid the irony, ego and pints of Guinness, this is a world

Pyramid stagePerhaps joking, or perhaps not, Matty Healy pronounces himself ‘the greatest songwriter of my generation’ – and that’s only a slightly ridiculous statementThe 1975’s first Glastonbury headlining slot arrives preceded by some intriguing rumours about what’s going to happen. Some fairly eye-popping figures are being bandied about regarding the cost of their set’s staging – which allegedly vastly outweighs the fee the band are being paid – while one dubious online source insists Healy has shaved his head for the occasion. He hasn’t (he appears onstage tonsorially intact), but clearly large sums of money have been spent somewhere along the way.What ensues isn’t quite as complex as their last tour, which featured lead singer Matty Healy eating raw steak, doing push ups, climbing through a television and Prince Andrew’s face appearing on a bank of television screens accompanied by the strains of Mahler’s 5th Symphony. Nevertheless, there are huge video screens everywhere: not...

Politics

9 d. ago Dan Bradbury on what he is really looking for after racing into DP World Tour lead

English star says golf makes no sense as he leads the way on DP World Tour

Politics

9 d. ago Farrell backs Pollock to prove ‘point of difference’ for Lions in striking selection

Squad’s youngest member starts against Western ForceDan Sheehan to captain Lions on SaturdayThere is a distinctly emerald tinge to the British & Irish Lions teamsheet for this weekend’s opening tour fixture in Australia. More than half the starting XV, three of the bench reserves, the newly minted captain, Dan Sheehan, and the head coach, Andy Farrell, reside in Ireland but perhaps the latter’s most striking selection is the squad’s uncut English diamond at No 8.Henry Pollock is only 20 but the young back-rower has been handed the glittering prize of a lifetime against Western Force on Saturday. Go well and Farrell may well include him in his Test match plans next month. Should the Northampton forward endure a problematic night, conversely, it may precipitate an abrupt managerial U-turn. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Debutant Dan Sheehan will lead Lions in first tour fixture against Western Force

Irish hooker joins eight other first-timers in matchday 23Jamison Gibson-Park and James Ryan left out with injuriesEight Ireland players have been selected in the British & Irish Lions starting XV to face Western Force in the first fixture of the squad’s Australia tour on Saturday. The Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan will lead out the team on his Lions debut with eight more first-time Lions featuring in the matchday 23 and 20-year-old Henry Pollock handed a start at number eight.Sheehan will be among those making his Lions debut alongside his club-mates Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier. The bench contains another four newcomers in the shape of England’s Ollie Chessum and Will Stuart, Scotland’s Huw Jones and Ireland’s Andrew Porter. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Sheehan will lead Lions with Pollock handed start at No8 against Western Force

Irish hooker joins eight other debutants in matchday 23Northampton’s Pollock to add back-row dynamismEight Ireland players have been selected in the British & Irish Lions starting XV to face Western Force in the first fixture of the squad’s Australia tour on Saturday. The Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan will lead out the team on his Lions debut with eight more first-time Lions featuring in the matchday 23 and 20-year-old Henry Pollock handed a start at number eight.Sheehan will be among those making his Lions debut alongside his club-mates Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier. The bench contains another four newcomers in the shape of England’s Ollie Chessum and Will Stuart, Scotland’s Huw Jones and Ireland’s Andrew Porter. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Tommy Fleetwood leads by three to boost maiden PGA Tour win hopes in Connecticut

A 63 was Fleetwood’s lowest round on the PGA Tour this year.

Politics