Cycling

The Tour de France is cycling’s most prestigious race, but even so there are probably some rules and regulations governing the running of the event and the conduct of the riders, teams and staff which you probably haven’t heard of.  From glass containers to race numbers, here are a selection of rules you may not

The Tour de France sees the very best cyclists in the world battle it out for the yellow, green, white and polka-dot jerseys, based on the general, points, mountains and young rider classifications.  The jersey for each category is awarded to the leader of that classification at the end of every stage, and the recipient

Geraint Thomas has become the first Briton to win the Tour de Suisse after finishing second on the final day time trial in Vaduz. The 36-year-old 2018 Tour de France winner was well ahead of his main general classification rivals as Remco Evenepoel won on stage eight. Belgian Evenepoel completed the course in 28 minutes

The mother of Emily Bridges has accused cycling’s world governing body of “moving goalposts” after it toughened its rules on transgender eligibility. On Thursday, the UCI announced it was doubling the period of time before a rider transitioning from male to female can compete in women’s races. It means that 21-year-old Bridges will not be

Stephen Williams held onto the Tour de Suisse lead as ex-world champion Peter Sagan celebrated his first win of 2022 on stage three in Grenchen. The Slovak, 32, held off challenges from Bryan Coquard and Alexander Kristoff as the 177km stage ended. After his first win for nine months, Sagan said: “It’s nice to be

Elisa Longo Borghini won the Women’s Tour by a second after finishing stage six in third place. The Italian went into the concluding stage of the tour sharing the overall lead with Australian Grace Brown after winning stage five. And Longo Borghini claimed the overall victory by sealing third with Brown only managing 12th in

Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes made it back-to-back wins with victory on stage three of the Women’s Tour. Wiebes followed up her dominant display on Tuesday by beating Australia’s Alex Manly and America’s Coryn Labecki across the line in Gloucester. The 23-year-old missed out on the opening day after a multi-rider crash on the final corner.

Former Giro d’Italia champion Tom Dumoulin has announced he will retire from professional cycling after the 2022 season. The Dutch rider, 31, won the Giro in 2017 and the world time trial title in the same year. Dumoulin said in January 2021 he was taking an indefinite break from cycling before returning five months later.

Defending champion Lorena Wiebes wrapped up a comprehensive victory in the RideLondon Classique by completing a clean sweep of three stage wins. The Dutch rider proved too strong for her rivals once more as she sprinted away from the pack on Embankment. Wiebes, 23, had taken victory on the opening stage in Maldon on Friday,

Jai Hindley became the first Australian to win the Giro d’Italia as the 26-year-old eased home on the final-stage time-trial. Hindley, who had lost the 2020 race on the final-day time trial, had snatched the pink jersey and an 85-second lead from Richard Carapaz on Saturday. Ecuador’s Carapaz went out hard but could not strike

Koen Bouwman took his second win at the Giro d’Italia on stage 19 as Richard Carapaz kept the overall race lead. Dutch rider Bouwman held off Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid with Italy’s Alessandro Tonelli finishing in third. Ecuador’s Carapaz crossed the line nearly four minutes back with his general classification rivals Jai Hindley and Mikel Landa.

Czech rider Jan Hirt claimed a first Grand Tour win with victory over a tough mountain stage as Richard Carapaz saw his overall lead of the Giro d’Italia cut to just three seconds. The 202km stage 16 from Sala to Aprica had three category one climbs and was seen as one of the toughest stages.

Britain’s Simon Yates claimed his second stage win of this year’s Giro d’Italia as Richard Carapaz claimed the overall lead from Juan Pedro Lopez. This year’s race was blown open on a thrilling stage 14, with Carapaz breaking away with 28km left. But Yates, 29, was among a trio that caught the 2019 winner before

Biniam Girmay has been forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia one day after making history as the first black African winner of a Grand Tour stage. Eritrean Girmay won stage 10 on Tuesday but went to hospital after popping a prosecco cork into his left eye while celebrating on the podium. Despite later returning to

Simon Yates’ hopes at the Giro d’Italia look to be over after the Briton endured a difficult day on a gruelling ninth stage won by Jai Hindley. Yates, who injured his knee in a crash in the fourth stage, was dropped by his main rivals on the steep final climb and crossed 11 minutes 15

France’s Arnaud Demare beat Australian Caleb Ewan in a photo finish to win stage six of the Giro d’Italia. Demare, victorious in Sicily on Wednesday, was pushed hard to the line in Scalea by Ewan and had to wait for confirmation he had snatched it. Britain’s Mark Cavendish, looking to claim his second stage of

Mark Cavendish made it two British wins in two days at the Giro d’Italia as he out-sprinted the peloton to win the third stage on Sunday in Hungary. The 36-year-old, riding the race for the first time since 2013, hit the front with 300m to go and held off Arnaud Demare and Fernando Gaviria to

Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel marked his Giro d’Italia debut in style with victory after a chaotic finish to the race’s opening stage. As a classics specialist who excels in punchy climbs, Alpecin-Fenix’s Van der Poel came into the first stage as favourite and won by a bike length. Caleb Ewan crashed after hitting