Cycling

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

The Giro d’Italia starts in Budapest on Friday and concludes with an individual time trial in Verona on 29 May. The 21-stage race travels a 3,446km (2,141 miles) route across flat sprinter-friendly days, time trials and gruelling mountain climbs. Here, BBC Sport looks at everything you need to know about the race. What’s the significance

Owain Doull will start the Giro d’Italia feeling his new team has been “like a breath of fresh air” that has “rekindled that love of cycling”. He is in Budapest where the 2022 Giro starts on Friday, 6 May and relishing the chance to take on his former team. “I’m loving it, I have to

Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay says it would be one of cycling’s “best moments” when the first black African rider wins a Grand Tour stage. Girmay, 22, makes his Grand Tour debut at Friday’s Giro d’Italia Grand Partenza, where he is expected to challenge for the stage victory. He became the first black African to win

Getty Images Two men have denied robbing Olympic and Tour de France cyclist Mark Cavendish and his wife Peta at their home. Chelmsford Crown Court heard the couple were threatened at their house in the Ongar area of Essex at 02:35 GMT on 27 November. Romario Henry, 31, of Lewisham, south London, and Oludewa Okorosobo,

Britain’s Mark Cavendish is unlikely to return to the Tour de France after Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl selected him for the Giro d’Italia. Cavendish, 36, equalled Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France stage win record of 34 during last year’s race, after victory in four stages. Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen is expected to compete for the team

Britain’s Tom Pidcock will not feature in the Giro d’Italia after Ineos Grenadiers announced their line-up. Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz, who won the race in 2019, leads the team, with young Briton Ben Tulett also involved. Pidcock, 22, who signed a five-year contract last month, could instead take part in the Tour de France. “The team

British cyclist Ethan Hayter won stage two of the Tour de Romandie – but Rohan Dennis still holds the overall lead in the event which concludes on Sunday. Hayter, 23, won the prologue but lost the leader’s jersey after crashing in stage one. He bounced back with victory, but has only climbed to 107th in

Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters has regained consciousness and can “communicate slightly non-verbally” four months after a crash in training. Pieters, 30, suffered severe brain damage after falling during a training camp in Alicante in December. After undergoing surgery, she was put into an induced coma and transferred to a Netherlands hospital in January. In a

British cyclist Ethan Hayter claimed his first World Tour victory after winning the prologue of the Tour de Romandie. The 23-year-old takes the leaders jersey after beating two-time former world time trial champion Rohan Dennis by four seconds. He finished the 5.12km route around Lausanne in five minutes 52 seconds. Hayter’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Geraint

World champion Julian Alaphilippe remains in hospital after hitting a tree during Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day race. The 29-year-old Frenchman suffered two broken ribs, a broken scapula and a collapsed lung. A huge crash brought down many riders 62km from the finish, with Alaphilippe landing in a ditch. His Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team said “a period

World champion Julian Alaphilippe suffered two broken ribs, a broken scapula and a collapsed lung after hitting a tree during Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day race. The 29-year-old Frenchman’s condition is stable, but he has been kept in hospital for observation, said his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team. A huge crash brought down many riders 62km out, with

Britain ended the UCI Track Nations Cup with omnium gold for Ollie Wood on the final day in Glasgow. Wood, 26, claimed victory in the scratch race before finishing third in the tempo and sixth in the elimination. A dominant performance in the points race saw Wood gain a lap on the field and he

Venue: Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow Dates: 21-24 April Coverage: Watch on BBC Sport website & app Josie Knight won bronze on her injury return but Great Britain’s Katie Archibald was involved in a bad crash at the Track Nations Cup in Glasgow. GB’s Knight was third in the individual pursuit just five weeks after

Venue: Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow Dates: 21-24 April Coverage: Watch on BBC Sport website & app Charlie Tanfield won Great Britain’s third medal – and his second – at the UCI Track Nations Cup 2022 in Glasgow with bronze in the individual pursuit. Qualifying third fastest, Tanfield set up a bronze medal ride off

Five-time Olympic cycling champion Laura Kenny says she has had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy in the past five months. But in November the 29-year-old miscarried at nine weeks. Still feeling unwell after catching Covid in January, she was then rushed into surgery with an ectopic pregnancy. “Scared doesn’t even come close. I lost

Venue: Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow Dates: 21-24 April Coverage: Watch on BBC Sport website & app Great Britain claimed double silver in the team pursuit as the UCI Track Nations Cup 2022 began in Glasgow. Katie Archibald, Neah Evans, Laura Kenny and Josie Knight finished second to Germany – like they did at the

The oversized snowflakes fell softly and silently, settling among the pines like a picturesque Christmas scene. By the roadside, spectators in heavy winter coats watched team cars and motorbikes struggle up one of Liege-Bastogne-Liege’s countless climbs, tyres spinning in the slush as they pursued one man on a bike. It was April 1980 and Bernard