Participating in sport is generally seen as a good thing for society. It has health benefits, both physical and mental. It can be a sociable activity promoting a sense of belonging, identity and inclusion, says Jack Anderson.

Former Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner Stephen Roche believes it would be "humanly impossible" for Chris Froome to win all three grand tour races in one year.

An Post Rás stage winner Eoin Morton has been handed the onerous task of leading the Irish national team into battle in this year’s contest which starts in Dublin on Sunday.

Chris Froome has reported an apparent hit-and-run incident to police after saying he was deliberately knocked off his bike while training in southern France yesterday.

At the start of this month, cyclists competed in the 100th Giro d’Italia race. Ben Mitchell gets in on the action by tackling part of the course on a bike holiday through the South Tyrol

Sam Bennett starts the third Grand Tour of his career tomorrow, when he leads the Bora-Hansgrohe team at the Giro d’Italia, which gets underway in Alghero, Sardinia.

Andre Greipel won his third stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday before withdrawing from the race, citing the tough terrain in store and more achievable goals in the weeks and months ahead.

Nicolas Roche moved up three places to 16th on general classification at the Giro d’Italia yesterday after finishing in the same time as stage winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal).

Nicolas Roche will roll down the start-ramp in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this afternoon as one of the two Irish riders in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

It doesn’t take long to realise David Collins is not your typical county player or young man.

A late puncture proved costly for Team Sky’s Richie Porte as Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF) won stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday.

Michael Matthews won stage three of the Giro d’Italia which saw Italian rider Domenico Pozzovivo suffer a frightening crash to bring back memories of the accident which killed Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt in the 2011 edition.

CYCLING: Chris Froome may opt out of the 2015 Tour de France and target a Giro d’Italia-Vuelta a Espana double instead.

Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly has paid tribute to Dan Martin for the manner in which he bounced back from a dreadful run of luck this year to win one of cycling’s biggest one-day races.

Vincenzo Nibali completed victory in the 101st Tour de France in Paris yesterday as Marcel Kittel won the final stage on the Champs-Elysees-

CYCLING: Sam Bennett is the hot favourite to win tomorrow’s Elite National Road Race title in Mullingar, but the Carrick-on-Súir rider is playing down his chances.

Nairo Quintana plans to target the 2015 Tour de France after celebrating victory in the Giro d’Italia yesterday.

Philip Deignan notched his best result since moving to Team Sky last year — and the best result from an Irish perspective at this year’s Giro d’Italia when he notched a brilliant third on yesterday’s 18th stage of the race from Belluno to Panarotta.

There was controversy in today's stage of the Giro d’Italia as organisers caused confusion over whether a descent was actually going ahead on the route.

Dan Martin’s race programme for the remainder of the season is unclear following his collar bone break on the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia in Belfast last Friday night.

Marcel Kittel, the winner of successive stages in Belfast and Dublin, has today abandoned the Giro d’Italia before the resumption in Italy due to illness.

An up-and-coming cyclist has apologised after a ‘selfie’ he took of a prone Giro d’Italia stage winner moments after a sprint finish prompted a storm of criticism.

The Giro is crossing the border today as 200 of the world's best cyclists gear up for the final Irish stage of the famous Italian race.

Dan Martin was due to have surgery on his broken collarbone on Saturday evening after an opening-stage crash ended his Giro d'Italia hopes.

Dan Martin's Giro d'Italia dreams were ended on the opening stage in Belfast as he suffered a serious crash.

Ireland’s Dan Martin says he’ll be taking the Giro d’Italia "one day at a time" as he seeks to become the first Irishman to finish on a podium at a Grand Tour for over a quarter of a century.

The Giro d’Italia’s Big Start is in Ireland this year – but what is the Giro, and why is everything pink?

Nicolas Roche said he was left proud but almost speechless by the welcome he received at the opening of the Giro D'Italia in Belfast.

Nicolas Roche’s Tinkoff-Saxo team have suffered a blow ahead of tomorrow’s Giro d’Italia start in Belfast, with new signing Edward Beltran having been refused visa access by the British Embassy.

Irish cycling legend Stephen Roche says that given the growth of the sport and the increased profile of the country’s top riders it’s time to revive the Tour of Ireland.

The days of partying are now over as Donegal’s Philip Deignan prepares for the Giro d’Italia with Team Sky.

One of the key figures in bringing the Giro d’Italia to Ireland is hopeful the race can leave a lasting and positive legacy.

Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly believes the Grand Tour potential of Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin is still unclear ahead of the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Belfast on Friday week.

After breaking his collarbone back in mid-February, Donegal professional cyclist Philip Deignan returns to action today with a stage-race in Italy and is optimistic about his chances of riding the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Belfast on May 9.

Tourism Ireland chiefs have hit back at Sean Kelly’s critical comments surrounding the promotion of the Giro d’Italia which starts in Belfast on May 9th.

Irish cycling legend, Vuelta winner and former world No 1, Sean Kelly has described as a “scandal” the lack of promotion by Tourism Ireland of the Giro d’Italia coming to Dublin in May.

Irishman Stephen Roche has been inducted into the Giro d’Italia Hall of Fame at a ceremony at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Brian Nugent scratches his head and tries to tot up the number of days he has spent abroad with Irish cyclists this year — but can only offer a very rough estimate. “A lot,” he eventually settles for.

It’s about 9.30am on Sunday morning and our 16-seater bus has turned left onto the Via Borgo Palazzo in Bergamo.

Dan Martin has revealed how “gut-wrenching” it was to have gotten sick in the final week of the Tour, which deprived the Irish rider the possibility of a high placing overall, another stage win, or even both.

Former British Cycling head coach Shane Sutton believes Bradley Wiggins has reached a crossroads in his career.

Bradley Wiggins admitted his disappointment after being forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia, a race the Olympic champion had made his number one priority this season.

Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of the Giro d’Italia because of a chest infection.

Mark Cavendish claimed the 100th stage victory of his career over the 134km 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Longarone to Treviso today.