A new sculpture to be installed in a Cork harbourside town has the potential to become one of the most photographed in Ireland — because of its design.

Chris Froome retained his advantage on stage 19 of La Vuelta as Belgian Thomas De Gendt won a sprint finish out of the breakaway to keep Spaniards waiting for a stage victory in their home race.

Chris Froome survived a mechanical and a crash to keep hold of his red jersey but his lead at La Vuelta was cut to 59 seconds.

Tomasz Marczynski took the honours on stage six of La Vuelta as overall leader Chris Froome saw nearest challenger Tejay van Garderen slip down the standings.

Dan Martin narrowly missed out on victory in stage 3 of the Tour de France this afternoon.

Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas were grateful to emerge with little more than bumps and bruises from a crash as Marcel Kittel won stage two of the Tour de France in Liege.

Ireland’s Dan Martin is one of just two Irish riders who will roll out of the German city of Dusseldorf this afternoon for the 104th edition of the Tour de France.

Sam Bennett claimed 10th place on yesterday’s fifth stage of Paris-Nice, the Irishman unable to emulate Tuesday’s heroic effort where he finished top of the podium at the end of the day.

Ireland’s Dan Martin dropped one place to 10th overall after the 18th stage of the Tour de France yesterday as Chris Froome all but sealed outright victory.

Nicolas Roche moved up one place to 21st overall at the Vuelta A Espana after yesterday’s 12th stage of the race to Lleida, the Team Sky man not getting amongst the sprint that decided the day.

Nicolas Roche put up a brave fight in a bid to claim stage glory on yesterday’s 17th stage of the Tour de France but it was German Simon Geschke (Giant Alpecin) who emerged victorious with a brilliant solo victory.

Team Sky’s riders and management have staunchly defended the performance of Nicolas Roche following Sunday’s near miss at a stage win on the ninth day of the Tour de France.

World champions BMC won the Stage 9 team time-trial at the Tour de France yesterday, beating Team Sky by a single second as Chris Froome retained custody of the race leader’s yellow jersey.

Ryan Mullen was last night crowned national U23 and elite time trial champion after he beat Eddie Dunbar (NFTO) and Martyn Irvine (Madison Genesis) on the opening night of this year’s championships.

Hopefully now with the new sponsor, it’ll increase the chances of getting to that level and give me time to develop because I’m still young.

Simon Ryan claimed a sensational victory at Rás Luimní in Caherconlish, Limerick, yesterday.

Nicolas Roche got Ireland’s UCI World Championships campaign underway in Ponferrada, Spain yesterday with a fifth-place finish in the Elite men’s team time-trial.

Irish internationals Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Jack Wilson will line out as part of a six man An Post Chainreaction team at the Ride London-Surrey Classic tomorrow.

Poland’s Rafal Majka was thrilled with his second victory of the 2014 Tour de France as Vincenzo Nibali further enhanced his hold on the race leader’s yellow jersey after stage 17.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche made a real statement of intent at the Giro d’Italia yesterday when he moved up to seventh overall following the day’s 203-kilometre trek from Taranto to Viggiano.

German powerhouse Marcel Kittel proved for the second day in succession he is currently the best sprinter in the world when he stormed to victory on stage three of the Giro d’Italia in front of over 50,000 fans in Dublin’s city centre yesterday.

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.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, riding for Team Saxo-Tinkoff, lies third overall after adding a ninth-placed finish to his stage win on Sunday in yesterday’s third stage of the Vuelta a Espana between Vigo and Mirador de Lobeira.

Carrick-on-Suir sprinter Sam Bennett delivered the An Post Chain Reaction team’s second stage win of this year’s An Post Rás when he outgunned Dane Morten Ollegaard (Blue Water Cycling), Polish rider Marcin Bialablocki (Team UK Youth) and the rest of the peloton in a mass bunch sprint to the line at the end of stage three in Listowel yesterday.

For the second time in the last five editions of the race, the little-known Tipperary County team has outwitted the big guns to produce a stage winner at the An Post Rás.

British time-trial champion Alex Dowsett claimed stage eight of the Giro D’Italia today as Bradley Wiggins closed the gap on his general classification rivals.

UCC 2-17 Mary Immaculate College 2-12

Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and UCC will contest tomorrow's Fitzgibbon Cup decider after semi-final wins over Waterford IT and UCD respectively this afternoon in Galway.

Former UCI President Hein Verbruggen had assets managed by the investment bank of Thom Weisel, backer of the US Postal Services team that disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong rode for during his rise to fame in the late 90s and early 2000s — but has denied any wrongdoing.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche went painfully close to ending his wait for a Grand Tour stage win yesterday when he was caught mere metres from the line on the 19th stage of the Vuelta A Espana from Peñafiel to La Lastrilla.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche is still seventh overall going into today’s 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana after finishing safely in the main bunch of yesterday’s 172 kilometre trek from Santiago de Compostela to Ferrol.

On a day when the defending champion, Cadel Evans’ defence of his Tour de France title disintegrated on the perilously steep slopes of the Pyrenees, Ireland’s Dan Martin turned in one of the performances of his career to finish seventh on yesterday’s 16th stage from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon.

The mountaineering world has led tributes to one of the UK’s most respected climbers after he was killed alongside two other Britons in a devastating avalanche.

A climber trying to scale Mont Blanc may have accidentally caused a slab of ice to snap off high in the French Alps, sparking an avalanche which swept nine European climbers to their deaths, authorities said.

Joanne Cuddihy will compete in the Olympic 400 metres, having become the 17th Irish track and field athlete to qualify for London 2012.

The draws for the 2012 Higher Education GAA Championships, including the prestigious Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups, were made this afternoon in Croke Park.

IRELAND’S Nicolas Roche moved up one place to 21st on the overall classification at the Tour de France yesterday after he finished 14th on a testing 179 kilometre stage from Gap to Pinerolo in Italy.

NICOLAS ROCHE’S goal of a top-10 finish in this year’s Tour de France is over after a nightmare day on Saturday when he conceded almost seven minutes to his main rivals and dropped back from 11th to 18th on the overall classification.

NICOLAS ROCHE finished safely in the main bunch of yesterday’s 156-kilometre 13th stage of the Tour de France from Pau to Lourdes but he slipped back one place to 11th on the overall general classification after Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert crossed the line in ninth place to usurp him of a top 10 placing.

NICOLAS ROCHE consolidated his overnight position of 13th place in the Tour de France after he finished safely in the main bunch of yesterday’s rain-hit 167-kilometre journey from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur.