Dan Martin has played down talk of being one of the main general classification contenders for this year’s Tour de France, despite sitting third overall, just 19 seconds behind race leader Chris Froome.

Sam Bennett failed to feature in the first big bunch sprint of this year’s Tour de France after getting caught on the wrong side of a key split during a crucial part of yesterday’s race.

Mark Dowling won the Des Hanlon Memorial in stunning fashion yesterday, blitzing the stellar field to win before a huge crowd in Carlow.

Now that the dust has settled on the January winter transfer window, a number of clubs hoping to have made the signings that will make the difference for them between now and May.