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 finished a career best in a Grand Tour yesterday when he finished seventh overall at the Vuelta A Espana.

Nicolas Roche will be one of the race favourites for this month’s Friends Life Tour of Britain, after his participation was confirmed by his team Tinkoff-Saxo yesterday.

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

Defending champion Chris Froome was hoping to avoid any lingering after effects of his fourth stage crash as Marcel Kittel claimed a hat-trick of Tour de France wins in Lille on Tuesday.

German sprint sensation Marcel Kittel took his second stage win in three days at the Tour de France yesterday, blasting clear in the final metres to take a thrilling stage that concluded on The Mall in London.

Cycling: Vincenzo Nibali bared his teeth and savoured a first Tour de France stage win of his career on another memorable day of racing in Yorkshire yesterday.

Italy's Vincenzo Nibali launched a late attack to win stage two of the Tour de France in Sheffield today and claim the race leader's yellow jersey.

Mark Cavendish’s bid for the yellow jersey ended in a heap as the Manxman tumbled to the tarmac in a dramatic conclusion to the opening stage of the 101st Tour de France in Harrogate.

The Cork man at the centre of an international cycling media storm has apologised to anyone he offended following his now infamous selfie with Sunday’s stage winner of the Giro d’Italia in Dublin, Marcel Kittel.

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.

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 and Nicolas Roche survived another nerve-shredder at the Tour de France yesterday, the duo crossing the line in the same time as stage winner Marcel Kittel after avoiding a nasty pile-up with two kilometres to go.

Marcel Kittel won stage 10 of the Tour de France in Saint-Malo after Mark Cavendish was involved in a collision during the sprint to the line.

The organisers of the 100th Tour de France came under fire after the first stage of the showpiece event ended in chaos in Bastia.

The UCI and its current and former presidents, Irishman Pat McQuaid and Dutchman Hein Verbruggen have suspended plans to sue Irish journalist Paul Kimmage.

TONY MARTIN, one of the favourites for this year’s Tour de France, won the FBD Insurance Rás three years ago and the team he led back in 2007, Thuringer Energie, is set for a return for this year’s edition of Irish cycling’s showpiece which gets under way on May 23.