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.

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.

Nicolas Roche has described the ‘disrespect’ his Team Sky squad endured from spectators over the weekend.

Chris Froome stamped his class all over the Tour de France yesterday by totally obliterating the field on the first mountain stage of this year’s race.

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.

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.

Fabian Cancellara announced his withdrawal from the Tour de France on the race’s first rest day yesterday, becoming the latest big name to exit — albeit the Swiss did so voluntarily.

There was a home winner on the eighth stage of the Tour de France while Vincenzo Nibali remains in the yellow jersey after a thrilling battle with Alberto Contador.

Emotions took over for Chris Froome as he rode the final few kilometres of the penultimate stage of the Tour De France stage today.

Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford has written to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) offering to open the books on Chris Froome to prove the Tour de France leader is riding clean.

Chris Froome saw his Tour de France dreams flash before his eyes in a near-miss on the descent into Gap yesterday.

Chris Froome and Alberto Contador both had near misses on the descent into Gap but the Briton retained his overall lead on stage 16 of the 100th Tour de France.

Chris Froome conquered the most feared climb in Tour de France history to strengthen his grip on the yellow jersey.

Dan Martin ended Ireland’s 21-year wait for a stage win at the Tour de France yesterday when he blasted to a stunning win in Bagnères-de-Bigorre following the most gruelling day of this year’s race so far.

Ireland’s Dan Martin has won stage nine of the Tour de France in Bagneres-de-Bigorre.

Team Sky have blamed the punctures suffered by Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas during yesterday’s stage five of the Tour de France on tacks placed in the road by spectators.

Bradley Wiggins took possession of the Tour de France race leader's yellow jersey after a dominant performance from Team Sky today, capped by a stage seven success for fellow Briton Chris Froome.

Nicolas Roche was again best of the Irish on the toughest stage of the Tour of the Algarve yesterday, finishing 11th, 44 seconds behind stage winner Richie Porte (Team Sky).