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.

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.

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.