Ireland’s Nicolas Roche got right in the mix on the fourth day of the Giro d’Italia yesterday, challenging for stage glory on the 200-kilometre stage from Catanzaro to Praia a Mare.

Italian police say they have broken up an insurance fraud run by a crime syndicate that counted on the collusion of doctors, lawyers and car repair shop owners.

A speeding car has ploughed into a group of cyclists in southern Italy and killed at least seven of them, police said today.