Author: Reuters

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Giro d’Italia: Narváez powers to stage four victory as Ciccone takes pink

  • Home rider take lead after first shakeup in 2026 race

  • Narváez surges through to deny Aular on the line

Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) powered to the line, claiming victory on stage four of the Giro d’Italia, outpacing Orluis Aular, with the home rider Giulio Ciccone taking over the leader’s pink jersey after crossing the line in third.

The first shakeup in this year’s race coincided with its arrival home in Italy following the opening three stages in Bulgaria, and after Aular hit the front ahead of Ciccone, Narváez came from behind and left the Venezuelan behind.

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European football: Olise fires Bayern’s winner against Wolfsburg after Kane misses penalty

  • Kane misses first Bundesliga spot-kick in 25 attempts in win

  • Slavia-Sparta derby abandoned after pitch invasion

Harry Kane missed a penalty as Bayern Munich failed to hit top form but the Bundesliga champions still edged struggling Wolfsburg 1-0 to bounce back after their midweek Champions League semi-final exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern, who won with a Michael Olise goal, had suffered a 6-5 aggregate loss to PSG after their 1-1 draw in Munich on Wednesday, narrowly missing out on what would have been their first Champions League final in six years. The frustration was evident at the start as the Bavarian side, with six changes in the lineup, lacked their usual attacking spark despite having Kane, the top scorer, in the starting XI.

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Uruguay’s Silva makes history after dramatic Giro d’Italia second stage

  • Silva is first Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage

  • Nearly 20 riders involved in crash 198km into route

Guillermo Thomas Silva won stage two of the Giro d’Italia to become the first Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage after a dramatic sprint after a crash involving nearly 20 riders disrupted the hilly, rain-soaked 221 km ride from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria.

The race was temporarily neutralised after the crash around the 198km mark which left several riders injured, and forced the Australian Jay Vine and Norwegian Adne Holter to abandon. The Spaniard Florian Stork finished second and Giulio Ciccone of Italy was third, as the XDS Astana rider Thomas Silva took the pink jersey from the stage one winner, France’s Paul Magnier.

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Teenage French prodigy Paul Seixas to become youngest Tour de France cyclist for 89 years

  • Home hope will be on the start line in Barcelona

  • Could be first male French winner since Hinault in 1985

The cycling prodigy Paul Seixas will make his Tour de France debut this year, raising hopes of France’s first male homegrown winner since 1985.

The 19-year-old Decathlon-CMA CGM rider has prompted intense debate in France after a dazzling start to 2026 with his team weighing the benefits of early exposure to the Tour against the risk of overburdening a rider still in his first season as a professional.

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European football: Inter fritter away two-goal lead; goalkeepers sent off for fighting in Spain

  • Nikola Vlasic scores Torino equaliser in 2-2 draw

  • Dortmund seal Champions League spot with 4-0 win

Champions-elect Inter were held to a 2-2 draw at Torino on Sunday, with the Serie A leaders letting slip a two-goal lead and leaving the title race ticking over with four rounds left.

Inter appeared to be cruising after Marcus Thuram put them in front in the 23rd minute and Yann Bisseck doubled their lead 16 minutes after the break with another header but Torino clawed their way back into the game.

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Pogacar holds off French teen to claim third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège title

  • World champion pulls clear of Paul Seixas on final climb

  • ‘It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races’

The world champion, Tadej Pogacar, pulled ahead of the 19-year-old French debutant Paul Seixas in the final climb to secure his third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège title on Sunday, his fourth overall victory in the race.

Pogacar finished the 259.5km race in five hours, 50 minutes and 28 seconds to win the 13th Monument title of his career and his third of the year after the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo.

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European football: Bayern Munich win 35th league title by surging past Stuttgart

  • Bayern bounce back from early concession to win 4-2

  • PSG’s title hopes hit after 2-1 home defeat by Lyon

Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.

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LIV Golf ‘business as usual’ but chief admits rebel tour may need to raise money

  • Scott O’Neil rejects claims LIV is close to collapse

  • ‘Structural changes’ afoot, chief executive says

The LIV Golf chief executive, Scott O’Neil, has admitted the nascent golf league’s finances are “managed very tightly” and said structural changes are on the way that would probably mean they needed to raise money, but he remained adamant the league would not fold.

He was interviewed by LIV employees during the TV broadcast of the first round of the rebel tour’s Mexico City leg, a day after reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was to cut its funding for the league it helped launch in 2022.

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Wout van Aert outduels Tadej Pogacar to win his first Paris-Roubaix title

  • Belgian ends decade-old run of bad luck in event

  • ‘It’s everything to me … I stopped believing a lot of times’

Wout van Aert shattered a decade-old jinx to win Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, outduelling the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, in a brutal classic race across the cobbles.

The 31-year-old suffered a puncture as did Pogacar and their great rival Mathieu van der Poel, who had two mechanicals and could not contest the final sprint, which went in Van Aert’s favour for his second title in one of the five Monument classics after his Milan-Sanremo victory in 2020.

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European football: Real Madrid held at home by Girona to extend winless run

  • Fans jeer as draw follows losses to Mallorca and Bayern

  • Marseille go third in Ligue 1 as Paris FC stun Monaco

Real Madrid had to settle for a 1-1 draw against mid-table Girona in La Liga on Friday, extending the hosts’ winless run to three games in all competitions and giving Barcelona the chance to stretch their advantage at the top.

Federico Valverde put Madrid ahead six minutes after half-time but Girona levelled in the 62nd minute through Thomas Lemar. Álvaro Arbeloa’s side are six points behind Barça, who have a game in hand against Espanyol on Saturday and could move nine clear with seven games to play.

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Medvedev smashes racket then bins it during 6-0, 6-0 loss in Monte Carlo

  • World No 10 suffers heavy loss to Matteo Berrettini

  • Russian committed 27 unforced errors

Daniil Medvedev smashed his racket several times and placed the remnants in a courtside dustbin during his humbling 6-0, 6-0 loss to the Italian wildcard Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

It was the world No 10’s first tour-level defeat without winning a game and he capitulated in 49 minutes, failing to earn a game point on his own serve and committing 27 unforced errors. Berrettini will face João Fonseca in the last 16 after the Brazilian teenager beat Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

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Alpine condemn ‘hateful’ abuse of Colapinto and Ocon over F1 crashes

  • Colapinto abused over Bearman’s crash in Japan

  • Ex-Alpine driver Ocon clashed with Colapinto in China

Alpine have condemned on Thursday online abuse of Franco Colapinto for an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix as well as death threats directed at the Formula One team’s former racer Esteban Ocon over prior events in China.

They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of “sabotage” and claims their Argentinian driver was not being given the same quality equipment as his teammate Pierre Gasly.

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LA 2028 Olympic organizers say 1m tickets will be available for $28

  • Aaround 5% of tickets will cost more than $1,000

  • Tickets for general public to go on sale on 9 April

Tickets for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will go on sale to the general public on 9 April, organizers said on Monday, as LA28 also moved to reassure fans over ticket security by naming a group of verified resale platforms.

A presale for residents in qualifying areas of Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom events, will begin on 2 April.

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Mohamed Salah warned by Egypt team director that MLS move would diminish spotlight

  • ‘You won’t remember Salah more than I remember Messi’

  • Forward urged to consider Saudi Arabia or Europe

Egypt’s national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, has cautioned Mohamed Salah against moving to Major League Soccer when he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season. Salah has yet to announce his next move after he ends a hugely successful nine-year spell at Liverpool, where he won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

The MLS commissioner, Don Garber, has said he would love to see Salah in the league, though it is unclear whether any teams will attempt to sign the 33-year-old.

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French league postpones Lens match to allow PSG weekend off between Liverpool games

  • Lens were opposed to moving the Ligue 1 game

  • The top two sides will now play on 13 May

Paris Saint-Germain’s visit to Lens, potentially a crucial encounter in the Ligue 1 title race, has been postponed to give PSG more time to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool.

The match between the top two teams in France’s top division – PSG lead Lens by a point – was scheduled for 11 April but will now take place on 13 May, three days before the final round of fixtures.

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