It was quite a spectacle - I don't think I've ever seen three people from the same team finish together ahead of the main pack! Laporte definitely deserved to take the win though, particularly as the other two will likely be contesting for the overall win.

Van Aert took the yellow after Stage 4 - Laporte certainly put up a fight though and only fell to third, well done to him!

A fantastic breakaway win today for Mathieu Burgaudeau - literally holding off the peloton by fractions of a second, his first professional win as well. Roglic remains in yellow - will this finally be the year for him to take Paris-Nice?

And Roglic takes the yellow jersey - although Simon Yates certainly put it under pressure! Yates takes the final stage with Dani Martinez taking the final podium place.

Sonny Colbrelli required defibrillation following Monday's collapse at the Volta a Catalunya, say his team.

 

Italian Colbrelli, 31, was attended to by medics behind screens near the finish line before being taken to hospital in Girona by ambulance.

 

Bahrain Victorious said he had "suffered from an unstable cardiac arrhythmia that required defibrillation".

 

The team earlier said he was "conscious and OK" but will have more tests.

 

Its statement added: "Cardiac tests showed no signs of compromised functions."

 

Colbrelli finished second to Michael Matthews on stage one to Sant Feliu de Guixols.

MP Damian Collins has questioned whether English cricket should seek advice from Sir Dave Brailsford after his "failures" with British Cycling.

 

The Ineos Grenadiers' general manager came under scrutiny in the wake of the tribunal of ex-cycling medic doctor Richard Freeman.

 

Brailsford is under consideration for a role in the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) high-performance team.

 

The BBC understands Brailsford has not been formally approached by the ECB.

 

Last year, Freeman was found guilty of ordering banned testosterone in 2011 while he was chief doctor for British Cycling and Team Sky.

 

Brailsford, who worked for both at the time, has since come under scrutiny.

Biniam Girmay became the first black African (or indeed African of any colour) to win a classic last week with his victory on Gent–Wevelgem.

 

I feel like this is definitely the start of something big for Africans in the profeesional peloton, it's taken 5 or so years for Eritrea to begin to establish themselves in the sport and now they finally have a genuine contender for the big races it should help get even more publicity (and hopefull funding) for new talent. For a sport which is so dominated by white people it's geniuinely an exciting time.

I don't think I'd really realised this but the new rules regarding UCI licences essentially means that there is a 'relegation battle' this season for the first time as only the Top 18 of the teams who apply will get a license (calculated by totalling up results form the last three years). Both Alpecin-Fenix and Arkea-Samsic have applied for a license meaning two of the 20 teams will miss out, and at the moment it's Israel-PremierTech and Lotto-Soudal outside the Top 18. All very tense!

World champion Julian Alaphilippe suffered two broken ribs, a broken scapula and a collapsed lung after hitting a tree during Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day race.

 

The 29-year-old Frenchman's condition is stable, but he has been kept in hospital for observation, said his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team.

 

A huge crash brought down many riders 62km out, with Alaphilippe landing in a ditch and hitting a tree.

That's awful to hear - it would be a massive shame for him to miss out on the Grand Tours but really at this point I'm just hoping he's ok.

Completely missed the Nations Cup happening on the track recently! Our best result was a gold in the Omnium for Ollie Wood, although we got a couple of other medals as well.

RideLondon will feature a three-day Women's UCI World Tour stage race when it returns between 27-29 May.

 

About 20,000 amateur riders are also expected to take part on Sunday, with 30, 60 and 100-mile courses looping from central London to Essex.

 

An eight-mile, free cycle route has also been set up around the capital for riders of all ages and abilities.

 

The event, first held in 2013, could not take place in 2020 or 2021 because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Mark Cavendish will return to the British National Road Championships in Dumfries and Galloway later this month.

 

The line-up includes all five defending champions from last year's event in Lincoln.

 

Cavendish, winner of 34 Tour de France stages, is on the start list of the men's race alongside two-time defending champion Ben Swift.

 

Defending champion Pfeiffer Georgi leads the field in Scotland for the women's road race.

 

Cavendish, 37, won his only British title the last time the championships took place in Scotland in 2013.

I've not seen the course for the championships but I'm assuming it must be quite a flat one if Cavendish is a contender!

Primoz Roglic won the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday at the Plateau de Solaison.

 

The Jumbo-Visma rider, 32, cruised to victory, with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar absent.

 

The Slovenian took second place in the eighth and final stage won by his Danish team-mate Jonas Vingegaard.

 

The three-time Vuelta a Espana winner is expected to be one of the main contenders at this year's Tour de France.

 

Roglic and Vingegaard were in a breakaway group in the last stage, which was a 137.5km ride from Saint-Alban-Leysse to Plateau de Solaison.

Stephen Williams held onto the Tour de Suisse lead, but will go into Tuesday's third stage only four seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

 

The 26-year-old Welshman was a shock winner of Sunday's opening stage as he triumphed in a sprint finish.

 

On day two, Williams finished in the peloton after Norway's Andreas Leknessund led the riders home on the 198km from Kusnacht to Aesch.

 

German Maximilian Schachmann lies second overall.

Just watched the highlishts of the Women's Tour - now that was a very close one! Well done to Longho Borghini for nabbing it on the final sprint.

Tom Dumoulin announced his retirement at the start of this month. He's been a great rider and I'll miss him, but given his mental health break a few years ago it's probably the right time.

Mark Cavendish will not ride the Tour de France, despite equalling the all-time record for stage wins last year.

 

Cavendish, 37, had been hopeful of selection after winning the British road race title on Sunday, as well as several other races this season.

 

But it was always in doubt as his Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl team have long since planned for Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen to compete instead.

 

The Tour begins in Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday.

 

France's world road champion Julian Alaphilippe will also miss his home Grand Tour as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in a serious crash during April's Liege-Bastogne-Liege 'Monument' one-day race.

A shame for him, but not unexpected. He wasn't initially supposed to race the 2021 race so the fact he was able to and then managed to do everything he did there was fantastic.