The Lancashire coast is hosting the eleventh edition of one of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments. A course like this never tempts you into taking an impossible shot, but every decision must be carefully considered

The thirteenth stage of the Grande Boucle held little interest for the riders competing for the top places, a lack of interest that granted the Englishman from Pinarello unexpected freedom and a lead of seven and a half minutes. For him, a Grande Boucle begins that, until yesterday, had seemed unthinkable

Farewell to the man behind the ‘impossible Scudetto’ with Verona, who also gave Genoa something to dream about

On 11 July 1935, whilst descending from Lautaret, near Rioupéroux, the Spaniard Francisco Cepeda fell and hit his head. He died three days later, on 14 July, a public holiday in France; he was the first cyclist to die during a race. A forgotten story

The third-place play-off is the match nobody wants to play. France and England, powers that for centuries have vied for control of oceans and territories across the globe, find themselves chasing a medal that, in football, is worth next to nothing

The national team cannot afford prestigious apprenticeships, friend-and-favourite pickings or nostalgia-driven moves. Guardiola is the dream, Mancini is the memory, Pirlo is the gamble. Antonio Conte is the solution. The call is not merely to choose him. It is to convince him, for once, not to behave like Conte

The Belgian sprinter from Soudal–Quick-Step won the third stage of this Tour de France in Chalon-sur-Saône. Just a stone’s throw from the Canal du Centre and the unfulfilled dream of engineer Émiland Gauthey, Pedersen, Simmons, Asgren and Skujiņš tried to give the Grande Boucle a different kind of finish. They, too, failed to do so

The protégés of Joachim Löw, World Cup winner in Brazil and architect of the national team’s revolution. The darkest summer for the new prophets, who aren’t even new anymore

Anyone who thinks that with so many star players on the pitch, the manager is almost superfluous should watch the semi-final from the other night again. The England manager’s misjudgement and the cloying rhetoric about Argentina

In the final stage of the World Cup, the gymnast won silver in the ball event and bronze in the all-around. She will be heading to the World Championships in Frankfurt (12–16 August) “trying not to put any pressure on myself. In the gym, I only work on what I can control; everything depends on my concentration – the rest is out of my hands”