Ben Swift was just pipped to an opening stage victory at the Paris-Nice race, while double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton will complete her saddle-to-saddle switch at the Cheltenham Festival. Here's our review of the last 24 hours:
Great Britain’s Ben Swift had to settle for second place as home rider Arnaud Demare mounted a late comeback to win stage one of the Paris-Nice in a sprint finish on Monday.
The Team Sky rider, who competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, looked set for victory after overtaking Edward Theuns with 100m to go of the 198km stage from Conde-sur-Vesgre to Vendome.
But France’s Demare timed his surge to perfection to beat Swift and Nacer Bouhanni to the line.
Swift's team-mate Geraint Thomas began the stage in seventh after the opening day's time-trial prologue, and the two-time Olympic team pursuit champion picked up one second to sit fifth overall.
Race leader Michael Matthews holds a three-second advantage after the stage, with Patrick Bevin a further second behind Tom Dumoulin.
The eight-day race continues on Tuesday with a mostly flat 214km second stage from Contres to Commentary which is likely to favour the sprinters.
Just over a year after taking up the sport, Double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton has been given the green light to ride at next week’s Cheltenham festival.
The 35-year-old will take part in the Foxhunter Chase, the festival’s showpiece event for amateur riders, on the Paul Nicholls-trained Pacha Du Polder.
She guided the nine-year-old to victory at Wincanton last week, her first success as an amateur jockey, and despite her monumental achievements on a bike Pendleton insists she would be just as proud to cross the line in front of the 70,000 Cheltenham racegoers.
“We have always had the extremely ambitious target of riding competitively in the Foxhunter as our goal, so to be announcing that I have achieved this goal is a truly amazing feeling,” she said.
“In my mind, I feel being able to line up at Cheltenham is like winning a bronze medal at the Olympics. If I complete the course that will be like winning gold.
“Olympic medals are like a dream — you don’t think they are possible. From the start of this challenge I have not allowed myself to think it was impossible but I never thought it was a sure thing.”
Jade Jones believes the new National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester will be a real boost to her chances of defending Olympic gold in Rio this summer.
At London 2012, Jones became the first British athlete to win Olympic taekwondo gold when she beat Hou Yuzhuo of China in the women's 57kg final.
Rio 2016 is now just five months away, and her hopes of defending her title were aided with the opening of the £2.7m state-of-the-art National Centre in Newton Heath on Monday.
“It's a huge boost to the athletes to have this centre open, particularly as we ramp up our preparations for the Rio Games later this year,” said Jones.
“To have world-class training and conditioning facilities available for our athletes, along with rooms to rest and recover and to meet with staff, is a really big step forward for taekwondo in the UK.
“It is already having a big impact for the current group and I'm sure it will really benefit and inspire our future taekwondo athletes for years to come.”
England Hockey yesterday announced that the men's Hockey Champions Trophy will be hosted in London on June 10-17 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The London 2012 venue is also set to host the women's Hockey Champions Trophy from June 18-26, with Great Britain’s Olympic hopefuls featuring in both tournaments just weeks before jumping on the plane to Rio.
The men’s competition was originally scheduled to take place in Argentina but England Hockey has stepped in as hosts after the cancellation of the contract.
The Great Britain men’s team will be taking on World Champions Australia in a mouth-watering curtain-raiser, Olympic Champions Germany, India, Korea and World League runners-up Belgium.
“The opportunity to host this prestigious event was one not to be missed, particularly given the excitement building around the Olympics in Rio,” said England Hockey Chief Executive Sally Munday.
“Hosting major events is crucial in raising the profile of hockey in the UK and inspiring people to take up our game. It's a great opportunity for the public to support our national team, watch world-class hockey and have a great day out on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”
Mark Cavendish hopes of competing for Team GB at Rio 2016 are still alive, but British Cycling's technical director Shane Sutton says he will have to finish the Tour de France early to do so.
Cavendish has won 26 Tour de France stages during a storied road career but an Olympic medal has thus far proved elusive.
His best chance comes on the track this summer where he is under consideration to compete in the omnium and be the fifth member of the team pursuit squad.
But with the 30-year-old set to also compete at Le Tour, which ends just 20 days before the omnium, Sutton suggests the Manx Missile would be required to pull out earlier in the race.
“For sure, he will be at the Tour – 100 per cent. But Cav won't do three weeks of the Tour. If he wants to medal, he's well aware that he probably wouldn't be going to Paris,” said Sutton.
“That will be a discussion and it's just a matter of sitting down with Cav and asking, 'Are we going to do this? Do you want to put yourself forward?', and then the selection panel will come together.
“Cav's bought into the plan. That's not an issue. I know it sounds like I'm avoiding the question, 'is he going?' But I can't tell you at this moment in time.” Sportsbeat 2016