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PARIS (Reuters) – Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome is likely to face fierce competition within Team Ineos next year, but the Briton is focusing on getting back to his best before thinking about 2020. Froome missed this year’s Tour after sustaining multiple injuries in a horror crash in the Criterium du Dauphine in June. His team mate Egan Bernal seized the opportunity to win his maiden Tour de France ahead of defending champion Geraint Thomas, making it five in a row for Ineos, formerly Team Sky. Who will lead the British outfit for next year’s Tour, which will start on June 27 in Nice, is anyone’s guess but Froome would not be drawn into discussing the number one status. “We’ve got an amazing lineup, an amazing roster of riders to select from, but nothing is decided yet,” Froome, who won his last title in 2017, told reporters. “For me personally I have obviously to get myself back to that level before even discussing … [Read more...] about Let’s get better before thinking about leadership, says Froome

TOKYO (Reuters) – South Africa have to shut down two high speed Japanese ‘Ferraris’ if they are to prevail in the World Cup quarter-final on Sunday, according to Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick. Japan have electrified the World Cup with their high-tempo game plan devised by coaches Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown with wingers Kenki Fukuoka and Kotaro Matsushima the chief beneficiaries of the speed at which the team are playing. Matsushima is the tournament’s joint-top try scorer alongside Wales’ Josh Adams with five, while Fukuoka has crossed four times, twice against Scotland on Sunday, which helped the Brave Blossoms into their first quarter-final. “Jamie Joseph compared their two wings (Fukuoka and Matsushima) to Ferrari cars, so we have to not allow those Ferraris to go to fifth gear or sixth gear,” Stick told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. “We must make sure we are at our best with our defensive systems, because they are very … [Read more...] about Stopping Japan’s ‘Ferraris’ imperative for South Africa

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Batting greats Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are among former cricketers who will return to the field for the Road Safety World Series in India next year. The World Series will be an annual Twenty20 tournament played between retired cricketers from five countries – Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and India. Indian Tendulkar and West Indian Lara will be joined by former players including India’s Virender Sehwag, Australian Brett Lee, Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan and South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes for the tournament from Feb. 2-16 across India. Tendulkar, 46, is the world’s leading scorer in tests and one-day internationals, amassing more than 34,000 runs and 100 centuries in a 24-year career that ended in 2013. In 2008, Tendulkar surpassed Lara’s record for most test runs with the West Indies left-hander having made 11,953 in the longest format of the game before retiring from international cricket in 2007. Lara … [Read more...] about Tendulkar, Lara to play T20 tournament in India

(Reuters) – Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami will miss the last three races of the MotoGP season after shoulder surgery, but his contract with the LCR Honda team has been extended to the end of 2020. Honda said the 27-year-old would have surgery after his home race at Motegi this weekend. “The nature of the operation warrants an extensive recovery period, forcing the Japanese rider to end his 2019 season early,” it added. “By performing the operation now, Nakagami is aiming to be fully fit for the first test of the 2020 season in Sepang on Feb. 7.” Nakagami, a team mate to Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, has a season’s best result of fifth at the Italian Grand Prix and is 12th in the championship. The remaining races after Japan are Australia, Malaysia and Valencia. French rider Johann Zarco, who recently left the KTM team, has been linked to the seat for the remaining races. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge) … [Read more...] about Nakagami to miss last three MotoGP races, staying at LCR Honda

By Julien Pretot SAINT-DENIS, France (Reuters) – France must wait to claim a place at Euro 2020 after the world champions were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Turkey in a high-octane qualifying game on Monday. Turkey’s Kaan Ayhan equalised eight minutes from time after France substitute Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the 76th as the visitors stayed top of Group H with 19 points from eight games, ahead of Les Bleus due to a 2-0 win in Konya last June. Iceland are third on 15 points after goals by Arnor Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson earned a 2-0 home victory over Andorra, with Albania fourth on 12 points following a 4-0 away win against Moldova. French police were on high alert after president Emmanuel Macron said Turkey’s military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria could lead to an “unsustainable humanitarian situation” and threatened to “help the Islamic State group re-emerge in the region”. With up to 40,000 Turkey fans … [Read more...] about France denied early Euro qualification with Turkey draw