Tadej Pogacar will bid to complete a clean sweep of the Grand Tours as he returns to the Vuelta a Espana for the first time in seven years.

Pogacar wrapped up a fifth Tour de France title with another dominant performance in July, and has now been confirmed as the leader of a strong UAE Team Emirates XRG unit for the race in Spain.

The Slovenian has not competed in the race since announcing his arrival as a stage-racing force with a third-place finish in 2019, and will bid for a first red jersey.

The winner of the Giro d’Italia in 2024, a Vuelta triumph would make Pogacar the ninth male rider to win the general classification at all three of cycling’s three-week races.

“I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” Pogacar said. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.

“The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things.”

The Vuelta begins in Monaco, where Pogacar resides, on 22 August, and will cross in France and Andorra before finishing in Granada on 13 September.

Pogacar can count on strong support from Joao Almeida – second in last year’s race – Jay Vine and Pavel Sivakov, with a strong climbing trio likely to be useful in the high mountains. The talented young Spaniard Pablo Torres will make his Grand Tour debut on home roads.

Primoz Roglic, Pogacar’s compatriot, and Wout van Aert are among the other big names due to race the Vuelta.

Antoine Semenyo can’t wait to take on defenders every week after getting new orders from Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca. The 26-year-old enjoyed a whirlwind start at the Etihad after a January switch from Bournemouth and is not planning on letting full-backs have any rest this season.

That was on display in City’s first friendly on Saturday in Hong Kong as he cut through the Inter defence on countless occasions from the left in the first half, setting up Divin Mubama to tap in the opening goal. Semenyo spoke after the game about fooling his defender by going on the outside a few times before cutting in onto his right foot.

Maresca had said he wanted to see some new patterns from training in the Inter game, and wants his wingers to play high and wide as they did at Leicester and Chelsea. Having noticed that when he was playing for Bournemouth, Semenyo was excited to hear Maresca would be succeeding Pep Guardiola and his first conversation with the new manager about his role for the coming season did not disappoint.

“From day one he’s got his ideas to us,” Semenyo said, speaking at Ahmad Tea’s Preparation is Everything event in Hong Kong. “I reported a little bit later than some of the boys and I’ve had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play, his wide men, and just overall as a team.

“It’s been good so far. I think his ideas are great – quite similar to Pep. If you watched the [Inter] game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good. And I’m looking forward to it.

“When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when I’ve played Chelsea previously when he was there, his wide men were always high and wide and quite free. That was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed and it’s exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one v one situations most of the game and I’m looking forward to it.

“Some games Pep wanted me wide, some games he wanted me inside a little bit more. It was just depending on our opposition. But Enzo is just: out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. It’s music to my ears. It’s exciting, for sure.”

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Semenyo arriving at the Etihad in winter was music to City ears. He galvanised a team that had been threatening to buckle under the strain of injuries, with his goals crucial to setting the team up to win both domestic cup competitions as well as push Arsenal to the final week of the Premier League.

There was also the song of the season when the Milky song Just The Way You Are went viral from the concourses to the stands and then the dressing room. Semenyo has been thrilled with the welcome he has had from supporters, and he gave them another moment to savour with an exquisite winning goal in the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

It has been a lot to take in for a man who isn’t even close to completing the first year of his City career, never mind adding in a World Cup with Ghana. The 26-year-old did some work on his holiday to make sure he would be sharp arriving for City’s tour, and was the best player in the first game.

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Having secured the big move that he wanted, Semenyo didn’t want to be unprepared for what he was walking into. And after finally getting some time to relax and appreciate how much he has already achieved, he is ready to start all over again with new instructions from Maresca.

“While I’ve been on holiday, I’ve had time to reflect on everything. And yeah it feels like so long ago but it’s also a dream as well. I never ever thought I would be playing in the FA Cup final for one and scoring the winner is another thing – a dream come true.

“When you think about Man City, United, Arsenal, they’re top calibre clubs and they’re competing for all the trophies and appearing in the Champions League every year – and you have to adjust to it as a player. You have no choice, no-one’s going to give you a blueprint on how it’s going to be done, you just have to chuck yourself right in there and just see how it goes.

“I’m lucky, we’ve got top professionals, top management staff, we’ve got guys behind the scenes at Manchester City as well. They make you feel comfortable and they help me a lot, for sure.”

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Antoine Semenyo is a global ambassador for Ahmad Tea and was speaking at the brand’s Preparation is Everything event in Hong Kong highlighting the importance of preparation, consistency and craftsmanship. For more information go to: www.ahmadtea.com.

Bye weeks give a college football team a chance to regroup, get healthy, and refine its game plan.

Ideally, the extra time increases the odds of winning the next contest. Historically, it has for about half of the teams in the West.

The table below shows the wins, losses, and win percentages for the region’s top programs after a bye week over the last 20 seasons.

Boise State leads the way, followed by Oregon, USC, Utah, and BYU.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has officially withdrawn its support for Fifa president Gianni Infantino‘s re-election bid, becoming the first football association to do so.

The decision follows his controversial, bungled attempt to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

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Infantino, whose decade-long reign faces increasing scrutiny, announced on Friday night that he was shelving the widely-denounced plan, which had been rejected by three confederations after first being revealed earlier in the week.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has since stated Infantino is the “wrong man” to lead Fifa, while the Football Association (FA) called for a “full and robust review” into his leadership.

In a statement, the FAW confirmed: “The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as Fifa president for the 2027–2031 term.”

The association cited “recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement” as reasons.

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It added: “Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football. Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

Wales withdrawing its support for Infantino comes after Uefa, European football’s governing body, declared a loss of confidence in the Fifa boss on Saturday.

A statement read: “The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” it said.

Uefa quoted a speech Infantino made when he came to power a decade ago in a lengthy statement outlining its position. The statement “welcomed” the decision to cancel the scheme, adding: “The proposal was unanimously rejected by Uefa’s national associations and by many other federations and confederations of all sizes around the world, whose job it is to protect football.

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“Uefa thanks all the fans, leagues, clubs, players, individuals, associations and confederations that opposed the scheme, alongside the many Prime Ministers, Heads of State and commentators who have demonstrated to the Fifa President that football is not for sale.”

Concacaf and the AFC also criticised the proposals, pitting a significant number of Fifa’s member associations in direct opposition to the governing body.

The English FA released a statement later on Saturday that also questioned Fifa’s leadership, writing: “We fully support Uefa’s position. It is time for a full and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently, for the benefit of all 211 member nations and with the long-term stewardship of football at its heart.”

Infantino is due to stand for re-election in March next year.

Nash Rawiller put on a front-running clinic, guiding Run Harry Run to a determined win in the Kia Ora Bloodlines to Headlines Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

The champion jockey masterfully controlled the pace of the Lindsay Park galloper, extracting crucial efforts from the gelding to hold off a late challenge from Narbold.

After leading throughout, Run Harry Run, the $3 favourite, faced a stern test when Williamsburg ($16) drew alongside in the straight. The favourite responded admirably under Rawiller’s guidance, finding another length to deny the closing Narbold ($6) by a half-head. Williamsburg finished a further three-quarters of a length behind in third.

Rawiller expressed his confidence in the horse’s finishing ability, despite some pre-race concerns about the 1500-metre distance.

“I knew I still had a kick,” Rawiller said.

“They (connections) were a touch worried with the 1500 that he could be a touch vulnerable. I just tried to travel in a beautiful rhythm. I wanted to go for him flat out when I wanted to, and thankfully he dug deep when he needed to.

“He came up in great order. The way the track is racing probably helped me a touch. Apart from jumping on his Melbourne leg on the corner post, he did everything spot-on.”

Lindsay Park racing manager Anthony Feroce attributed the victory to Rawiller’s exceptional ride.

“He’s a horse that has never run a really strong 1500, and I mentioned that to him before the race. I think he kept that in mind. It was a great ride,” Feroce commented.

The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained Run Harry Run added another metropolitan success to his record, while providing Rawiller with a riding double at the Rosehill meeting.

The accomplished hoop had earlier partnered Matthew Dunn-trained Wayburn to victory in the Highway Handicap (1200m).

Bet on the upcoming races with the best racing betting markets available.

Tony Bellew has outlined the distinction between “world-class” and “elite-level”, believing just two British legends fall into the latter category.

While winning a major title should, in theory, mean guaranteed world-class status, it often depends on whether that particular fighter has crafted a world-class resume.

Likewise, an elite-level fighter must consistently prove themselves against top-class opposition in order to be immortalised as one of the all-time greats.

With that in mind, Bellew has named Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk and Canelo Alvarez as three of boxing’s elite-level operators in recent years, providing an idea of what it takes to reach such a lofty standard.

In terms of British fighters, meanwhile, the former world cruiserweight champion believes that only Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe qualify for this exclusive club.

By dethroning Evander Holyfield in 1999, Lewis became the undisputed heavyweight champion and ultimately defeated every man he fought.

Similarly, Calzaghe ended his career as an unbeaten former world champion, having made a super-middleweight record of 21 consecutive title defences.

Bellew has therefore told Fight Your Corner that these two Hall of Famers deserve to be regarded as elite-level icons.

“There’s world-class fighters and then there’s elite-level fighters. There’s very few elite-level fighters. I think this country’s produced two in Calzaghe and Lennox Lewis.

“Naseem Hamed is possibly [elite-level], but his resume doesn’t really stack up. I’m talking elite-level fighters – fighters who’ve got the chin, who can adapt in fights.”

While not quite joining Bellew’s group of elite-level fighters, Hamed nonetheless made 15 consecutive featherweight title defences before losing to fellow Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera.

Jamshedpur FC players, including two senior India footballers, made an emotional appeal to club owners Tata Group to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Indian Super League (ISL) and dismantle the senior team. Jamshedpur FC announced on Friday that it was pulling out of the ISL, just hours after missing the deadline to pay the participation fee for the upcoming season, which begins September 4. It also decided to wind up the first team. “It was a shocking news for me. I didn’t expect the Tata Group to make such a decision. It is my humble request that they change their decision and participate in the ISL. Because this is a huge platform for an entire generation,” midfielder Pronay Halder told PTI on Monday.

“I have many memories (of the club). For me, Jamshedpur FC is honestly an emotion. I hope that the heads of Tata Steel and Tata Group will reconsider and change their decision,” said Halder, who has played for India in more than 20 matches.

The 33-year-old Halder said he has been associated with JFC as a player since the club won the League Winner’s Shield Trophy in the 2021-22 ISL season. Before spending six years at JFC, he was playing for the Tata Football Academy.

“For example, Nikhil Barla, Puya, Albino Gomes, Mohamed Sanan, they have recently made the national senior team in London (for Unity Cup). You can see that a lot of young players, under-19s, under-22s, step-by-step, this is a huge opportunity for the senior level. This is my hope, my 100% belief,” he observed.

Goalkeeper Albino Gomes, who has played for India in one match, fully agreed with Halder.

“Shutting down this club means, I can’t digest it. I just want to appeal to the Tata group to reconsider their decision. Because this isn’t about one year or two years, it’s about the future of Indian football,” said the 32-year-old who came in as substitute for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in an international friendly against Tajikistan in June.

“Because a lot of young players are looking forward to this group, to this club. And everyone dreams of playing for Jamshedpur because they have good facilities. They have everything. They are one of the best in India. You just have to come and play. That’s it,” he said.

“I never thought that Jamshedpur FC would shut down so easily. All the players were completely shocked.” Gomes was also in the India squad for the Unity Cup in London in May.

“I came at JFC two years ago. This club gave me an opportunity to return to Indian football. I was recovering from an injury, and they helped me a lot. And they gave me this opportunity and I made my debut for India. I am really grateful to this club,” he pointed out.

Joining the chorus, young JFC midfielder Nikhil Barla, who graduated to the ranks from TFA, said: “Personally and emotionally, I am feeling very disturbed. I would like to appeal to the Tata Group, the head of Tata Steel, to think about the decisions they have taken and the future of the young players.

“Whatever I am, it is because of Jamshedpur FC and TFA. I am a local player. This is my request and I believe the Tata Group to do something good.

“The club you are watching and supporting from the beginning and playing for it, to see a dream club (winding up) is a heart-breaking moment for me,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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