Thomas Retains Volta ao Algarve

Geraint Thomas successfully defended his Volta ao Algarve title after finishing fifth in Sunday's final stage.

Alberto Contador won the stage in a time of four hours, 24 minutes and 47 seconds.

Team Sky's Thomas, 29, was 28 seconds behind, while previous leader Tony Martin drifted out of contention.

Ion Izagirre finished second overall, 19 seconds behind Thomas, with Contador third, a further seven seconds back.

Overall standings

1st: Geraint Thomas (GB) Sky, 18:34:15

2nd: Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar +19

3rd: Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff +26

4th: Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ +32

5th: Primoz Roglic (Sl) Lotto NL-Jumbo +49

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Froome Set for Second Tour Title

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Chris Froome is set to become the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice after surviving a thrilling attack by Nairo Quintana on Alpe d'Huez.

Team Sky's Froome, 30, led Quintana by two minutes 38 seconds before the penultimate stage but the Colombian rode clear with 9km remaining.

Froome, champion in 2013, responded to limit his losses to just 80 seconds as France's Thibaut Pinot won the stage.

His 72-second lead will not be challenged on Sunday's finale in Paris.

The short 21st stage, which culminates in several laps around the centre of Paris, is largely ceremonial for the yellow jersey, however the stage is expected to end in a bunch sprint with Mark Cavendish chasing a fifth victory on the Champs-Elysees.

That meant Saturday's 110.5km route from Modane was billed as the decider between Froome and his rival Quintana, who had cut the gap by 32 seconds on the previous day's racing.

Quintana is regarded as an expert climber in the mountains, and while Froome clung on to his rival on the first ascent up Col de la Croix de Fer, the Movistar rider proved to have the edge when it came to the arduous 13.9km trek to the top of Alpe d'Huez.

Tour de France overall standings

Chris Froome Team Sky/Britain 81hrs 56mins 33secs

Nairo Quintana Movistar/Colombia +1min 12secs

Alejandro Valverde Movistar/Spain +5mins 25secs

Vincenzo Nibali Astana/Italy +8mins 36secs

Alberto Contador Tinkoff-Saxo/Spain +9mins 48secs

But Quintana will once again finish runner-up to Froome, as he did two years ago, although this is set to be the smallest winning margin since Carlos Sastre beat Cadel Evans by 58 seconds in 2008.

"It's hard to say if this was harder than 2013, but every day was flat out," said Froome, who is one of only two Britons to have won the Tour, along with Sir Bradley Wiggins.

"Next year I'll come back and renew the rivalry with Nairo. He's a great prospect, has a bright future, a great talent who races correctly, making his race at the right moment."

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Horner Extends Vuelta Lead

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Chris Horner extended his overall lead over Vincenzo Nibali after finishing second on the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España.

American Horner, 41, took a three-second lead over Nibali in the previous stage and stretched it to 37 seconds on the summit finish at Alto de l'Angliru.

Horner was 26 seconds behind France's Kenny Elissonde, the stage winner, with Nibali 54 seconds back in fourth.

The year's final Grand Tour race finishes in Madrid on Sunday.

RadioShack's Horner had to repel repeated attacks by Nibali in the closing stages, but wore down the Giro d'Italia winner by the foggy finish.

"Nibali's attacks make this win much more epic, the fans must have been on the edges of their seats back home," said Horner.

Asked if he needed time to realise he was on the brink of his first Grand Tour victory, Horner replied: "I've had lots of time to think about it, about how much suffering it's taken to get this. What I'm feeling today will last a lifetime".

Horner ended 28 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde in third, with Nibali given the same time in fourth.

Valverde is third overall, one minute 36 seconds behind Horner, with Ireland's Nicolas Roche in fifth.

Results of stage 20:

1. Kenny Elissonde (Fra/FDJ.fr) 3:55:36"

2. Chris Horner (US/RadioShack) +26"

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +54"

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana)

5. Andre Cardoso (Por/Caja Rural)

6. Dominik Nerz (Ger/BMC Racing)

7. Jose Mendes (Por/NetApp) +1:15"

8. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +1:45"

9. Serge Pauwels (Bel/Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) +1:52"

10. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ.fr) +1:59"

Overall standings after stage 20:

1. Chris Horner (US/RadioShack) 81:52:01"

2. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) +37"

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +1:36"

4. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +3:22"

5. Nicolas Roche (Ire/Saxo-Tinkoff) +7:11"

6. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/AG2R) +8:00"

7. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ.fr) +8:41"

8. Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel) +9:51"

9. Leopold Koenig (Cze/NetApp) +10:11"

10. Daniel Moreno (Spa/Katusha) +13:11"

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Horner Reclaims Red Vuelta Jersey

La Vuelta

Chris Horner reclaimed the leader's red jersey at the Vuelta a España after winning stage 10 on Monday with an impressive late charge on the final climb in Granada.

The American, who also led the Vuelta after winning stage three, broke away from a talent-packed group that included Vincenzo Nibali,Ivan Basso and Joaquin Rodriguezwith around five kilometres to go and none of his rivals could reel him back in.

Horner (RadioShack-Leopard) finished the 168km ride from Torredelcampo to Alto Hazallanas - the first mountain stage of this year's Vuelta - in a time of four hours, 30 minutes and 22 seconds.

Italian Nibali, the 2010 Vuelta winner and 2013 Giro d'Italia champion, tried to chase down Horner but he could only finish 48 seconds back in second spot, with Valderde third a further 14 seconds adrift.

Basso, Rodriguez and Thibaut Pinot completed the top six places, all three with the same time as Valverde. Ireland's Nicolas Roche crossed the line in seventh, one minute and 10 seconds behind Horner,

Spaniard Daniel Moreno, who took the red jersey with his victory on Sunday, finished 12th, two minutes and 21 seconds adrift of Horner, and that saw him lose first place in the general classifications to the 41-year-old American.

Horner now boasts a 43-second lead over nearest challenger Nibali (Astana), with Roche in third spot 10 seconds back. Spanish trio Valverde, Rodriguez and Moreno occupy the next three spots.

Tuesday is a rest day.

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Thibaut Pinot Wins Eighth TDF Stage

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Bradley Wiggins retained the overall lead as French youngster Thibaut Pinot took a superb win on stage eight of the Tour de France.

Wiggins held off a late attack by Cadel Evans on the final descent into Porrentruy in Switzerland to remain 10 seconds clear of the 2011 winner.

Pinot, the youngest man in the Tour at 22, hit the front 2km from the end of the final climb, the Col de la Froix.

Despite the overall leaders closing in, he held on to claim victory.

Evans took second place but Wiggins crossed the line in the same time to ensure no change at the top of the general classification.

The frenetic first 60km of the 158km from Belfort claimed another casualty as Olympic road race champion Samuel Sanchez briefly lost consciousness after hitting his head in a crash.

The Spanish Euskaltel rider was stretchered off to hospital with a broken collarbone which is likely to prevent him from defending his Olympic title in London on 28 July.

Monday's stage is the first of two longer individual time trials - 41.5km from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon - in which Wiggins will aim to put more time between himself and his rivals for the yellow jersey.

Stage eight result:

1. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat - 3h56:10

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC - @26"

3. Tony Gallopin (Fra) RSH - - @26"

4. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky - @ 26"

5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - @26"

6. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto - @26"

7. Chris Froome (Ita) Liquigas - @26"

8. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha - @26"

Overall standings:

1. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky - 38 hours, 17 mins, 56 seconds

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC - @10"

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - @16"

4. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha - @54"

5. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack - @59"

6. Chris Froome (GB) Sky - @1:32