Features

There's just four days to go till the 98th edition of the Tour de France gets under way in the Vendée and as ever there will be twists and turns in the three weeks ahead before the winner climbs on to the podium in Paris… Indeed such is the power of the drama and scandal that has habitually surrounded the world's greatest cycle race that who will be judged to have won the last edition is still the subject of controversy, with defending champion Alberto Contador racing despite his positve test for clenbuterol during last year's race, with an appeal against the decision of the Spanish federation to clear him not being heard until August.

We've ridden the new 100km course for the Mountain Mayhem Sunday Munch sportive that'll take place on Sunday 19 June. And we like it, a lot: it's certainly an improvement on last year's course that was well liked by everyone that attended. Here's our video account of the recce, and some other thoughts too...

Ed Clancy can ride a bike round in circles very fast. We know this because he has an Olympic gold medal in team pursuit in the corner cupboard and a bunch of track world titles to his name. What’s more surprising is that he’s good at popping wheelies, doing a bit of unscheduled cyclocross, and descending like a nutter.

The 2011 Giro d’Italia gets under way in Turin on Saturday, and some very tough stages particularly in the final week or so could see an epic battle develop for the maglia rosa – perhaps even going to the final day’s individual time trial in Milan. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, who rode the 2008 Giro with Barloworld, isn’t racing, but he’s looking forward to watching the action of what should be a thrilling three weeks’ racing every bit as much as the rest of us. Here’s our stage-by-stage guide to the race together with the British national champion’s expert analysis of the route.