Alberto Contador will cement his status as the best grand tour rider of the modern era if he emerges as the winner of the Big Four's battle royale at the Tour de France -- the most highly anticipated race in decades.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Liverpool handed their fiercest rivals a painful lesson on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa League last-16 clash.
Top seed Novak Djokovic launched his Shanghai Open title defence in fine style, breezing past Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday. Later Roger Federer, playing his first singles match since a fourth-round exit at the US Open, made a brisk return to winning ways, beating Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-3.
IMAGES from the Euro 2020 qualifiers played on Thursday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich survived a torrid opening against Nuremberg, who hit the bar and had two players carried off injured in the first half hour, before hitting back for a 2-0 win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Leander Paes's dream of winning ATP year-end finals remained unfulfilled as the veteran Indian crashed out of the prestigious event along with Czech partner Radek Stepanek after losing a must-win Group B match in London.
Caroline Wozniacki upset French Open champion Maria Sharapova in a groundstroke marathon to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals, while Gilles Simon registered the first big surprise in the men's draw.
Sweden beat Italy 1-0 to gain the upperhand after their World Cup playoff first leg on a chilly night, while a young England side held Germany goalless and Belgium drew 3-3 with Mexico despite Romelu Lukaku's double but France eased to a 2-0 victory against Wales.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
German Marcel Kittel claimed his third victory on this year's Tour de France when he pipped Mark Cavendish on the line to take the 12th stage on Thursday.
Ramkumar Ramanathan recorded the second-biggest win of his career by shocking world number 98 Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the opening round of the ATP Chennai Open but there was no end to Somdev Devvarman's struggle as he was knocked out of the singles event, in Chennai on Tuesday.
Images from Wednesday's matches at Roland Garros
World number one Serena Williams opened her US Open account with a tidy 6-3, 6-3 win over Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday, to join her sister Venus in the second round of the year's final Grand Slam.
Japan's Kei Nishikori surged to a three-set victory over alternate David Ferrer at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday before sitting back to watch his fate unfold in the night match.
Karolina Pliskova lost her cool over a line call and bashed a hole into the umpire's chair with her racket after suffering a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat by Maria Sakkari in the Italian Open second round on Wednesday.
Images from Day 1 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Sunday
India's singles challenge came to a tame end after Yuki Bhambri lost 3-6, 3-6 to fifth seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil, in the quarter-final of the ATP Chennai Open on Friday.
Yuki Bhambri became only the third Indian to reach the singles quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour event at home after winning his second round against an unfit world number 16 Fabio Fognini even as Ramkumar Ramanathan's fairytale run came to an end in Chennai on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Defending champion Geoffrey Mutai and Priscah Jeptoo won the men's and women's races at the New York City Marathon on Sunday for a Kenyan sweep in chilly, windy conditions through the city's five boroughs.
The organisers of the much-anticipated Indian Premier League-style football league decided to defer the proposed tournament to September-November next year instead of early 2014.
Minnows Austria continued to impress in the ongoing men's Junior Hockey World Cup as they spanked declining Asian powerhouse Korea 5-2 in Lucknow on Saturday to remain in contention for a surprise quarter-final berth from Pool A in the 16-team tournament.
Borussia Dortmund steam-rollered hapless Freiburg 5-0 while Bayern Munich plodded past VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 as the two unbeaten arch-rivals remained level on points at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Indrani is easily the most striking woman arriving in the court complex from jail on trial days. For those who don't know who she is, there is absurd puzzlement written large on faces when they bump into her. When she reaches or leaves the premises, one notices heads swivelling in jaw-dropping curiosity, as did a pair of transsexual undertrials who crossed her path at the last hearing of 2018, who were, not surprisingly, a less unusual sight than Indrani.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The much-anticipated IPL-style football league to be held early next year will be christened as the Indian Super League even as the organisers IMG-Reliance disclosed the roping in of four more big international stars.
Here's this week's collection of the world's craziest and funniest stories from around the world.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele is doing 'fine' and will be discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital early on Thursday after he was admitted for stomach pains, one of his aides said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on Friday determined to prove his doubters wrong after militant attacks, a row over gay rights and ballooning costs overshadowed preparations.
Psychologists have become a more established presence on the tennis tour, with top players like Andy Murray and Petra Kvitova espousing the benefits.
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska's title defence at the Sydney International lasted just 92 minutes when she was dumped out of the second round by Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Tuesday.
Ester Ledecka became the first person in Winter Olympics history to capture gold medals in unrelated events after the Czech won the snowboard parallel giant slalom on Saturday to go with her stunning Alpine skiing super-G gold.
Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played on Sunday.
It would be unfair to expect India to bedazzle crowds with eye-catching football. This team is built around stability, writes Dhruv Munjal
American Charley Hoffman, helped by some brilliant iron play down the stretch, clinched his first PGA Tour title in four years with a one-shot victory at the $6.1 million OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico on Sunday.
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
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