Vincenzo Nibali became the first Italian to win the Tour de France since the late Marco Pantani on Sunday, dominating his rivals on all terrains as his main rivals crashed out of a superb three-week race.
Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali can ride in this year's race after his Astana team kept their world tour licence on Thursday despite a string of doping cases, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Thursday.
After almost three weeks of action-packed racing the minor podium places in the Tour de France are likely to be decided in Saturday's final time trial.
Vincenzo Nibali strengthened his stranglehold on the Tour de France when he gained further ground over his rivals in the second Alpine stage won by Poland's Rafal Majka on Saturday.
Chaos and carnage rained down on the Tour de France on Wednesday as defending champion Chris Froome crashed out of the race on stage five and Italian Vincenzo Nibali seized control.
Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France when he claimed the 99th edition of the greatest cycling race on Sunday.
All the talk before the Tour de France was about the battle between favourite Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans, with neutrals hoping for a 'third man' to appear from the pack and make the race more interesting.
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.
Chris Froome has one more mountainous hurdle to overcome to claim a second Tour de France title after Friday's 19th stage in which had 30 seconds chopped off his lead as Vincenzo Nibali claimed a controversial victory.
This year's Tour de France had been advertised as an exciting battle royale between four great riders yet it panned out as an underwhelming contest as Chris Froome's rivals failed to live up to expectations.
British journeyman Stephen Cummings earned South African team MTN-Qhubeka a landmark victory on Mandela Day when he spoiled a French party to take a surprise win in the 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.
Belgium's Greg van Avermaet snatched gold in a thrilling and incident-packed men's Olympic road race, out-sprinting Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang alongside the Copacabana beach after a spectacular day of racing along Rio's coastline on Saturday.
The overall standings remained unchanged at the top with Thomas leading defending champion Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:50.
Annemiek van Vleuten suffered three fractured vertebrae and a concussion after a horrifying high-speed crash in the Olympic women's road race on Sunday but the Dutch rider said she will be fine and was more disappointed at missing out on a medal.
German Andre Greipel was again far too strong for the opposition as he claimed his second win in this year's Tour de France.
Check out the main contenders for this year's Tour de France, which starts on Saturday in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Portugal's Rui Costa kept his composure in a tense finale to upset the favourites and clinch the cycling world championships road race on Sunday.
Overall leader Chris Froome put the hammer down on the Tour de France when the Briton humiliated his rivals in the first mountain test, winning the 10th stage in awe-inspiring fashion on Tuesday.
Alexis Vuillermoz earned the French their first victory on this year's Tour de France, his final kick proving too hot to handle for the big guns in the eighth stage on Saturday.
Tour de France leader Tony Martin abandoned the race on Thursday after breaking his collarbone.
Often cited by defending champion Vincenzo Nibali as a rider to watch on the Tour de France, Thibaut Pinot made an early impact by beating all the pre-race favourites in the opening time trial on Saturday.
Chris Froome was reminded just how quickly the Tour de France title could slip from his grip as his Sky team mate Geraint Thomas suffered a freak crash in Monday's 16th stage.
Chris Froome and Alberto Contador were back in control of the Tour de France, hurting their main rivals in a hectic second stage won by German Andre Greipel on Sunday.
Briton Chris Froome won his second Tour de France title in three years on Sunday to enhance his growing reputation as a grand tour specialist.
Chris Froome seized early control of the Tour de France, the 2013 champion snatching the yellow jersey after a crash-marred third stage won by Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez on Monday.
But Froome's Big Four rivals at the tour -- Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana - weren't the only hurdles in his path. There were outside influences that threatened to derail his campaign.
UEFA president Michel Platini hit out at FIFA chief Sepp Blatter on Friday, saying the Swiss has stopped serving the cause of football.
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