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.
World champion Lewis Hamilton, back in the car after his COVID-19-enforced absence at last week's Sakhir Grand Prix, was third but only 0.086 seconds off the pace.
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign with a draw against Dutchman Anish Giri in the first round of Bilbao Masters Final chess tournament.
'But people shouldn't misunderstand me. It was not that I was disappointed to go back to women's team, I was not happy the way they handled it with men's team because I left on a really good moment.'
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has made a surprise return to Chelsea's training ground ahead of Sunday's big London derby after Adidas sent a consignment of gloves to his former club by mistake. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, whose misfiring champions travel to Cech's Premier League leaders on Sunday, made light of the situation at a news conference on Friday. "I was here when Petr showed up. It was nice to see him," the Dutchman told reporters at the Cobham facility to the south-west of London. "We had a chat here. Almost everyone was gone already, it was late afternoon....we tried to hide them, which he did not accept. Also we tried to make them a little bit slippery but he discovered that also. "They were wrongly sent here and we gave them back. It was nice. That's the story."
India's golfer Shubhankar Sharma made a superb start with a five-under 66 to lie tied second on the first day of the Italian Open.
Dutchman Guus Hiddink was named as Premier League champions Chelsea's interim manager for a second time on Saturday following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, the club said in a statement.
Enduring a dismal season this year, defending champion Sumit Nagal Monday began his campaign at the USD 150,000 Bengaluru Open with a bang by defeating last year's finalist Briton's Jay Clarke in the opening round.
Any hopes of a Happy New Year will evaporate for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal if his side fail to beat struggling Swansea City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the Wimbledon Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Friday.
After a dismal eighth place finish in Rio Games, much is expected from the Manpreet-led side.
A dreadful defensive error from Arsenal's Granit Xhaka gifted Burnley an equaliser as the sides drew 1-1 at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
Koeman grateful for Messi support in transitional season for Barca.
Norway's Kristoff outsprinted Danish world champion Mads Pedersen after 156 km around Nice.
With 27 wins and 82 points under their belt after only one defeat all season, red-hot Liverpool set a record-breaking pace to leave teams behind them in their wake and are six points shy of ending a 30-year wait for the top-flight title.
Salah himself blasted home the spot-kick and Leeds looked as though they may be in for a very long day.
MotoGP: KTM's Oliveira powers to victory in Barcelona thriller
Stage eight winner Nans Peters had long crossed the line when fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot's ordeal ended after the Groupama-FDJ rider, highly fancied to become the first local winner of the race in 35 years, had been dropped in the second ascent of the 141-km trek through the Pyrenees.
Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix
Former India hockey coach Roelant Oltmans will take charge of their arch-rivals Pakistan on a two-and-a-half year deal, the 63-year-old Dutchman announced on Wednesday.
'We're going to work very hard to build a strong team but we'll have to make changes because the image of the other day is not what we want. We'll have to work hard to recover our prestige.'
Also in action on the first day at Roland Garros is men's second seed Alexander Zverev who meets Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
AS Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman's two-match ban for simulation during his team's 2-0 win over local rivals Lazio on Sunday has been overturned, the Italian FA said on Friday.
The six times world champion took the chequered flag at Imola 5.783 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position.
In an afternoon of heroes, Sebastian Vettel played the Bond villain at Silverstone, notes Raja Sen, who returns to Rediff.com as F1 columnist!
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal admitted it would be very hard to finish in the top four after his team's insipid 2-1 loss at Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
She said that home support will be a huge boost for them when they compete in the upcoming FIH Olympic Qualifiers.
Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to register a record-equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be doing all he can to stop six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton completing a Mercedes hat-trick and matching another of Michael Schumacher's Formula One records in Hungary this weekend.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has thanked Jose Mourinho for helping him 'improve as a person' despite the breakdown of their relationship in the last few months leading up to the former manager's sacking on Tuesday.
Rediff.com brings you the best quotes of the day from Brazil!
Manchester United manager Louise van Gaal has been sacked, British media reports have claimed.
Louis van Gaal says the visit of Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea side to Old Trafford on Sunday will be extra special for the Manchester United manager as he greets his "modest" former apprentice.
Images from the Champions League T20 qualifying match between Otago Volts and Kandurata Maroons in Mohali, on Wednesday.
Four days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Horner said his team still had plenty of ground to make up, however.
The injury sustained by Manchester United defender Luke Shaw was caused by too many training sessions from new manager Louis van Gaal, former Wales assistant coach Raymond Verheijen said on Thursday.
Manchester United's pre-season performances have been encouraging but rehabilitation under new manager Louis van Gaal begins in earnest on Saturday when they kick-off the new Premier League season at home to Swansea City.
'It's a big emotion because I've won on the Tour. I haven't won (a race) since the start of the season. It's great to make it. It was tough but I'm super happy to have won.'
Manchester United players have already had a taste of Louis van Gaal's methods after the new manager, who is officially unveiled in the role on Thursday, ordered double training sessions just two days into the pre-season.
