Jack Laugher and Chris Mears came through an almighty battle to become Team GB’s first diving champions in the history of the Olympic Games after the men’s 3m synchro final.

Sir Chris Hoy has run out of superlatives to describe Chris Froome’s exploits over the past few years and expects the Brit to win a third Tour de France this year.

He already has two Olympic gold medals to his name, but when Geraint Thomas looks back on 2015 it could well prove to be the most important of his career.

Team Sky’s performance director Rod Ellingworth and doctor Richard Usher were in Manchester last week to coincide with the launch of Rapha’s Tour du Courage exhibition, a series of pictures from this year’s epic battle across France won by team leader and Briton Chris Froome.

Thousands will flock to roadsides in Rochdale and across Yorkshire this weekend as northern England hosts the Grand Départ of the world’s biggest sporting event, featuring 198 riders, 22 teams, plenty of gritted teeth and 3,656 kilometres of racing.

The 101st edition of the Tour de France begins on July 5 in Leeds, passing through Rochdale before it finishes on the famous Champs-Élysées in Paris 22 days later after 3,664 kilometres of intense racing.

Sir Bradley Wiggins, a four-time Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winner, looks set to miss out on starting the 2014 edition of the race in Leeds next month – because he failed to choose his enemies wisely.