Cycling-Valverde has successful surgery on broken kneecap - team

IMAGE: Alejandro Valverde of Spain.  Photograph: Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images) Reigning champion Chris Froome wasted no time flexing his muscles at the Tour de France as he powered to sixth place in a treacherous opening time trial won superbly by Team Sky colleague Geraint Thomas on Saturday. Heavy rain turned what, on paper, had looked like a regulation 14-km circuit alongside the River Rhine into an incident-packed Grand Depart that could have major consequences in the three-week ...

Chris Froome may look far from his best and might say this year's route does him no favours, but the Briton is the overwhelming favourite to win his fourth Tour de France crown next month.His main rivals - an ageing Alberto Contador, a too-cautious Nairo Quintana and an unreliable Richie Porte - all seem short of the combination of ingredients needed to unsettle Froome's Team Sky machine, and Romain Bardet looks a little green to become France's first Tour champion since 1985. Other contenders ...