CYCLING: Lance Armstrong finished fourth on yesterday's tough Mont Ventoux stage of the Dauphiné Libéré and moved to second overall in the standings, but questions still remain about his form prior to the start of his final Tour de France in three weeks' time.
The Texan ended the stage 37 seconds off the pace set by victorious T-Mobile rider Alexandre Vinokourov, but in briefly losing contact with the leading group earlier on the climb, he showed that there is still some hard work to be done before aiming for a record seventh consecutive Tour win.
Earlier this week, Armstrong finished fifth in the prologue and third in the stage-three time trial, further underlining the fact that he is missing some race sharpness. The 33-year-old will be hoping his condition improves between the end of the Dauphiné Libéré and the start of the Tour, as it did 12 months ago.
Former team-mate Levi Leipheimer leads the ProTour event heading into today's gruelling mountain stage to Grenoble.
Two mountainbiking teams are competing abroad this weekend. Irish champion Robin Seymour, Glen Kinning, Lewis Ferguson and Niall Davis will line out in the Konitsa Maximum E1 event in Greece tomorrow, while a separate squad are heading to Thetford for the third round of the Great Britain national points series.
Backed jointly by Cycling Ireland and Cycling Ulster, the team comprises Tarja Owens (elite women's race), Philip Roche (under-23), Andy McCullough, Matt Ferguson (juniors), Andrew Hunter, Sean Downey (under-16) and Johnny Beers, Michael Gordon plus Jessica Laird (under-14). McCullough and Laird won at the last round in Wales, leaving them first and second overall in the series. The course is flat and fast, so some close racing is expected.
There is a varied list of domestic fixtures this weekend. MTB riders here have the Epic Blast in Ballinastoe Woods, a race held on a testing course designed to pitch downhill racers against XC contestants.
The event list for road riders includes the Ballinrobe two-day for underage competitors.
Fixtures: Saturday: Ken O'Keeffe Memorial Race, Monaghan Road Circuit, Cork City. First race at 4.30pm. Audi GP, Ballynure, Co Antrim. Starts 11am. Western Lakes Youth Two Day, Ballinrobe. Starts 3pm.
Sunday: Jim O'Leary Memorial Races, Whitechurch. Starts noon. John Haldane Memorial Race, Newry. Starts noon. Western Lakes Youth Two Day, Ballinrobe. Starts 3pm. Epic Blast, Ballinastoe Woods (near Roundwood). Starts noon.
Monday-Wednesday: Stagg Cycles Three Day, Batterstown & Phoenix Park. Stage one starts 7pm.
