Joao Almeida edged out Geraint Thomas to claim victory on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia on a summit finish as the Welshman moved back into the Maglia Rosa leader’s jersey.

Following Monday’s rest day, racing resumed over a tough 203-kilometre mountain course from Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone.

A group of around 25 riders had made an initial breakaway from the front of the peloton as the course headed on to the category three climb of Passo Bordala.

Jumbo-Visma continued to push at the front of the peloton, with Ineos-Grenadiers’ Pavel Sivakov later dropped on the Matassone ascent where Astana duo Vadim Pronskiy and Christian Scaroni launched an attack.

With around 52km left of stage 16, the front pair were caught by the chasing group, which held a lead of just over four minutes over the peloton approaching the final climb of the day on Monte Bondone.

As the pace was picked up, the breakaway were again reeled in as Almeida and Thomas made their move along with Jumbo-Visma’s Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic in the general classification group.

Heading into the last 4.5km, Thomas launched his own attack as he and Almeida dropped their rivals.

It was Portuguese rider Almeida, though, who had the most left in the tank to sprint clear in the final 150 metres to claim victory for UAE Team Emirates and pick up maximum bonus seconds.

Slovenian Roglic finished third, which saw him drop 25 seconds in the GC standings, ahead of Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AIUla), who moved up to fifth overall as a result.

Bruno Armirail (Groupama–FDJ) saw his hopes of retaining the Maglia Rosa fade as he dropped back heading into the final 10km.

Thomas now has an 18-second lead over Almeida, with Roglic third, now 29 seconds off the pace.

However, Ineos Grenadiers confirmed Sivakov had followed Tao Geoghegan Hart and Filippo Ganna in dropping out of the race after failing to shake off the impact of a crash during a wet 11th stage.

“It was a very tough day, a lot of climbs, I am happy with how it went. I found myself in front with Almeida, he was better in the sprint,” said Thomas.

“It would have been nice to win the stage, but I had to keep riding – didn’t want to be caught playing cat and mouse with Joao with Roglic behind.

“It is nice to be back in pink and gain some time, but it’s obviously not great to lose a team-mate (Sivakov).”

Almeida hailed his maiden Giro stage victory as a “dream come true”.

He said: “I was feeling well and the whole team was extraordinary. I try to improve day by day to become the best version of myself.”

Wednesday’s 17th stage will be a flat 195km course from Pergine Valsugana to Caorle.

Steven MacLean has assured relegation-threatened Kilmarnock and Dundee United that there is no chance of St Johnstone taking it easy when they visit Ross County on Wednesday.

Saints can no longer finish in the bottom two of the cinch Premiership but their interim boss knows 10th-placed Killie and 12th-placed United will have a vested interest in how the 11th-placed Staggies get on.

MacLean insists his side have no intention of slackening off in a match that could have a big bearing on how the relegation battle unfolds.

“We’ve got a duty to everybody,” he said. “We want to go there and win for our fans, for ourselves and also for the other teams in the league.

“We’ll be going up there to be positive, like I want to be in every game, and we’ll be trying to win the game.”

MacLean has steered Saints to safety with two wins and a draw in his four games since stepping up to replace Callum Davidson.

“I’m delighted with the players,” he said. “I challenged them to stay up and they’ve done it with two games to spare, which is very good.

“They’ve shown a great attitude and been very good for me. But we’ve still got two games to go and we want to win them both. We’re concentrating on Ross County just now and then we’ll take care of the Livingston game on Sunday.”

MacLean has challenged Cammy Ballantyne to try to establish himself at Saints after the 23-year-old midfielder, who has spent the majority of his senior career with the Perth club out on loan at Montrose, finally made his first start against Kilmarnock on Saturday.

“I was delighted for him,” said MacLean. “I thought his performance was excellent. His energy levels were great and he showed a bit of quality as well.

“If selected against Ross County, hopefully he can back it up. It’s up to him now. We gave him an opportunity to play on Saturday and he took that opportunity well.

“It’s up to him to go and make his mark now and try to make himself a regular in the first team.”

Jack Draper continued his impressive comeback from injury by beating Miomir Kecmanovic to move into the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open.

The world number 53 reeled off four frames in a row to clinch the first set then grabbed the decisive break in the second to secure a 6-4 7-5 win over the Serbian.

Draper, who had eased past Alexandre Muller in the opening round, had missed the recent Masters Series events in Rome and Madrid due to an abdominal injury.

The 21-year-old, who will play Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight, told atptour.com: “I am really happy. I have played two really high-level players and I feel that my game is in a good place, especially after having a few weeks off with injury.”

Barry Robson told his Aberdeen side to “go and grab” third place in the cinch Premiership as they prepare for the visit of St Mirren on Wednesday night.

The 2-1 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle at the weekend reduced the gap between the third-placed Dons and the Jambos to just two points with two fixtures remaining.

A win over the Buddies coupled with a Hearts failure to beat Rangers at Ibrox would guarantee Aberdeen a third-place finish before they travel to Celtic Park on Saturday.

“The message has been clear to them,” said Robson who will have Graeme Shinnie back from suspension, with Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes and Ross McCrorie back in training.

“I said that today when we were doing our match prep.

“I said ‘this is down to you, this is how you have performed and you have given yourself an unbelievable opportunity when everyone wrote you off and remember that. It’s in your hands now so go and grab it’.”

The defeat at Tynecastle followed a goalless draw at home to Hibernian and a 2-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox but Robson stressed the quality of performance.

He said: “Recent performances have been good. Down at Rangers, we were outstanding.

“We could have come away with the victory. Hibs at home, it was a difficult game, Hibs really going at it.

“We had three or four players missing against Hearts down there and the boys stayed in the fight.

“I thought we were really good in the first 20 minutes. So I have been really pleased. Performances have been good.”

Saints put in an impressive performance in the 2-2 draw with champions Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday but Robson is hoping home advantage will count.

He said: “St Mirren have not changed their system all season.

“They played the way they play, they pressed the way they press, they are well-organised and they know exactly what they are doing.

“It’s always a difficult game – no matter if you play them at home or away.

“Obviously we have our weapons that we like to use against them and hopefully we can do that well.

“We have had good preparation for the game and it is a game we are looking forward to.

“We have our fans behind us, Pittodrie has been bouncing for the last two months. It has been so good.

“It is the busiest I have seen it in a long time and the players have really taken the fans with them and the fans have helped the players perform, so hopefully we get that again tomorrow.”

Jack Davison will train Thunderbear “like a good horse” having seen him produce a career best in the Lacken Stakes at Naas.

Before finishing just over a length fourth with his sights raised on Sunday, the son of Kodi Bear had been campaigning in handicap company and was sent off an unfancied 50-1 for the Group Three contest despite scoring with real ease when last sighted on a raiding mission to Nottingham.

However, he outran his odds in the manner of a rapidly improving sprinter and his performance was not missed by the Irish handicapper, who has subsequently raised the three-year-old 9lb to a mark of 107.

Davison has previously enjoyed big sprint success with Mooneista, who is now trained by Joseph O’Brien, and is excited to see how far up the ladder Thunderbear can climb having finished so close to the well-regarded The Antarctic at Naas.

“It was a super run and he’s a progressive horse who is rated 107 now,” said the trainer.

“I’m really happy with him and he’s going to be a good horse for me now this year.

“He’s one of the best three-year-olds in the country over that distance now and I think there is more improvement there. He is a nice one to have in the stable this year and I’ll train him like a good horse. We’ll pick his battles a little bit and hopefully that will pay off.

“We’ve got plenty of options over six and seven furlongs, I just have to have a good think about where we go next.

“He has that much pace he could be effective over a stiff five and he’s ground versatile, so we have plenty of options and we’re looking forward to seeing where he ends up.”

Having seen his official rating sky rocket on the back of his Naas performance, handicaps are now off the table and with the Jersey Stakes the only realistic option available at Royal Ascot, Davison is leaning towards targeting the Irish sprinting programme for the time being.

He continued: “His mark has gone now for any of the handicaps, but I always knew he was a Group horse in the making.

“Obviously, being a gelding, he can’t run in the Commonwealth Cup. The Jersey Stakes is a possibility, but I would say it is likely we will stay domestic for the next couple of months.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes has told his players they will be a success story for the second year running if they avoid the drop as he prepares for a major relegation battle at Tannadice.

Killie sit 10th in the cinch Premiership and there are multiple connotations ahead of their clash with bottom club Dundee United on Wednesday night.

The Ayrshire side could potentially relegate their opponents, make themselves safe, remain in a three-way battle to avoid the drop and the play-offs, or even find themselves bottom after the game.

McInnes led Killie to the Championship title last season after hauling back long-time leaders Arbroath and clinching the trophy in a head-to-head battle with their rivals at Rugby Park, and Wednesday’s encounter has a similar vibe.

“For weeks going into the last game of the season last year, we still weren’t odds-on to win the title,” he said. “It was Arbroath’s league and we still had it all to do.

“We are arguably maybe in a worse position than we were then and the prize is the same. We don’t get a trophy for staying in the league but the prize is being a Premiership team next season.

“We have tried to reinforce that to the players – that we can still succeed in what we set out to do this season.

“There’s been a lot of disappointment and frustration and I’m not going to try and dress that up, but we can still succeed in what we intended to do and that’s important we work towards that.”

McInnes accepts that nerves could play their part at Tannadice.

“I think it’s natural for that,” the former Aberdeen manager said. “There is always pressure when you are involved in football and I want to be there to help my players limit those nerves and just go and play the game.

“That can be difficult because everyone is well aware of the situation but it’s the same for all the teams round about us.

“We have played teams who maybe didn’t have quite the same pressure and now we are playing teams who have the same anxieties, fears and responsibility.

“We feel that responsibility and it’s my job and the staff’s job to try and allay those nerves and just deal with the game and concentrate more on the performance.

“There’s loads of different ways you can do that. You try and give confidence anyway. It’s our job as a staff to give confidence to the players.

“Equally it’s difficult to shut out the noise and the situation we are in. You wouldn’t want to. We are in a serious situation, as all the teams are.

“But we just want them to concentrate on trying to play without fear, play with courage and confidence.”

Kieran Cotter is looking forward to taking on the colts with Matilda Picotte when his 1000 Guineas third drops back to six furlongs at Haydock on Saturday.

The daughter of Sioux Nation had never raced over further than seven furlongs before striding out onto the Rowley Mile for the opening fillies’ Classic of the year, but gave a fine account when attempting to make all and kept on gamely for a spot on the podium.

Now she will drop back to the distance both her career victories have come at for the Betfred Nifty Fifty Sandy Lane Stakes where the opposition could include the likes of Aidan O’Brien’s Little Big Bear and last year’s Coventry Stakes winner Bradsell.

The outcome of her trip to Lancashire could determine whether Matilda Picotte then takes up her entry in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot or has another crack at seven furlongs in the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville in early July.

“We’re the only filly in the race, but she has taken them (colts and geldings) on before,” said Cotter.

“I know we get 3lb, which is probably not a whole lot, but we don’t see anything there to be totally afraid of. Of course we respect them but we’re not afraid of them.

“She has proper six furlong pace so we’ll just see where the land lies with her before the decision has to be made whether she goes for the Commonwealth Cup or not as she could go for the Prix Jean Prat in France.”

Reflecting on Matilda Picotte’s 1000 Guineas endeavours, Cotter was thrilled with how his charge once again was able to outrun her odds to mix it with the very best.

He added: “The mile at Newmarket is probably the only mile we would have run her over. She had form at the track and we knew she would handle it very well.

“Not a lot of people know this, but the fillies race was almost four seconds faster than the colts and her time for the mile was faster than the winner of the 2000 Guineas the day before. Her second furlong was I think 11 seconds so she did phenomenally well to hold on for third.

“She’s competed at the highest level of company throughout her career and has acquitted herself exceptionally well every single time.”

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson faces their biggest game of the season with no experienced strikers available after Curtis Main picked up a knock at Celtic.

Main hit the post after netting a double in St Mirren’s 2-2 draw against the champions but is a doubt for Wednesday’s trip to face one of his former clubs, Aberdeen.

Tony Watt and Jonah Ayunga were already ruled out for the season while Alex Greive is struggling with a niggle and was not expected to feature again.

Lewis Jamieson, 21, and 19-year-old Kieran Offord could be in line to make their first Premiership starts of the season.

“Curtis Main has not trained since the game,” Saints manager Robinson said. “He has taken a knock but he had an X-ray and there is no break, but he is unlikely to train.

“I think he likes scoring against Aberdeen, he enjoyed his goals the last time, so he will do everything in his power to be fit.

“Alex Greive is with the physio running. We are just going to have to assess those two at the last minute.

“We have no senior fit strikers. We have young LJ and Kieran, who are very, very good young players, who may have to come into the fold, depending on where we are. We will have a session in the morning and see where we are.

“I have no qualms in throwing the two young boys in. As much as I want our senior strikers fit, especially after Curtis’s performance on Saturday, we will go with real belief whoever is in the team.”

Saints have been disappointed to lose leads against Hearts and Celtic in their last two matches but are only two points behind Hibernian with two games left in the battle for fifth and a possible European place.

Robinson is backing his side to play without fear and believes all the pressure is on Barry Robson’s Aberdeen following their defeat by Hearts on Saturday.

“We over-thought it at Hibs as a group, not to get beat, and didn’t play with our usual fluency, we didn’t press with our usual fluency, and we have just put that to bed,” he said.

“We spoke as a group and backed what we do: pressing teams how and when we want to press them, and getting on the ball and playing, and enjoying the occasion.

“We are under no pressure whatsoever. Nobody expected us to be here. Everyone expects Aberdeen to be third, everybody expects a fight between them and Hearts and Hibs.

“We shouldn’t be there in people’s eyes but we are, deservedly. We go there with no pressure but a real appetite to get a result.

“Barry’s done a tremendous job there but the expectations at Aberdeen are they should be in the top three.

“So that’s the pressures they have to live with. We will go there with a free mind and an energy to match them, because we will need to as they are a very good side.

“There can’t be any fear. We have everything to gain and Aberdeen have everything to lose.”

Morgan Knowles has been told to tighten up his discipline or risk costing St Helens their shot at an unprecedented fifth consecutive Super League Grand Final win.

Knowles picked up his fifth ban in eight months on Friday for a late tackle on Tom Inman in the final minutes of Saints’ 26-6 win over Championship side Halifax in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.

The 26-year-old, who was making his return from his latest five-match ban at The Shay, will now miss a further two matches, starting with Friday night’s Super League clash with Leeds Rhinos at Headingley.

Saints boss Paul Wellens insists he would not swap England star Knowles for any other forward in the competition but says he must learn his lessons in a season in which disciplinary issues have begun to cost Saints dear.

“I spoke to Morgan individually and obviously he’s disappointed and frustrated,” said Wellens.

“Morgan is probably the best middle forward in the competition and I wouldn’t want to swap him for anybody, but at the same time there are certain aspects of his game that he needs to improve on.

“His challenge is to keep his identity, because what has made him one of the best players in the competition is the fact that he can play tough and physical, but I’ve sat down with him and defined the areas where he’s probably over-stepped the mark.”

Wellens knows that Knowles is not the only Saints player who has let himself down in terms of discipline at times this season, in which they struggled to shake off the after-effects of their pre-season world title win in Australia, and sit in seventh place approaching the midway point of the season.

“We have got a number of players who like to play the game physically and on the edge, but if you are one of those players then discipline is the most important thing for you, and too many times this year we’ve gone way over the line,” added Wellens.

“I’ve used the incidents from last week and previously to draw a line in the sand in terms of what I expect of the players moving forward. There’s a certain moderation of behaviour required if you are going to play the game that way.

“If we’d handled a few areas differently in terms of discipline we’d probably be sitting second or third. That’s how important it is to get it right because decisions like that can affect you pretty badly.”

Saints travel to face Leeds on Friday in the first meeting between the two sides since Leeds’ thrilling 25-24 win at the Totally Wicked Stadium in March.

It was another night in which Wellens’ side were hampered by disciplinary issues, with Konrad Hurrell sent off and both Sione Mata’utia and Curtis Sironen also subsequently banned for incidents during the game.

“We learned from that night that you have got to stay disciplined,” said Wellens.

“At some point in that game we were looking really comfortable, but if you drop your standards against Leeds they will punish you. It is a genuinely big game and a really big challenge for us again this week.”

Vadeni will line up in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on Sunday after being supplemented at a cost of €45,000.

The four-year-old son of Churchill, who is owned and was bred by the Aga Khan, is trained in Pau, France, by Jean-Claude Rouget.

He won the Prix de Guiche, the Prix du Jockey Club and the Coral-Eclipse last season, having also been supplemented for the latter.

The bay was then third to Luxembourg in the Irish Champion Stakes and second by half a length to Alpinista in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, after which he began his season this time around in the Prix Ganay at ParisLongchamp and finished fourth of seven runners.

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes has been mentioned as a target for the first half of the colt’s season and as the Tattersalls Gold Cup falls neatly between the Ganay and the Royal meeting he has been added to the Group One at the Kildare track.

Georges Rimaud, the Aga Khan’s racing and breeding manager in France, said of the timing of the Curragh race: “There’s a logic to going and running in this race, that’s why we’ve chosen this one.

“Hopefully it will make good sense and he will perform well, I hear there’s no rain planned and we’re not really worried about the type of ground he is going to run on anyway. He has, in the past, liked this sort of fast-ish ground so he should be fine.

“The horse is doing well, he has improved from his last race. We are hoping for a good run from him, the ground should suit him.”

Vadeni is likely to face a familiar rival in Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg, with Sir Michael Stoute’s Bay Bridge, who finished in front of him in the Ganay, also entered.

“It should be a good race, it often is, but this is Vadeni and he is a Group One horse and should be campaigned at that level,” Rimaud said.

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes remains Vadeni’s target come June, though naturally the Irish trip needs to be considered a success for that plan to be pursued.

Rimaud said: “We’ll go a step at a time, that is part of the plan but each part of the plan needs to go well so we’ll see after the race.”

Vadeni’s entry at the Curragh makes matters easier regarding the next steps of last season’s Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Erevann, who will go to the Prix d’Ispahan now it is not on the agenda for his stablemate.

Rimaud confirmed: “That is the plan, he’s going to run in the Prix d’Ispahan.”

Steve Hansen applauds the Rugby Football Union’s decision to raise the pride flag above Twickenham on Sunday after acknowledging his selection of Israel Folau for the World XV is controversial.

Folau, a Christian fundamentalist, will face Eddie Jones’ Barbarians on Sunday four years after he was sacked by Rugby Australia for publishing a series of anti-gay posts on social media.

The 34-year-old has switched national allegiance and will represent Tonga at the World Cup this autumn having returned to rugby union following an aborted spell in league, the code that launched his career.

The RFU has signalled it will respond to the presence of Folau at Twickenham with a show of support for the LGBTQ+ community by flying the rainbow flag.Hansen, the mastermind of New Zealand’s 2015 World Cup triumph, welcomes the move but insists Folau deserves to be involved in the invitational fixture on the strength of his ability as a player.

“I think it’s great. It’s a consequence of Folau’s selection and I think it’s a good thing. It’s an opportunity to show support to that flag. I don’t have a problem with it,” Hansen said.

“There wouldn’t be one there if Israel wasn’t playing so whenever we can bring attention to people who are suffering in a positive way, that’s good.

“They deserve to be loved and cared for as much as anybody else. If we all did that it’d be a happy place, wouldn’t it.

“Israel Folau is a very good rugby player. He’s world class. And I know by picking him that there will be some people hurt. And I get that.

“However, I want those people to understand that Israel’s belief and views are not ours. And we don’t agree with them.

“But he’s a rugby player first and foremost and he’s been sanctioned. Those sanctions have finished, he’s playing rugby, he’s probably going to go to the World Cup so my job is to pick the best team I can pick and that’s what I’ve done.”

Hansen will attempt to lift some of the gloom surrounding rugby union by ordering his star-studded World XV side to “put on a show” against the Barbarians.

But the 64-year-old Kiwi still retains misgivings about the drive to stamp out dangerous play that he believes is counter-productive and has brought a “dourness” to the game.

“We see a lot of red cards and while I understand that I just don’t understand why we ruin the game with them,” Hansen said.

“Fans want to see a contest – one of the biggest principles of the game is a fair contest – and we’re giving people red cards for unintentional accidents and calling it foul play.

“If you keep giving red cards out people will think the game’s dirty so it’s imploding upon itself.

“It’s easy for me to sit here and have all the answers, but somehow we’ve got to bring a more common-sense approach to finding a solution rather than just a penalty.

“I wonder if we do this because we want to be able to say ‘well at least we’ve done that’ if we then go to a court hearing?

“That’s pretty cynical of me to think like that, but I can’t help it because sending players off is not fixing the problem.

“Is the data saying we are getting less head knocks by doing what we are doing at the moment? I don’t think so.”

A Group One gap on James Tate’s training CV could be filled this year by Royal Aclaim, who is set to return to action in Saturday’s Betfred Temple Stakes at Haydock.

The filly was sent off 5-2 favourite to provide Tate with a breakthrough success in the Nunthorpe last season, but finished sixth behind Highfield Princess.

On her only outing afterwards she was third in a French Group Three – but, as the Nunthorpe winner showed, sprinters tend to improve with racing and with just five runs under her belt, Royal Aclaim has plenty of scope for improvement.

“The sprinting division is often open at this stage of the year and we don’t know what will turn out to be best. Stars always emerge in the sprinting division and we are hoping she will be one of them,” said Tate.

“She is a bit bigger and a bit stronger, but she is really well in herself at the moment and is moving really well.

“We are really hopeful she can pick up where she left off and improve a little bit. She has only had five races in her life so surely she is going to improve.”

Tate has trained other Group-winning sprinters, like Invincible Army and Far Above, but feels Royal Aclaim could be the one to take him to the next level.

“In natural talent at home she is right at the top, but it is about what they can do on the track and she needs to just be a little bit more streetwise and get those sprinting muscles,” he said.

“Sadly I haven’t got a Group One on the CV yet. She has definitely got the talent, but she has obviously only got five runs to her belt. We are hoping she can add the other weapons to her armoury and do it for us.”

Celtic have been handed a pre-Hampden boost after Alistair Johnston returned to training.

Johnston has been out since taking a heavy knock to his lower leg during Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Rangers on April 30.

The Canada right-back will not feature in Wednesday’s cinch Premiership encounter with Hibernian at Easter Road but is in line to return against Aberdeen on Saturday, seven days before the cup final against Inverness.

Johnston was back in training on Tuesday morning and came through the session with no problems.

Manager Ange Postecoglou said: “All things being equal, if he gets through the rest of the week’s training he should be available for the weekend’s game.

“We will hopefully get him some game time at the weekend and assess it from there.

“He has worked really hard to get back with the cup final in mind. He has got back really well and worked hard with the medical team and looked after himself really well.

“It was good to see him training and good to see him part of it because he has obviously been a big part of the second half of the year.”

Celtic have only taken a point in two games since clinching the title and face a Hibs side who are still battling for a European place.

Postecoglou said: “We just go out there and try to play our football but we know the league is done.

“We can’t lose the league now, unless someone has brought in a new rule. The players are aware of that so I can’t go about pretending, trying to create some alternative universe where they are trying to achieve something they have already achieved.

“But we still want to enjoy our games and prepare for the cup final and the best way to do that is play our football and take each challenge as it comes.

“The players are training well and we want to finish the season strongly.”

Meanwhile, Postecoglou was completely unmoved by news from Rangers that several experienced players will be leaving Ibrox this summer including Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield.

When asked if he expected a tougher title challenge from their rivals next season, he said: “I don’t know why that would even concern me to be honest.

“This time last year Rangers were in a Europa League final and a Scottish Cup final, and they strengthened after the season didn’t they?

“So does anybody really care? Like, seriously. We didn’t start favourites in my first year and probably weren’t overwhelming favourites this year, so people will say what they want, mate. Everyone has got a plan until they are punched on the nose and then you kind of reassess from there.

“When we start next year, when the games start, everyone will see who is really strong and who isn’t strong and all that sort of stuff.

“Right now, league-wise anyway, it’s the equivalent of junk-time, mate, so we just get on with it.”