Sergio Garcia is the only one of 17 players sanctioned by the DP World Tour for joining LIV Golf not to have paid his fine, the tour has announced.

The 43-year-old was one of a clutch of players that includes Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter to have been hit with a fine over joining the breakaway Saudi-backed tour.

A statement said: “The DP World Tour today confirmed that 16 out of 17 players have paid their fines which were imposed for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation last June.

“The players were each fined £100,000 – a sanction originally imposed in July 2022 and upheld last month by an independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions.

“Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to.

“We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision.”

Garcia, along with Poulter and Westwood, on Wednesday announced his resignation from the World Tour.

Rory McIlroy said it is a shame that the trio will now not get the chance to one day captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team following their decision to quit.

Their departure renders them ineligible for inclusion when the match against the United States begins in Rome in September.

On Thursday, Westwood spoke out against the DP World Tour following the controversy, seemingly closing the door on any hope of a return in the future.

And McIlroy said: “I think it’s a shame that you’ve got the highest points score ever in the Ryder Cup and two guys that when they look back on their career, that’s probably going to be at least a big chunk of their legacy is the roles that they have played in the Ryder Cup for Europe.

“For those three guys to not captain Europe one day, it’s a shame. But as the DP World Tour said in their statement, at the end of the day that was their choice and they knew that these were potentially going to be the consequences of those choices and of those actions and here we are.

“Yeah, it’s certainly a shame.”

Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, echoed McIlroy’s sentiments and said he is sad that the three will not be available to represent the side.

Donald, who will lead the Europe team as they seek to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018, felt sorry that the situation had come to this.

“It’s sad we’ve got to this point but this was always a possibility,” Donald told BBC Sport. “I played with all three and they’ve been stalwarts of, and given a lot to, both the Ryder Cup and European Tour.

“I have a little more clarity now. I know they’re not an option to play in, or be any part of my team. It is a shame. They’ve got a lot of history when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

“Ultimately this is their choice and I wish them well. They feel like this was the best choice for them and now I’ve got choices to make that are best for me.

“There are generational shifts throughout the history of the Ryder Cup and maybe this is one.

“We certainly have plenty of great players to look at and pick from and I’m certainly excited about how everyone has played this year so far.”

Donald was made captain in 2022 after Henrik Stenson was dismissed for joining in the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

He will be without three of Europe’s most successful performers in the contest, with Westwood having featured as a player a record 11 times and Poulter unbeaten in singles across his seven appearances. Garcia is Europe’s all-time record points scorer.

Donald added: “There’s great momentum with European golf. We’ve already had seven winners in the US [this season] and a bunch of people who haven’t played in the Ryder Cup have played great this year on the DP World Tour, so I’m excited about the make-up of this team.”

Everton are in discussion with possible investors as owner Farhad Moshiri seeks an injection of revenue for the Premier League strugglers, the PA news agency understands.

The team are second from bottom of the table and a point adrift of safety as Sean Dyche looks to mastermind an escape from relegation and preserve the club’s near 70-year stay in the top flight.

It is understood that MSP Sports Capital and 777 Partners are the parties being spoken to, after Moshiri said in February that he was in talks with “top investors of real quality” to invest in Everton’s new stadium, which is currently under construction at a cost of £760million.

The club’s most recent accounts showed a loss over a five-year period of £430m, significantly above the £105m that the Premier League allowed for across any three years.

Those figures include £170m of losses rocked up during the Covid pandemic, which can be written off.

Figures from New York-based MSP were present at Goodison Park when the team lost 2-1 to Southampton in January, with reports suggesting it is likely to want to be represented in the boardroom should an investment be made.

777 has already invested in several clubs in European football, including La Liga’s Sevilla and Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin. It also owns Genoa in Italy and Belgium’s Standard Liege.

England bowler Ollie Robinson stole the show with a seven-wicket haul against Worcestershire on a day where Sussex team-mate Steve Smith was forced to wait before he made his LV= Insurance County Championship bow with the bat.

All eyes were on Australian great Smith at New Road in the first of three games for Sussex ahead of this summer’s Ashes series, but away captain Cheteshwar Pujara decided to field first after he won the toss on Thursday.

It proved a wise decision with England seamer Robinson ripping through the Worcestershire top-order on his way to figures of seven for 59 in a pleasing sign for the hosts’ chances of winning back the Urn in July.

Worcestershire did stage a recovery from 44 for five to eventually make 264 thanks to half-centuries from Adam Hose (59), Matthew Waite (59) and Joe Leach (53), but there was still enough time left for Sussex to bat on day one of the Division Two encounter.

Smith stayed in the pavilion though with opener Ali Orr and number three Tom Alsop able to get the away side through to the close on 63 for one with the Aussie set to bat at number five on day two.

Jonny Bairstow took a positive step in his bid to prove his fitness for the Ashes by claiming three catches for Yorkshire against Glamorgan.

Bairstow, fit again after an unfortunate leg break last October, kept wicket at Headingley and produced a superb grab down the leg-side to dismiss Kiran Carlson.

Glamorgan were all out for 245 and indebted to another Australian with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring with 65 before Yorkshire suffered a late collapse to finish on 62 for five with Bairstow not out on two.

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Elsewhere in the second tier, Leicestershire were skittled for 122 with Derbyshire’s Henry Brooks claiming six for 20, which included the scalp of England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed for 23.

Hosts Derbyshire managed to wipe out the deficit before bad light brought proceedings to an early end with Haider Ali scoring 54 to lead them to 144 for three.

Both Stuart Broad and James Anderson were overshadowed by Brett Hutton at Trent Bridge on a good day for Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed against his old club Lancashire in Division One.

England seamer Broad picked up two wickets and Olly Stone also claimed a brace as Lancashire were all out for 214 but it was Hutton who did the majority of the damage for the home side with five for 66.

Lancashire, largely through Tom Bailey with 48 not out from 29 balls, had scored at almost five an over and it allowed Anderson time to get stuck into Nottinghamshire on the first day but Hameed came through unscathed to close on an unbeaten 57.

While Anderson finished wicketless from his seven overs, his team-mates fared better to reduce the hosts to 119 for five on a good day for bowlers at Trent Bridge.

Chris Woakes caught the eye for Warwickshire at the Ageas Bowl to dismiss Hampshire for 229.

Woakes picked up three scalps but Hampshire captain James Vince stood firm with 75 not out before Warwickshire reached 82 without loss at the close with Alex Davies unbeaten on 46.

Essex saw Alastair Cook (51), Tom Westley (62) and Matt Critchley (60) all pass fifty against Surrey but Gus Atkinson’s six for 68 along with Will Jacks’ two-fer saw them all out for 314 at Chelmsford.

Rain badly affected the other Division One match at Taunton where Northamptonshire closed on 137 for four thanks to Ricardo Vasconcelos’ 70 against Somerset on a day where only 37.4 overs were possible.

Andy Murray fought his way to a three-set win over Laurent Lokoli at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence after his French opponent had saved five match points.

Murray won 6-4 5-7 6-3 as the second round tie at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole turned into a marathon affair lasting two hours and 42 minutes

The 35-year-old three-time major champion – ranked 52 in the world and 135 places higher than Lokoli – shaded a tight first set on the French clay.

It looked as if the fifth seed would make short work of the contest in the second set when he broke serve for a 5-2 lead.

But Murray failed to take two match points and Lokoli, who was animated and waved his arms in the air to rev up the home crowd, battled back to make it 5-4.

Another two match points came and went for Murray in the next game with Lokoli’s drop shots proving a powerful weapon against the Scot.

Lokoli soon took the second set with Murray unable to halt a five-game losing streak.

Both players served impressively in the deciding set until Murray applied the pressure and seized a third break point to lead 5-3.

Despite Lokoli producing a stunning forehand winner to save a fifth match point, Murray eventually wrapped up victory – much to his obvious relief.

It was the first time he had secured back-to-back wins since Indian Wells in March.

Having beaten Gael Monfils in the first round, Murray will face a third French player, Luca Van Assche, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

England seamer Ollie Robinson is enjoying being in the same dressing room as Steve Smith and doubts the former Australia captain’s presence at Sussex will have a material impact on the Ashes.

Smith linking up with Sussex for three Division Two matches in the LV= Insurance County Championship gives him a chance to get to grips with English conditions ahead of Australia’s bid to retain the urn this summer.

The union between player and county has divided opinion but Smith did not play any championship matches before the 2019 Ashes and still amassed 774 runs at a titanic 110.54 average in a drawn 2-2 series.

Earlier this week, he confessed he was welcomed to the Sussex nets by having his stumps rearranged by Robinson, who sees the advantages in playing alongside Smith and Sussex and India’s Cheteshwar Pujara.

“It’s a good battle,” said Robinson. “It’s nice to bowl at him and Pujara, I think it ups my game when I am training as well, it’s great to have them batting at the other end.

“(Smith) is obviously a very good player and I think he will score runs regardless of whether he faces me or not.

“We get a look at each other, but I don’t think it makes a big difference in the grand scheme of things.

“To have the world’s best batsman and Pujara in the same changing room has been cool. It hasn’t felt weird, I know (Smith) from previous series and it’s nice to have him around.”

Smith was restricted to a watching brief on the opening day of his championship debut at New Road, where Robinson hogged the limelight with seven for 59 as Worcestershire were all out for 264.

Robinson was a constant menace, bowling with vigour and at good pace, and only when he was taken out of the firing line did Worcestershire’s batters find any kind of rhythm at the crease.

This was only Robinson’s second outing of the season after experiencing some soreness in his back shortly after his return from New Zealand at the end of England’s winter touring programme in February.

The issue was not a major concern for Robinson but with the eagerly-anticipated five-Test series against Australia starting next month, he elected to have a pain-killing injection in the area.

“It’s similar to the one I had last year,” said Robinson, who struggled with a back problem during the 2021-22 Ashes. “I didn’t have a spasm, just the joint was getting slightly irritated.

“Last summer I let it go on and on, it took until June to be playing again. This year I thought I’d get it done as soon as possible and nip it in the bud.

“I don’t know many bowlers that don’t get jabs every year. It’s one of those things. I wanted to get on top of it before the Ashes, it feels really good now.”

Robinson’s contribution put Sussex in the driving seat – they closed on 63 for one before bad light brought an early end to the day – and, at this stage, he plans to play in the south coast club’s matches against Leicestershire and Glamorgan before linking up with England.

“I’m trying to peak for the Ashes, trying to get as many overs as possible between now and then,” added Robinson. “Three Sussex games and then the Ireland Test.

“I’m about 80 per cent, I’d say, there was a little bit of rustiness there, didn’t quite get my lengths right early on. But the wicket is quite helpful so when I did get it in the right area, they nicked it.”

Steve Smith was kept waiting for his first County Championship innings but had an excellent vantage point as Sussex team-mate Ollie Robinson ripped through Worcestershire.

The pair will be on opposing sides in this summer’s Ashes but are sharing a dressing room for now after Sussex somewhat controversially snapped up the former Australia captain for three Division Two matches.

He has been restricted to a fielding brief so far at New Road, watching from the slips and maybe making some mental notes as Robinson took top billing with seven wickets for 59 runs in Worcestershire’s 264 all out.

Robinson was nursing soreness in his back towards the end of England’s winter and this was just his second match of the season, but the seamer was a cut above as he took the first four wickets to fall.

Worcestershire recovered from 44 for five, with Adam Hose’s 59 followed by belligerent half-centuries down the order from Matthew Waite and Joe Leach, who put on 103 in 14.4 overs when Robinson was out of the attack.

But Robinson found the top of Waite’s off-stump for 59 from 54 deliveries in his first over back and then combined with Smith to remove Waite for a run-a-ball 53 as Worcestershire folded before Sussex closed on 63 for one at the end of the opening day, shortened by 21 overs because of bad light.

The expectation might have been on Sussex to bat first upon winning the toss under gloriously sunny skies but Cheteshwar Pujara’s decision to field was vindicated by Robinson’s opening burst of 7-0-30-4.

Ed Pollock collected an all-run four from the first ball of the day but another injudicious drive later in the over caught the outside edge and flew to Tom Clark, who moved across Smith to take the catch.

Azhar Ali, the ex-Pakistan skipper and jewel in Worcestershire’s crown, was caught on the crease and adjudged lbw by one angling into him while Jack Haynes, who bagged a pair against Gloucestershire last week, made just a single here before being squared up and nicking low to Tom Alsop at first slip.

Robinson had his and Sussex’s fourth when he snaked through a gap between Jake Libby’s bat and pad to uproot middle stump while Worcestershire were five down inside 50 minutes when captain Brett D’Oliveira was surprised by the extra bounce from Fynn Hudson-Prentice and an edge squirted to third slip.

Hose and Gareth Roderick settled once Robinson was withdrawn from the firing line, the pair putting on 92 either side of lunch, showing the kind of resistance that eluded those higher up the order.

Sean Hunt got a deserved wicket when Roderick feathered through to Oli Carter for 39 and the end looked nigh when Hose’s stumps were rearranged by Henry Crocombe’s precise yorker.

But Waite gave an indication of what was to come when he twice freed his arms off Hunt for leg-side sixes – another followed off Crocombe – while Leach found the boundary rope with regularity in a counter-attacking union that led to Pujara returning to Robinson sooner than may have been anticipated.

Robinson needed just six balls to break the enterprising stand, locating the top of off-stump to dismiss Waite, before Smith had his first tangible moment of the match when Leach was drawn into a stroke off the rampant bowler.

Last man Ben Gibbon lasted just two balls as he was pinned lbw to become Robinson’s seventh victim, with Worcestershire losing their final three wickets inside 13 deliveries.

Sussex openers Ali Orr and Clark showed better judgement than their Worcestershire counterparts, putting on 37 in gloomy conditions.

Clark was punished for driving loosely off Josh Tongue to depart for 12 but Orr was there on 37 not out, with Alsop unbeaten on 11, when the players came off under darkening skies.

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has acknowledged managers like himself and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp must be aware of their touchline behaviour, but conceded sometimes emotions do get the better of them.

Klopp was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Tuesday over his post-match comments about Paul Tierney after he insisted the referee “had history” with the club, having raced down the touchline to celebrate wildly in front of fourth official John Brooks following Liverpool’s stoppage-time winner in the 4-3 victory over Tottenham.

The German has until Friday to respond and this weekend’s visit of Brentford may end up being his last on the touchline if the FA decides to ban the 55-year-old, with Klopp having already served a one-match suspension in November for confronting assistant referee Gary Beswick in their win over Manchester City.

Frank said: “I think we all as managers need to think about how we present ourselves on the touchline and of course we need to be aware of that.

“I try my best but I am not perfect. I have also done things that afterwards I am thinking I should have done a little better there.

“We’re only humans and there is a lot of emotion and pressure in those situations.

“This situation, I don’t know. I don’t know what exactly happened. I guess it is up to Jurgen to explain.

“I think in general Jurgen is coming across very well and then there are some times where we are very emotional and we maybe make a mistake.

“As I said, I try my best but sometimes the emotions and the pressure over time just gets you.”

Bees boss Frank was otherwise full of praise for his opposite number ahead of Saturday’s trip to Anfield, where the visitors will eye an unlikely first ever double over Liverpool.

Last season Brentford suffered a 3-0 loss on Merseyside and their manager reflected on the strangeness of football that Klopp’s side were so close to an unprecedented quadruple in the 2022-23 campaign while now they are set to miss out on the top-four.

“Sometimes I try to get my head around that Liverpool last year were so close to the perfect season,” Frank said.

“They played every possible game they could and just missed out by a point in the league. And they played a Champions League final they should have won, they were unlucky. Now this year they are, in their terminology, struggling a little bit and that is only losing (Sadio) Mane.

“Football is so strange.

“I think the job they have done there over the last four or five seasons should have brought even more titles for them. I think they have been quite unlucky.”

Brentford beat Liverpool at home in January with Yoane Wissa on target, and the forward agreed a new deal with the west London club on Thursday to keep him there until 2026.

Frank said: “He’s a very important player. It is a privilege to have a player that we know can always provide goals.

“I think that is a very important skillset to have in the squad and then it is up to me to find and put the best players on the pitch.

“He is very, very good to work with and fantastic for the group, so I’m very pleased we managed to extend his contract.”

New director of football Brian McDermott is relishing the chance to unearth quality players for Hibernian after being appointed to a role that will revolve heavily around recruitment.

The 62-year-old is best known for a managerial career that incorporated two spells at Reading either side of a stint at Leeds, but he was chief scout at the Madejski Stadium for nine years prior to becoming a boss and has worked predominantly in scouting roles since being sacked by the Royals in 2016.

McDermott feels player recruitment is his speciality and believes that will stand him in good stead for a role he learned a lot about while working under the “fantastic” Nick Hammond at Reading.

“I relish that, I love finding players,” he said. “I was head scout at Reading for nine years and I wasn’t looking to become the manager because I loved finding players.

“We found so many really good players, that’s my thing. I did the same at Arsenal (between 2016 and 2020) and really relished that.

“I became the Reading manager by default and did OK and then I ended up at Leeds and whatever, but I think finding players is my thing.

“I get a buzz out of recruitment. I’ve recruited well as a manager and I’ve recruited not so well, and when you don’t recruit well you don’t do so well. It is so important.”

McDermott insists he had not planned on becoming a director of football but he feels the Hibs role – which will require him to work closely with manager Lee Johnson and also revolves around scouting, analysis, sports science and the academy – suited him at this stage in his life.

“I never really make conscious decisions,” said McDermott, who did some scouting for cinch Premiership side Celtic after leaving Arsenal. “This opportunity came along and I thought ‘yeah, that’s something I really want to do’.

“Job titles to me are not important. I like to be involved with people and doing the best I can with people. It’s not about the job title or me or whatever, it’s always about the football club.

“I kind of did this job between 2000 and 2009 but without having the title of director of football. Nick Hammond was the director of football but I involved myself in every part of the football club because I wanted to. I was doing mad hours but I loved it.

“Nick was a fantastic director of football to work under so I know how the role works and it’s something I’m really looking forward to.”

Rory McIlroy feels it is a shame that Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia will not someday captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team after they quit the DP World Tour.

The trio stepped aside after being sanctioned for joining rival LIV Golf, thus rendering them ineligible for inclusion when the match against the United States begins in Rome in September.

On Thursday, Westwood spoke out against the European Tour following the controversy, seemingly closing the door on any hope of a return in the future.

And McIlroy said: “I think it’s a shame that you’ve got the highest points score ever in the Ryder Cup and two guys that when they look back on their career, that’s probably going to be at least a big chunk of their legacy is the roles that they have played in the Ryder Cup for Europe.

“For those three guys to not captain Europe one day, it’s a shame. But as the DP World Tour said in their statement, at the end of the day that was their choice and they knew that these were potentially going to be the consequences of those choices and of those actions and here we are.

“Yeah, it’s certainly a shame.”

Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, echoed McIlroy’s sentiments and said he is sad that the three will not be available to represent the side.

Donald, who will lead the Europe team as they seek to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018, felt sorry that the situation had come to this.

“It’s sad we’ve got to this point but this was always a possibility,” Donald told BBC Sport. “I played with all three and they’ve been stalwarts of, and given a lot to, both the Ryder Cup and European Tour.

“I have a little more clarity now. I know they’re not an option to play in, or be any part of my team. It is a shame. They’ve got a lot of history when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

“Ultimately this is their choice and I wish them well. They feel like this was the best choice for them and now I’ve got choices to make that are best for me.

“There are generational shifts throughout the history of the Ryder Cup and maybe this is one.

“We certainly have plenty of great players to look at and pick from and I’m certainly excited about how everyone has played this year so far.”

Donald was made captain in 2022 after Henrik Stenson was dismissed for joining in the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

He will be without three of Europe’s most successful performers in the contest, with Westwood having featured as a player a record 11 times and Poulter unbeaten in singles across his seven appearances. Garcia is Europe’s all-time record points scorer.

Donald added: “There’s great momentum with European golf. We’ve already had seven winners in the US [this season] and a bunch of people who haven’t played in the Ryder Cup have played great this year on the DP World Tour, so I’m excited about the make-up of this team.”

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said he is sad that Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia will be unavailable for the team after they quit the DP World Tour.

The trio stepped aside after being sanctioned for joining rival LIV Golf, thus rendering them ineligible for inclusion when the match against the United States begins in Rome in September.

On Thursday Westwood spoke out against the European Tour following the controversy, seemingly closing the door on any hope of a return in the future.

Donald, who will lead the Europe team as they seek to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018, said it was a shame that the situation had come to this.

“It’s sad we’ve got to this point but this was always a possibility,” Donald told BBC Sport. “I played with all three and they’ve been stalwarts of, and given a lot to, both the Ryder Cup and European Tour.

“I have a little more clarity now. I know they’re not an option to play in, or be any part of my team. It is a shame. They’ve got a lot of history when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

“Ultimately this is their choice and I wish them well. They feel like this was the best choice for them and now I’ve got choices to make that are best for me.

“There are generational shifts throughout the history of the Ryder Cup and maybe this is one.

“We certainly have plenty of great players to look at and pick from and I’m certainly excited about how everyone has played this year so far.”

Donald was made captain in 2022 after Henrik Stenson was dismissed for joining in the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

He will be without three of Europe’s most successful performers in the contest, with Westwood having featured as a player a record 11 times and Poulter unbeaten in singles across his seven appearances. Garcia is Europe’s all-time record points scorer.

Donald added: “There’s great momentum with European golf, we’ve already had seven winners in the US [this season] and a bunch of people who haven’t played in the Ryder Cup have played great this year on the DP World Tour so I’m excited about the make-up of this team.”

Former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas has no thoughts of putting his bike away as he prepares to start his 18th Grand Tour this weekend.

The 36-year-old headlines the Ineos Grenadiers squad alongside 2020 winner Tao Geoghegan Hart for the 106th Giro d’Italia which will get under way in Fossacesia on Saturday.

The 2018 Tour winner described his last set of contract negotiations with Ineos in 2021 as “hard” and, with his existing two-year deal up again at the end of this season, he faces another round of talks if he wants to keep riding. However, staying in the peloton is very much his intention.

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“I’d still like to continue,” Thomas said. “I’m still really enjoying riding my bike. Especially this year when things have been a bit stop-start, you realise how much you still enjoy it and being around the lads.

“Being around the younger lads keeps you young as well and maybe keeps you immature but I still enjoy a coffee ride and I still enjoy a six-hour ride with loads of efforts and I still enjoy racing as well.

“At the moment I’m just focusing on this race and then hopefully we can sort something after this.”

Last season Thomas finished third in the Tour de France after delivering victory in the Tour de Suisse.

But his 2023 season has been interrupted by illness and on Thursday Thomas spoke more about riding to help Geoghegan Hart than he did about pursuing his own ambitions in a race which he has targeted before only to suffer crashes in both 2017 and 2020.

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When he re-signed in 2021, Thomas said he wanted to keep winning for himself, but another contract may require him to accept more of a support role.

Asked how many Grand Tours Thomas might have left in him, Ineos deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth said it was up to the Welshman, but was clear about what that might mean.

“There’s not many that have kept up the same level of intent in their cycling as Geraint has,” Ellingworth said. “He’s 36 coming on 37 so who knows. At the end of the day, age does catch up with you and you can’t avoid that. How many (Grand Tours) he has left in him is totally up to him…

“There’s riding in a Grand Tour and competing in a Grand Tour and it is very different. The thing with Geraint is, if you go to a bike race and you want somebody to help you and be your wingman, bloody hell, I’d sign him up every day. I think he’s got a few left in him if he wants it.”

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Geoghegan Hart is back at the race where he enjoyed his breakout result with victory in the pandemic-hit 2020 edition.

Since then, the 28-year-old Londoner has endured illness and injury setbacks, but delivered a timely confident boost with two stage wins and overall victory at the Tour of the Alps in April, his first general classification win since the Giro.

Although Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic are the clear favourites going into the race, Geoghegan Hart is one to watch.

“I feel like from the back end of last year he’s started to piece it together, get a bit of rhythm and he’s got his mojo back,” Ellingworth said. “He’s really shown now he can be consistent.

“What’s changed for him is he’s gone through a journey. He’s had a lot more experience now, good and bad. Sometimes you’ve got to get your arse kicked to move on and he’s had his arse kicked and he himself has moved on.”

Stephen Robinson highlighted the virtues of Ryan Flynn after the midfielder triggered an extension clause in his contract which sees him remain at St Mirren next season.

The 34-year-old is the Paisley side’s longest-serving first-team player having joined the club in January 2018 when the Buddies were on their way to winning promotion to the cinch Premiership.

Flynn has made 139 appearances for St Mirren – 23 this season – and has taken his first steps into coaching after undertaking his UEFA B Licence.

He joins the likes of Greg Kiltie, Marcus Fraser, Mark O’Hara, Trevor Carson and Richard Taylor in extending their contracts in recent months and St Mirren manager Robinson is delighted.

He told the club’s official website: “Ryan brings vast experience and quality to the club.

“He’s shown he can still go into the team and do well in numerous positions.

“As a squad player, he’s fantastic, and as an experienced professional, he’s exactly what we need at the football club.

“He’ll get involved in a little bit of the coaching in the first team as well and I want him to be a part of what we are doing.

“It’s vital to have experienced players. They dictate the tempo of training, the gym work and the attitude around the place.

“The older boys in the squad are the ones who do a bit for me in terms of helping manage the players and it’s important he stayed given his quality and what he offers on the pitch as well.”