The Basque rider went solo in the last short climb of the day, 30km from the finish, and never looked back to claim a second career Tour stage win. Izagirre, who won the 20th stage of the Tour in 2016 in Morzine, is the second Spanish rider to win this year after Pello Bilbao on Tuesday and the second for the Cofidis team after Victor Lafay in the second stage.
* Czech Marketa Vondrousova showed there was no room for any gushing sentiment as she ended the remarkable run of new mum Elina Svitolina with a 6-3 6-3 victory to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time on Thursday. She will be bidding to become the first unseeded woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish when she faces Tunisian sixth seed Ons Jabeur in Saturday's final.
* Ons Jabeur showed that it is sometimes better to float like a butterfly than sting like a bee as her wily artistry overcame the brutal hitting of Aryna Sabalenka to reach her second Wimbledon final with a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 victory on Thursday.
* Ukrainian Elina Svitolina's bid to win the Wimbledon singles fell short on Thursday but her war-torn nation could still celebrate a Grand Slam champion as Lyudmyla Kichenok and Croatian partner Mate Pavic later won the mixed doubles. The 30-year-old Kichenok and Pavic, seeded seventh, beat Belgium's Joran Vliegen and China's Xu Yifan 6-4 6-7(9) 6-3.
* Spanish forward Rodrigo Moreno has joined Qatar's Al-Rayyan from Leeds United, the Championship club said on Thursday. The length of the contract and the transfer fee were not disclosed.
* Bournemouth have signed French midfielder Romain Faivre from Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais, both clubs said on Thursday. The 24-year-old had signed a long-term deal, Premier League Bournemouth said, and would remain in the French top flight in the 2023-24 season on loan at Lorient, where he played in the second half of the last campaign.
* Juventus have initiated the procedure to pull out of the European Super League (ESL) project, the Italian club said on Thursday. Juventus said they had started a discussion on their exit with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the other clubs remaining in the project.
* Three-times Olympic gold medallist Gabby Douglas has returned to training with an eye on next year's Games in Paris, the 27-year-old American said on Thursday. Douglas, who has not competed since the 2016 Rio Games when she led the United States to a second consecutive Olympic team gold, said last year she was taking time off to focus on her mental health.
* More female coaches are needed on the WTA and ATP Tours says Spain's former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, who on Thursday was named as tournament director for this year's Billie Jean Cup in Seville. The disparity between male and female coaches in professional tennis is huge with only 13 of the top 200 women players coached by a woman, according to the WTA.
* AC Milan have signed United States forward Christian Pulisic from Chelsea on a four-year contract, with the option of a further year, the Serie A side said on Thursday. Financial details were not disclosed but British media reported that the Italian club had paid Chelsea 20 million euros (US$22.41 million) plus add-ons for the 24-year-old.
* World Cup semi-finalists Morocco have been handed a gentle path to the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada after the draw was made for the African qualifiers in Abidjan on Thursday. The top team in each of the nine groups, which each contain six countries, qualify automatically for the World Cup.
* Men's and women's teams competing in International Cricket Council (ICC) events will receive equal prize money, the sport's governing body said on Thursday. The decision was announced at the ICC's annual conference in Durban.
* The kick-off of the new eight-team African Football League has been confirmed for Oct. 20 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who made the announcement at the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) General Assembly in Abidjan on Thursday. The competition has been drastically scaled down from the original proposal of 24 teams as CAF announced a US$15.7 million loss for the 2022-23 financial year.
* Everton have signed former England full back Ashley Young on a one-year deal, the Merseyside club said on Thursday.Young, who played for Manchester United for nine years, adds valuable experience to Sean Dyche's squad as a winner of the Premier League, Serie A, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup.
* French team Sochaux have been relegated from Ligue 2 to the third division after the club said their Chinese owners, the Nenking Group, had failed to secure financial guarantees for them to stay in the second-tier. The DNCG, the entity that controls clubs' finances, had announced the administrative relegation of Sochaux last month even though they finished ninth in the league standings - 10 points above the relegation zone.
* Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr have been banned from registering new players over outstanding debts, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday. Al-Nassr, who finished second in the league last season after signing Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo in January, signed Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan earlier this month.
* Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge will race in Berlin on Sept. 24 as part of his preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, announcing the return to his "special place" in a video on Thursday. The 38-year-old clocked 2:01.09 in Berlin last year to crush his own world record by about 30 seconds. He is aiming to complete a hat-trick of Olympic wins next year, having won marathon gold in the previous two Games.
* FIFA said it is giving away 20,000 free tickets for Women's World Cup games in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin amid concerns about the slow pace of sales in New Zealand. Co-hosts Australia have snapped up the lion's share of the 1 million tickets sold so far, with their 'Matildas' team seen as a genuine title threat.
* FIFA will pay out US$209 million to clubs whose players competed at last year’s World Cup finals in Qatar, world football’s governing body said on Thursday. The payment will be made to 440 clubs from 51 different countries whose players were at the tournament last November and December, won by Argentina.
