The Jumbo-Visma rider, who crashed heavily in the opening stage in Brussels, beat Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Slovak Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe) into second and third, respectively. Italian Giulio Ciccone, who extended his contract with Trek-Segafredo by two years until 2021, retained the overall lead.
* Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands broke the 23-year-old women’s mile world record on Friday when she clocked four minutes 12.33 seconds, beating the 4:12.56 set by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova in Zurich in 1996. Hassan, 26, looked to be just off the record pace in the rarely-run event but finished strongly to set the new mark.
* Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic held off a spirited challenge from Spanish outsider Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday to triumph in four sets and advance to a mouthwatering Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. Remarkably the Serb's 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2 success was the 12th victory in his last 13 Grand Slam semi-finals and he is now one win away from his fifth title at Wimbledon and 16th Grand Slam singles crown as he resumes his great rivalry with the Swiss.
* Red Bull's Pierre Gasly was surprise fastest in first British Grand Prix practice on Friday with home favourite and championship leader Lewis Hamilton only fourth on the timesheets. On an overcast and changeable morning at Silverstone, with a light sprinkling of rain during the latter part of the session, the French driver set a fastest lap of one minute 27.173 seconds, 0.456 quicker than Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas.
* Former England striker Peter Crouch announced on Friday his retirement from football after more than two decades as a professional. The 38-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Stoke City striker spent last season at Burnley but his contract ended last month. Crouch was capped 42 times by England between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals and appearing at two World Cups, while he reached the Champions League final and won the FA Cup at Liverpool.
* Barcelona have agreed a deal to sign emerging Japanese talent Hiroki Abe from Kashima Antlers, the J-League club said on Friday. The 20-year-old attacker, named the league's best young player of 2018, was set to undergo a medical with the Spanish side and would join up with their 'B' side.
* Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni will keep his job until at least the 2022 World Cup, national team director Cesar Menotti said on Friday. Scaloni said last week that he had been guaranteed the role only until December after guiding the Albiceleste to third place at the Copa America in Brazil.
