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The white smoke may have finally appeared above the Vatican in Rome, but Italy’s great bike race will see a miasma of pink dance across the Eternal City when the race concludes there in three weeks’ time.

While the new Pope has been elected, the chosen one to wear pink as winner of the Giro d’Italia is as unclear as last year’s win by Tadej Pogacar was predictable – the living legend deciding a 10-minute winning margin was enough not to bother defending his title.

But if a race doesn’t need a top star, it’s the Giro: sun, sea, sand (or white chalk), snow and often torrents of rain greet the peloton year in year out in what is the sport’s most unpredictable Grand Tour.

Before any of the top British riders dream of Rome on 1 June, they have to hit completely unknown roads as the race begins for the first time in Albania on Friday.

Riders take on two hilly stages and a time trial there before hopping across the Adriatic sea to Italy for three days of racing to Naples on the flat as sprinters such as Olav Kooij, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen begin the battle for the cyclamen points jersey in the south of the country.

At 25 Tom Pidcock is in his prime and in the hotseat as leader of his new Q36.5 team, for which he has already won the Saudi Tour this year and come close to winning some of the sport’s most prestigious one-day races, including Strade Bianche in Tuscany.

Refreshed and revitalised after a controversial departure from Ineos Grenadiers, one of cycling’s most expansive – and expensive – talents finally has a chance to prove what he has always threatened to do since breaking through in 2021: “To show I can win a Grand Tour.”

But Pidcock is not the only one with a new challenge on the mind this year. Ever-present twins in the Italian Alps and Dolomites over the years, Adam and Simon Yates have never really fully been in competition to win the pink jersey.

But now the planets have aligned for what could be a final tilt at winning the race for the now 32-year-olds.

Both great climbing talents, Adam rides for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, often as a super-domestique for Pogacar’s attempts to win the Tour de France, but here he is unleashed. Simon does the same job for Pogacar’s main rival Jonas Vingegaard in France for Visma Lease a Bike, but he too has a chance to make history here, alone.

And as the more decorated of the two, with 10 Grand Tour stage victories and the 2018 Vuelta a Espana’s red jersey on his palmares, does he think he has the edge?

“It’s exciting to play a similar role to what my brother would do. Me and my brother are always very competitive in races,” Simon said earlier this season. “But we’ve not raced against each other as much as you would think.

“That’s going to change. We’ll have to see who comes out on top.”

Given there are now a record 34 British riders in this year’s top level World Tour, the potential for success could be greater than the golden era of Team Sky and the presence of the legendary Mark Cavendish.

But making your mark at a young age is never easy at the top level.

There are five previous winners in the peloton who could extinguish British hopes. But none sit above the Giro’s mysterious ways.

Ineos’ Colombian champion Egan Bernal (2021) is still rebuilding after life-threatening injuries, and EF Education-Easy Post’s Richard Carapaz (2019) has struggled late on in Grand Tours when the Ecuadorian’s peers have pushed on.

Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (2023) has the most Grand Tour wins in the field having also won four Vueltas, but at 35 is he at the same level? Plus he has a younger and possibly hungrier team-mate in Australia’s Jai Hindley, who still has plenty to prove since he won in 2022.

Could we see a first British winner since Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020? Looking at the origins of the competitors the Giro has long since ceased to be a purely Italian affair.

The Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 117-93 victory over the Golden State Warriors to level their NBA Western Conference semi-final at 1-1 on Thursday evening.

Julius Randle scored 24 points and provided 11 assists in Minneapolis while Anthony Edwards added 20 points and nine rebounds and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points from the bench.

Edwards said the Timberwolves watched footage of game one to help them prepare for the second match in the best-of-seven series.

“We saw that it wasn’t just that we didn’t make shots, it was our defensive pressure and intensity; we didn’t bring it,” he said.

Minnesota started the game on a 25-7 run, but the Warriors closed the gap to 62-55 in the third quarter.

“We looked a lot more like ourselves,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.

“The start was great, that’s what we needed to set the tone. We were pretty consistent with everything other than the beginning of the second half.

“Other than that, it was exactly the response that we needed.”

Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors scoring with 18 points while Jimmy Butler III tallied 17.

Stephen Curry watched from the bench after he injured his left hamstring in game one. The Warriors point guard is expected to miss at least a week.

Andy Farrell’s player selection for the British and Irish Lions’ tour to Australia was another brutal reminder of Wales’ fall from grace.

With Wales on a 17-game losing run, only two players – flanker Jac Morgan and scrum-half Tomos Williams – earned spots in the 38-strong squad.

Former Scarlets and Clermont Auvergne centre Davies believes Morgan and Williams “will go out and give a great account of themselves and fly the flag for Welsh rugby”.

He added: “It looks a strong squad and there is a lot of time spent deliberating over who goes, and they feel that they’ve got a good mix to go out and win a Test series

“I think Maro Itoje is a great leader, he’s gained a huge amount of maturity over the last 12 months and the way he has led England has been extremely impressive and inevitably his form has been great, and you’d think he’s a guaranteed starter for that Test team. It’s great for him.

“You can tell how good Andy Farrell is with what he’s done with Ireland, the Lions tours that he’s been involved in. I’ve loved working with him and I’m sure he’ll make sure everything is done to the best of his ability to make sure the team is best prepared to go out there and win the Test series.

“I think it will be a lot tougher than people expect. The hardest thing with the Lions tour is that you have four nations coming together and then in six weeks you’re playing one of the best teams in the world, that is the hardest part of it.

“But with the experience that they have in the coaching set-up and players, I’m sure they’ll be able to get on the same page very quickly.

Alex Cuthbert, a 2013 series winner in Australia, believes Morgan and Williams’ “performances probably deserve their call-up”.

He added: “I’m gutted there’s not a couple more Welsh influences in the squad, but Andy Farrell has obviously decided to go for familiarity and people he can rely on, which is the massive Irish influx in the squad.

“But I’m extremely excited for the two Welsh lads that got selected and hopefully they’ll get the job done.

“Farrell has gone with a lot of Irish lads who have done the job away from home against New Zealand, and it’s going to be no easy task over in Australia.”

Cuthbert is also “pretty confident” Farrell’s Lions can repeat the 2013 success he and his team-mates enjoyed.

“The players named are all top players from their representative countries, the style of play you can pretty much say is going to be the way Ireland play and they’ve done a job on Australia a number of times, but away from home it’s going to be tough,” he said.

Cuthbert says Morgan is “a very clever rugby player, world class in what he offers around the field”.

“It’s not just at the breakdown, but his leadership with Wales and Ospreys, his carrying, his defensive ability which we saw in the Six Nations,” Cuthbert said.

“He’s going to be in a team that are on the front foot, playing attack-minded rugby which I think is really going to suit him.

Richard Hibbard, who played in all three 2013 Tests against the Wallabies said: “I was hoping for a few more [Welsh selections], but unfortunately it’s currently where we’re at, but it’s a fantastic achievement for those boys, it shows all the hard work they put in in the last season and I’m delighted for everybody that’s been selected.

“Jac Morgan’s always the standout player in every game, he’s carrying a lot of weight on those young shoulders. He thoroughly deserves it, no player in Wales deserves it more than him, especially being captain through this tough period, he’s just held himself so well, it’s phenomenal.”

Hibbard says Farrell is a “fantastic” coach for the players to work under.

“He is one of those coaches you just want to play for, the way he talks, he so passionate. His defence is very simple,” Hibbard said.

“He makes you believe in it as much as he does. He’s one of those coaches you will follow into battle.

“I was sore and I was thinking, ‘Do I need to be here? It’s sore to be here’, but I thought it was time to keep going.”

They say wins are like buses. You wait ages for one….

Even Michael Dunlop’s most ardent supporters – of which there are many – would not have expected him to win two of the opening three races at the 2025 North West 200.

Despite his success at the Isle of Man TT, where he became the rider with the most victories in the road race’s storied history in 2024, his home event had been a more barren affair.

He had not stood on the top step at Northern Ireland’s international road race since 2016.

The fear his winless run on home soil would continue only grew after an accident towards the end of Superstock qualifying on Thursday afternoon.

The 36-year-old had a high side on an out lap exiting the Magherabuoy chicane and, although he returned to the pits to take part in the final two sessions, it was evident to onlookers he wasn’t 100% comfortable.

It was even at the point where Steve Hicken, the team manager of Hawk Racing, said Dunlop might not be able to compete in all three races on Thursday evening.

Even after three laps of the Supersport race, victory didn’t look on the cards.

Leaders Davey Todd and Richard Cooper had knocked metaphorical lumps out of each other, which had kept Dunlop in play in a five-bike battle for the lead.

However, as Cooper looked ready to pull the pin on the fourth and final lap, Dunlop and his new Ducati moved past Todd at Station corner and set after the leader.

He reeled Cooper in and blasted past him on the run to Magherabuoy – the same chicane where he crashed hours earlier. From there, Dunlop didn’t look back.

Even from the media centre at the top end of the paddock you could hear the cheers from the grandstands as Dunlop crossed the line, despite the roar of the other bikes still finishing their own races.

“It’s nice to win in Northern Ireland again at international level,” said Dunlop.

“It was about being in the right place at the right time. I’ve been mugged here before and I got my finger out. The slipstream is beautiful here and I decided it was time to get a push on.”

Dunlop admitted he was wondering in the early laps whether he could fight through the pain to finish the race. But, with the leaders still in sight, he persevered.

“I’ve damaged the shoulder a little bit so I’m struggling to brake full pin.

After that race, Dunlop said he would keep his “head down and keep going”.

He did just that. While it was a last-lap dash for his first win, the following race was a much more controlled performance.

He was aided by Alastair Seeley not being on the grid with a mechanical issue, and contender Peter Hickman skipping a chicane on the opening lap.

Todd looked to have pulled away out front, but Dunlop reeled him in and an issue at University corner saw the 8TEN rider miss his braking on the penultimate lap.

Although Dean Harrison piled on the pressure, he had no answer and Dunlop came home in first place with a couple of seconds in hand.

“I’ve proved tonight I’m still fast. It’s great, I knew it was going to be hard and I knew that race was going to be hot and heavy,” Dunlop added.

“The boys have worked hard to get everything ready, I appreciate it. I haven’t won in a long time and it was a kick in the face, so to win again is another weight off my shoulders.

“I’ve not come here fully fit for a long time, but we’ve overcome it and won two races tonight.”

Twenty-five years after his passing, this year’s North West 200 has been one of celebration of the life and legacy of the legendary Joey Dunlop, who Michael surpassed to claim the Isle of Man TT record last year.

But on Thursday night it was time for Michael, Joey’s nephew, to bask in his success as the sun set on the north coast of Northern Ireland.