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With a sprint finish on stage 17, Jonathan Milan won his second Tour de France victory this year.

On the 160.4 km stage between Bollene and Valence, a bunch was anticipated, but with 4 km to go, the peloton caught the last rider from a breakaway with four riders.

Milan’s sprint rivals Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay collided just before the 30-kilometer mark as it pouring down.

Jordi Meeus, 24, strengthened his hold on Milan, who was the points leader, after it turned out to be too strong.

The 24-year-old Lidl-Trek rider increased his lead by 61 points to 72 points, extending Tadej Pogacar’s lead.

“We still have some challenging days ahead of us, the climbs,” Milan said. We’ve had a lot of fun so far, though, and I’m really happy with how things are going.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has completed a season-long loan move to La Liga club Barcelona.

The 27-year-old joins on an initial 12-month loan, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the England international on a permanent basis for £30.3m (35m euros) in 2026.

Barcelona will cover the entirety of Rashford’s wages during his time at the club after the forward agreed to take a pay cut.

Removing Rashford from the wage bill is expected to save United between £14-£15m over the next 12 months.

The England international trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday and is expected to be included in the squad that travels to Japan for a pre-season tour of Asia on Thursday.

The move, Rashford’s second loan spell since last playing for United in December, sees the forward leave the Premier League for the first time.

Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 matches for Manchester United since making his debut for the club in 2016.

Rashford’s departure from Old Trafford has been a relatively long time coming.

Manager Ruben Amorim dropped him for the Manchester derby on 15 December last year – and he has not played for United since.

Amorim later criticised Rashford for a perceived lack of effort, suggesting that he would rather give a place on the bench to his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than someone who “doesn’t give the maximum every day”.

He joined Aston Villa on loan in January, making 17 appearances and earning an England recall, but returned to Old Trafford last month with his long-term future still uncertain.

However, that uncertainty has been more about where he would go rather than whether he would stay, with Rashford one of five players who told the club they wanted to leave – and who were subsequently told to train separately from the rest of the squad.

But Rashford’s problems at Old Trafford pre-dated Amorim.

After signing a new five-year deal at the club in 2023 – following a stellar 30-goal season the campaign before – Rashford’s form dropped dramatically.

He managed just eight goals in 43 appearances in 2023/24 and was disciplined three times in 13 months by manager Erik ten Hag.

Rashford was dropped for an away trip to Wolves after turning up late for a team meeting, while he then apologised to the Dutchman for attending a pre-arranged birthday party hours after a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City.

There is no doubt a fully-motivated, focused and determined Marcus Rashford would walk into Ruben Amorim’s team.

But, in reality, that Rashford has only been seen for one full season since 2021 and the campaign that led to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer getting sacked.

There were signs of the old Rashford during his half season loan at Villa – but there were also games where he didn’t perform so well.

Offloading an unwanted player to Barcelona is bizarre for a club in Manchester United’s position. But that is where they are right now. What they have to do is maximise the opportunity.

Mikel Arteta said the performances of 15-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon were “incredible” as Arsenal beat AC Milan 1-0 in their opening pre-season game in Singapore.

Summer signings Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga also played their first match for their new club in front of supporters.

Bukayo Saka scored the only goal with a close-range finish from Jakub Kiwior’s excellent curled cross.

The Gunners dominated for the majority of the match, with Ben White and Saka linking up well down Arsenal’s right side.

Ethan Nwaneri – playing in central midfield – produced two standout moments of skill, one of which resulted in a shot from the edge of the area that went narrowly wide.

Manager Arteta handed some game time to the two 15-year-olds in the squad – forward Dowman and defender Salmon.

“It’s very good,” said Arteta about the youngsters on show. “There is a lot of work in our academy of the coaches, people involved and it is a moment to give opportunities and reward them.

“They certainly took their chance today in difficult circumstances against a very big team. Incredible how at 15 years old they can perform at that level.”

It was agreed there would be a penalty shootout regardless of the result of the match and AC Milan won that 6-5.

Arsenal supporters are likely to be excited by so many academy graduates being included on the tour and Myles Lewis-Skelly, fellow 18-year-old Nichols and 15-year-olds Dowman and Salmon finished the game on the pitch together.

With Saka, Nwaneri and Nelson all playing a part, it means that Arsenal had seven academy graduates feature in total.

“Very happy with all the kids,” added Arteta. “I think they are able to play at that level at 15 years old in my opinion because of the environment and culture that is within the team.

“When somebody makes you feel so comfortable and so confident straightaway, you can go and do it. At least it gives you the best chance and then you have to have the qualities this kid has to deliver against opposition like this.”

There has been a lot of excitement around Dowman, with Arteta referencing his talent on a number of occasions last season, and the youngster stepped up to score his penalty in the shootout.

“They are in and around the team constantly and they are getting used to the dynamics and the demands,” said Arteta.

Arsenal have spent £128m so far this summer to bring in Zubimendi, Norgaard and Kepa, as well as Noni Madueke – with Cristhian Mosquera and Viktor Gyokeres expected to follow.

Madueke has been given two weeks off to rest after his participation in the Club World Cup with Chelsea, but this was the first time supporters had a look at how Arteta may use his other new signings.

Norgaard was the only summer signing to start the match and began in his favoured deep-lying midfield role.

The Denmark international was solid in his positioning and provided a base to allow his fellow midfielders Declan Rice and Nwaneri to get forward.

Zubimendi, a £60m signing from Real Sociedad, came on as a half-time substitute and immediately began to dictate the tempo of Arsenal’s play.

He has a more expansive passing range than Norgaard and showed some of his repertoire, but in the heat and with numerous changes in personnel, the game lost its flow.

Australia vs. the British and Irish Lions in the second test

Melbourne Cricket Ground Date: Saturday, July 26 Kick-off: 11:00 BST

After receiving criticism from former Wallabies great David Campese and 2005 British and Irish Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, Wing Harry Potter claims that the Australia squad has a “losing mentality.”

In the first Test in Brisbane, Woodward and Campese criticized Australia captain Harry Wilson’s decision to kick the ball off the field with the clock in the red and Australia on their own line at 27-19.

In the Daily Mail, Woodward wrote, “Talk about a losing mentality,” claiming that the hosts should have played on for pride and practice even with a win.

After losing, Australia’s players were also accused of conversing with their opponents on the Suncorp Stadium pitch.

It’s ridiculous to think that the 23 players who played on the weekend had a mindset of losing, according to Potter, who won his fourth cap.

“We went out there to win the game,” the statement read.

Potter was a child in Bristol before relocating to Melbourne at the age of 10. He was born in London and raised there.

He joined the Western Force in Australia in 2020 to play for the Leicester Tigers, scoring 20 tries in 67 appearances and winning the 2022 Premiership. He then made his return to Australia in the same year.

He was in the crowd when Australia won the second Test match 16-15 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne in 2013 as a 15-year-old.

Potter acknowledged that Australia didn’t display the same fight on Saturday.

He remarked, “It has been difficult to look back at that game.”

“We certainly picked up a few things,” he said. Particularly in the first 50 to 60 minutes, it didn’t feel like we put our best foot forward. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from that.

They are a very strong team, but we are aware that we must perform better and start the game stronger.

“Towards the close of the game, there were some encouraging signs. We believe that putting enough pieces together will lead to a much better outcome.

Australia must win the second Test in order to maintain the series, just like it did in 2013.

After missing out on Brisbane due to injury, head coach Joe Schmidt wants to have heavyweight forward duo Rob Valetini and Will Skelton back.

This week, Potter said, “Emotionally, it’s very simple.”