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Saturday
Commonwealth Games
10am-10pm Day two live
The Commonwealth Games have historically served as a staging post for future stars. While Glasgow’s reduced 10-sport and six para-sport event may not carry the lustre of old, there’s a sense of uplift around this edition, not least due to King Charles’s opening ceremony Tardis scene-stealer. With nine golds up for grabs, Saturday’s highlights include Adam Ramsay-Peaty seeking gold in the 100m breaststroke final (9.04pm). As well as all the fun of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay (9.11pm), the 18-year-old Filip Nowacki – world junior 100m and 200m breaststroke champion – is looking to become Jersey’s first Commonwealth medallist since 1990. In the artistic gymnastics women’s team final, England are aiming to defend the title they won in 2022. There’s plenty of netball action too, with all four home nations opening their campaigns. Scotland start against New Zealand, who claimed bronze in Birmingham. Will Unwin helms our live blog, with Sean Ingle and Yara El-Shaboury reporting from Glasgow.
Cycling
12pmTour de France live
Alpe d’Huez hosts a second straight summit finish on Saturday to conclude the Tour de France’s intense Alpine trilogy. The Tour returns to the famous peak for the first time in four years, when Britain’s Tom Pidcock claimed victory in 2022. On its first appearance in 1952, Fausto Coppi claimed victory but it wasn’t until 24 years later that La Grande Boucle returned. Saturday’s 170.9km route from Bourg-d’Oisans ramps up the difficulty, featuring 5,450m of climbing and four categorised ascents. The stage includes a daunting approach to Alpe d’Huez via the Col de Sarenne. Tadej Pogacar has a big lead in the race for the yellow jersey, but his team are struggling with a sickness bug. Tom Bassam’s stage 20 rolling blog will capture all the thrills and spills, with Jeremy Whittle reporting.
Horse racing
12pmAscot live
Ascot is set to stage a truly international renewal of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (3.35pm) with last year’s winner, Calandagan, facing up to eight rivals, including his stablemate Goliath. Jointly owned by an American in John Stewart, Goliath will be ridden by the Belgian Christophe Soumillon, who hopes to avoid a repeat of his Royal Ascot run in the Hardwicke Stakes, when he lost an iron in the closing stages. Aidan O’Brien has a strong hand as he looks to end a 10-year drought in the race since Highland Reel’s 2016 victory. He runs this year’s Irish Derby winner, Benvenuto Cellini, last year’s Derby hero, Lambourn, the Dante runner-up Action and the filly Minnie Hauk, a multiple Group One winner last season. The only UK-trained runner is Andrew Balding’s mare Kalpana, twice a winner at Ascot on Champions Day. Given she gave Calandagan the most to do in this race last year, her track form stands up to scrutiny. Greg Wood helms our live racing blog.
Formula One
4pmHungarian Grand Prix qualifying
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton could go into Formula One’s August break on a Hungarian high this weekend while the championship leaders, Mercedes, seek urgent answers to George Russell’s car woes. Russell’s plight, with his car losing chunks of time on the straights, has dominated paddock chatter as his 19-year-old Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli goes from strength to strength with six wins in 10 rounds. The Briton is now 50 points adrift of Antonelli after spinning off into the gravel in Belgium last Sunday for his third DNF of the year. That blank let Hamilton back into second place overall, 45 points behind Antonelli, and the Hungaroring is a favourite for the seven-time world champion, who won six of his titles with Mercedes before moving to Maranello. Philip Cornwall has all the action, lap by thrilling lap.
Sunday
Commonwealth Games
10am-10pmDay three live
Another big netball day in Glasgow, and a clash of titans as Australia face England in Pool A. The Diamonds ended England’s defence with a 60-51 semi-final victory at Birmingham NEC four years ago before going on to claim gold. It was sweet revenge for the Aussies, who were denied the title by their old Ashes foes in dramatic fashion in the final second on the Gold Coast in 2018. This may be a group match, but don’t expect either side to dial down the intensity. In Pool B, Wales confront Scotland. There’s more action in the pool, where Australian swimmers are sure to dominate: Olympic and world champion and world record-holder, Cameron McEvoy, goes for gold in the men’s 50m freestyle. In the boxing ring, Scotland’s first female British champion Stephanie Kernachan competes in the women’s bantamweight last 16. Last year she became the first Scottish woman to compete at a boxing world championships. It’s also a day for medals in artist gymnastics and weightlifting. Daniel Harris helms the blog.
Formula One
3pmHungarian Grand Prix live
Kimi Antonelli has won six of 10 grands prix this season and the 19-year-old Formula One championship leader, in just his second season, heads into Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix with a 45-point buffer at the top of the standings. Lewis Hamilton, the man whose seat he filled at Mercedes, is his closest rival, with the Italian’s teammate, George Russell, a further five points back. At the back of the field, the well-funded but hugely disappointing Aston Martin team – with just one point scored this year – have introduced a major upgrade package from their design chief, Adrian Newey. John Brewin hosts our lap-by-lap coverage.
Cycling
3pmTour de France live
After three weeks of intense action, the big loop lands in Paris for the finale and another cobbled climb of Montmartre, with Tadej Pogacar on the verge of a record-equalling fifth Tour de France, aged only 27. Should he avoid the illness sweeping through his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates and win on Sunday, the Slovene would join the greats in the Tour pantheon. The Spaniard Miguel Indurain won the Grande Boucle five times in a row from 1991 to 1995. Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault have also claimed five triumphs. Pogacar has plenty more in the tank and could go on to win several more Tours – an intimidating prospect for the rest of the field. Tom Bassam hosts the final-stage rolling blog.
