Chief sports writer at The Sunday Times. From 23 July 2020, author of The Russian Affair.
Newmarket, England
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I admire the way Julian Alaphilippe and Geraint Thomas accepted the bad luck that prevented them from knowing what would have happened on Iseran descent and climb to Tignes. Alaphilippe said he was beaten by stronger man, Thomas vowed to help Egan Bernal win Tour. Chapeau to both
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One of the greatest ever sportswriters Hugh McIlvanney died last night. He was an inspiring colleague at The Sunday Times and a wonderful companion. Great memories. Deepest sympathy to Hugh’s wife Caroline and to his family.
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Almaz Ayana's 29mins17secs for 10,000m. We can't accuse because there's no evidence and we can't believe because there's no trust.
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The man who sent me my first legal writ 20yrs ago, Pat Hickey IOC member, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro this morning re ticketing scandal.
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Reading about Saracens’ 35pt deduction and £5.36m fine, I’m struck by the similarity with Team Sky. You create a terrific culture, assemble a brilliant squad, win the biggest prizes but, ultimately, you don’t live up to the standards and values that you say underpin everything.
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This morning the chickens came home to roost for Sir Dave Brailsford and Sir Bradley Wiggins.
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On Wednesday I met Andrew Strauss in a Hampshire pub and heard about his remarkable wife Ruth who died after a year-long battle with cancer on Dec 28. His reminiscences were heartbreaking and inspiring. I wrote the story for tomorrow's Sunday Times and I think it's worth reading.
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20 years ago in piece for The Sunday Independent I wrote Pat Hickey should resign. Thanks to Dan for finding this. broadsheet.ie/2016/08/18/cal…
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I have just seen a climax to the Tour de France that seems like the most ridiculous, insane dream. How sport can make idiots of us all!
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My impression from listening to Dave Brailsford and Shane Sutton at Select Committee today is that we're being subjected to massive cover-up
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I have wondered how much people on elite sporting bodies care about cheating. We know more today. Spineless and cynical, that's the IOC.
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Why Gareth Southgate will stay as England head coach
thetimes.co.uk/article/79da7…
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Lance Armstrong: a decade on from disgrace
thetimes.co.uk/article/808d1…
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Very soon I'm going to put up a short video that tells of arguably the greatest doping scandal in the history of the Tour de France. #notLanceArmstrong
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As male golfers pull out of Rio over Zika, notable that not one woman golfer has withdrawn, nor athletes from any other sport. Embarrassing.
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In euphoria of Ireland’s win over ABs it should be said referee Wayne Barnes was outstanding. This may be first time I’ve ever praised a ref
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Rio police went to Mr Hickey's OC of Ireland hotel room, he was scantily dressed. Police have released first pic.
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I wonder what Christine Ohuruogu thinks about Lizzie Armitstead missing 3 tests and NOT being banned? Same rule for everyone, right?
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Two days to Calcutta Cup match in Edinburgh and the newspapers are full of Lewis Ludlum quote: “They hate us and we hate them.” Lewis, you don’t and they don’t. And our newspapers should stop reproducing this nonsense as if it had some worth. It is a rugby game for goodness sake.
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I can never watch Shane Lowry play golf without seeing his dad Brendan, an outstanding corner forward for Offaly in Gaelic football, taking a pass with his back to goal and always knowing where the posts were. He rarely missed. And his boy didn’t miss today.
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This arrived this afternoon. Extract will be in The Sunday Times magazine on July 19, books in shops on July 23. It’s been a long time in the making but seriously pleased for Vitaly and Yuliya Stepanov.
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Checking in for flight to Melbourne, guy looks at passport and says 'well done on beating All Blacks". I said, "can you just repeat that!"
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The more I've looked at the Wiggins' TUEs, the murkier they seem. I've tried to explain in tomorrow's ST how it happened.
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Mark Cavendish is the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour de France. It's what you call a real achievement.
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Small thing in one way, not so small in another way, but I loved the fact that southern Irish player and a northern Irish caddie teamed up to win The Open at Royal Portrush.
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Last week I outed our grandson Miles for telling his teacher that his gran won the longest drive with a 280 yard shot at her local club. The only person in our family who might hit a shot that far is actually Miles himself.
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Have read Dave Brailsford's justification for BW's TUEs and don't buy it. Imagine if NQ had gotten same injection before this year's Vuelta.
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I'm wondering about the best punishment for Big Sam: whether to sack him or extend his contract!
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What the Chris Froome salbutamol case tells us is the people running the world anti-doping agency are a joke, and a dangerous one at that.
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IAAF boasts it spends $2m per year on anti-doping. Cycling, with much smaller pool of athletes, spends $8-9m. Who are IAAF trying to fool?
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It is with great sadness that I look forward to the late AA Gill's last piece in the Sunday Times tomorrow. He was a truly great writer.
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Watching Spain v Portugal I thought every other game in the world has no chance against football. Riveting brilliance from start to finish.
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Best thing I’ve read today? Our grandson Miles’s school report. The then 4-year-old told his teacher that his gran won club golfer of year. True. Also told her she won the longest drive with a 280 yard shot. Complete fabrication. This kid has the makings of a sportswriter!
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James Milner’s smiling reaction to Mo Salah’s goal, seconds after the disappointment of being substituted, reflects the character that makes Milner’s one of the PL’s most admirable players.
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Once you've seen that Richie Porte crash, it's hard to get it out of your mind. It was that bad.
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17000 overseas athletes have competed in test events in Rio. Not one positive for Zika. As an Irishman, I'm unimpressed by McIlroy and Lowry
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IOC's decision on Yuliya Stepanova is disgraceful. They dislike whistleblowers. In shameful press release to justify decision they lied.
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As a young journalist in the age of innocence, the first time you get that little green badge, it’s like someone’s slipped the keys to paradise into your pocket. Now? Let’s say I’m here by choice, still interested. Let the pre-Tour press conferences begin!
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I’ve written a piece for Times Online about Nike’s continued support for Alberto Salazar and Dr Jeffrey Brown, two gentlemen now serving 4-year bans for doping offences. Bottom line for me is that Nike has become the Russia of the West.
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Disclosure time: having done the math, I realise I spent 16 hours watching live sport on Sunday. This doesn't reflect a passion for sport, rather it exposes a man with a medical condition! For the record: golf 5hrs, racing 2hrs, rugby 2hrs, football 3hrs, Superbowl 4hrs.
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Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle one of horse racing’s great, great stories. A brilliant mare ridden by an outstanding rider.
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Eddie Pepperell’s interviews are better than anyone’s. All down to his candour and absence of the usual cliches. Guy is a breath of fresh air.
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Sometimes life surprises you in a good way. This morning I dropped our youngest, now 31, to train for a 4-hour journey to Newcastle. He'd come from Germany for game, spending a little time with us on the way. He's always been a Cambridge United nut. Returns to Germany tomorrow.
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For those who may not have seen it,
The Program’s gets an airing on BBC 2 tonight. This was the 2015 Stephen Frears film adapted from Seven Deadly Sins. Ben Foster’s portrayal of Lance Armstrong is particularly worth watching.
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Phil Mickelson’s deliberate flaunting of golf’s laws on 13th green at Shinnecock Hills was classless. The pity is he wasn’t disqualified
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37 years ago I travelled to Tour de France for first time and reported on Sean Kelly winning the green jersey. The journey was made by boat, Rosslare to Le Havre. Today it's a flight, London to Brussels. Back then it was love and romance. It's different now but not uninteresting.
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One of the highlights of the Tour de France was meeting up with Louise Gibson and other members of the @InternationEll2, a group of amateur cyclists who rode the full Tour de France route one day ahead of the men. In this short video they explain what their Tour was all about.
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I wrote about Chris Froome’s Giro in today’s Sunday Times. I believe in Friday’s epic performance but still have problem with Vuelta AAF.
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For fraudulently creating that disgusting medal table at Sochi, Russia gets no punishment. Bach and IOC are trying to kill Olympic sport.
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Most exciting TdF since 1989. Today's stage was climactic scene in gripping drama. Then nature intervened, ridiculous snow storm, roads too dangerous, last 30k cancelled. Times at top of the Col de l'Iseran now count as stage result. Bernal in yellow. That is the right outcome.
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We've heard so many versions of Sky's TUE and related medical package scandal, it really is time we got the truth. This is not going away.
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I watched City flounder, Arsenal crumble, now Spurs, Liverpool. The Premier League has to be the most exciting illusion in sport's history.
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Toughest punishment for Manchester City will not be exile from Champions League but knowing that, like Saracens and Team Sky, their triumphs are forever tainted | Sport | The Sunday Times thetimes.co.uk/article/tough…
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Wrote a piece about Danny Cipriani for today’s Sunday Times wondering what fuss is all about. No tea cup small enough to house this storm!
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Anthony Joshua says he is against gang culture while doing business with Daniel Kinahan. And why is Tyson Fury playing fanboy to an alleged crime lord?
thetimes.co.uk/article/why-i…
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My colleagues Michael Clarke and Jack Feeney made a short video with Newmarket trainer John Berry that offers something closer to the everyday reality of racing than the story of the last ten days. thetimes.co.uk/article/racin…
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Interviewed former Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas about the loss of his wife Gemma for tomorrow’s Sunday Times. Brave and admirable man.
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Almost at final week of Tour and there are four riders very much with a winning chance. It's been a long time.
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That Froome/Quintana battle to Pena Cabarga summit finish in Vuelta Espana yesterday was one of the highlights of cycling year. Riveting.
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Spoke with Chris Froome last week about how he won, or more accurately, didn't lose the TdF. Pretty revealing. This week's Sunday Times.
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The morning after a terrific TdF stage and Shane Lowry winning The Open, you wake up to his Pyrenean scene in Tarascon. Life could be a lot worse.
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Wrote about Rio Ferdinand in today's Sunday Times. Once a class player, now showing the same class in his life after football.
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The truth about those TUEs that Bradley Wiggins received becomes clearer. I've written about it in The Sunday Times.
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Lot of times with high profile folk who do wrong the apology is almost as bad as original offence. Ryan Lochte's mea culpa a classic example
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Thought yesterday’s defeat and the nature of it will make Ireland reconsider who they are. The likelihood is that at the end of their re-evaluation they will have a slightly diminished and slightly more realistic view of themselves. Not a bad thing, maybe.
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Quote of weekend: “If the referee says the grass is pink, the grass is pink,” Sam Underhill, England flanker and scorer of disallowed try.
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Wrote in today’s Sunday Times about the notorious Darren Weir, the top Australian horse racing trainer who used electric shock treatment to make his horses run faster. He got a four year ban, should have been 40.
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AA Gill's last piece in Sunday Times was at once brilliant, shocking, funny, insightful, intensely sad but above all beautifully written.
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Spent 3 days playing golf with @PepperellEddie at Dunhill Links. Great fun. Eddie is remarkable man, universally liked and for good reasons.
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Frenchman throws pee on Brit leader of TdF, then at end of stage another Brit rains on a French parade. Chapeau Steve Cummings #tdf15
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McIlroy had this win coming. He’s playing well, putting better and his mindset on the golf course much better than previously. Number one favourite for the Masters.
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To all who have watched Armstrong documentaries and tweeted their appreciation, thank you. Real heroes were Betsy, Emma, Greg, Steve Swart.
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I've seen transcript of Andrew Marr interview with Bradley Wiggins. BW and his people chose well! #don'tholdyourbreath
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This is good. The story of a victory told in a couple of minutes, courtesy of Bernard Jackman.
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When marketing men tried to tell Hugh McIlvanney that the 1994 World Cup would convert heathen Americans to football he reminded them that “missionaries have been known to get themselves eaten.”
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As a journalist and a human being I was proud of Channel 4’s commentary on the Billy Vunipola controversy during their coverage of Leinster v Toulouse. Gareth Thomas spoke eloquently and with great honesty. Well done.
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This year's dominant teams in TdF run by Alexandre Vinokourov and Bjarne Riis, yet little talk of doping. #extraordinary
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"There was a lot of sheep in this decision.They just kept following each other out the door." P Harrington's on fellow pros who stayed away.
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That final round from Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie was one of the greatest we have seen from an Open champion. It will be remembered.
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This Lions Tour was a reminder of why Jonathan Davies had to start final test in 2013. This time round, my player of the series.
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Just read a story in The Times this about a couple attacked by a lion while on safari. Happened in 2015, husband suffered badly damaged arm. This comment from a Times reader made me laugh: Husband to wife...can we outrun the lion? Wife to husband ... I only have to outrun you.
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We used to wonder why players didn’t reproduce club form for England. Last night Stones and Maguire played their best games of the season.
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For those who have asked or others who are wondering, will be writing about Russian leaks, TUEs and Team Sky in this week's Sunday Times.
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That DeChambeau/Westwood battle at Bay Hill was epic. Both players performed well, DeChambeau deserved his victory and yet it was a pity that Westwood had to lose.
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Bradley Wiggins has had to pull out of The Jump with broken leg. No surgery or cast needed. Of all the lucky broken legs!
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Totally agree with my colleague Henry Winter on this.
thetimes.co.uk/article/club-…
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O'Driscoll: "45 minutes after the game and I don’t want to take this jersey off because I know when I take it off, that’ll be the last time
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Two months ago I said in Sunday Times only way for Team Sky to move forward was without Dave Brailsford. I believe that now more than ever.
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President Trump wants to arm teachers to better protect children. The ultimate American solution to an American problem.
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You might have more sympathy for Lizzie Armitstead if the disputed test had been third of three, not first!
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Watching Tiger Woods in genuine contention on the back nine at Bay Hill is a joy to behold and an important moment for the game.
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