Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard leads the Tour de France out of the Basque port of Bilbao on Saturday on a 21-day adventure crammed with peaks, postcard panoramas and an eye-catching showdown on a massive dormant...

A bloke was forced to go on a date with a cardboard cut-out of Taylor Swift after losing at fantasy football. Greig Dick was forced to sit at a table with it as a forfeit for coming last in his league. Unlucky Greig and his date were both given a menu at a local restaurant in Motherwell, Scotland. A grinning waitress took their order. The fake Taylor was later taken to a casino where Greig put a £22 bet on red – a nod to the singer's hit tune and album. Later she joined the lad and his mates for a pint in a pub. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Pal Gregor Sleith said: "A boy in our team was in a fantasy football league with his mates. “The lad who finished bottom for the year had to do a public forfeit. "They made him sit at a table at a restaurant with a cut out as a date." Football fans have praised the humiliating penalty. The official Fantasy Premier League account called it "incredible." Elsewhere, Donagh Barry said: "At least he can scroll away on his mobile phone without being given out to." Jason added: "Where do I sign up to be 'punished' by going on a date with a cutout of Taylor Swift?" Arthur Fowler said: "She's pretty fit to be fair." Mac added: "Decent night out that. Cheap and quiet." James Caiger added: "This is amazing." Another football fan said: "I’ve been on worse dates." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Craig Brown, the former Scotland manager who led the country to their last men’s World Cup in 1998, has died at the age of 82. Brown died peacefully on Monday following a short illness, a statement from his family said. Brown also took charge of Scotland at Euro 96 and managed at Aberdeen, Preston North End and Motherwell before retiring in 2013. A statement from Aberdeen read: "Everyone at Aberdeen FC is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved former manager, director and club ambassador, Craig Brown. "A dear friend to us all, Craig will be sorely missed and our love and condolences are with his family at this terribly sad time." More follows

Fans thought Nolan Arenado was a video game.

FIFA says the 2023 Club World Club will be played in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia

British racing team Hitech Grand Prix have confirmed their bid to join the F1 grid for the 2026 season after announcing a major new investment deal. Hitech GP, who currently race in F2, F3 and F4, were reported to be one of a number of prospective new entries into Formula 1, alongside the likes of Andretti-Cadillac and Panthera Team Asia. Now, after announcing new investment with its parent company Hitech Global Holdings Limited selling a 25 per cent stake to Kazakh businessman Vladimir Kim, Hitech confirmed they have lodged a bid to the FIA to secure a spot in three years’ time. Hitech, based at Silverstone, stated in a press release that its F1 project was a “move that would complete its single-seater ladder and demonstrate that Hitech has all the right people, experience and resources to compete alongside the best teams in the world.” Kim, whose companies have previously sponsored Kazakh athletes such as champion boxer Gennadiy Golovkin, holds his main interests in the mining, banking and aviation sectors – with Hitech his first involvement in motorsport. “Motorsport has been a long-standing personal interest for me, and I am delighted to be entering into a partnership with an organisation that has enjoyed success in so many categories and has such ambitions for its future,” he said. “We have an established involvement with sport; however, this is our first global investment in motorsport. “Its dynamic appeal, growing exposure, business-to-business marketing opportunities and burgeoning fan base are aligned with my ambitions personally and commercially.” Hitech CEO Oliver Oakes added: “I am delighted to welcome Vladimir Kim to the Hitech group. “During our discussions we found many natural synergies and I know that his support will be invaluable as we seek to build on Hitech’s success and work towards achieving its broader ambitions over the years to come.” Audi are already confirmed to be joining the grid in 2026, taking over from the Sauber works team currently branded as Alfa Romeo, and announced their first test driver last week. Read More Audi name first driver to join F1 team ahead of 2026 season entry Inspired by Schumacher, meet the Hong Kong billionaire targeting a new Formula 1 team Why have Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney invested in an F1 team? Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to invest in F1 team ‘There will be crashes’: George Russell sends stark warning to F1 bosses

Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard will be backed by some of the best riders in the world as he bids to retain his title

Celtic are continuing to pursue targets in Asia following the departure of Ange Postecoglou but a move for South Korean midfielder Yang Hyun-jun appears to be in the balance. Yang has been quoted in the South Korean media as saying that he wants to sign for Celtic this summer but his club, Gangwon, would rather wait until the end of their season, which finishes in October. Gangwon sit 11th in the 12-team K-League 1 and would face a relegation play-off if they remain there. The player’s representatives earlier claimed Yang had been promised he would get the chance to move if a European club came in for him and was frustrated at the club’s stance. Celtic have achieved success over the past two seasons by recruiting in Asia, with Kyogo Furuhashi named PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers’ player of the year last term. The striker was joined by several Japanese colleagues including Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata after Postecoglou arrived from Yokahama F Marinos two years ago. Celtic also signed South Korea striker Oh Hyeon-gyu in January. New manager Brendan Rodgers is keen to continue the successful recruitment tactic along with the club’s head of scouting and recruitment, Mark Lawwell. Quoted in several newspapers, Rodgers said: “Over the course of our discussions I’ve seen the market we’re in and how well the recruitment has gone. “Mark Lawwell has this pipeline of players that are available and I think what he’s done since he’s come in has been really impressive – and the markets he’s been able to tap into. That will continue. That’s where the club is at. “In terms of recruitment I am the one that knows how I want the team to play and I have to be involved in those discussions. And I will be. Some of those markets haven’t been as readily available to some clubs, that’s something Mark has brought with him in his roles. “I’m thinking of the Japanese market, the Korean market, Australia and out into Asia. These were players that were untapped and you’re now seeing other clubs trying to tap into that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Liverpool confirm that Luis Diaz will wear the club's iconic number seven shirt next season after James Milner's departure from the club. The Colombian international had previously worn the number 23 at Anfield

The safety plans of every organisation responsible for staging next year’s Champions League final at Wembley must be “tested to destruction”, Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has said. There is immense pressure on the FA and UEFA for the event to be a success after problems arose at the last two finals. The 2022 match in Paris almost became a “mass fatality catastrophe” according to an independent report commissioned by UEFA. Liverpool fans found themselves penned against stadium perimeter fences ahead of the match against Real Madrid due to organisational failings, and were then tear-gassed by French police. While the problems around this year’s final in Istanbul were less severe, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin admitted last week that “not everything was perfect”, with supporters reporting problems getting to and from the Ataturk Stadium and in accessing drinking water and toilets. Ceferin assured delegates at the European Football Fans Congress in Manchester that the 2024 final would be “a unique experience” for supporters. That appeared to ratchet up the pressure on Wembley, a venue which itself hosted a chaotic Euro 2020 final two summers ago. An independent review by Baroness Casey identified more than 20 near-miss incidents that could have resulted in serious injury or death at the match between England and Italy on July 11 2021, as ticketless individuals stormed turnstiles to force entry. FA chair Hewitt insisted there was “healthy paranoia” among organisers around what could go wrong at every Wembley event, and pledged everyone involved would aim to work out the pitfalls and how to respond to them. “It isn’t the regular stuff that goes wrong,” Hewitt said. “It is the stuff that hasn’t happened. In that particular tournament (Euro 2020), it was the first time we had 30,000 empty seats (due to Covid-19 capacity restrictions). “It’s really easy for me standing here and saying ‘well, that was obvious, that was the thing that was different’. You have to search for the thing that is different. You don’t make the same mistakes, you make different ones. So what is the thing that is different? “Secondly, it is about making sure every one of the stakeholders completely and utterly understands, and tests to destruction, the plan. “It is no good the police doing their bit in one room and the stewards doing their bit in another and us doing our bit in that room and UEFA doing theirs in that room. It is getting everyone in the same room and testing each other’s plans to destruction. There is pressure on every event we host at Wembley. We have got paranoia, healthy paranoia I would say, but we are paranoid. Yes, there is pressure but there is pressure on everything we do. FA chair Debbie Hewitt “I believe in a process called pre-mortem, not post-mortem. I use it a lot in business, what could go wrong and how do we deal with it? It’s a bit like pretend crisis management in a way but it is much more deep than that. “There is pressure on every event we host at Wembley. We have got paranoia, healthy paranoia I would say, but we are paranoid. Yes, there is pressure but there is pressure on everything we do. “You write about (the pressure) because of the fact there have been two finals where things have gone wrong. But every time we host something at Wembley – (a) Tyson Fury (fight), Harry Styles, Coldplay, no matter what, where you have groups of people together, something that can go wrong will go wrong, and it is times so many multiples because it is the national stadium. “We are paranoid about it and we try to test to destruction. I am sure we will make some mistakes that have yet to be made in other stadiums, but it won’t be because we didn’t try and test. That is important to us. It is very important we learn the lessons from Paris and Istanbul.” Asked if she was confident there would be no repeat of the storming of the turnstiles at Euro 2020, Hewitt said: “You can never be confident with something like that can you? It would be very over-confident for me to say that. Because anything can happen. “It is one of the biggest events in Europe and anything can happen. You just have to be confident you have thought through what you would do if something did happen. Rather than say ‘I am confident that will never happen’, the question is ‘what if it did? What would you do?’ That kind of testing is crucial.” By the time Wembley hosts the Champions League final on June 1 next year, the FA will also know whether or not the stadium will host the Euro 2028 final. The UK and Ireland is bidding to host that tournament in competition with Turkey, with a decision due to be taken by UEFA’s executive committee on October 10 this year. Hewitt is expecting tough questions given the chaos of July 2021 and knows it is important to have the answers. “We are on our feet in October convincing people why we should win,” she said. “One of the things I am absolutely convinced UEFA’s Exco will ask us is ’how can you assure us nobody will storm the turnstiles?’. “Being well rehearsed – and not just having the answers but having worked through what is the answer – that is an important part of the bid. We have to convince every one of those Exco members we have not only thought about it but that we have planned for it – that we know what we would do in what order and who is accountable, and that is why they should vote for us.”

Former Ireland great Robbie Keane has been hired to coach Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who own Wrexham Football Club are now making waves in motorsport after buying a stake in Formula One team Alpine. The pair are part of a group that also includes fellow Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan, other investors include Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners who have made the $200m (approximately £157m) investment. While Reynolds and McElhenney will their stake through Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Investments vehicle as per Deadline. This sum represents a 24 per cent stake in the team, and the deal values the British and French-based Alpine Racing, at about £706m, according to the BBC. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Alpine, whose drivers are Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, currently sit fifth in the constructors’ championship and so far this season have achieved one podium finish with Esteban Ocon coming third in the Monaco Grand Prix. Ocon currently sits ninth in the drivers’ championship, with his teammate Pierre Gasly in tenth. "This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels," Alpine chief executive Laurent Rossi said of the investment. Of course, Reynolds and McElhenney are no strangers to investing in a sports team after they bought Wrexham Football Club back in 2021, and this season the Welsh side won promotion to the Football League for the first time in 15 years and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. Since the news of this deal broke, F1 fans have been reacting to the news with many hoping for an F1 x Deadpool collaboration... Here are some of the best reactions: This surely means, we'll be seeing Reynolds and McElhenney at an F1 race soon... Elsewhere, Ryan Reynolds ‘visits The Great British Bake Off tent’ and McLaren Formula One drivers reveal their Grand Prix day diets. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.