Mauro Santambrogio took the victory on stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia but overall leader Vincenzo Nibali was the big winner as the poor weather dominated the day.

Cold, wet and windy conditions met the anglers at the Lake of Menteith when I arrived, writes STUART FRASER. Having been on the water 24 hours earlier I had an idea where the fish were and a rough idea what was catching.

SLATEFORD carry the Edinburgh banner in The Co-operative Funeralcare-sponsored Scottish Inter-County Top Ten Championship and launch their bid for the bowls title with home advantage against Kingswood of Glasgow in tomorrow’s first round (2pm).

Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory in the 13th and longest stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday, and favourite Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall lead to boost his chances of a first win in his home country’s biggest cycling race.

THE sun is out in Nottingham, and it’s a day for skipping work, staying outside and basking in this teasing suggestion of summer.

EDINBURGH & LEITH set out to repair the damage of an opening-match defeat and hope to have beefed up the strength of their team with the introduction of Darren Hush (Carrick Knowe) and Derek Smith (Parkside) against Stirling County East in their Scottish Cities & Counties bowls game at Bainfield tomorrow.

Queensberry have thrown an early spanner in the works by pulling off an incredible 7-2 victory over strong title favourites Craigentinny in last night’s second round of fixtures in Division 1 of the Alpha Trophies sponsored Edinburgh Bowling League.

French AG2R rider Sylvain Georges’ positive test at the Giro d’Italia occurred because he mistakenly took a performance-enhancing drug, team director Vincent Lavenu said yesterday.

COLOMBIAN rider Rigoberto Uran won the first big mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterdday, and Vincenzo Nibali held on to the overall lead after the tenth leg.

LIZZIE Armitstead, the first home medallist of London 2012, is keen to bid for a road and track double at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics of 2016.

BRITISH Cycling has appointed Professor Tony Purnell as head of technical development for the Great Britain team.

Paul Di Resta has defended Pirelli in the wake of the flak heaped on the tyre maker following the Spanish Grand Prix.

David Haye has pulled out of his heavyweight bout with Manuel Charr after suffering a hand injury in training.

BADMINTON Scotland has confirmed the departure of performance coach John Quinn, who is returning to Badminton England to take up a role of Head of England Performance.

Woman’s bowling in the Capital took a groundbreaking step forward last night with the Edinburgh Bowling League launching an all-female competition for the first time since the league was formed 17 years ago, writes STEWART MEIKLE.

West LOTHIAN always expect a tough battle when they meet Borders in the East section of the Hamilton Trophy and their latest clash in The Scottish 
Cities and Counties Bowls Championship went right down to the wire in a 124-123 thriller at Newbridge.

Life at the top is no bed of roses as Edinburgh & Leith bowlers discovered with last season’s national runners-up in the Hamilton Trophy suffering defeat in the opening East section match of the Scottish Cities & Counties Championship.

Lovat ended Glen Urquhart’s love affair with the Artemis Macaulay Cup on Saturday but boss Alan MacRae is setting no trophy targets.

Dumfriesshire, East Lothian, Perth and Glasgow West are the early leaders as the Scottish Cities & Counties Championship started around the country at the week-end.

SIX teams of six descended on Markle fishery for the Peter Boyle memorial trophy. Strong winds made life difficult for the anglers and the fish were less than cooperative to begin with.