tour

In 2022, Eala was on the cover of Vogue Philippines after becoming the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam title.

But it was her victory over Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in 2025, that brought a new passion for tennis to the Philippines.

There has been a lot of love for the young star from her community, with queues to see her play growing and fans following her all over the world.

There are more than 75,000 members of the Filipino community in Washington, with a further four million across the US who will be watching her in the US Open in late August.

“To all the Filipino fans that came out and have supported, you guys are helping grow tennis around the world,” Pegula said after the match.

Fellow Filipino and former boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, wrote on social media that her comeback showed the “heart of a Filipino” before calling her “our new champion”.

THEY say you should never meet your heroes . . . but I can heartily recommend meeting your villains.

At the Night With The Knights special event near Belfast, a crowd of Game Of Thrones fans joined a Q&A session with actors Ian Beattie (sadistic Kingsguard Ser Meryn Trant), Dominic Carter (weaselly Ser Janos Slynt) and Ian McElhinney (noble Ser Barristan Selmy).

Beattie stole the show with hilarious, sweary anecdotes about his time on the HBO fantasy series, with Ed Sheeran the target of some choice barbs.

But all three were amusing and gracious, posing for photos, signing autographs and coming round to chat during our dinner.

It was my first time at the GoT Studio Tour — which is planning more events with stars — and, as a megafan, I was not disappointed with all the costumes, weapons and sets.

Highlights were being able to scan my mug into the Hall of Faces, which Arya Stark’s assassins used to disguise themselves, posing with the giant Wun Wun and, of course, sitting on the coveted Iron Throne.

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Our evening was just one stop on a five-day tour of film and TV locations in Northern Ireland.

We’d started in Londonderry, home to Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls, spotting a giant mural featuring the five hellraising teens and visiting an exhibition showcasing a few sets and props.

From there, we travelled east around the coast, and in fair weather there are few places that can rival the scenery.

It’s easy to see why Northern Ireland is so attractive for filmmakers.

The route was packed with superb locations for memorable Thrones scenes, including:

• Downhill Beach — the clifftop temple where Red Priestess Melisandre burned heretics.
• Portstewart — where Jaime Lannister and Bronn encounter the Sand Snakes in Dorne.
• Dunluce Castle — Greyjoys’ home Pyke, with help from CGI.
• Ballintoy Harbour — where Theon Greyjoy meets sister Yara, and the neighbouring bay, where he is baptised for the Drowned God.
• Carnlough Harbour steps — where Arya Stark crawls to safety after her battle with the Waif.
• Hidden Village of Galboly — which doubles as the Vale of Arryn.
• Cairncastle’s hills — where Ned Stark beheads a deserter in the first episode.

The film scenery isn’t restricted to GoT, as the clifftop ruins at Dunseverick Castle were used for the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon.

At the centre of Glenarm Castle’s walled gardens, you can see areas used to film Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and Thrones spin-off A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms.

Nearby, in Glenarm village, is Steensons jewellers, which made many of the pieces used in GoT, then it was on to Carrickfergus Castle, a key location for Dungeons & Dragons.

I’d recommend having a guide — not just to get to the right places, but because locals love a good chinwag.

You’ll probably hear stories about the cast and crew (occasionally indiscreet, such as the actress despised by fellow thesps, or which actor appeared naked in a hotel lobby), and they are proud to show off their country.

Next stop Belfast, with locations for some of my other favourite non-fantasy TV series including Line Of Duty, which was shooting its seventh season while we were there, the Botanic Gardens where The Fall’s sexy serial killer, played by Jamie Dornan, stalks his victims, and Crumlin Road Gaol, now used for tours and filming.

We stayed in a different hotel every night and not a dud among them, but highlights were Harbourview in Carnlough, a destination whiskey property, and Slieve Donard in Newcastle, with an opulent pool.

South of Belfast we were back into the wild at Castle Ward, which served as the Starks’ seat of Winterfell and features the courtyard where Ned Stark taught his children archery, the stable where Tyrion Lannister romped with brothel beauties, and the window from which Jaime Lannister pushed Bran Stark.

Further around Strangford Lough is Audley’s Castle, a 15th-century tower that doubled (literally, as CGI was used to create two) as The Twins, treacherous Walder Frey’s stronghold.

Finally, at mystical Tollymore Forest, GoT scenes here include the creek where the direwolf pups are found, and where Arya hides from the Gold Cloaks.

Most bone-chilling, though, was the glade where Thrones’ opening scene was shot, where Night’s Watch rangers encounter a pit containing dismembered corpses that are not as dead as they appear.

So our tour’s end had brought us to the start, which just made me want to binge-watch it all again.

To paraphrase Jaime Lannister, the things we do for love of TV . . . 

As Wrexham unveiled their new 2026-27 home shirt while ringing the Nasdaq bell in New York’s iconic Times Square, there was little doubt that the club’s stock has never been higher.

Icons from the past such as Mickey Thomas, Steven Fletcher, Ben Tozer and Ben Foster were among those in The Big Apple proudly adorning the club’s red jersey.

It formed part of the launch of their new home kit, complete with their newest sponsor – yet another global brand.

Which is all in keeping with their cross-Atlantic profile, one unlike any other in the Championship or even many in the Premier League.

“Each time Wrexham has come to the U.S., we’ve been blown away by the reception,” co-owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds told Sports Illustrated, external.

“The support has continued to grow, and it felt important to come back and connect with those fans in person.”

The Red Dragons are more than halfway through their pre-season tour of the United States, the third time in four summers they have travelled across the Atlantic.

It is a far cry from the summer of 2021 – Phil Parkinson’s first pre-season in north Wales – when Wrexham faced the likes of Burnley’s Under-23s, Tamworth, a Fleetwood Town XI, Spennymoor Town and Curzon Ashton.

IS there anything more traditionally British than a big double-decker bus?

The Original London Bus Tour offer tours around the capital in classic, open-top buses – and there are some major savings to be had this summer.

Claim 25% off kids tickets for the The Original London Kids Tour

Families looking for an exciting day out in London can save 25% on children’s tickets for The Original Tour’s guided Kids Tour of London, with kids under 2 going free.

The tour is the only one of its kind, as the only live guided London bus tour that is catered specifically to kids.

Families can learn all about London from an enthusiastic tour guide on a 45 minute-long trip around the city.

The route will help you tick off all the major London sights, without the faff of hopping on and off the busy underground or walking long routes that are tiresome for little legs.

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Cheap & FREE school holiday family days out including fast cars, boats & museums

Simply sit back and relax on the open-top bus, where you are guaranteed a top deck seat.

You’ll cruise past landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, the London Eye and more.

But it’s not only about ticking off all the sights.

With the child-friendly commentary from the live tour guide, you’ll learn all the hidden secrets of London and fascinating facts that will make your day out all the more interesting.

Come September, the kids will have plenty of new knowledge to impress with at school – along with those fond family memories.

As the tour is catered to families, you can expect all the comforts like room to park your pram downstairs, free Wi-Fi, plus you’re allowed to bring snacks onboard.

Claim 25% off kids tickets for the The Original London Kids Tour

The best part? You can also claim seven other freebies as part of the offer.

Your ticket also includes a Hop-On Hop-Off River Thames cruise, where you can soak up the sights from the water.

Plus you’ll get access to six self-guided walking tours via The Original Tour’s partner app.

That’s three ways to see London for the price of one – all of which are kid-friendly, hassle-free and put together by experts.

That way you can put together the perfect family day out in London during the school summer holidays that won’t break the bank.

Tours depart from Charles II Street, beside His Majesty’s Theatre. It’s recommended to arrive at least 10 minutes early, as seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

For added flexibility during the summer holidays, you can amend up to 24 hours before departure.

You can book your ticket online or browse other bus tours by clicking the button below.

The 25% off children’s tickets deal is a limited-time offer, and runs over the school summer holidays.

Claim 25% off kids tickets for the The Original London Kids Tour

“Are you mad?” says a fellow guest over dinner at our campsite. “I heard you’re here on a long-distance cycle ride with your toddlers.”

I am in Orne, a region in Normandy, with my sister Issy and our three-year-old sons, Sid and Ralph. The landscape folds around us in green-over-green – hedgerow, oak, mossy manor wall – then opens into meadows where Percheron horses graze, knee-deep in wildflowers. Deer leap from the bocage. Cidre and poiré have been pressed here since the middle ages. The villages are sandy stone, blue- and green-shuttered; roses against the boulangerie.

And yes, we are biking through it with the boys in child seats on the back, camping along the way in places found through the France Vélo Tourisme website. Over five days, we’re travelling 130km (80 miles) from Rémalard-en-Perche to Domfront, mostly along the Véloscénic – a 450km voie verte (a “greenway” car-free route) that runs from Mont-Saint-Michel to Paris – but looping off it to explore the fairytale chateaux and villages of the Perche, a historic former province. Issy is intrepid and a serious cyclist (the Lycra kind) but the best I can say is I cycle Sid to nursery, and I haven’t slept under canvas since, well, Glastonbury. So two or three hours’ cycling a day is probably enough …

Slightly rumpled from the overnight ferry to Caen from Portsmouth, we pull into Forest View, a campsite three miles south of Rémalard. Jean-Louis from the local bike hire shop is waiting with our ebikes. He’d insisted. I’d resisted: they can’t carry both a child seat and panniers so we’ll rely on Jean-Louis and a patchwork of kindly hosts to move our bags between stops. We test our bike legs on La Route Royale, an intermediate-level 25km circular route, and within an hour of leaving the campsite, climbing the hill to the pretty church of Moutiers-au-Perche for lunch, I realise Jean-Louis was right. The ebikes are the difference between a holiday and a heart attack.

The route is flat, but to really see the Perche you have to venture off it, and once you do, the land begins to roll and hills come without warning. The boys, strapped in behind us, are not light. But they are also loving it: pointing, laughing, bursting into Old MacDonald every time they see a horse, cow, tractor or sheep. It’s going so well that Issy and I are debating another few hours cycling or even a cider tasting on the way home, when a pause in the singing alerts us to the fact that both children have been lulled to sleep, heads wobbling from side to side, and so we take them back to the campsite to rest.

Graham Allen bought Forest View three years ago and built wooden camping pods especially for cyclists after watching them arrive “laden like donkeys”. Inside there’s a cosy bed and a skylight that we watch the stars through. Across the field there are hot showers. And in the informal restaurant, more like a kitchen/living room, home-cooked food at a shared table. Along France’s greenways, the number of Accueil Vélo accredited stops (accommodation for cyclists that offer breakfast, basic repair kits and help with luggage, among other things) has tripled since 2019.

After some seriously good sleep, eggs on toast and frantic sorting of stuff, we spend the next day on the Dîtes-le Avec des Fleurs loop: through the oak forest of Réno-Valdieu and past the Manoir de la Moussetière, one of the fortified manor houses typical of the Perche. Even on the open roads, there are just a handful of cars, and some steep climbs reward us with wonderful views. The freewheel back down leaves the boys shrieking with delight. At La Chapelle-Montligeon, a church rises out of the fields, and here we picnic on the bank of a lake.

Denis Hurtaud was also cycling this route when he took a detour from the greenway and stumbled on Café de la Place in the sleepy village of Courgeon. “The terrace was full of yellow flowers and there were old-fashioned oilcloths on the tables. Dappled sunlight fell across the courtyard,” he says. Over lunch, he overheard the owner say he was planning to retire and, by the end of the meal, he had decided to buy it. Today it is a bistro, village shop, bike repair station, art gallery, music venue and a lifeline to locals.

It’s Accueil Vélo-accredited too. No shower yet, but we pitch our tent in the garden and Denis has saved us some dinner. We sit at a long table in the last of the light, doves cooing in the church tower, eating chicken cooked in cider, a Perche speciality. Locals drift in and out. A neighbour’s child arrives with a plate of warm crepes for us.

The next day, we ride 8km up the greenway to Mortagne-au-Perche for the market. The queue for the season’s first strawberries goes around the block. A man turns dripping chickens on a spit. The radishes are obscenely pink, the asparagus oh so plump. At the Bar du Marché, locals drink coffee and scratch scratchcards in the sunshine. We join them. Our boys are knackered; both have absolute meltdowns and it’s hard work getting them back on the bikes, so we head directly to Carrouges, where we are to camp at the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine, in an orchard behind the moated, red-brick Château de Carrouges.

The Parc is Accueil Vélo too, but the woman at the office says only five or six tents pitch up a year and we have the orchard to ourselves. Just us, a roast chicken and some baguettes, with the kids playing dinosaurs in long grass. Once Sid is snoring I pour myself a cidre – from local apples – and write. It is so quiet you can hear the flapping of birds’ wings. Then the storm comes. I’m a tent pole down (Glastonbury?) and the rain hits canvas like gravel. I lie clinging to Sid as the thunder tears the sky open above us, questioning every life choice that has led me to a walled orchard in Normandy with a small child and half a tent.

By morning, the rain has stopped. The orchard glistens. Issy emerges from the next-door tent having not slept either. We push on through the spa town of Bagnoles-de-l’Orne to Domfront, a town on a rocky outcrop dominated by a medieval keep. The sun bursts out again and the kids race up the ruined stones. Our home for the night is the Cabane des Deux Chênes, a handbuilt cabin on stilts between two old oaks. A secret room for the children in the rafters. A Nordic bath on the terrace, a hug after the rain.

On our last morning, we stop at the Ferme de l’Yonnière, Jérôme Forget’s farm just down the road, where he makes AOP Poiré Domfront. Pear trees take decades to mature, Jerome tells us, which is why most people stopped planting them, and why poiré went out of fashion. But he has planted a thousand. Next spring, he’ll start taking cyclists, too.

Back at the cabane, Jean-Louis comes to pick us up in his van and drives us, talking in French the whole way: about the pear trees and horses and the lanes we have just cycled. The most beautiful place in the world, he says, and I don’t disagree. Against the odds, it’s been a brilliant family holiday and Issy and I are already planning to come back next summer and do the whole thing. Perhaps we are mad after all.

The trip was provided by Orne Tourism, with travel to France by Brittany Ferries. Bike hire with Les Vélos Perchés costs €35 (£30) a day. At Forest View a pod sleeping two costs from £38 per night; campsite pitches start at £25 per night. Cabane des Deux Chênes sleeps 2-4 and costs from £138 per a night.

The Tour de France has a chequered history that cannot be forgotten.

“He knows what the record is,” Lance Armstrong said on social media following Sunday’s result, referring to Pogacar.

The American’s record of seven Tour de France victories between 1999 and 2005 has long since been wiped from the record books following the revelation of his systematic doping.

And those in the sport have fairly diligently avoided mentioning his name since.

But the night-time anti-doping tests during this year’s Tour, which the International Testing Agency (ITA) told BBC Sport were undertaken as an “exceptional operation” and because time was of the essence, once again raised questions in a sport which doesn’t need them, thanks to that dark past.

Testing at such anti-social hours is rare and requires additional permission, and some suspect it may have been a factor in Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour-ending crash after he was woken at 2am the previous night, and Pogacar himself at 5am.

Others were tested at night, too, and all riders were tested during the race. But what were the ITA looking for?

They wouldn’t say, specifically, but one possible explanation for night-time testing of professional cyclists appears to be to gather as much information as possible to try to understand micro-dosing. That is where an athlete could take performance-enhancing drugs, such as red blood cell stimulant EPO or anabolic steroids, in very small quantities to evade detection on the Athlete Biological Passport, which is endorsed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and used across cycling.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in the case of Pogacar, Vingegaard or any of those tested at night this year.

Past findings produced by Wada suggest micro-dosing could evade detection methods, and so the scope to cheat in professional sport remains, meaning all efforts must be taken to ensure nobody beats the system.

The ITA cannot confirm when the results of the Tour tests will be made public, but EF Education-Easypost boss Jonathan Vaughters told BBC Sport: “Doubts? Actually [those tests] solve my doubts.”

Vaughters, who doped during his riding career, is now reformed.

He said during this year’s race: “If we had 24-hour testing in 2001 when EPO tests were first introduced we would have had a huge number of riders excluded from the sport, including me. And it would have saved 25 years of drama.

“So I mean we wouldn’t have had to go through Lance Armstrong… The problem would have been solved immediately in 2000.

“If you introduce a low enough dose of a peptide hormone, the clearance time can be four hours – if you take it at 11 it’ll be out of the system at 3am, so it makes a difference. The testing technology is evolving quickly.

“If you want to watch a clean sport, watch cycling, most other sports’ testing is a complete joke.

“Why is cycling so hyper-focused? History. This is human F1 car racing; this is edge of human performance; boundaries are always going to be pushed.”

Many riders and team bosses won’t go near the ‘D’ word, and the consensus is ‘believe what you are seeing’ when Pogacar accelerates away and wins by, at times, a matter of minutes, and when others perform their own remarkable feats in the saddle.

The Tour triumph marks the Slovenian’s third win in a row and draws him level with four others on the all-time list

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar secured a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on Sunday after safely navigating the final stage, won by Mathieu van ⁠der Poel, to seal a third consecutive crown in cycling’s greatest race.

The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates XRGcyclist, affectionately known as “Pogi”, only needed to avoid a race-ending mishap on the run into Paris to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and ⁠Miguel Indurain as a five-time Tour champion.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel finished second overall, while Mexico’s Isaac del Toro rounded out the overall podium in third.

“Thank you to all the fans and to all of France for hosting this great race,” Pogacar said.

“Thank you to my competitors for putting on a great show. We fought hard over the last three weeks.”

Van der Poel takes final stage

Pogacar ‌and Van der Poel broke away on the final ascent of Montmartre with about 10km (6 miles) remaining and took a slender advantage into the run to the Champs-Elysees as the chasing group closed relentlessly.

The Slovenian’s challenge faded inside the final kilometre, but Van der Poel pressed on to secure victory in a photo finish ahead of Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen, with Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek in third.

“When I was sick last year, and I had to watch the stage on television, I was already thinking about this moment,” Van der Poel, 31, said.

“The way it went, it’s a dream. It’s ⁠incredible. It was super hard, and to be up there with the best rider in ⁠the world, all my respect for Tadej.

“I thought we were going to get caught back, then I was just thinking about this moment. I put my head down in the last 500 metres. I just went as hard as I could.

“I’m super happy. I have a few races ⁠I still wanted to win in my career, and this was one of them.”

Supreme Pogacar

Pogacar underlined his supremacy throughout the Tour by claiming five stage victories.

His path to a third ⁠straight yellow jersey became less complicated when two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, ⁠widely regarded as his principal challenger, withdrew after a crash on Stage 15.

The Tour’s traditional finale in Paris was shortened after security forces were redeployed to help tackle wildfires near Bordeaux. As a result, Stage 21, which customarily takes the peloton into Paris before several laps of the Champs-Elysees, was reduced ‌to 89km from the 133km originally scheduled.

This year’s race also produced a remarkable first: no rider from France, Italy or Spain won a stage, making it the first Tour de France without a stage victory from any of the ‌three ‌nations that created and host cycling’s Grand Tours.

Pogacar’s latest triumph caps three weeks of racing since the Grand Depart in Barcelona and further cements his status as the dominant rider of his generation.

3M Open final leaderboard

-25 J Koivun (US); -22 S Scheffler (US); -20 D McCarthy (US), B Harman (US), C Phillips (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn)

Selected others: -17 S Power (Ire), G Woodland (US) M Kim (US); -16 Knapp (US); -13 J Parry (Eng)

Full leaderboard

American rookie Jackson Koivun held his nerve to beat Scottie Scheffler by three strokes and claim his first PGA Tour win at the 3M Open on Sunday.

Playing in just his third tournament since turning professional, Koivun surged into a three-shot lead on Saturday during a round of 10-under 61.

The 21-year-old then stretched his lead to five in the final round at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, before world number one Scheffler applied pressure.

The four-time major winner began the back nine with three straight birdies, then claimed two more in the final three holes to finish with an eight-under 63 and trail compatriot Koivun by two strokes.

Former world amateur number one Koivun could have wobbled at that point, with holes left to play, but instead he made his fifth birdie of the day at 16 before wrapping up a five-under 66 to finish on 25 under par overall.

“I had some nerves coming down 18,” said Koivun. “All throughout the crowd I kept hearing ‘Scottie’s coming, Scottie’s coming’.

“I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could and was able to find some good putts coming down the stretch.”

American trio Denny McCarthy, Brian Harman and Chandler Phillips finished five strokes behind Koivun, in a tie for third with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.

Michael Kim fired a 12-under 59 on Friday, but the American finished in a tie for 10th after closing with rounds of 70 and 69.

PARIS — Tadej Pogacar confirmed his status as one of cycling’s all-time greats after winning a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title in emphatic style.

Daring mountain attacks from deep, multiple stage wins and an ice-cool temperament all helped the 27-year-old Slovenian seal his victory on Sunday. He joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tours.

“I’m speechless. It’s an incredible day, there was an incredible atmosphere,” Pogacar said. “I’ve ridden seven Tours already and I’ve always finished on the podium. You might think this is a fairy tale, it’s incredible for me too.”

After competing strongly in Sunday’s 21st and exciting final stage in Paris, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.

Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was Pogacar’s main rival heading into the race but the Dane crashed out on the 15th stage.

“Shame that Jonas and others crashed out of this Tour,” Pogacar said. “I hope we can all fight again next year.”

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro, a 22-year-old Mexican making his Tour debut, was third at 9:42 back from Pogacar, who smiled and held up his hand to signify his wins. His teammates then joined him as they stood proudly on the Champs-Élysées.

“I don’t know how I do it,” Pogacar said. “I now have to find a new goal to chase. Which goal? Let’s just not jump ahead of ourselves, and enjoy this moment.”

Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 but has not won the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on Aug. 22.

“Will I be at La Vuelta in a few weeks?” he said. “Let’s see.”

Peerless Pogacar

Pogacar won five stages at this year’s race to take his impressive tally to 26 overall.

He tried to win on Sunday, too, but victory ultimately went to Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who just held off the chasing pack on the home straight for his second stage win at this year’s race and fourth overall.

Sunday’s 55-mile stage looped around Paris and was mostly processional, although less so than in previous years, which were usually entirely flat stages for sprinters and not for the rest of the peloton.

The stage was shortened and its starting point in Thoiry, west of the capital, was changed to Paris so as to reduce pressure on emergency services combating wildfires in the southwest. Some security forces initially mobilized for Paris were redeployed to help response efforts.

For the second straight year the stage featured the hugely popular uphill climb through the Montmartre district, a sharp 0.62-mile dash which riders tackled three times before finishing on the Champs-Élysées.

It proved even too much for Pogacar, who could not match Van der Poel’s raw power in the closing stages.

Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, Pogacar shook hands at the start line with Evenepoel and Ecuadorian veteran Richard Carapaz, wearing the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.

“I battled hard to win this jersey, it was a great fight,” the 33-year-old Carapaz said. “It’s the best feeling to win it.”

Exciting finale

Van der Poel and Dane Mads Pedersen, the green jersey winner as best sprinter, were among the expected contenders for the stage win.

Crowds roared as the riders began the first climb up Rue Lepic in Montmartre, with the famed Sacré-Coeur basilica looming over them.

Pogacar moved ahead after the second ascension of Montmartre, with Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pedersen alongside him.

Van der Poel attacked on the third and final climb with Pogacar responding well, and the one-day classics rivals surged ahead.

But they were caught with 700 meters left and, after Pogacar faded, the 31-year-old Van der Poel still had work to do.

He got his bike just over the line ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen, his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate, and Pedersen. Pogacar eased up and finished 30th.

“I thought the sprinters would catch us up so I launched [my attack] from very far away,” Van der Poel said. “I gave everything I had left in my legs and it was just enough.”

Cycling pedigree

Van der Poel is widely considered one of the best cyclists in the world. He has multiple victories in one-day classics and Cyclo-cross world championship titles, and is also a former world road race champion.

His father Adri van der Poel won two stages on the Tour in the late 1980s.

His maternal grandfather was French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who raced in the 1960s and ’70s, finishing second on the Tour three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” he was adored by French fans.

Women’s Tour

The nine-stage women’s Tour starts in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Aug. 1 and finishes in Nice on Aug 9.

Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won on debut last year.

Pugmire writes for the Associated Press.

One of the most entertaining riders in the race was Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz of EF Education-Easypost. He toiled earlier in the race before coming into great form to claim the king of the mountains’ polka dot jersey.

He won stage 18 and Saturday’s stage 20 after topping the race’s highest point first and after 5,450km of climbing.

The green points jersey was awarded to Pedersen of Lidl-Trek, after tenacious riding on climbs he is not typically strong on to hoover up mid-stage points, alongside winning stage four.

He beat a number of sprinters to the jersey, including Japser Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech. Philipsen won stage 17 and fellow Belgian Tim Merlier of Soudal-Quick Step won three bunch sprint stages.

Tour de France stage 21 results

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Premier Tech) 1hr 58mins 49secs

2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Premier Tech) same time

3. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek)

4. Max Kanter (Ger/XDS-Astana)

5. Olav Kooij (Ned/Decathlon-CMA CGM)

6. Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain-Victorious)

7. Rick Pluimers (Ned/Tudor Pro-cycling)

8. Anthony Turgis (Fra/Total Energies)

9. Milan Fretin (Bel/Cofidis)

10. Clement Russo (Fra/Groupama-FDJ United)

Tour de France general classification after stage 21

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 73hrs 56mins 26secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +6mins 26secs

3. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +9mins 42secs

4. Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +11mins 56secs

5. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +13mins 2secs

6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +14mins 59secs

7. Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +17mins 48secs

8. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-Easypost) +20mins

9. Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +29mins 28secs

10. Jordan Jegat (Fra/Total Energies) +33mins 21secs

On Saturday at Dodger Stadium, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Fuerza Regida took center stage for a career-defining show, delivering cinematic time-travel segments and hints of off-stage controversy.

The Mexican American band joined an illustrious list of legendary acts — Elton John, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Beyoncé to name a few — to perform at the iconic venue built on Chavez Ravine, the shallow canyon that served as home to thousands of Mexican American families forcibly displaced in the 1950s for the sake of progress.

In June, the San Bernardino quintet kicked off its This Is Our Dream stadium tour across nine U.S. cities to close out its manifestation project “111xpantia.” The 2025 LP peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in May 2025, becoming the highest-charting Spanish language album by a duo of band ever. It also comes a year after the band sold out the Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl in consecutive nights.

But the stadium tour — which will end Aug. 7 in New York’s Citi Field — does more than showcase the band’s recent mainstream success. It honors the years of grit it took to get there.

“It’s proof that dreams are worth chasing, fighting for, even when it feels hard or impossible,” said Khrystian Ramos, the band’s rhythm guitarist.

As part of the set design, a massive prop car stereo was affixed atop the stage. Inspired by the 1985 film “Back to the Future,” it doubled as a time traveling machine. But instead of a DeLorean, the band opted for a Chevrolet 454 SS pickup truck, a car that symbolizes the American dream for lead singer Jesús Ortiz Paz, better known as JOP, and is largely associated with the group’s corrido forefather, the late Chalino Sanchez.

The first stop in Fuerza Regida‘s journey to the past was 2018, as the band performed its breakthrough hit, “Radicamos En South Central,” a song about gradually building a drug empire that went viral on YouTube. Shortly after its release, the band signed with independent label Rancho Humilde and followed up with “Sigo Chambeando,” a bouncy corrido that embodies the band’s “never stop hustling” ethos.

It’s a mindset that has served them well.

The more than a decade-long road to selling out Dodger Stadium certainly wasn’t easy for the corrido tumbado band, which formed in 2015 and first built a fan base by performing cover songs at local parties across the Inland Empire. .

Jose “Pelon” Garcia, left, Jesus Ortiz Paz and Khrystian Ramos of Fuerza Regida perform during their This Is Our Dream Stadium tour at Dodger Stadium on July 18 in Los Angeles.

(Carlin Stiehl/For De Los)

“We got kicked out of a gig one time. The guy literally told us that he didn’t like our music,” said Ramos. “That drive home was a key moment in our career.  It showed us that it’s not all stars and rainbows.”

Ramos started the band alongside the band’s 12-string guitarist, Samuel Jáimez. The two met at martial arts school as kids and kept in touch in the years that followed, jamming out together after their 9 to 5 .

The band’s name was originally Raimez — a portmanteau of Ramos and Jáimez— but was later changed to accomodate the arrival of lead singer JOP.

“I remember exactly [where we came up with the name]. We’re driving down the 10 passing Mount Vernon Avenue,” said Ramos. “Fuerza Regida, a  governing force. Wherever you step, the presence is felt.”

That certainly was the case on that warm July evening as the more than 56,000 fans in attendance chanted the band’s name in unison.

“Not in a thousand years, I didn’t see it until it crept up. It was like alcohol,” said Jáimez about the band’s global success.

Sousaphone player José García, also known as Pelon, never imagined that leaving behind a steady job to pursue his musical dreams would pan out like this.

“I worked in construction Monday through Friday and we had gigs with Fuerza Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I practically had two jobs,” said García. “I had life insurance. I had benefits, 401(k), all that. So I left a really good job so I could join Fuerza Regida.”

In 2022, the band added its fifth member, Moisés López, who plays the tololoche — a small upright bass. López, who contributed to the 2020 track “Vamos Bien” as a bass player, said that JOP had asked him to learn the instrument if he wanted to stay with the group. “He bought me it. I picked it up real quick and from there it’s history.”

Jesus Ortiz Paz, left, and Moises Lopez of Fuerza Regida perform during their This Is Our Dream stadium tour at Dodger Stadium on July 18 in Los Angeles.

(Carlin Stiehl/For De Los)

At the concert, the time machine took attendees back to 2022, Fuerza Regida’s bélico era marked by the corridos “Billete Grande” and “Igualito A Mi Apá” as well as its gentler viral hit “Bebe Dame,” the first Fuerza Regida song to reach the Billboard 100, peaking at No. 25.

“We went from clubs to theaters to arenas. I’ve never thought we would get this far,” said López. “We’ve always said hard work beats talent.”

But it isn’t just drive that has shaped Fuerza Regida’s career — time and time again, the band has proved to be adaptable and experimental, always evolving its sound and drawing from a wide range of influences.

2023 saw the release of “Pa Las Baby’s y Belikeada,” a party record that fuses trap, pop and EDM, and features the player anthems “TQM” and “Sabor Fresa”; to complement the womanizer themes of the record, there was a baddie camera on stage, which panned to women in the audience.

As the band sang its 2023 ballad “Una Cerveza” — a song about getting drunk to forget a lost love— a girl across my way called her ex and lifted her phone up in the air so that he could hear its heartbreaking lyrics. Then she hung up.

The Dodger Stadium show felt like a massive celebration, not just for the band but for música mexicana as a whole. Special guest performances throughout the night included Los Gemelos de Sinaloa, Calle 24, Chino Pacas, Clave Especial and Chuyin — acts that have helped fuel the meteoric rise of the genre.

“I’m proud and grateful that la raza is finally doing it. We’re here to stay,” Jaimez said.

Though the show focused on Fuerza Regida’s past, there were also hints of what’s to come. The band’s relationship with its record label Rancho Humilde has become acrimonious and litigious. In recent months, JOP has repeatedly accused founder Jimmy Humilde of withholding royalties and sabotaging the band. In turn, the record mogul has claimed that the band is not fulfilling its contractual obligations. A bitter divorce feels imminent.

“The internet tells a lot of lies. False news. That supposedly someone won a lawsuit. But that lawsuit is still underway and we know who will win,” JOP told the audience before singing “Triston,” a track released at the start of 2026 that was immediately pulled from the streamers. “They took this song off the platform but they can’t stop us from singing the song here.”

If we take it as read that the better the view, the worse the cooking, then by rights south Wales’s Gower peninsula should be a culinary desert. The first time I visited almost 15 years ago, I was unprepared for its loveliness – back in 1956, Gower (never the Gower, as locals were quick to correct me) was the first place in the UK to be designated an area of outstanding natural beauty, and though the peninsula abuts the country’s second city, Swansea, it still feels profoundly rural. Crisscrossed by narrow lanes flanked by towering hedges and ancient churches, it’s a great place to cycle, to drive, and above all to walk up an appetite.

Indeed, it’s been a long-held ambition of mine to hike the 43 miles of the Welsh Coast Path from Mumbles to Loughor. Sadly, it remains just that because on this latest trip I spent considerably more time chomping than yomping … though in fairness I was on a research mission for a walking trip with a friend here later in the summer, because as a food writer and semi-professional glutton, I never like to head anywhere unprepared.

Jon Bon Jovi’s “Forever” tour stop was cut short after the singer said he needed to cool it.

Nearing the end of his nine-show residency at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, the 64-year-old rock icon apologized to fans when he had to pull the plug nearly an hour early.

Just before launching into “Livin’ on a Prayer,” he told the audience in a raspy voice, “I am the most grateful man in the world right now because I know I’m letting you down, and it’s not like me to do that. I feel f— great, but I’m gonna do one more song. I’m gonna need your help. I might have to cool it because I’m f— hurt.”

He performed the 1986 megahit, with the audience belting the chorus in his place toward the end. Bon Jovi then said, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. Stay tuned.”

“I’ve got to cool it,” he continued. “It’s just not going to get any better. Don’t throw away your ticket stubs. I’m gonna figure something out, OK? Just hold onto it, we’ll figure out how to reschedule.”

Bon Jovi embraced his band mates in a group hug before heading off stage.

Representatives for the “Bad Medicine” rocker told The Times that the concert ran for 90 minutes before ending.

“Jon Bon Jovi spoke from stage and told fans he has been battling a sinus infection, which led to the show’s early ending,” the statement continued. “As part of the Bon Jovi residency at Madison Square Garden, Jon has said numerous times that it has been a joy to return to live shows for the band.”

Bon Jovi’s “Forever” tour is the first since the namesake frontman had surgery to repair a vocal cord injury in 2022.

The tour kicked off July 7 at the New York City venue and then will head overseas for a series of international stadium dates, including stops at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Aug. 28, Croke Park in Dublin on Aug. 30, and a three-night stand at Wembley Stadium in London on Sept. 4, 6 and 9.

In 2024, Bon Jovi spoke on a Hulu panel in support of his docuseries “Thank You, Goodnight” and revealed that one of his vocal cords was “atrophying.”

“I pride myself on having been a true vocalist,” the musician said. “I’ve sung with Pavarotti. I know how to sing. I’ve studied the craft for 40 years. I’m not a stylist who just barks and howls. I know how to sing.”

“So when God was taking away my ability, and I couldn’t understand why — I jokingly have said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose is my finger — you know, so there’s no reason for any of this,” he added.

The same year, he told The Times that his voice was a “work in progress.”

“I’m an athlete coming back from an injury — Kobe Bryant with his Achilles torn off. Before I got on the plane this morning, I was at vocal therapy. The goal is 2½ hours a night, four nights a week,” he said.

In June, he told People that he was fully recovered. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”

Kevin Lyman has always lived life on the move. For years it was a symptom of working to keep up with Warped Tour, a punk rock circus on wheels. Since bringing the festival back last year to celebrate its 30-year anniversary, he’s switched his mode of transport from buses to planes. What started as a two-month tour across the U.S. and parts of Canada is now a strategically placed, five-date extravaganza starting this weekend in Long Beach. With stops in Montreal, Mexico City, Orlando and Washington, the tour has gotten bigger with the partnership of EDM promoter Insomniac but Lyman insists that the soul of it remains the same.

Thriving on a mix of punk, emo, ska, hardcore, metal and action sports, Warped has become an entry point to festival culture for a new generation of fans, requiring Lyman to always move forward in his musical tastes while still trying to stay true to the essence of what made Warped more of a community than just an annual event.

Recently he chatted with The Times to discuss the process of continuing the fest’s revival and why it’s still a vital part of the summer festival ecosystem.

What were your initial thoughts after Warped Tour’s big comeback in Long Beach last year?

I was really nervous. To be honest, I knew I had one shot at getting it right. I knew there were going to be bigger stages, we were going to have video and lights, but I also knew that I had to make it feel like Warped Tour between the performances. So that little bit of controlled chaos we had between the stages — the merch tents, all the sponsorship booths, the skate ramps, the surprises we threw out each day — I think it was mission accomplished. The feedback overall has been fantastic from the fans. For some people closer to my age demo, maybe it was a little too much — their feet hurt. But Warped came back strong, we went back on sale [for 2026] fairly quickly, and to still have 50% of the people buy the tickets right away without knowing a band on the bill yet was great.

Jimmy Eat World is doing like their 25th anniversary of “Bleed American” at the fest this year. What does it mean to you to have some of those early Warped Tour bands like that on the bill again?

It felt good to have a lot of those bands. For me, one of the more emotional ones last year was Rise Against. They had such a big moment. They were such a part of Warped Tour, and you get them to come back and then watch that crowd, every phone went up in the crowd, and probably 50% of the people there had never seen them before.

“I’ve been a disruptor, and the disruption I’ve caused has attracted enough people. Now we’re a niche of people,” Lyman says. “Warped is a great niche.”

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You’ve always had your own way of doing things that created the culture of Warped Tour. Why do you feel it is still so vital in the festival ecosystem today?

I had to carve a niche out for myself in the industry. I was never going to really quite conform. I kind of came from that rebellious spirit that Goldenvoice instilled in me back in the ‘80s when I worked for them, and Gary Tovar was rebellious. So I’ve always kind of had that mentality of, “Hey, let’s go against the norm. Let’s make it something our own.” And even when I’m teaching at USC now, I say you have to learn the foundations of every business. And those foundations, to me, were working 12 years in the clubs of L.A., 320 nights a year, and then you have to make something your own. I always say when you decide to go for it — go for it. And I did, and it seemed to connect with enough people and resonated with enough people that I’d been around that said, “Wow, this is different. He needs to work on it. But instead of knocking him down, let’s support him.”… I’ve been a disruptor, and the disruption I’ve caused has attracted enough people. Now we’re a niche of people. Warped is a great niche.

How did you keep Warped on people’s minds year-round while you were planning it out this year?

That was a challenge because before we used to have the two-month tour, so we were able to build community to keep the conversation going. Community is a big driver for me. Everything we’re doing now is investing in the community, and I think it’s working. [In January] we had a downtown Long Beach event with the band Holy Wars, we had an event in Orlando. We had one event in a fraternity house backyard in Virginia, we had events in Mexico City and Montreal … canned food drives, blood drives or, you know, register to vote. We’ll drop those kind of events so we’re constantly in everyone’s mindset. And it’s not about monetizing. I think people are always asking “How do you monetize the superfan?” I’m like, “How do you reward them?” Giving people a free Sunday afternoon event in Long Beach, that’s a thank you. Those are the people that are going to spread the word when you post a video, they’re going to share it with all their friends, and then they’re going to be telling kids at their schools. A third of the people going to Warped had never been to a festival or even a concert before, so we need to engage them in a different way.

What are your ways of scouting out bands you want to take a chance on when booking the festival?

Well, I have a great booker named Amanda Phelan. She books with me, so she’s kind of that on the ground talking to the agents and things. I don’t necessarily do that much anymore. I talk to them, but my part is more like, “Oh, I want to see what bands other bands are talking about, or young people are talking about.” And then I’m also talking to lots of the independent promoters out there that you know I used to work with.

Why do you think younger generation of fest goers will keep discovering Warped Tour?

We used to be that festival where you know it was over by sunset, your mom could pick you up at the curb or you could get home by dark, and then you went off to other festivals. We were your entry point to festivals. We may be that entry point again, but a lot of it now will come down to price point. We know the economics of Warped Tour are conducive for people that want to go on two levels: ones that want to come and explore a festival, and other ones, maybe some of your peers, who don’t get to go out every night and see bands anymore because they all have real jobs and things. But they can go for one for two days and catch up on all music, which makes you feel like you’re staying young.

On stage at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, a far cry from the sweaty basement punk shows of the band’s early days, Jimmy Eat World played breakthrough power pop hit “The Middle” as the sold-out crowd sang along with the final chorus that “everything will be all right, all right.”

“It really is incredible to us to think about everyone who bothered to spend time with this record and made something of it for themselves over 25 years. This is your guys’ record as much as it’s ours, really,” singer-guitarist Jim Adkins said from the stage.

The band, which has generally shied away from nostalgia plays over its 30-plus year career, is performing the platinum-selling “Bleed American” album in its entirety on tour this summer, including a stop at Warped Tour in Long Beach on Saturday, a matching bookend to the band’s original promotion of the album.

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“It solidified us as, ‘This is what we do. Let the day job go.’ It turned into full-time rock and roll. And that moment only happens once, so it felt appropriate to honor it at 25,” bassist Rick Burch said backstage before the band’s Brooklyn tour stop in June.

Released on July 24, 2001, “Bleed American” was one of the last great rock records of the monoculture, arriving months before Apple’s iPod launched and made shuffle the default and 15 years before streaming became the dominant way to consume music.

“When ‘Bleed American’ took off it was right at the transition of the internet,” says Jim Adkins.

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

A hit with Hollywood roots

Just over a quarter of a century ago, four guys from Mesa, Ariz., came to L.A. to record their fourth album.

Jimmy Eat World’s Adkins, Burch, drummer Zach Lind and guitarist Tom Linton earned recording money between tours by working construction, driving around car dealership customers and selling art supplies and auto parts.

The band had cut ties with Capitol Records after 1999’s “Clarity” — a sweeping, lush and highly influential work highly regarded by their contemporaries that would inspire third-wave emo superstars including My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Paramore — that the major label had no idea how to market, even after “Lucky Denver Mint” got pickup on L.A.’s alt rock tastemaker KROQ-FM.

“If that song would have been on ‘Bleed American,’ that would have been a No. 1 song,” said Jim Suptic, of Kansas-based second-wave emo band the Get Up Kids, who have been on the “Bleed American” anniversary run. Suptic said that he was inspired to start the band after seeing Jimmy Eat World live in the mid-’90s.

With the band’s tight budget, producer Mark Trombino, who produced “Clarity” and predecessor “Static Prevails,” worked with the band for free in L.A., banking on the future success of the album. After recording drums at Cherokee Studios, the band relocated to Harddrive Analog & Digital Recording in North Hollywood to make the bulk of “Bleed American.”

“The studio was so small, it didn’t have a lounge,” Lind recalled.

But there was a bus stop outside they used instead, where they would hang out with “an assortment of characters,” Adkins said.

He and Lind commuted to the Valley from Redondo Beach, where they crashed on the floor of Lind’s brother’s place. Linton fondly remembers the great food in the city and hanging out with friends in other bands while Burch spent downtime skateboarding in L.A.

Even without the cash or support from a label, recording “Bleed American” didn’t feel like a do-or-die moment for the band’s future.

“We just kind of figured we might have to go out and just release this ourselves. Let’s just do the best job we can, and be happy with what we put out,” Linton said.

But with the buzz growing around the new music, record labels came calling.

‘The Middle’ meets the moment

By the time the album dropped in July 2001, the guitar-heavy snarling title track of “Bleed American” had already been in regular rotation on alt-rock stations for a month.

After a stint on the Warped Tour, Jimmy Eat World set out on a U.S. headlining tour in the fall, with Hey Mercedes opening.

“I remember that tour in particular, them sort of really finding their confidence in their voice and their shows and their performance and the whole package. And this was before ‘The Middle’ really broke, but I could tell that they were really firing on all cylinders,” said Hey Mercedes singer-guitarist Bob Nanna, whose influential emo group Braid first played with Jimmy Eat World in 1998.

The album landed on the Billboard charts three weeks after its release, and while its peak position was 31, it remained on the chart for 70 weeks. (A couple of months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the name of the album was changed to “Jimmy Eat World” on pressings before reverting to the original title in 2008.)

“When ‘Bleed American’ took off it was right at the transition of the internet,” Adkins said.

By 2002, “Bleed American” was taking off due to the popularity of the song “The Middle.”

(Scott Gries / Getty Images)

The media landscape hadn’t yet transformed. Rock music magazines like Spin, NME, Alternative Press and Kerrang! were thriving. The band made the rounds on the late-night talk shows as “The Middle” video clip played on MTV’s popular show “Total Request Live.”

“Things hadn’t splintered out into a zillion niche locations just quite yet,” Adkins said.

By March 2002, “The Middle” had hit the Billboard charts, where it climbed to No. 5 by the summer and spent 33 weeks on the Hot 100.

“They were a real band that had a radio hit, and not a radio band reverse engineered,” the Get Up Kids’ Suptic said.

The success was surreal for the band members as they heard the song on the radio, in restaurants and the gym. Today, you can still summon an entire generation with the opening guitar melody.

“I understand why that song has resonated,” Lind said. “I think there’s a few themes in the album that resonate with people in times when things are going tough. You know, ‘The Middle’ is definitely one of those songs that so many people have found encouragement from, whether they’re dealing with a breakup or going through cancer.”

“It seems like one of those songs that people have used to feel better and I think that’s obviously really powerful.”

“It solidified us as, ‘This is what we do. Let the day job go.’ It turned into full-time rock and roll,” says bassist Rick Burch about the success of “Bleed American.”

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

Here we are now

But the fans selling out the tour dates around the U.S. know much more than the hits, singing along to the deep cuts after traveling hundreds of miles to get to the show, in some cases.

Fans traveled from states like Michigan and Texas for the tour kickoff at Red Rocks in Colorado.

Robie O’Donnell took the train up to New York from the Washington, D.C., area to take his 12-year-old daughter to her first Jimmy Eat World show. The Brooklyn show was his 25th after he discovered them in the late ‘90s from a recommendation on the Get Up Kids’ website.

Behind him in line hours before doors opened was Jane Kung, who was only 8 when “Bleed American” was released and got into it when she was in high school. She didn’t want to miss the chance to hear it live.

“The fact that so many people wanted to come see this is something I didn’t expect,” Adkins said about the tour.

The fans get a chance to geek out over the rarely-played deep cuts from the album, like “Your House,” which required a revamp because of the studio work on the song, and the live debut of “(Splash) Turn Twist,” which was on the Japanese import of the album. Even louder than the sing-along to “The Middle” is the call and response from the crowd on the album’s second-biggest hit, “Sweetness.”

“Having this piece that we’ve created be embraced by so many is a very accomplished feeling,” Burch said.

Nanna even ventured into the crowd after Hey Mercedes opened the Brooklyn show, singing along to “A Praise Chorus,” the band’s crunchy guitar-filled love letter to rock music, among others.

“The world is a tough, s— place now and to have these moments where everybody can sing along to something that’s just pure joy was really soul enriching,” he said.

A CONTROVERSIAL US rock star has cancelled his European tour after revealing he’s “wildly sick”.

Singer Ryan Adams, 51, also shared that he is selling all of his prized possessions after falling on hard times

Announcing the news that the star had pulled out of his tour dates, his promoter posted: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, the upcoming Ryan Adams European Tour has been cancelled.

“We apologize to all those who bought tickets and were excited for these shows.

“Refunds will be processed automatically and if you have any questions please contact your point of purchase.

“Ryan is doing ok and working hard to finish the new album trilogy. New music on the way.”

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Ryan re-posted the statement and wrote: “Tough times. Been sick. Fall tour cancelled.”

Shortly before he revealed that his tour was cancelled, Ryan also shared a post on Instagram where he revealed he was selling his belongings, as he was “broke”.

The singer announced he was putting guitars, studio equipment, and a Cadillac up for sale, among other things,

The emotional statement read: “I’m broke and sick and tired and defeated but my heart is blasting with hope and love and riff optimism and I appreciate anybody who can give these treasured things a new life.

“I’m proud that I did this. That I remain transparent. This business is vile and full of snakes.

“But I’m proud to call it and man up to this. I’ll keep making records as long as I can afford to.

“Now I’m going to go sit in the sunlight with my cats and cry because I need to and I’m not sure how many more times I can hit this wall. When is it enough?”

Ryan has released 30 albums and sold millions of records worldwide.

But despite his fame, he has often hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

In 2019, seven women came forward, including his ex wife, actress Mandy Moore, with accusations of inappropriate behaviour from him.

At first he denied the allegations, however, the following year he issued a statement where he apologised.

Welsh rider Zoe Backstedt has retained the 2026 Baloise Ladies Tour title a year after becoming the youngest winner of the race.

The 21-year-old’s performance included a time trial win on stage 3A on Saturday, and she finished with a provisional overall time of 11 hours, 27.08 minutes.

Only one second overall separated the Netherlands’ Nienke Veenhoven – who won the final stage – and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden of Australia. They finished 22 and 23 seconds respectively behind Backstedt.

English competitor Millie Couzens finished fifth behind the Netherlands’ Charlotte Kool.

SINGER Lily Allen legs it backstage during her recent concert tour in a range of eye-popping lingerie.

The 41-year-old Smile hit-maker showed off a pale blue body suit and matching fur trimmed neglige by Italian label Intimissimi.

The mother-of-two is a brand ambassador and wore the outfit during her recent West End Girl tour described as a highly personal piece of musical theatre.

The stage show was inspired by her acrimonious split with American actor husband David Harbour in 2025 also documented in her hit album of the same name.

The bodysuit inspired by Intimissimi’s Pretty Flowers Collection, the Italian’s brand core fashion lingerie offering.

Lily finished the UK run earlier this month with sell out shows at London’s O2 arena.

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She was later snapped riding an electric hire bike in London depsite owning a £120,000 Porsche.

Lily hasn’t been seen driving the German sports car since she said a a truck ran it off the road back in January.

A winess said: “She probably thinks pedal power is the way to go around London’s crowded roads.”

Lily has defended herself against complaints that the setlist of her West End Girl Tour is “too short”.

The singer released the album in October of last year and it features 14 songs.

The album in its entirety is only 45 minutes, which has led some to question if the £86 ticket fee is value for money.

Jennifer Finch, the bassist for veteran LA rock act L7, has brain cancer and will not perform with the band on its farewell tour this year.

“Our beloved bandmate, sister and friend Jennifer Finch has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer,” the band wrote in a statement on its Instagram on Monday. “Following multiple surgeries and serious complications, Jennifer now requires extensive medical care, rehabilitation and professional in-home support.”

The group said that its final tour, scheduled for fall, “was planned along with Jennifer when all four of us were in good health and spirits.” Finch asked the band to continue with these performances, according to the statement.

“We will honor her request while making her care and well-being our immediate priority,” the band wrote. “We love her, and we want her to feel the full strength of the community that has loved and supported her for so many years.”

L7, a hugely influential act in the alt-rock wave of the ‘90s, was formed in 1985 by guitarists and singers Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks, drummer Dee Plakas and Finch. Its firey singles “Pretend We’re Dead” and “Wargasm” helped kick off the riot grrl movement of the era, until they went on hiatus in 2001. The band reunited in 2014, and will begin The Last Hurrah tour in San Diego on Oct. 6.

The band also posted a GoFundMe for donations to help with her medical care . “The level of care Jennifer needs has gone beyond what friends and family can safely provide around the clock,” the band wrote. “As we face the difficult reality that Jennifer may have more good days behind her than ahead, we are asking for help to make the time she has with her friends, family, and fans as comfortable, meaningful, and full of love as possible.”

The Grand Tour is back for its seventh series, but it has a brand new trio of presenters – and one you might recognise as a famous trainspotter from Instagram

The Grand Tour will return to screens later this year, it has been confirmed. But there are three new hosts replacing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

In a huge shake up to the presenting line-up, fans might be surprised to know that all the new stars are online influencers – and one of them isn’t even known for his content about cars.

Taking over the reigns from Clarkson and his clan are James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, creators of the YouTube phenomenon Throttle House, which sees the pair take on track tests, car reviews and go on epic adventures.

But one face fans might be a little surprised to see – as his car knowledge is yet to be tested – is trainspotting Instagram icon Francis Bourgeois.

Though 26-year-old Francis has won legions of fans on social media with his hilarious go-pro videos when trains go past and boasts 2.7million followers on Instagram alone, he’s only recently began to post the odd bit of car content.

Though in a hilarious post on Tuesday, the self-professed railway enthusiast and mechanical engineer posted a photo of his head on a gear stick and captioned it: “Same show. New knobs,” in a promo for the new Grand Tour show, which is set to air on Amazon Prime from September 4.

The new line-up has divided fans who are yet to tune into the new six-part series. One wrote: “Hoping they do a sort of ‘passing the torch’ episode. I’ll give the new show a shot. Love the train dude lol.”

Another said: “The throttle guys are awesome too. They may have actually cooked with this trio.” A follower joked: “They should film the segments around Chipping Norton and have Clarkson kicking off at them in his tractor!”

But other fans were less convinced, with one saying: “Thanks, I’ll continue to rewatch Hammond, Clarkson and May on my Plex server.” a social media user chimed in: “No one is going to be better than Clarkson, Hammond and May… No chance.”

“It’s not Top Gear or The Grand Tour without Clarkson, Hammond and May. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. The format isn’t the show, those three ARE the show,” said a third. While a fourth added: “Yes, they should never make The Grand Tour or Top Gear again. Make something else.”

Speaking in 2024, when all three previous presenters retired from the show, Clarkson – who is now 66 – said: “My advice to Amazon would be – and I’ve given this to them already – for heaven’s sake, do not get well known people who ‘like’ cars. Because when you do that show it has to be your life.”

The Clarkson’s Farm star added: “I would get three complete unknowns. Start small, like we did. They’ve got to be absolute petrolheads.

“I’ve got to be able to show them a picture of a quarter of a door mirror from any car ever made, and they’ve got to know what it is. I’d go to motoring journalists. James, Richard and I are all motoring journalists. That would be my advice if you want to continue with it, and I would hope that Amazon do continue with it.” And it seems Amazon may well have listened…

*The Grand Tour returns to Amazon Prime on September 4

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Thinking back on the last two years of his life full of album releases, filming schedules and tour dates, Finn Wolfhard requires squint-inducing concentration to keep it all straight.

“Jesus, a lot has happened,” he says, looking surprised. That’s an understatement.

In that time, the 23-year-old not only finished filming the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things,” which catapulted him to global stardom, and promoted the final season upon its premiere. He also released his feature film directorial debut (“Hell of a Summer,” co-directed with Billy Bryk, which hit theaters in April 2025). Then, he starred in another movie (A24’s creature feature “The Legend of Ochi”), directed a posthumous George Harrison stop-motion music video, wrote, recorded and put out his first solo album (“Happy Birthday”), and embarked on a 22-date tour before recording a new album.

On a video call from his family home in Vancouver, Canada, where he lives with his parents and older brother, he’s chatting about the release of that record, the eclectic, guitar-driven “Fire From the Hip,” which dropped Friday.

“I think it’s a nice day?” he offers when I ask what’s happening in Vancouver. “I don’t know. I’ve been in my basement studio all day, so I don’t … I think it’s nice.”

He’s been down in the basement doing press calls like this, he explains, undoubtedly a familiar routine after so many years in the limelight. He wears a baseball cap and an oversize brown sweater, tugging on the sleeves while he ponders.

Even if Wolfhard is exhausted by the press marathon, he doesn’t show it. He’s excited for the chance to be known on his own terms. He never fails to express gratitude for the projects that afforded him recognition and opportunity, but he’s ready to “take control of the narrative.”

“I spent my whole childhood standing on marks that other people told me to stand on and saying lines that other people told me to say,” he says. “Why wouldn’t I want to make my own stuff?”

Being in control also means being the face of the operation. Before “Happy Birthday” and “Fire From the Hip,” Wolfhard released a total of two records and an EP, plus a whole bunch of singles, with his previous bands, Calpurnia and the Aubreys. Being in a band was a natural fit for Wolfhard, who thrives in an ensemble where he can “hide behind the band name.”

Touring last year was his first time seeing his own name on the marquee.

“It’s just straight up me, and if I suck, I suck,” he laughs. “It’s not like I can be like, ‘Oh, man, we’re having disagreements in the band.’ It’s like, no, that’s you. So there was a little more pressure early on.”

Finn Wolfhard released “Fire From the Hip” on Friday.

(Victoria Stevens)

Stepping into the spotlight required Wolfhard, who admits he shies away from conflict, to own both the pressure and the power of being the one audiences came to hear.

When he got sick and had to cancel a show in Portland, Ore., he remembers feeling crushingly sad “letting down” his fans and bandmates — who, of course, assured him it was outside of his control and urged him not to be so hard on himself.

Wolfhard introduced many of the songs that ended up becoming “Fire From the Hip” to his bandmates while they were still on tour, and he says playing them live “cultivated the spirit” of the eventual recordings. Despite his collaborative ethos, there was a moment during the process where he had to learn how to put his foot down in real time.

“I remember suggesting something and people being like, ‘Ah, I don’t know if I want to do that.’ And I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that to me. It’s my record,’” he remembers. “It was very innocent — I don’t think there was much ego on either side. But I think I maybe set up too collaborative of an experience that day.”

“I think I sometimes make it feel like a democracy, which it is in a lot of ways,” he adds. “But also, in the end, it is up to me.”

That thought is echoed in the album’s cover art, an image of two miniature Finn Wolfhards facing off, donning colonial garb and brandishing weapons. It’s meant to represent dueling impulses inside of him, he explains.

Wolfhard, a true-blue music nerd, has been described online as an archetypical example of the “child of a Gen X cool dad,” in the same vein as Olivia Rodrigo. (His dad, a former screenwriter turned lawyer and Indigenous rights researcher, does sound cool, but it was his mom who first introduced him to the Beatles. His parents apparently met over a Stone Roses record.)

That sensibility is evident in his musical influences — “I wanted everything [on drums] to sound like the first two Wilco records,” he says — and in his approach to recording. “Happy Birthday” was recorded almost entirely on four-track cassette tapes, while “Fire From the Hip” uses 24-track reel-to-reel.

The album runs the gamut from its cheeky, surf-rock opener “I’ll Let You Finish” (yes, that is a reference to Kanye West’s infamous speech at the 2009 VMAs) to more ’90s alt-inspired tunes to a surprising dose of straightforward country-folk.

Lyrically, Wolfhard divides his songs into two categories: the “very personal” and the story songs written around books he was reading (“Knockemstiff” by Donald Ray Pollock) or quotes that made him laugh. The personal themes he explores are exactly what you would expect from an early-20s rocker raised in the public eye — namely, relationship expectations and existential fears about the future.

On the nostalgic piano ballad “Good Morning,” he imagines what it might be like to settle down somewhere “with a dog and a wife.”

“I haven’t lived that part of my life yet,” he says now. “So I can really easily get lost in thinking about what that looks like.”

When it comes to sharing his music, especially the more vulnerable tracks, Wolfhard knows his “Stranger Things” fame is the elephant in the room. Anything he sings can and might be used against him in the court of public opinion.

“I could either kind of say nothing and be totally private, because it is scary knowing that everything I say, at least one person will take it a certain way that I wouldn’t want them to. But I just don’t have the control,” he says.

“So if I don’t have the control, then there’s nothing really that I can do, other than try to be as truthful and passionate and well-meaning as I possibly can, you know?”

The double-edged sword of fandom hasn’t stopped Wolfhard or his musically-inclined “Stranger Things” co-stars from pursuing this path. Fellow Hawkins alums Joe Keery (who releases music under the moniker Djo) and Maya Hawke are indie darlings in their own right, and Wolfhard has previously referred to Keery as a mentor. None of them face the unique challenge of relatability in quite the same way, however.

“I’m aware that my specific problems are maybe not as relatable because of how specific of a life I have,” he said. “The only thing I can hope for is that some other person out there listens to it and relates to the same things that I do.”

Sometimes an air of wistfulness accompanies these admissions. When asked about how he feels about Los Angeles, he tells me that it’s complicated: “I think if I wasn’t a young actor, it would be a very different situation.” His favorite parts of the city are its repertory cinemas and lush neighborhoods like Mount Washington, where his godfather resides, because they look the most like Vancouver.

That said, he’s not through with Hollywood. He’ll be back in L.A. for an Oct. 13 show at the Fonda Theatre, and acting and directing are still on the agenda. He would like his next film project — other than the Matt Johnson and Bong Joon Ho projects he’s already committed to, of course — to be something more “personal.”

For now, though, the focus is music. Wolfhard launches a new tour this month, and he’s most looking forward to “doing dumb s—” with his friends.

He tells a quick story to illustrate: When he and the band last toured in Glasgow, Scotland, he was trying to leave the venue without being noticed. (“I have a hard time dealing with fan interaction,” he says.)

“We kind of made it into this joke thing, knowing it wouldn’t work, where me and Rand, my guitarist, were like, ‘let’s switch clothes.’ Rand pretended to be me and I pretended to be Rand,” he says. Miraculously, it worked up until the “very last second” before they stepped on the bus.

“I couldn’t help myself,” he says: He instinctively made eye contact with someone in the crowd. “They did a double take, like, ‘Wait, what?’”

It sounds like a scene straight out of “A Hard Day’s Night” — or maybe inspiration for his next film.

“I’m pretty in my head about things and want them to be a certain way,” he says. “The thing that I have to remind myself all the time is that, like, dude, you’re with your friends, you’re playing music — it’s the best.”

NORTH West has flashed a massive new face tattoo and lip rings ahead of her tour across the US.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s eldest daughter, who recently showcased two fresh body piercings, debuted her dramatic look on Instagram.

She pulled up her striking blue hair into an up-do so her face art could be showcased to full effect.

After applying pink eyeshadow and black false lashes, North finished off her look with the writing on her right cheek which read: “Are you ready for the Kimokawaii tour?”

The tour – which spans 14 dates across the US – sees the budding songstress team up with Molly Santana for the shows.

The gigs come after North penned a huge deal with Mariah Carey’s record label and was confirmed to be “recording music”.

While her face tatt – which is likely to be fake or temporary – took centre stage, North made sure her lip and ear bling was on point for the sassy snap.

In her caption, she put two question marks, but fans were quick to reply to the question posed by her body art.

One wrote: “Ohhh yesssss”.

Another confirmed: “Yess can’t wait”.

A third then put: “So pretty omg”.

North is no stranger to vamping up her look.

In another Instagram snap she showcased two piercings on her pointer and middle fingers, which she debuted in November.

Over the last few months, North has flaunted numerous body and face piercings, tattoos, heavy makeup, and drastic hair transformations.

Her followers expect to see even more shocking makeovers now that she’s branched out from posting on a joint-TikTok account with her mother to her own Instagram page.

North shared her first post on the platform on December 19th, sending social media into a frenzy.

Many fans have criticized her mom Kim for allowing her daughter to “grow up fast” and not act her age.

Kanye, 48, has shared the same thoughts, publicly calling out his ex-wife numerous times in the past for letting North be on social media and to dress in a mature way.

The former couple is also parents to a daughter, Chicago, 7, and sons, Saint, 10, and Psalm, 6.

All of their children are primarily in Kim’s care, despite their 2022 divorce settlement granting them joint legal and physical custody.