Like the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia enjoys stretching its boundaries. The race has begun in Israel, Albania, Budapest and Belfast. This year, the definition of Italy includes Bulgaria, with three stages taking them from Nessebar on the Black Sea to the capital city of Sofia.
Simon Yates won the title in Rome last year, the third British champion in eight years, but he retired in January. Family honour rests with his twin brother Adam, who was 12th last year, while Jonas Vingegaard, the double Tour champion from Denmark, is the strong favourite for the pink jersey (starts Friday, TNT Sports 3, 11am).
Whiff whaff’s coming home. The World Table Tennis Championships celebrate a centenary this year in the city where they began. Hungary were dominant at first, winning all five events in London in 1926. Three years later, Fred Perry won the singles title before deciding that he preferred larger balls. They now hold the team and individual events in alternate years, with the former in London (YouTube, 10am and 5pm).
The World Snooker Championship marks its own centenary next year but it will not be returning to Bill Camkin’s billiards hall in Birmingham, the venue in 1927. Joe Davis won that one and remained undefeated when he hung up his cue 19 years later, having just beaten Horace Lindrum by 78 frames to 67 over 12 days. That was a proper endurance event, unlike the best-of-35 sprints they’ve had since 1980 (final Sunday and Monday, BBC Two, 1pm and 7pm).
After the excitement of their nine-goal first leg in the Champions League semi-finals, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain resume battle with the French side a goal up. It was only Bayern’s third defeat in 50 matches this season so don’t bet against Harry Kane’s side turning it round (Wednesday, TNT Sports 1, 8pm). Arsenal play the previous night having hopefully calmed down after being denied a penalty in their 1-1 draw with Atlético Madrid (Tuesday, Amazon Prime, 8pm).
Rochdale will be motivated for their National League play-off semi-final. Denied automatic promotion by a 103rd-minute equaliser for York City last week, they take on Scunthorpe, who finished 24 points behind them (Sunday, DAZN, 3pm).
The PGA Tour has returned to Donald Trump’s Doral Country Club in Miami after a decade, having moved the event held there to Mexico in 2016. “I hope they have kidnapping insurance,” said Trump. The suspicion was sponsors didn’t want to share the limelight with the owner. I wonder if Trump also bent the King’s ear about the news that the Open will not be returning to his Turnberry course in the near future (Sunday, Sky Sports Golf, 4pm).
Photograph by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images
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