COBBLED CLASSIC ...
The Tour of Flanders is this week’s big cycling challenge for Geraint Thomas, who is bidding to become the second Briton to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1961. The one-day classic, one of the five Monument races, will take in the climbs of Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg twice before, 40km from the finish, the cobbled ascent at Koppenberg. Thomas, riding for Sky, must be considered a strong contender. In fine form he has just won the E3 Harelbeke, five of the last 10 winners of which went on to take victory in Flanders. Equally, the race’s winner for the past two years, Fabian Cancellara, is out with an injury as is Etixx - Quick-Step’s Tom Boonen (Sunday Eurosport, from 11.15am)
BOAT RACE ALTERNATIVE ...
The women’s boat race takes equal billing with the men’s event this year, with the women rowing the same course as the men (BBC1, 4.15pm). But for a rather different take on the annual Oxbridge beano, actor Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Toast of London) brings his intriguing anthropological voiceover to the event in Matt Berry Does … The Boat Race (BBC iplayer, from Sunday).
BIG HITTERS AT THE IPL ...
The Indian Premier League begins again this week, now on its new home on Sky, with the opening match between Kolkata Knight Riders, last year’s champions who are looking to become the first side to win the title three times, and Mumbai Indians (Wednesday, Sky Sports 2, 3pm). Kevin Pietersen has withdrawn from his place with Sunrisers Hyderabad in favour of Surrey as part of his bid to return to the England fold, but Eoin Morgan, anxious to recover his form after a crushing experience at the World Cup will be turning out for Hyderabad. Elsewhere, two players who enjoyed more success in the World Cup will bolster Royal Challengers Bangalore, with AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle bringing their crunching big-hitting to the IPL’s fireworks and fanfare.
CHELSEA SEMI-FINAL
Having been biffed out of Europe again it is hard not to see a little irony in the success Chelsea’s youth team is having, especially given José Mourinho’s insistence that his large and expensive academy is not providing players good enough to make it into the first team. However, Dominic Solanke has done so on occasion and, in the meantime he has been a stalwart for junior Chelsea, scoring nine goals from the eight games in the Uefa Youth League. His side now face Roma in the first semi-final on Friday, while Anderlecht play Shakhtar in the second (both Eurosport, 12pm/4.15pm).
MASTERS PREVIEWS ...
Plenty of opportunities to warm up for Augusta with Sky airing two new films before Thursday’s tee-off. The first, 1975 The Magnificent Masters (Tuesday, Sky Sports 4, 6pm) covers a truly great tournament, that opened with Lee Elder becoming the first black golfer to play the Masters and closed with the extraordinary three-way fight on Sunday between Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, and Tom Weiskopf on the back nine. It is followed by a look at Rory McIlroy’s chances of completing a major grand slam with Nicklaus and Gary Player contributing to Rory and The Slam (6.30pm). The BBC also weigh-in with Hazel Irvine looking ahead to the tournament on Wednesday (BBC2, 11.20pm).
