yes, yes. for now, bengali muslims are staying put, clinging to the hope that after next year's national elections, such pledges will simply fade away. joe miller, bbc news, assam. fresh from his tour de france victory, the welsh cyclist geraint thomas has arrived back in the uk. discussions are under way in cardiff about how to mark his achievement, as sian lloyd reports. the city waiting for geraint thomas to come home. flags have gone up at cardiff castle. behind the scenes, plans are being made to give him a hero's welcome. i think it's amazing that geraint thomas has won the tour de france and, you know, it inspires little kids to get onto their bikes. i was watching the tour de france and i want to know when is he coming back to cardiff, geraint thomas? we don't know yet, but when we do, we'll let you know. all right, thank you. one step closer to home,

geraint thomas is back in the uk and headed to the one show sofa tonight. cheered on by young members of his former cycling club from cardiff, excited to meet their hero. but he is still trying to take it all in. it has been nuts. it has just been crazy. you know, you think about the race, the racing part and all that, and, suddenly, you win and it is all over and itjust goes crazy and you just don't expect anything else. it is just a whirlwind. what are your thoughts from here, now? i have not actually signed a new contract yet, so quite good timing, really. laughter. just sit and wait for the office to call you tomorrow. at home, they are talking about building a legacy on the back of geraint thomas‘s win. over the past few years, there has been an increase in interest shown by people joining cycling clubs. but that hasn't translated into people using bikes more every day. there is already a gold postbox in the city centre

to celebrate his olympic triumphs. but now they have more ambitious plans. the biggest tribute we can pay to cycling and to geraint is to put in place high—quality cycle lanes and cycling infrastructure, so everybody has a chance to cycle in cardiff, not just the champions. that goal will take some time to achieve, but first, this city and its cyclists are looking forward to seeing geraint and the yellowjersey here. sian lloyd, bbc news, cardiff. that's it. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. now on bbc one, time for all the news where you are. have a very good night. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. on his way back to the top? andy murray starts the scramble back from 832 in the world — he's on court in washington later tonight. tyson fury says a deal is almost done to take on wbc champion deontay wilder later this year.

iama man of my i am a man of my word and if i say i will fight i i am a man of my word and if i say i will fight i will i am a man of my word and if i say i will fight i will fight i am a man of my word and if i say i will fight i will fight you. train hard, will fight i will fight you. train ha rd, let will fight i will fight you. train hard, let us get the deal done. and he says the last 2a hours have been a whirlwind since winning the tour de france — geraint thomas reflects on a life changing achievement. andy murray will return — again — from injury later tonight when he faces mackenzie mcdonald in the first round of the washington open. the tournament is murray's third since having hip surgery injanuary, and his first on a hard court. the former world number one pulled out on the eve of wimbledon, and has now dropped down to 832 in the rankings. ben croucher reports. this is not fake news. andy murray

is back, again. he is in washington for the latest tournament and what has been a long road to recovery. expectations have been low. i have been practising well. i have been competitive with everybody i have been playing with, i need to tra nsfer been playing with, i need to transfer that onto the match court, thatis transfer that onto the match court, that is harder than people think sometimes. he will take on mckenzie mcdonald in the early hours of the morning, a man who was just 11 when andy murray won his first title, but who is ranked 750 races higher. it has been quite a fall from andy murray who lastjuly was best player in the world. a nagging hip problem injanuary, in the world. a nagging hip problem in january, painstaking rehabilitation, has seen him fall outside the top 800. if i win a

couple of matches i could move up 300 spots in a week which is nice. hopefully i can get back up there quickly but it sort of feels like i'm starting from scratch again. so i'm looking forward to it. it will be hard but it should be fun. wayne rooney dropped by to hit the back of a different nets last week whilst andy murray showed the hip still has flexibility, whether enough to avoid these scenes from last year remains to be seen. andy murray has played three matches in the last 12 months, all on grass, winning just one. his only appearance at wimbledon came in the television studio. it was tough, obviously. wimbledon is a huge competition for me. it was the right

decision at the time. i did not feel like i was quite ready to play five set matches. back where he feels most at home, others have returned from injury to get back to the top. to stay healthy, that is itjust now. if i do that and get match fitness back i am hoping more towards the end of the year, beginning of 2019, i will be feeling more like my old self, and set myself up for a good year in 2019. and his reward for winning later? yes, another meeting with kyle edmund. and his match gets under way in one

hourin and his match gets under way in one hour in washington. one of the most colourful characters in boxing, tyson fury, says he's close to a deal to fight for another world title. warning, there is some flash photography coming up. the former world heavyweight champion made his return to the ring after a drugs ban last month, and is scheduled to fight the italian francesco pianeta in belfast in three weeks' time. after that, fury has his eyes firmly set on the american wbc champion deontay wilder — a man long fancied to fight anthonyjoshua. fury says a deal to fight in december is almost done. i can reveal that negotiations are very strong for december and we are almost done for this deal. francesco will give me the right fight and the right work to prepare me for deontay wilder. the realisation may finally be starting to dawn on geraint thomas that he is, really, the winner of the 2018 tour de france. dreams have come true for the man from cardiff as he became the first welshman to win the tour.

for so long thomas was a support rider for four—time winner chris froome and speaking to the bbc‘s matt baker and alexjones, thomas says it's been a whirlwind 2a hours. it has been crazy. but what point did you realise it could be yours? it was after stage 17. chris through lost 45 seconds. everyone then got behind me. it was never awkward. you

had a good chat? yes, we were always open and honest with each other from day one. big respect to him because it could have got awkward. that could have been really awkward. it must have been tough. wanting to win a fifth tour de france. let's round up some of the day's other sports stories now. newly—promoted premier league side fulham have announced the signing of serbia striker aleksandar mitrovic for around £22 million. he moves to craven cottage from newcastle on a five—year contract, having spent last season on loan at fulham in the championship. manchester city say their new signing riyad mahrez could be available to play against chelsea in the community shield this weekend. he arrived from leicester earlier this month and injured his ankle in a pre—season friendly against bayern munich over the weekend but a scan has shown there is no significant damage. the decision to play the rugby union pro14 final outside a traditional rugby venue,

has been called a truly historic step by the league. celtic park will play host to the match next may. now, staying with rugby union, the women's game in england could be fully professionalised as early as the coming season accordng to the rfu chief executive steve brown. contracts for the women's 15s squad were not renewed after the 2017 world cup with the rfu controversially choosing to prioritise the sevens players instead. but brown has told bbc sport, the women's game is now top of their list of priorities. we are very keen to professionalise the women's game. to have a half and half situation for the last season. as quickly as we can afford it. the

women's game is not completely commercialised yet. that is not enough to fund an entire programme. what we need to do now is identified money. we spend everything we make in supporting the game so we have two reprioritise. great britain's becky downie will make her return to competition at next month's european championships in glasgow. the former european champion hasn't competed since tearing a ligament in her elbow during a fall at last year's event in romania. she admits there were times she wasn't sure if she'd be able to compete again. being a bar specialists, it was scary. there was a moment when i broke down and cried, what if i can not do this any more. but as soon as i had the surgery, i believed it would get better, i did everything i could. when i come back, i want to

be better than before. i was working six hour days. i was making sure my elbow was strong and every other body part was as strong as it could be. i have been out for such a long time, iam be. i have been out for such a long time, i am not where be. i have been out for such a long time, iam not where i be. i have been out for such a long time, i am not where i want to be, i feel i have a solid routine, but there is room for more. i am not sure what to expect from these championships but the long—term goal is 2020 and that team position. and lionel messi's been using some unorthadox training techniques as he prepares for pre—season training. here he is showing off his skills with his dog hulk in his back garden. messi's back to training with barcelona tomorrow. there'll be a few defenders who know exactly how that dog feels. that's all from sportsday.

coming up in a moment, the papers. welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing you tomorrow. with me as james rampton. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. that mitchell leads on a report from mps warning that sex abuse in aid agencies remains

endemic and charity bosses are more concerned about restoring their reputation than addressing the scandal. that story is also on the front page of regarding, the story quotes complacency verging on complicity. the financial times says michel barnier has soft and his opposition to theresa may's plan for financial services. another brexit story, the times says the uk has warned brussels that thousands of european investment funds could be under threat if it refuses to give the city of london a favourable deal. the daily express says that lord mandelson insulted 17 million brexit daughters yesterday when he accused some of them of heating foreigners. and the landmark supreme court

ruling that means families will no longer need legal permission to withdraw treatment for patients on mac ina