hello, this is bbc news with ben bland. the headlines. prime minister borisjohnson pledges to fund a new high—speed rail route between manchester and leeds. donald trump praises borisjohnson, and says talks on what he calls a "very substantial" us—uk trade deal are under way. the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research, the wellcome trust, says a no—deal brexit threatens the uk science industry. the mp for sheffield hallam, jared o'mara, says he is to resign as a member of parliament to deal with personal issues. riot police fire tear gas at protesters in hong kong after tens of thousands march through the town where gangs attacked pro—democracy

activists last weekend. now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday. hello, and welcome to sportsday. after 20 stages and thousands of kilometres ridden, the tour de france is set to have its youngest winner in a century. not even being ill can stop lewis hamilton at the german grand prix — but mechanical problems stop the ferraris. and from big bash to challenge cup — courtney hill inspires leeds to victory over castleford, as warrington and st helens reach the men's final. also coming up in the programme... england name their test squad for the ashes opener — and there's a first call up forjofra archer. and find out how the tokyo olympics

are set to bring new life to an area devastated by a nuclear disaster. thanks forjoining us. egan bernal is set to become colombia's first the tour de france. he'll go into tomorrow's final stage to paris uncontested, as is the tradition. bernal has a one—minute, 11—second advantage over the defending champion, geraint thomas, who is also his team mate. today's stage was won by italy's vincenzo nibali, while bernal and thomas finished together 17 seconds further back. patrick gearey reports. on top of the mountain and on top of the world, egan bernal, a 22—year—old colombian, will almost certainly become the third youngest winner in the history of the tour de france.

born in the andes and crowned in the alps, bernal was followed all the way to the top by his countrymen who had never seen a colombian win this race. bernal‘s job was to stay in yellow and maintain his lead over the short to 37 mile course. —— shortened 37 mile course. last year's winner, britain's geraint thomas, and the rest of team minios playing wing man, protecting him from threats. like the man in blue behind him, frenchman julian alaphilippe was the chaser, but that takes its toll on these punishing slopes. this is the moment france's bid for a first haul winner in 3a years ran out of puff. thomas was now second, but launched no challenge, effectively handing over his title to his team—mate. they will ride together again in paris. all bernal must do is stay on his bike — he's climbed his mountain already. patrick geary, bbc news. here's the confirmation of the general classification. 22—year—old bernal set

to win his first tour title — a first for a south american rider, with thomas in second and steven krowseveyk in third. france's julian alaphillippe — who held the yellowjersey for so much of the race — will finish fifth. it's been a good day for lewis hamilton — the briton battled illness to not only put himself on pole position for tomorrow's german grand prix, but his rival, sebastien vettel will start last for his home race, after the ferraris suffered a double mechanical blow. red bull's max verstappen will start second with hamilton's mercedes team—mate valtteri bottas in third. jennie gow reports. another pole position for lewis hamilton, but in the most exceptional circumstances. he has a case of the flu, which has been problematic for him all week. he says now that he will go rest and sleep is much as he can so he can repeat in the race. but tough times

for him and what should have been a very qualifying session for him to not be the wrong ones for ferrari. ferrari's pacing practise created an airof ferrari's pacing practise created an air of expectation. on his own qualifying lap, there was clearly something wrong, and the pit stop back in. despite ferrari's efforts, they were unable to get him back on track and he will start tomorrow's race from 20th place. there's also also mercedes‘s home track — they're celebrating 125 years of racing this week, and have revision in the car into the attire. they may look dust it may look different, but lewis hamilton is the same driver and went fastest in the second and third rounds. charles mclaren also looks quick, but ferrari's look went from bad to worse, with another mechanical issue. it didn't matter as neither valterrie botas nor max verse tappan did better at. with the

qualification tells a story of the season s0 qualification tells a story of the season so far — the story of ferrari misfortune and mercedes dominance. craig templeton, bbc news. i'm joined by chris metal and as the fa ns joined by chris metal and as the fans pour out have the hockenheim ring. asa fans pour out have the hockenheim ring. as a journalist you sometimes get that feeling that this will be a fantastic qualifying — that's what it was lined up to be. then all of a sudden, both ferraris, sebastian vettel was in trouble? it was one of those weeks where you thought this couldn't be happening. we saw ferrari hit trouble at different parts. ajournalistjoked because they topped all three sessions, and they topped all three sessions, and theyjoked, how will ferrari screw this up was meant meant as a joke but it was one thing where they seem to find ways to trip themselves up. issues can arise any time, but the way it happened, you can't fight it.

lewis hamilton got pole position despite the case of flu, and it will be max verse tappan who starts beside him, who still got the threat of rain as well. those two are the wet weather specialists, it would be great to see them duke it out in the front. do you think we will get that? i think it will be wet, but it will come down to max getting a good start. he had a bad start in austria and made up for it because it was so quick. if it's not wet tomorrow, that it needs to be hot, and that could be problematic for mercedes. it still is not great in high temperatures, so i'm hoping they can put the pressure on if it's hot, but i think they would prefer to be wet as well. realistically it is likely they will get some admission that will bring the two teams closer together, and max will see this is a big opportunity. certainly he's the right guy to be chasing lewis if he can't get ahead, because he will be relentless. a lot of ferrari fans are disappointed, plenty of mercedes fans at home, but there are plenty of max fans. for max fans, they are

pouring out of the circuit as they speak. they're pouring out of the circuit as they speak. they‘ re enjoying pouring out of the circuit as they speak. they're enjoying being in swimming pools and topless in the crowd — the guys, not the girls as much. let's see what the weather brings for us as well. but lewis hamilton starts at pole position. in rugby league, st helens remain on course for a domestic treble, after booking their place in the challenge cup final. they overcame stubborn part—time opponents halifax 26—2, to set up a derby against warrington, who beat hull 22—14. austin halewood reports. a builder, a baker, and a farmer — just some of the full—time jobs this halifax team have. taking on the best side of the country in saint helen's, it was billed as david versus goliath. some said they would win by 50—60 points. but halifax came to play. great determination and a rock solid defence kept the saints at bay. until finally, the

deadlock was broken. captainjames robie slipping over the line late in the first half. but still, halifax stepped into the second, until finally saint helen's class started to show. johnny lomax sliding into the corner before tio phage sealed it later on. it is game over, saints. they are now headed for wembley. an impressive display from halifax, but in the end, it was just one step too far. as for warrington and hull, there was nothing for these two sites. after 23 rounds of super league, they are split by two points. but it was the wolves who bit first. a fumble from hull let bryson goodwin slipped into the corner. but from six wins into the last eight, hull were filled with confidence — so much so that they tried things like this. sheer brilliance! a pinpoint cross field kick

from albert kelly into the corner. there's been nothing between the sides this season, and warrington showed that anything hull could do, they could do to. ben curry rising highest to give the wolves the lead into the break. into the second half, it started just in the same way. warrington going to the sky, this time toby king rising highest to score. hull continued to bat against the warrington defence, but in the end it was the wolves who had the final say. a chip, a chase, and a spot in the final. hometown boyjoe philbin, the man to take warrington to wembley. austin halewood, bbc news. a former big bash cricketer was the hero as leeds rhinos retained the women's challenge cup. captain and half—back courtney hill scored the only try of the game as leeds came from behind against castleford tigers to win16—10. imran sidat reports. in a repeat of last year's final,

leeds rhinos were on the hunt for back—to—back challenge cup titles. castleford tigers, standing in their way where the league leaders castleford tigers, who handed a lead debut over to holly dodd. the tigers came flying out of the traps as rhiannon marshall powered through score against herformer side. it didn't take leeds long to respond, as she was the quickest to respond here. that's a brilliant take! superb forfriend superb for friend gold superb forfriend gold fort! the rhinos went for earlier dust further ahead, tim's and run off going under the posts. the game was poised at 10—0, when a moment of brilliance from courtney hill helped prove decisive. the former cricketer spreading over 60 yards for a crucial try to put leeds on the brink. we were waiting for a gamebreaker, and there it was from the leeds rhinos! she had the chance to ease her team's nerves later on, but failed with this

drop goal attempt. it didn't matter, as leeds held on and the celebrations could begin. it's been an incredible week leading up to this. we knew we had in us, it wasjust whether we could bring it today. and we sure did. that's the beauty of finals, it brings out the best in everyone. what a great match and exhibition for this part of rugby league. so a second consecutive challenge cup for leeds, and the party will go long into the evening in bolton. imran sidat, bbc news. england have named their squad for the first ashes test match, which starts at edgbaston on thursday. and, as expected, world cup winner jofra archer has been called up for the first time. archer took 20 wickets in england's world cup campaign, but has been struggling with a side strain recently. he's picked alongside fellow bowlers, james anderson, stuart broad, chris woakes, olly stone, sam curran, and spinner moeen ali. all—rounder ben stokes has been restored as vice—captain of the team. he was stripped of the honour after that infamous episode outside

a bristol nightclub, which saw him cleared of affray meanwhile the under—fire batting line—up will continue into the first test with rory burns, joe denly and jason roy selected alongside captain joe root. with wicketkeeper batsmen jonny bairstow and jos buttler also in the squad. well, earlier i spoke to former england spinner monty panesar, and he told me that he believes that the selectors have got the big decisions right. england have been good in terms of showing the faith in the players playing against ireland. everyone was thinking about changing the batting order, may be changing the bowling, as well. some people felt that this was a perfectly balanced squad. and i think that when you're choosing a squad, especially for the ashes, you want to keep that faith in the players. in their mindset, it allows them

to be free and clear about their game plans, knowing that the selectors are showing a lot of faith in them. and that's the best way to be, and i think that really puts the players in a good frame of mind, the first test that starts next week. joe root has said he has no concerns over the batting. but is it fair to say they are art concerns over the top order? joe root will be having concerns about that, he knows they are relying heavily on the bawling. and this is likely to be more of a bowling dominance series then bunting. the previous ashes, we've had batting always be a strong point. but i think this time around, both teams — there bowling seems to bea both teams — there bowling seems to be a lot stronger. and forjoe, his concern will be the openers. he's

looking at a solid opening stand because he knows the middle order will be strong in england have a lwa ys will be strong in england have always had a strong 5—6— 7—8, it's been their strength. it will be a concern for england, and you look at australia, i think their order isn't as strong. so it'll be interesting to see how the batting shapes up throughout the series. is there anyone that's not in the squad that you would've liked to have seen in? i think they've got the squad spot on at the moment. our strength does rely on the all rounders, the likes of ben stokes, chris vokes, moeen ali, johnny barstow, that middle order there is where england are at their strongest. and their weakest point will be the openers, and also hopefully the injury ofjimmy anderson isn't to flared up, because we need a fitjimmy anderson and

stuart broad sin they can put a lot of pressure on the australians. the only concern with this england team right now is the spot one into. your biased, but who do you see as favourites? i think england are the slight favourites at the moment. they seem to find ways of winning, especially against ireland, that 180 score. it just shows especially against ireland, that 180 score. itjust shows that england is a strong team in the conditions —— and the conditions are in their favour. and there could be time in the ashes were australia could be chasing or faced under over cross conditions, and i just chasing or faced under over cross conditions, and ijust don't think the australian batting line—up can compete with england. giving me his thoughts on england's squad for the first ashes test against australia.

it's the final round of fixtures this weekend in the scottish league cup. here's just a pick of some of the results. hearts drew 1—1 at league one east fife, but lost on penalties. top flight stjohnstone were also on the end of a shock — losing 2—1 at league one forfar athletic. the three other premiership sides in action today all managed to avoid any slip—ups, with wins for motherwell, hamilton and livingston. plenty more coming up, but first let's take a quick look at some of the day's football news. it looks like gareth bale has played his last game for real madrid. he featured in a friendly against city rivals atletico last night but is expected to join the chinese super league side, jiangsu suning. it's a move that will apparently see him earn a million pounds a week. well, real were thrashed 7—3 in that friendly in the unted states. former chelsea striker diego costa had an eventful evening — he scored four goals. but he then let his temper get the better of him, and he was sent off after a tangle with dani carvajal —

the real man was also red—carded. and arsenal have reached an agreement with lille to sign ivory coast winger nicolas pepe. the deal, worthjust over 70 million pounds, is still to be finalised — but is expected to be completed over the course of the weekend. pepe scored 22 goals last season. there was disappointment for british swimmer ben proud as he could only finish fifth in the final of the 50 metre freestyle at the world championships in gwangju. but it's been another day of success for the golden boy of american swimming caeleb dressel — he won three golds in one session to take his overall tally to six this week. earlier i spoke to mark foster and rebecca adlington, who have been following the action for the bbc all this week. michael phelps kind of retired and dressel has just stepped into that role just because he deals freestyle

and butterfly. but he said himself he doesn't want to be compared to michael. it's one of those where he is its own swimmer in his own right, and he totally is. because what he's donejust for the sport and he totally is. because what he's done just for the sport in general, with his starts and skills being unbelievable, but even people doing the backstroke and different disciplines and distances — they all wa nt to disciplines and distances — they all want to replicate him, and he'sjust having such an unbelievable chance that you can even put it in perspective. tonight he won three gold medals in one session. that's just unbelievable. let's talk about her third st 50 metre title, or eight the world title overall. she's been so dominant for so long, as well. this championship so far, we've been shocked because she's not one where she —— we expected her to. she's had a big week and she's not a bad actor at all. we as viewers have

become complacent because we expected her to be in that gold, but tonight it was just sheer relief — you could see the smile on her face, she was just so relieved to have finally completed the full set here. i want to ask you about shaner jackets, it's been confirmed by australia that she was officially suspended for testing positive for a banned substance. do you think doping has rightly or wrongly become a controversial thing that we talked about during this world championship? it's the first one, really. and it's one of those grey areas where we've all been in the sport for a number of years whereby — people take ownership of what they put in the body, but from what i read, she took something unknowingly and it was a substance in one of the supplements. sol and it was a substance in one of the supplements. so i feel for her, but at the same time, if you want clean sports, you need to take it responsibly for what you put your body. but to take away from the negative, the swimming has fantastic

andl negative, the swimming has fantastic and i like to see the positive news that goes along with swimming. but we are seeing grey areas. coming to the end, how much of you enjoyed these championships was yellow it's been a great week. a year out from the olympic games, you get to know the olympic games, you get to know the newbies that we've not seen before. it's been great seeing loon being cashed —— seeing loon... people who do not a silly have that world stage before, and they've stepped up to the play. obviously adam had a fantastic weekend, so i'm very much looking forward to the final day of the chance. let's have a quick look at some of the day's other sports news now. south korea are dominating at the evian golf championship with hyo choo kim top of the leaderboard going into the final round after a 6—under 65 today. she's joined by some of her most decorated countrywomen, including world number one sung hyun park just one shot behind her. england's bronte law is in 16th. south africa fought back against new zealand

to claim a 16—all draw in the rugby championship, thanks to a herschel yankiss try in the 80th minute, followed by a handre pollard conversion. the springboks are now top of the table and could win for the first time if they beat argentina next month. australia beat argentina 16—10 in the other second round game. gb's alfie hewett and gordon reid are fighting for a win in the men's doubles final at the british open wheelchair tennis championships. it's 5—5 in the deciding set against gustavo fernandez of argentina, and shingo kunida ofjapan. frankie dettori has won the king george at ascot with flat racing star enable, after battling it out with crystal ocean who finished second for the second year in a row. dettori said the win was the hardest group one race of his career. and it was a disappointing end for gb at the european olympic softball qualifying, as they were beaten 5—0 by italy.

gb have never qualified for softball at the olympics, and after tokyo next year, it won't feature in another olympic games until at least eight years later. this week we've been marking a year to go until the olympics in tokyo, but what you may not know is that there will also be events held outside of japan's capital city. fukushima prefecture became synonymous with the earthquake and nuclear disaster of 2011. but that's an image tokyo 2020 organisers hope to change. our olympic sports reporter david mcdaid has this report from fukushima. translation: this is my home. i can never go back there. these photographs are all mr kumagami has to remind him of the house he lived in for a0 years. like 160,000 others, he was evacuated in 2011 when the great east japan earthquake devastated parts of fukushima prefecture.

19,000 people lost their lives and the radiation that spread when the daiichi nuclear plant exploded sealed off whole towns, including mr kumagami's. now he has a new home, but his family in tokyo don't visit any more. translation: i've lived here for eight years now, but they've not come to see me once. i ask him why. they're afraid of the radiation. it makes me quite sad. in a region damaged and tarnished by that radioactive association, sport is trying to help. the fukushima red hopes baseball team is run by a former american major leaguer with no prior link to the area. translation: after the disaster, i felt a lot of sympathy for people trying to get on with life and i thought "is there anything i can do?" so i thought we could bring a smile to peoples' faces through baseball. and when they come to the games, we can help them forget

about any stress they have. and even though it's 300km from the capital, the organisers of the tokyo olympics have also seen an opportunity by staging baseball and softball here. translation: we want to use the olympics being staged in order to demonstrate how far fukushima has come since the disaster. we want people to see that fukushima is an appealing place to visit. this is the azuma stadium just outside fukushima city, where they're getting ready to host seven olympic baseball and softball matches next summer. butjust about 50 miles in that direction lies the damaged daiichi nuclear power plant and exclusion zone. and so, the question of personal safety does remain for many prospective visitors. this is azuma stadium in fukushima city. here at safecast, they've monitored radiation levels since 2011. places where the olympic events are going to be held, like azuma stadium and fukushima city, the radiation levels are pretty much normal.

it's not very different to tokyo, or — and even lower than a lot european cities or other parts of the world — so in that sense, people should feel confident that it's ok to be there. with such assurances in mind, mr kumagami hopes the games can have a positive impact. translation: i think if people from lots of different countries come to fukushima and enjoy themselves, then it could be really helpful for our recovery process. and if outside perceptions can change, perhaps those closer to home might, too. david mcdaid, bbc news, fukushima. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more for you throughout the evening. good evening to you. 2a celsius in

parts of southwest england, and one of the warm response was chaplain i'll. blue skies overhead, humic conditions in here again we got close to 2a celsius. he has been replaced by cloud and rain all day long, parts of sussex has seen over 50 mm, two inches of rain in the last 2a hours, and that's because the weather front has been lying in the weather front has been lying in the same sort of area all day long. we have some thunderstorms across yorkshire, some pushing in the east anglia in the next few areas. dry for many through the night, a bit of a westerly wind with temperatures dropping into the single figures for some. mostly double figures pretty humid for some across parts of minden scotland, where temperatures sit at 15-16dc minden scotland, where temperatures sit at 15—16dc as we start tomorrow morning. westerly winds from the south and between, so that weather front is sandwiched will stop more in the way of brightness to the far

side of england, but parts of kent and sussex are still wet. far north of wales, more rain to come for you tomorrow. that does mean some parts of southwest scotland will improve, and a chance of 1— to thunderstorms, but here is where we see the highest of temperatures. shetland again could be about 20 celsius as will the southwest of england. we finished the day with rain, and that sort of northwestern area will start to push its way north and eastward through the night into monday. the weather front starts to weaken, so more places become dry. we noticed this spin of low pressure heading towards the southwest. you'll want towards the southwest. you'll want to watch that if you are heading camping next week. by monday most places will dry with sunny spells, a bit more cloud across scotland with a few heavy showers and thunderstorms later. temperatures widely into the tent tease dust 20s,

that area of low pressure will spin into the whales and other parts of central and southern england as we go through tuesday, bringing the risk of thunderstorms. still some rain in the far north of scotland, but sunny spells elsewhere. when you get the sunshine through this week, it will feel pleasantly warm with temperatures around 22—26dc. but those thundershowers will develop more and more widely, associate tuned for the forecast. we will have more for you throughout the evening here on bbc news.

this is bbc news. the headlines. prime minister borisjohnson pledges to fund a new high—speed rail route between manchester and leeds. it's time we put some real substance into the idea of northern powerhouse rail. that's why we're here this morning. we want to inject some pace into this so we can unlock jobs and boost growth. president trump praises borisjohnson and says talks on what he calls a "very substantial" us—uk trade deal are under way. the mp for sheffield hallam, jared o'mara, says he is to resign as a member of parliament — to deal with personal issues. the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research, the wellcome trust, says a no—deal brexit threatens the uk science industry.