Your Guardian sport weekend: Tour de France, the Open and Women's Euro 2025

The Guardian

18-07-2025

Join us on Saturday morning for all the follow-up from Spain v Switzerland and the buildup to the final quarter-final, between France and Germany in Basel. And of course, the news from the England camp. After their A-B-B-A 2-2 draw with Sweden (Asllani, Blackstenius, Bronze, Agyemang) and penalty shootout, will it be another late finish and a case of Nessun Dorma against Italy in Tuesday's semi-final? Back in England, it's a busy transfer window for the women and the men, and Thomas Frank has his first match in charge of Tottenham, a 3pm friendly at Reading. Send your contributions to [e-mail]
After all the talk, the Lions take the field in Australia for a Test after 12 years. Was the run of tour victories that followed the defeat by Argentina in Dublin genuine, or were the opposition too far beneath Test quality? Four years on from the Covid-imposed silence in South Africa, the atmosphere in Brisbane will be electric, and Robert Kitson, Gerard Meagher and Jack Snape will be reporting from Suncorp Stadium, after Lee Calvert guides you through the match with his minute-by-minute report.
After losing the T20 series 3-2 – and only scraping home in the dead rubber – England were beaten by four wickets with 10 balls to spare in Thursday's first ODI, with Deepti Sharma guiding India home at the Rose Bowl with an unbeaten 62. However, a failure to review an lbw shout when she had 40 cost the home side dear. On to Lord's, where the new regime of Charlotte Edwards as coach and Nat Sciver-Brunt as captain need a win as they prepare for the autumn's World Cup, against that tournament's hosts. Rob Smyth and Tanya Aldred are on over-by-over duty, while Raf Nicholson will be reporting from St John's Wood.
It's Pyrenean purgatory for the peloton, with the Cols de Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde climbs on the menu, making it a big day in the battle to be king of the mountains, as well as the general classification. John Brewin is watching all the wheels turn as it happens, while Jeremy Whittle will be in the ski resort of Luchon-Superbagnère to report on who winds up in yellow and in polka dots with eight stages to go.
Moving day on the Causeway Coast, for those who made the cut, though given the forecast it is possible there will be some hangover from the second round. Scott Murray will take you through the action as it happens, while Ewan Murray and Sean Ingle will be reporting from Royal Portrush.
If the group stages had gone with the pre-tournament odds, then this game would still have taken place but on Thursday with Germany, third favourites overall, as Group C winners and France, fourth favourites, as Group D runners-up. Instead France caught England very cold and Sweden surprised a sluggish Germany, meaning the victors are facing Spain, the world champions, or Switzerland, the hosts, in the last four. Sarah Rendell will cover the minute-by-minute action, while Tom Garry and Jonathan Liew are at St Jakob-Park.
Just under two years ago Oleksandr Usyk recovered from a disputed low blow in Wroclaw to retain his IBF, WBA (Super) and WBO world heavyweight titles by stopping Daniel Dubois in the ninth round. Since then Usyk vacated the IBF title and Dubois picked it up and defended it successfully against his fellow Briton Anthony Joshua. With the fight at Wembley, Dubois will have home advantage this time, though that did Joshua no good when he fought Usyk the first time, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Bryan Armen Graham is covering the action blow by blow, including the undercard, while Donald McRae and Barney Ronay are at Wembley.
No one can take it easy on the Tour but the day after the Pyrenees offers a little respite. The peloton will travel west-by-south-west from Muret just outside Toulouse to the mediaeval city of Carcassonne, with its intact fortress walls. The stage's one category-three climb may preclude a sprint finish but, with the final rest day to come on Monday, it can be worth putting in some extra effort. Tom Bassam will be keeping you up to date with the breakaways, while Jeremy Whittle is in the Languedoc.
In 2019, it was Shane Lowry who strode on to the 18th green at Royal Portrush as champion-elect, duly picking up the Claret Jug. The pictures of the finish are always memorable, but there is a twist this time: the lack of a clubhouse alongside the 18th has enabled the R&A to approve the use of a Spidercam, to provide panoramic views from overhead as the crowd follow the final pairing on to the green. Scott Murray will be your live guide, while Ewan Murray, Andy Bull and Sean Ingle will be capturing the scene from the course.