today, along with the rest of gareth southgate s squad for the games with andorra and hungary. britain s hannah barnes finished sixth as italy s marta bastianelli won the opening stage of the women s tour of britain in banbury. the 2007 road race world champion took a dramatic victory in a sprint finish. defending champion lizzie deignan was 26 seconds behind the leaders. stage 2 starts and finishes in walsall. sir ben ainslie is joining forces with the mercedes formula i catala ns catalans dragons catala ns dragons full back catalans dragons full back sam tomkins has won the man of steel award for this year, jody cunningham of st helens won the women s award. tomkins is one of only three players to win it twice, he got it in 2012 at wigan warriors. he would like to cap a fine season with grand final victory this weekend. kevin sinfield won the loch lomond spirit of the super league awards due to his