Leader battles against complacency with Paris in sight as Quintana closes on podium finish

The three members of the British al-Hilli family were shot dead while sat in their car parked in a remote Alpine beauty spot on 5 September

Magnificent mountain biking above Cortina d'Ampezzo

Leicester 35 Wasps 16

The end of the ski season is imminent ... but the snow is still falling and there are deals to be snapped up. All the below fly out from the UK in the next fortnight and get you a week on the slopes for under £400, excluding equipment and lift passes.

The two were exploring a dangerous mountain trail

It's too early to say for sure, but the current ski season, now halfway through, is looking as if it will be the one that sees a return to growth in skier numbers after four seasons of decline. Specialist travel agency Ski Solutions (020-7471 7749; skisolutions.com) is among those reporting record-breaking January sales, with bookings up 23 per cent.

A drought in a resort famous for its epic snowfall. A mountain with the best steep terrain anywhere... in a heatwave. Crud, slush, mud: the life of the off-piste skier with a day job can be as frustrating as it is ruinous.

A British “seasonaire” has drowned in a swimming pool at the end of a night out in a French ski resort.

She did not choose bob skeleton, it was chosen for her, yet the brave Brit has medal chances at this week's World Championships

Sprinter-turned-bobsleigh brakeman Craig Pickering declared himself happy with his 19th place in his inaugural world championships.

Say your young daughter is struggling to take her cycling to the next level, sobbing when you suggest removing the stabilisers from her bike. What do you do? Given that nothing is too good for your little girl, you call in Sir Bradley Wiggins to give her lessons.

In the early 1990s, Ziad Takieddine exchanged one kind of slippery slope for another.

Last season saw the fourth successive decline in the numbers of Brits heading to the ski slopes. Overall, numbers are down by more than a quarter since the economic crash, according to annual surveys by the UK's biggest operator Crystal and the non-profit Ski Club of Great Britain.