By Jon Gilmore: Three cycling tours are set to return to hold stages in and around Stoke-on-Trent this year.
The Tour of Britain, which held a stage in Stoke last year, will return on September 12. The Halfords Tour series is also coming back on June 17 and Stoke will be the only city in the UK to feature a female race stage as well as the male race.
The final event to take place in Stoke is the Prostate Cancer Charity Tour ride on September 26. Last year the race saw …

By Joe Bennett: Stoke fighter Scott Lawton believes Amir Khan can beat his American opponent Paul Malignaggi when the pair go head to head at Madison Square Garden.
Lawton lost to Khan in 2007 when challenging for the Commonwealth title after being stopped inside four rounds.
At the time of the bout Khan was being touted as the future of British boxing and Lawton admits it was a fight he couldn’t refuse.
“I’d never turn down any fight and anyone who can beat Amir Khan will be rich, I had to …

By Ben Lowe: Drivers of radio-controlled model cars are hoping fans of Formula 1 in Stoke-on-Trent will be racing to join their club.
Stoke Radio Control Model Car Club members meet every Tuesday night at Fenton Manor to race each other from 8pm until 10pm, but there are less cars on the track than in previous seasons.
Membership has dropped, and so the club are now actively encouraging anyone interested in motorsport to place their car on the starting grid.
Club secretary Steve Ball said: “It’s an expensive hobby, so over the past couple of …

By Paul Jenkins: Stoke golfer David Lynn is getting ready to tee off in the Mallorca Open.
Lynn may not be a household name yet, but he has earned over £4m in his career to date and will be looking to add to that total when the action begins this afternoon (May 13).
There are 149 other golfers taking part in the competition, which includes three-time Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley.
This is the fourth tournament Lynn has taken part in on the European Tour this year. His best result to date has …

By Adam Calverley: Staffordshire-based shooter Clive Bramley is aiming for success in the Shotgun World Cup.
The tournament started at the Southern Counties Shooting Ground in Dorset on Tuesday (May 11) and runs until next May 20.
The World Cup forms part of Clive’s warm-up for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later this year, when he will look to improve on the silver medal he won in Melbourne in 2006.
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By Paul Jenkins: Stoke City fans have won a top award for the best chant of the season.
Nuts magazine praised Potters fans for their take on Cheryl Cole’s hit single Fight For This Love.
The Potters supporters replaced  the words “We gotta fight, fight, fight,fight, fight for this love” with “You gotta file, file, file, file, file for divorce”, as they watched their side being beaten 7-0 by Chelsea on April 25.
The chant was aimed at Chelsea full back Ashley Cole on his return from injury, and relates to the break-down of his marriage to …

By Joe Bennett: Stoke rivals Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor are set to go head-to-head as they battle for a place in the final stages of the Darts Premier League.
Lewis needs a win tonight (May 13) to keep alive any hopes of gaining a play-off place.
If he beats Taylor in Nottingham it would be the first time he has achieved the feat on live television. But if he loses and Van Barneveld wins his match-up, Lewis could finish in a disappointing seventh place.
The top four players in the competition …

By Tom Niblett : Port Vale have moved quickly to sign up four first team members.
Vale manager Micky Adams has revealed that Anthony Griffith, Chris Martin, Kris Taylor and John McCombe have all committed themselves to the club.
Player of the Year Griffith has has penned a two year deal along with McCombe and Martin, while Taylor has signed a one year extension.
Louis Dodds, Lewis Haldane and Marc Richards are also currently in negotiations about staying at Vale Park.
One player who is unlikely to be at Vale Park next season …

By Tom Niblett : Midfielder Anthony Griffith has been named Port Vale’s Player of the Season at the club’s annual awards evening.
The 23-year-old has made 38 appearances for the club, but is yet to score.
Vale finished tenth in League Two, but only missed qualifying for the end of season play-offs on the final game of the season.
Griffith said he was overwhelmed by the award. “There are so many other players that deserved the awards ahead of me,” he told The Sentinel.
Port Vale manager Micky Adams praised Griffith, saying: “He has …

By Paul Jenkins: Stone’s Alleyne’s High School take on Haywood Engineering College from Burslem, in the Sentinel Shield Schools cup final tonight (May 12) at Vale Park.
Both sides had easy semi-final wins, scoring seven goals each.
But Steve Powell,  Alleyne’s High School’s head of Physical Education, is expecting a much more challenging match against Haywood.
Mr Powell said: “This is going to be a tougher match and I certainly don’t expect us to win 7-1 like our last time out.
“The boys played well in the semi-final and when they play like that …