Milne building good form for Rio showpiece

SWIMMER Stephen Milne picked up a huge boost in his Olympic build-up with victory in the 1,500metres freestyle at the Mare Nostrum meeting in Barcelona. The 22-year-old from Perth, who was third in Saturday’s 400m free, took control in the final stages to win in 15:12.33. City of Glasgow’s Camilla Hattersley underlined her progress towards Rio by coming second in the 400m freestyle. Ross Murdoch matched his bronze over 100m 24 hours previously with another solid third in the 200m breaststroke. Scotland’s Hannah Miley — runner-up in the 400m medley — was fourth over 200m. MARIA LYLE says she must do better to land a Paralympic medal in Rio despite retaining her European title at a canter in Grosseto. The 16-year-old from Dunbar set a championship record of 14.45 seconds in the T35 100m final. But Lyle, who has cerebral palsy, said: ‘I’m happy that I’ve got my title again but I’m a little disappointed with how I ran it. ‘I’ve got plenty of time before Rio to sort out my mistakes and improve.’ ALISTAIR Brownlee (pictured) put in a storming display to win the inaugural World Triathlon Series race in his home city of Leeds. Brother Jonny took second. Gwen Jorgensen won the women’s race, with Britain’s Vicky Holland finishing third. CHRIS FROOME won his third Criterium du Dauphine title as fellow British cyclist Steve Cummings sealed his first stage win in the event on the final day. Cummings took the stage seven win after a 60km breakaway as Froome repeated his wins from 2013 and 2015 — the two years he also went on to win the Tour de France. Froome finished 12 seconds ahead of Romain Bardet and 19 in front of Dan Martin, with Richie Porte two seconds further back.