Steeve Touboul triumphed in a closely-fought men's road race at the Deaflympics ©Getty Images

France’s Steeve Touboul edged compatriot Paul Francis Servieres to earn men’s cycling road race gold at the Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul in Brazil.

The Frenchman completed the 107 kilometres course in 2hr 59min 22sec - the same time as six other cyclists, as the race ended in a sprint finish.

Servieres had to settle for silver, while Marc Stouten of The Netherlands secured bronze as John Michael Klish of the United States agonisingly missed out on a podium place.

There was just one second separating the top two in the women’s road race as Ukraine’s Yelisaveta Topchaniuk swooped to take gold.

Topchaniuk crossed the finish line in a winning time of 1:30:19 as she got the better of Poland’s Malgorzata Krystyna Krawczyk who clocked 1:30:20 for silver.

The bronze medal went to Japan’s Yukari Minohara who finished in 1:31:04.

Ukraine have made a perfect start to the men's basketball competition with three wins from three in Group B ©Getty Images
Ukraine have made a perfect start to the men's basketball competition with three wins from three in Group B ©Getty Images

The group stages of the men’s and women’s basketball competitions continued.

Ukraine made it three wins from three in the men’s event as they backed up victories over Lithuania and Brazil with a 89-41 triumph against Greece in Group B.

The United States followed up their 143-18 thrashing of Kenya with a 83-78 win over Poland, while the other match in Group A saw Israel overcome Argentina 80-77.

There was also success for the women’s US team who defeated Lithuania 85-73 in Group B, while Turkey started their campaign with a 97-28 success against Kenya.

The only Group A clash saw Italy beat Greece 72-57.