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The National
10 hours ago
- The National
Tour de France 2025: UAE Team Emirates on top as Tim Wellens wins stage 15 while Tadej Pogacar retains lead
It was a day to remember for UAE Team Emirates-XRG as their Belgian rider Tim Wellens won the 15th stage of the Tour de France, even as star champion Tadej Pogacar retained the overall lead. Wellens won a baking and hilly stage at the walled citadel of Carcassonne as his UAE teammate Pogacar remained ahead of the pack. The 34-year-old Belgian champion Wellens has won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, while this was a fifth stage win on the 2025 Tour de France for UAE Team Emirates, Pogacar having already won four himself. Wellens was in a four-man leading group with Michael Storer, Quinn Simmons and Victor Campeanaerts as they climbed the three kilometre incline Pas du Sant. Carlos Rodriguez, Warren Barguil, Aleks Vlasov and Alexey Lutsenko were chasing, and Wellens waited for the trailing group to catch up before he attacked with 43.5km to go, knowing his rivals would find it hard to react with the downhill to come. The Belgian rider finished one minute and 28 seconds ahead of Campeanaerts and 1:36 ahead of Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, and Axel Laurance. Pogacar and his closest general classification rivals, Jonas Vingegard and Florian Lipowitz, finished in a large group 6:07 behind Wellens. Pogacar maintained his overall lead of 4:13 over Vingegard and 7:53 over German rider Lipowitz. After a mass fall early on with Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a group of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up. Pogacar, aiming for his fourth title in the iconic race, entered the Pyrenees on Thursday tucked in at second to surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four minutes advantage on top of the overall standings. Monday is the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 per cent gradient to its 1901m high summit. After the stage, Wellens celebrated a special win. 'It is a very special victory. Everyone knows the Tour de France and everyone wants to ride the Tour de France, and not many people win at the Tour de France, so it is a very beautiful victory,' said Wellens. 'I felt super good before the stage. Before the stage, Nils [Politt] and me were laughing a little bit that we would go in the break, suddenly there was a crash. I kept on attacking and followed one move, and I was in the breakaway,' Wellens said. 'On the climb, it exploded again, and then on the last climb of the day, I felt really good. I saw the others also felt good, but I knew I had to go solo. At the top of the climb, I knew I had my moment and had the legs to keep it until the end.'


Khaleej Times
10 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
ECB to host next three World Test Championship finals till 2031
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will continue to host the biennial final of the World Test Championship for the next three editions till 2031, global governing body ICC said on Sunday. The match, which crowns the world champions in the longest format of the sport, has been held in England since it was introduced, with Southampton hosting the first edition in 2021 and the two subsequent finals taking place in London. 'We are absolutely delighted that England and Wales has been chosen to host the next three ICC World Test Championship finals," the ECB chief executive Richard Gould said. "It's a testament to the passion that fans in this country have for this treasured format of the game and the willingness of supporters from around the world to travel here for these games." The 2025 final at Lord's, where South Africa beat defending champions Australia, was attended by 109,227 people over four days and received 225 million digital views, the ICC said in a statement last month. "Hosting these finals is a privilege, and we look forward to working with the ICC to build on the success of the previous editions," Gould added.


Zawya
12 hours ago
- Zawya
Ministry of Sports organises second ‘UX Lab' of 2025
United Arab Emirates: The Ministry of Sports held the second 'User Experience Lab' (UX Lab) of 2025 to enhance customer experience for sports clubs, companies, and all private‑sector sports institutions, with regard to obtaining four key sports licensing services – issuing, renewal, activity additions and data updates. The initiative is a part of the Ministry's ongoing efforts to enhance its services, aligning with the sports sector's digital transformation strategy, aimed at advancing the goals of the 'Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme'. It highlighted the challenges faced by private‑sector sports organisations when submitting license applications and familiarised them with the various services through a comprehensive simulation of the digital customer journey, analysis of current steps and procedures, as well as customer consultation. H.E. Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Sports, attended the event, along with technical teams from the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), and the Ministry's Customer Happiness Office. At the end of the Lab, His Excellency honored the attendees representing the Ministry's private sector partners. Mr Mohammed Nasser Amer, Manager of Customer Happiness Office at the Ministry of Sports, reaffirmed that the 'UX Lab' is critical to ensuring user participation in service evaluation and redesign processes. He remarked: 'We strive to empower our partners in the national sports sector and private‑sector, ensuring that they play a key role in the development of the sports services ecosystem. Therefore, they are deeply aware of the present challenges and well-equipped to devise suitable solutions. Improving customer experiences is not just about simplifying the process, but also about designing an integrated and comfortable journey that meets customers' needs and aspirations, while delivering real benefit.' He further stated: 'This transformation needs to happen by analysing real-life user journeys, listening to user feedback and determining how to best leverage the Ministry's sports services with ease. Hence, we have organised the Lab to transform day-to-day challenges faced by private‑sector sports entities into opportunities, which can enhance the performance and quality of sports licensing services, in line with government directives, while supporting the broader sports investment ecosystem.' The event featured interactive one-hour sessions with representatives from across five private‑sector sports organisations. Each session showcased the complete licensing application journey, identifying potential improvements from the customers' perspective. In addition, solutions were proposed to streamline procedures, reduce steps and processing time of services, and enhance administrative integration, reinforcing sports governance excellence in the UAE. The Ministry of Sports is committed to implement exceptional initiatives across its work teams, with an aim of improving service standards and customer satisfaction. Aligning with this, the entity strives to design government sports services that are transparent and user‑friendly, further supporting the growth of the private sports sector, which is an integral facet of the UAE's comprehensive development ecosystem. For further information, please contact: Orient Planet Group (OPG) Email: media@ Website: