Tour de France: Arensman wins again, Pogacar stays in control
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Tadej Pogacar wins a fourth Tour de France, Wout van Aert takes the final stage
It was a historic day in the Women's Tour de France with Mavi Garcia's victory. At 41 years old, the Spaniard became the oldest rider ever to win a stage in the Tour. History was also made by Mauritian rider Kimberley Le Court, who became the first African woman to wear the yellow jersey. England remains the queen of Europe! The Lionesses retained their European title by defeating Spain in the final in a dramatic penalty shootout (1-1, 3-1 on penalties). In Formula 1, Oscar Piastri returned to winning ways with victory at the rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his teammate Lando Norris.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
France's long wait for Tour winner goes on but Thevenet sees hope
It is 40 years since Bernard Hinault won the last of his five Tours de France. Since then the host nation has waited -- not always patiently -- for a successor. But this year has produced some cheer for the home fans as they look ahead. It's true that none of the five French teams on the roster landed either a stage win or a place on the final podium but Valentin Paret-Peintre produced some heroics to grab a memorable stage win on Mont Ventoux. On top of that, Kevin Vauquelin and Jordan Jegat both finished in the top 10, while Vauquelin and Lenny Martinez, just 22, wore the white and polka dot jerseys -- for best under-26 rider and best climber respectively -- for spells. It doesn't hide the lack of a winner but it was enough to make former French champion Bernard Thevenet guardedly positive about future home ambitions. Thevenet, who won the world's greatest bike race in 1975 and 1977, told AFP during this year's contest -- won superbly by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar for the fourth time -- that the emerging riders were about to join the top table. "We have good riders in France, obviously not as superb as Tadej Pogacar but this happens," Thevenet said. "We really thought Lenny Martinez might get the king of the mountains jersey, he gave us a bit of hope. But he couldn't take it all the way," the 77-year-old said, a day after Pogacar took it off the French youngster. He also spoke of his joy at Paret-Peintre winning on Mont Ventoux. "It was great to see him emerge like that, how he pulled that win off. He did well," said Thevenet. Paret-Peintre himself said he had learned a winning mentality by joining a Belgian team. "Belgium is more about classics than Grand Tours, so I learned this do-or-die attitude and it made the difference," he said. Young hope Thevenet cautioned however that the young French riders on the Tour this year will not be the ones who deliver France from its 40-year wait for a winner. "The new generation are not on the same level as Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot," he said of two recently retired climbers who had the misfortune to be riding at the same time as four-time winner Chris Froome. "And It will be a while before we get a win or someone on the podium," he said. Thevenet, however, has seen two riders who he believes may be the ones to end the French famine. "Paul Seixas is 18, he isn't here on the Tour but he will be. And within five years he'll be on the podium," he said. "There's also a great up-and-coming sprinter, Paul Magnier, and you can see him winning stages when he rides the Tour." While Hinault's victory in 1985 was the last time France had a Tour winner, La Vie Claire were the last French team to win when American rider Greg LeMond secured his first title in 1986 -- with his teammate Hinault in second. After 112 editions of the world's greatest bike race, France has garnered 36 overall wins from 21 cyclists, and remain top of the heap in that respect. Thevenet said French teams have a problem with financing, taxes and other reasons and cannot compete directly with Pogacar's state-funded Team UAE. But French outfit Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale have attracted a new partnership with a shipping company, which will give them a far bigger budget. "This should level the playing field a bit," said Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme. Thevenet's great French hope Seixas is on Decathlon's books and they are priming themselves for a tilt at the top. "Our goal is to enter the top five and then the top three worldwide and to win the Tour de France by 2030," said team boss Dominique Serieys.
France 24
7 hours ago
- France 24
Monfils says Toronto loss marks his final Toronto visit
The 38-year-old French tennis icon missed out on four match points to exit 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) to number 142 Tomas Barrios Vera, who won the first Masters match of his career and ended a seven-match loss streak at the ATP level. Monfils symbolically touched the baseline as he walked off a loser after nearly three hours in torrid summer temperatures approaching 35 Celsius. "There's no explanation, it's the last one," he said. "It will be two years to play (again) in Toronto, so pretty much I won't be able to play it. Obviously I think the next one is too old for me, so I think it was the last time I'll play here." He added: "I actually thought at the end, and I was like, 'Well, I think it's, unfortunately, but the last time I think I would play here.'" Monfils had little good to say about his effort. "Without taking credit from my opponent, (it was a) bad match from my side, not the quality that I want, not the level that I want to perform," he said. "(I need to) try to work hard, feel this winning (habit come) back a little bit and try to still believe.
