Unknown Brit Joe Blackmore keeping pace with Tour de France leaders
Take a look at the general classification after three stages. Blackmore, a 22-year-old in his first Tour, sits in seventh place, 41 seconds behind race leader Mathieu van der Poel. From Sidcup in southeast London, Blackmore learnt to ride on the track at Herne Hill and became a reasonably accomplished mountain biker and gravel racer. He also did a bit of road racing. A decent rider for sure but not seen by anyone, except perhaps himself, as a future star.
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BBC News
10 minutes ago
- BBC News
Wilkinson 'never prouder' despite Wales on brink of exit
Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson says she has "never been prouder," despite Wales being on the brink of Euro 2025 elimination.A 4-1 defeat to France means Wales need a miracle to qualify for the knockout stages in Switzerland, requiring a five goal victory over reigning champions England on Sunday in St Gallen and for France to beat the Netherlands in another three goal defeat, Wales were vastly improved against France and created a moment of Welsh footballing history with their first major tournament goal - a moment that saw Jess Fishlock become the oldest goalscorer in European Championship history."I've never been prouder. This team, they just keep surprising me," Wilkinson said."To be that courageous and to show up against one of the best teams in the world, I truly believe France are easily top three, and to score our fist Euro goal, it was amazing. I'm very proud today." Wales always had a tough task to progress from group D, pitted against reigning champions England and, in France and the Netherlands, the sides ranked 10th and 11th in the says the improved performance is more important to her than the result, especially with Wales complete novices on the world stage."Results are secondary to performance, I say that all the time, I'd rather lose 4-1 and play and show courage than lose 1-0 and just sit and not actually give our fans something to cheer and boy did we cheer," she told BBC Sport Wales."It was a big, big improvement performance-wise from the first game. I guess once again it's just little errors, individual mistakes and at this level obviously you're punished to the fullest extent."Wales is a minnow on the world stage and they've earned the right to be here and to represent our amazing country and now we get to see the difference. The difference between the top teams and where we're at."This is a very new nation to the football world and we showed everyone how proud we are to represent Wales." 'A proud Welsh woman who gives everything' Wilkinson was full of praise for Seattle Reign's Fishlock, 38, who inevitably produced Wales' first memorable moment at a major finals, 19 years after her Wales debut, also in Switzerland."I don't think you have many players anywhere in the world who are such servants to their nation," she said."I mean she plays in Seattle. That flight is terrible, terrible and she's never turned down Wales and she's done it for years."She's at the twilight of her career and whenever she chooses to call it a day she has demonstrated what it is to be a proud Welsh woman who will give everything to her country and to her team and there haven't been so many highlights."Wilkinson is delighted Fishlock has now had a moment in the limelight."There's been great games, there's been fantastic performances but they haven't quite made it to the to the world stage and she's on it and she's on the field and she scores that goal and everyone knows that is one of those moments that we should celebrate," she added."Her career spans the whole of Welsh history on the women's side and we are minnows. We are at the very cusp of what we're going to be doing in Wales with women's football and Jess is leading that charge with the group of women and I am completely in awe of this moment and this group." Fishlock 'grateful' after historic goal Fishlock says she will reflect on the tournament when it is finished, but admitted she was proud to have scored a historic goal, the 48th international goal of her glittering career."I'm really proud of these girls tonight. We were in it and doing exactly what we expected to do," she told ITV."I think the biggest learning for us in this entire tournament so far is in the little moments, we just have to be a little bit better. But we're so close and I'm so proud of this group tonight."I'm very grateful to have scored and maybe after the tournament I'll let that sink in a little bit more."Wales captain Angharad James was delighted for her long-term teammate."I'm so happy for Jess, this was her moment, she's worked so hard as an individual in the last 20 years, and I'm so proud she got her moment," she said.
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
The sky is the limit – Alessia Russo confident after England rediscover ‘DNA'
It was a complete reversal of fortunes for the Lionesses following their opening loss to France and they entered the contest in Zurich – watched by Prince William from the Stadion Letzigund stands – knowing they had little hope of surviving the group stage without securing all three points against the 2017 winners. Lauren James opened the scoring with a superb goal before bagging a brace on the hour, either side of Georgia Stanway's first-half stoppage-time strike, before Ella Toone – the only fresh face in Sarina Wiegman's starting XI – added a fourth in the 67th minute. 'After the France game, we looked at ourselves a lot as individuals and how we can all be better and obviously within the team,' said player-of-the-match Russo, who contributed three assists. The pass. The finish. 😍 A beautiful strike from Lauren James to give us the lead 🤌 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 9, 2025 'I think that going into this game we wanted to start with that, setting our own standards high on and off the ball and we definitely did that. 'I think when that's our standard as a team, then the sky's the limit.' Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was singled out for her distribution prowess, particularly after providing the excellent long pass to Russo that allowed her to tee up James for the opener. Russo was also the provider for Stanway and Toone, while James – moved out wide – silenced critics who felt she was still not at her best after returning from a three-month hamstring injury recovery in their tournament send-off. 'I knew that we were capable of performances like that and I know that we still are, and that's what we want,' said Russo. 'We've set the standard now. We were obviously really disappointed after France but we knew that we had the ability to bounce back and we also knew that we really needed to win two of the group games and the job didn't really change. 'We put on a performance today that we are all proud of, but we want to continue with as well. This week's mantra has centred around the idea of returning to 'proper English' football. Russo added: 'We'll work hard, we'll work until we can't run anymore, we stick together, we know we're very dominant on the ball as well. 'I think returning to that, that's our standards, our DNA as a team and we definitely saw that today from the first minute right until the end.' Sarina Wiegman admitted to feeling tension before the match (Nick Potts/PA) England boss Wiegman is a back-to-back winner in this tournament, having led the Netherlands then the Lionesses to the trophy before suffering her own first major tournament group-stage loss against France. The often-stoic Dutchwoman admitted she 'felt a little tension' ahead of the crunch clash. Wiegman said: 'I think that's completely normal. You really want to stay in the tournament, so you really want to win, but we also know that this is a very good team.' Wiegman was delighted by how well the Lionesses had turned four days of conversations into effective execution of her game plan. She added: 'It reflects on the players and on the team. There are always things going well and not going well and we don't make it a disaster.'
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Wales on the brink of Euro 2025 exit despite landmark goal from Jess Fishlock
Rhian Wilkinson's side were put to the sword by Les Bleus in St Gallen, despite Jess Fishlock scoring her country's first-ever goal at a major tournament. Clara Mateo, Kadidiatou Diani, Amel Majri and Grace Geyoro bagged for France to leave Wales needing to beat England and manufacture a nine-goal swing in goal difference in Sunday's final match. ⏰ FT | 🇫🇷 4-1 🏴 Defeat for Cymru. — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 9, 2025 Even if they can achieve that unlikely feat, they also need France to beat the Netherlands. Wales must have feared a long night when the French went ahead in just the ninth minute. Mateo did very well to control a flick on from Selma Bacha's inswinging corner and then sent a cushioned volley into the roof of the net. But Wales were level five minutes later as Fishlock created history. Not only did she score her country's first goal at a major tournament, she also became the oldest women to score at the European Championships at the age of 38 years and 176 days when she prodded home Ceri Holland's improvised cross. 🏴 The latest milestone in Jess Fishlock's illustrious career 👏#WEURO2025 — UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 9, 2025 It was initially ruled out for offside but the decision was overruled by VAR. France went back in front just before half-time from the spot after Holland fouled Mateo and Diani converted, but only just as her weak effort hit the legs of Wales goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel and trickled over the line. France made it three in the 53rd minute when Majri swept home after the Welsh defence had been caught playing out from the back. Geyoro put the icing on the cake when she tapped home Diani's cross as France made it 10 wins from 10 in 2025.
