Williams to miss Tour de France and nationals
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Tim Wellens surprises Victor Campenaerts to win his first Tour stage
The Tour de France rolled into Carcassonne for the 13th time on Sunday. Unlucky 13 for Visma-Lease a Bike. They came into the race believing they could win it, convinced theirs would be the strongest team. Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife, Arsène Wenger once said. Visma got two of their strongest into the 24-rider breakaway that had the 15th leg of the Tour to themselves. Their great rivals UAE Emirates XRG had one. There was one outcome Visma did not want. Which was the one they got. Tadej Pogacar's friend and team-mate Tim Wellens broke clear of his fellow escapees 42km from the finish and soon disappeared from view. They would not see him again until after the race. Visma's Victor Campenaerts was second and their other contender Wout van Aert was fourth. Such is the determination to protect Pogacar, UAE's equipiers do not often leave him. On this occasion, Wellens embodied the Oscar Wilde principle that man can resist anything except temptation. There were good reasons why Wellens went for it. Having had trouble with his bike the day before, he was left behind on the Col du Tourmalet and could not contribute to the team effort. That left him feeling unusually fresh as the race left Muret for their journey to Carcassonne. One hundred kilometres from the finish, the attacks were so numerous that soon they were uncontrollable. Wellens went with the flow. Once part of the escape, he was able to play the Yellow Jersey card: with my boss leading the race, how can I be expected to contribute to the pacesetting? Campenaerts noticed Wellens in their group and sighed. 'We said today we wanted to go for the stage. It was a good situation with Wout and me in the breakaway, but Wellens… We have a good relationship outside of cycling, but in the races, he's the guy that you don't want to have in the breakaway.' Wellens then played the rider Campenaerts believes him to be. 'He's smart, he's sneaky,' Campenaerts said. 'He knows how to play it. He wasn't allowed to do any pulls. He was sitting on, but he was very strong. He didn't miss any decisive moments, and he did a perfect move on the highest point of the course. 'Of course, second is not what we race for, so it's a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. Wellens was really strong, and he didn't stroll this victory.' After the stage, the stage winner and the Yellow Jersey are obliged to do video conferences with journalists. As Wellens and Pogacar are team-mates, they opted for a duet. The race leader was content to let his team-mate bask in the limelight. Pogacar was asked why he chased down Matteo Jorgenson's attack at the time the breakaway was forming. He explained that when word came through that Jonas Vingegaard had been held up by a crash, he tried to get everyone to slow down so his No1 rival and others could safely return to the peloton. 'But the attacks to join the breakaway continued. Visma already had two riders in the break and when Matteo went, I thought you don't need a third rider in the group, so I went after him.' Pogacar's feeling was that Visma's riders should not have been attacking when their team leader was trying to rejoin the peloton. Visma's strategy though has changed. They still say their No1 priority is Vingegaard's pursuit of the Yellow but that has evolved as Pogacar's lead has stretched to more than four minutes. Now they want to play on two fronts, with stage wins a new priority. Do not, though, feel sorry for Campenaerts and Van Aert meeting Wellens on the wrong day. What sympathy you have got, save it for Julian Alaphilippe, who punched the air after winning the sprint for third place into Carcassonne, believing that he was sprinting for first. 'He had a crash at the beginning of the race,' Raphael Meyer, the Tudor sports director, said. 'He had pain and a dislocated shoulder. He was seen by the doctor and he still has some pain. He's going for x-rays.' Alaphilippe pressed his right shoulder back into its socket and carried on. In the crash, he also damaged his earpiece and had no contact with the team car for the rest of the stage. Joining the lead group after Wellens and Campenaerts had gone clear, he mistakenly thought he was in a group sprinting for victory. All the favourites were in a group 6mins 7secs down on Wellens which was a good place for Oscar Onley to be. He has now got the second rest day to consider the final push to Paris. He sits in fourth place overall, in position to emulate Robert Millar's fourth place in the 1984 Tour. For a 22-year-old in his second tour, Onley has been a revelation in the race so far. So too have been the size of the crowds. The Tour organiser Christian Prudhomme said the crowds at Lille for the opening weekend were the greatest since Yorkshire in 2014, which were the greatest of all. An hour before the finish at Carcassonne I met two Welshmen, Glenn Seaborne and his son Louis. What tempted them to leave Ebbw Vale for the southwest of France? 'Five years ago,' Glenn said, 'I was talking with Louis, who was 16 at the time, and he said he'd been watching the Tour de France and would love to spend a few days at the race. I said, 'We'll do it.'' Glenn had played rugby for 30 years, a semi-professional as an adult. Louis is a football goalkeeper, but once the kid mentioned the Tour, Dad decided it really would happen. After Glenn finished rugby, he became a bike rider. A year after that first conversation, he bought an old Volkswagen and converted it into a camper van. It was all part of a plan. Last year, they made their first trip to the Tour. Four stages. They loved every minute. This year, they've come for 16 days. 'We left home last Thursday week, drove three hours from Ebbw Vale to Portsmouth, took the ferry from there to Bilbao. Thirty-six hours. Then drove to Carcassonne from there. This time we'd brought our bikes and on Saturday we climbed the Col du Tourmalet together, reached the top and then went back down, had a bit to eat in the camper van and then watched the race go by.' Though Geraint Thomas will always be their hero, they couldn't help noticing Pogacar in the group of favourites. 'The way he sits on the bike,' Glenn said. 'He makes it seem just effortless,' Louis added. They are now on their way to Avignon and from there to the foot of Mont Ventoux which they will climb together on Tuesday morning, again before the race. This time, they are going to stay high on the Ventoux and see the riders on the upper slopes of one of the iconic climb. I joke that the Ventoux only gets really bad when they pass through Chalet Reynard and turn left to begin the last six kilometres. They say they cannot wait. I mention to Glenn that it must be some experience to make this trip with his boy. Suddenly this old rugby player, who doesn't seem like he would have been a pushover on the pitch, has tears in his eyes. 'I'm sorry, I'm getting upset now, emotional. It means the world to me to be able to do this. I never had anything like this with my own father. He was a miner, Marine Colliery at Blackwood in South Wales. When he was 40 and I was 10, he had a stroke. He didn't have very good mobility after that and I never could do anything like this with him. Doing this with Louis is unbelievable, just unbelievable.'
South Wales Argus
6 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Morgan claims England 'never beaten' as subs remain vital for Wiegman
While Morgan's was not the switch that caught the headlines, her introduction for Jess Carter instigated a system change that saw England move to a back five. It is indicative of the precision and impact Wiegman seeks to have with her substitutes and proved game-changing as the Lionesses scored two quickfire goals to take Sweden to extra-time in Zurich. For Morgan, the deficit proved freeing in her major tournament debut as she looked to haul England back from the precipice of an exit after entering in the 70th minute. 'I was really excited to be able to come on and have the mindset with [Beth] Meado and Mich [Agyemang] that we have nothing to lose. Just try to make an impact,' she said. 'Not long after that Chloe [Kelly] came on and served up two brilliant crosses for us to come back. That was just such a thrill and then you've got the adrenaline going. 'When extra-time comes you know you've got another 30 minutes of football, so you've got to re-regulate, bring yourself back down level and focus. 'We managed to battle through that and hang on even with people going down and then penalties came and that was just ridiculous really.' Morgan looked completely at home in the new-look back three despite playing her first European Championship minutes in one of the most intense encounters of the competition so far. Having missed Euro 2022 through injury and remained an unused substitute during the 2023 World Cup, it was particularly emotional for her family, who were there in support and watched on through a nerve-wracking 14 penalties. 'It was really, really special. Apparently, my mum was sobbing when I came on, bless her! It doesn't take much to set her off watching the football,' said Morgan. 'She was crying as well after we won on penalties, so a lot of tears were shed. 'I was just really excited to get the opportunity. I've been working hard throughout the tournament to stay prepared if I was called upon so I felt really ready when that happened to be able to make an impact and a good contribution to the team. 'Being able to turn it around and get the win in the end was such a joyous moment.' England's is a bench that has consistently caught headlines as Morgan and her peers have big shoes to fill. Whether for the impact of Ella Toone, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo three years ago at Euro 2022, or for their 'snapping' celebration after Beth Mead's goal against Wales the Lionesses' bench has remained impactful. Against Sweden, it proved no different. Kelly's impact, in particular, was remarkable. She was instrumental in both of England's open play goals before going on to score a decisive penalty in the shootout. 'She's an incredible player. She seems to thrive on these moments when the team needs her to pull a performance out of the bag,' Morgan reflected. 'She was getting in great positions in the wide areas and Chloe is a brilliant crosser of the ball so when I saw her cut in, I just knew she was going to land it on somebody's head. Thankfully, people were there ready to finish it off. 'Obviously she had a decisive penalty as well and under that pressure, there is no one I would rather have in that position. 'She's so reliable and just so composed and calm. She said afterwards that she made eye contact with the 'keeper and she was smirking at her, so she just started laughing. 'I just think the composure in that moment to just be so free and at ease to be able to laugh just shows what a brilliant player she is at stepping up.' Another player who entered the field alongside Morgan also proved vital in England's efforts to turn around the two-goal deficit. Michelle Agyemang, at just 19 years old, came on to score the equaliser and turn in a brilliant display as a second striker that had Morgan singing her praises. 'I'm so proud of the impact she has been able to make,' she said of the forward. 'At the end of the game I just said, 'Mich, you are clutch,' because that's twice now she's stepped up in pressured situations to come off the bench and make an incredible impact. 'She's someone we know we can turn to in stressful situations to be a presence, holding the ball up, linking play, making runs in behind. 'She's an incredibly hard worker and has an incredible sense of the positions she should take up in the box to get on the end of chances.' It is a strength in depth that has bailed England out on several occasions and a group that Wiegman clearly trusts to turn to when the pressure is on. As the manager often reinforces the 'togetherness' in the team, it is often those off the pitch that embody that mentally the most. And as the Lionesses progress to a semi-final against Italy, there is no doubt that Wiegman will once more turn to Morgan and her fellow 'finishers' to see England through regardless of the game state. 'On the bench we're always encouraging each other to spread belief to those on the pitch, but also to stay ready and make an impact,' added Morgan. 'That was what we spoke about when all of us were sat on the bench at the start of the second half, and all of us were. 'I'm really proud of everyone. We've just got such amazing character and grit and determination in the group that we're never beaten.'
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tour de France: Alaphilippe celebrates on stage 15 … but discovers Wellens won long before him
French stage wins in the Tour de France are increasingly rare, so when they do happen, there are wild celebrations. Julian Alaphilippe, the former world road race champion, raised his arms in triumph in Carcassonne, thinking he had won, only to be told seconds later that he had in fact finished third behind two Belgians. Ahead of the crestfallen Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar's Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens took a solo win on stage 15 of the Tour, well ahead of compatriot Victor Campanaerts, a teammate to Jonas Vingegaard. 'Julian's radio wasn't working,' Alaphilippe's Tudor Pro team manager, Raphael Meyer, said in an effort to explain his rider's ecstatic but misplaced fist pump. A win from the French rider would have been all the more remarkable, given he had crashed earlier in the stage and popped back a dislocated shoulder, all on his own. For Vingegaard it was another stressful day on which his Visma-Lease a bike team showed questionable strategy. They have one day good, the next bad, while Pogacar and his team remain a model of consistency. If Vingegaard's team increasingly resemble a house on fire, Pogacar's remain an impregnable fortress. In the shadow of Carcassonne's citadel the 34-year-old Wellens, already a stage winner in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, took his first Tour de France stage win. The Dane had been caught up in the same early crash that saw Alaphilippe come down. Inexplicably, as Vingegaard, second overall to Pogacar, chased to rejoin the peloton, some of his teammates, including Campanaerts, were at the front, forcing the pace and distancing their team leader. It took a radio intervention from Pogacar's own team car to return the goodwill shown to the Slovenian in Toulouse, after his own crash on stage 11. Finally with 128km to race, Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz rejoined the main group. Even the defending champion seemed bemused by what was going on around him. 'There were three Visma guys, all trying to go in the break again and they had Jonas chasing at the back,' Pogacar said. 'It was just a weird situation.' While Pogacar was eventually able to repay the sportsmanship shown to him four days ago, Wellens was not in the mood to hang around and made his decisive solo move with 43km to race, on the Col de Fontbruno. The Belgian champion never looked back and pushed on into the final kilometres on the rolling roads of the Languedoc, to win by almost a minute and a half from Campanaerts. As the Tour began, Vingegaard's wife and personal manager had criticised the Visma-Lease a bike team for failing to commit wholeheartedly to her husband's cause. On the road to Carcassonne, her fears seemed well-founded, with both Campanaerts and Wout van Aert apparently racing for the stage win. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I hope he gets the full support of the team, rather than there being all sorts of different goals,' Trine Vingegaard Hansen said this month. 'If you're also aiming for stage wins with other riders, then those resources can't be used for Jonas. You can only respect how Tadej Pogacar's team handles it. When he starts a race, there's no doubt about who the leader is. Everyone knows their role. I think that's super-important.' Pogacar, meanwhile, despite saying after the stage he had a slight summer cold because of the fluctuating temperatures and too much time spent in air-conditioning, never looked in trouble. As Vingegaard was pondering his teammate's motivations, Pogacar was becoming Wellens's cheerleader-in-chief. 'How is he looking?' he radioed his team car as Wellens progressed. 'How does Tim look? You should reply: 'He looks fabulous!'' Monday is a rest day, while the 16th stage on Tuesday takes the peloton from Montpelier to the daunting Mont Ventoux, where Pogacar will almost certainly seek to increase his lead with a prestigious stage win.
