Tadej Pogacar isn't like Tour legends of old — he can't resist an attack
He laughs at the thought of finally having his way with Pogacar.
The last time I was in the same room as Bardet the venue was a conference room in Copenhagen, two days before the start of the 2022 Tour. He was leader of the DSM team and in answer to the usual question about Pogacar, he said something about not really understanding what was happening in his own sport.
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Blackstenius seals Sweden's knockout place as victory eliminates Poland
Sweden are purring and will fear nobody in the knockouts. This was a routine victory and, make no mistake, tougher tests lie ahead than the obstacle posed by a limited Poland. The underdogs could, and really should, have been put far out of sight before Lina Hurtig completed the scoring and the only quibble for Peter Gerhardsson may be that his players were not more clinical. Nonetheless they will top Group C if they avoid defeat against Germany and, with Stina Blackstenius and Kosovare Asllani opening their accounts either side of the break, have enough stars hitting form to sense opportunity knocking. Before kick-off most of the colour in Lucerne, usually picture-perfect with its lakes and peaks, had been brought by Sweden's sizable support. The stifling heat of this tournament's first week felt a distant memory in low cloud cover and, later in the afternoon, a downpour. An obvious point is that cooler temperatures are rarely harmful to the action: some of the matches in this group stage have struggled for tempo but Sweden, impressive in victory against Denmark, had no such issues in the fresh evening air. They tore into Poland and could have been out of sight within 13 minutes. By then they had hit the crossbar twice, first when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd delivered for Asllani to loop a stretching header against the frame. Then Hanna Lundkvist, making ground from right-back, found Madelen Janogy arriving late from the opposite flank to produce an effort that met a similar fate, this time clipping the top. That was far from the sum of Sweden's pressure. The Chelsea right winger Rytting Kaneryd was a particular menace, almost unplayable through her mixture of speed and balance. One of her darts to the byline brought a desperate intervention from the foot of Kinga Szemik, the goalkeeper, who operates across London for West Ham. Barely a quarter of the game had passed when Filippa Angeldahl slipped into space and cut back for Blackstenius, in the kind of position she relishes, to flash off target. Poland had kept Germany at bay for more than half of their opener but never looked like restraining Sweden. Two minutes before the half-hour mark Blackstenius corrected her earlier aberration after another slick right-sided move. This time Angeldahl located an intelligent run from Asllani, whose chipped cross was thundered in by the Arsenal striker's forehead. There was little respite for Nina Patalon's underdogs. Next Blackstenius spun on the corner of the six-yard box and, via a deflection, drilled wide with Szemik rooted. At least Poland were still in the game, their respectable travelling support keeping up the encouragement. While vastly outnumbered in the stands by a nation that has women's football in its blood, the appetite their appearance in Switzerland has stoked can only augur well. Before half-time Blackstenius went close twice more, seeing the impressive Szemik stand firm to deny her when clean through and then heading narrowly over. Somehow, the contest remained faintly alive. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion There was always the hope Ewa Pajor, isolated during Poland's rare forays, would find a moment of quality. She fired a deflected shot at Jennifer Falk in the 48th minute, perhaps buoyed by the interval addition of Natalia Padilla as a sidekick, and for the first time they exerted some genuine pressure. Poland hope to go down swinging but their brief rush of optimism was quickly snuffed out. The source was familiar, Sweden's incision down the right flank simply too smart. Rytting Kaneryd was set free to deliver for Asllani again and this time the captain was on point with a firm downward header. It was almost three soon afterwards, Blackstenius being denied first by a block from Oliwia Wos and then a sharp save from Szemik after yet more sparkling play from Rytting Kaneryd. In a reminder of Sweden's depth, Fridolina Rolfö was handed a late runout. Almost immediately they found the goal that better reflected their dominance. Two other substitutes combined to supply it, Jonna Andersson delivering a corner that Hurtig converted after climbing highest.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Rain showers lead to Southern 100 opening race red flag
The opening race of the Southern 100 Races has been pushed back to Wednesday after rain showers in the south of the Isle of Man led to the action being including previous champions Davey Todd and Michael Dunlop had been due to compete in the seven-lap opening Senior Race at 20:00 BST, in what marks the 70th anniversary of the the earlier practice session taking place, the big bike race was postponed after rider feedback following a warm up lap as the weather closed the Lightweight race set off shortly after 21:00 BST, it was red-flagged by the clerk of the course for safety reasons after a heavy shower on lap two. Racing on the Billow Course at the 2025 event is due to resume on Wednesday evening. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Champions League makes major change for 2025/26 season with new-look knockout phase
UEFA are reportedly planning yet more changes to the Champions League - just a year after the implementation of the tournament's new format. The 2024/25 season marked the introduction of the new 36-team competition, which was formatted like an actual league. 2 2 Teams finishing in the top eight receive a bye into the last 16 as seeded sides. The following 16 teams competed in a knockout play-off round, in which the losers no longer had the safety net of dropping into the Europa League. Teams finishing from 25th to 36th place missed out on the play-offs altogether and were immediately dumped out of the tournament. Footie fans worldwide are still getting to grips with the Swiss-system tournament format. And they'll reportedly have to wrap their heads around some additional changes to the competition. According to reports, clubs finishing higher in the league stage will be guaranteed home advantage for the second leg of their last 16 tie. The teams finishing first and second will retain home advantage in the semi-finals should they make it through. The benefit of home advantage for the second leg will be transferred if a lower-ranked team beats a higher-ranked side. New Champions League format is a snorefest By Dan King UEFA sold the idea of expanding the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams, with each playing eight games instead of six in the opening phase, as a way of creating more competitiveness and excitement. The biggest clubs would have two matches against their peers, rather than having to wait until the knockout stage to meet. The smaller clubs would meet teams of a similar level twice and have a chance of tasting victory that was so hard to achieve if you were the bottom seed in a group of four. Ignoring for a moment the fact that the real motivation was the simple equation of more games = more money, the theory itself already looks flawed. None of the matches between European giants has delivered a compelling contest yet. And why would they? At the start of the long season with more matches in it, why would any team with ambitions to win things in the spring, go out all guns blazing in the autumn? Especially when they know they have six games NOT against big sides to make sure they accrue enough points to qualify at least for the play-off round (and even more games). There is even less jeopardy than before. So if a side which seals qualification to the last 16 through the play-off dumps out the table-toppers, they'll take their associated benefits. With the new format, last season's winners Paris Saint-Germain, who finished the league phase in 15th place, would've received all the benefits of finishing top of the table with their last-16 triumph over first-placed Liverpool. Uefa are said to be implementing the changes, which have been reported by Calcio e Finanza, to give more value to and increase the stakes in the group stage.
