Valentin Paret-Peintre claims first French victory of Tour at Mont Ventoux
Real Madrid have a new number 10. Kylian Mbappé will wear the iconic number 10 jersey next season, after wearing number 9 during his first year in Madrid.
Sporting striker Viktor Gyökeres, one of the most sought-after players in the transfer market after scoring 54 goals last season, is close to joining Arsenal.
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France 24
30 minutes 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
6 hours ago
- France 24
England hero Kelly overcomes 'dark moments' on way to Euro 2025 glory
The 27-year-old's penalty sealed a 3-1 shoot-out victory for England against Spain after the match in Basel had finished 1-1 at the end of extra time. She had earlier come off the bench late in the first half in place of the injured Lauren James with England trailing 1-0, and crossed for Alessia Russo to head in her team's equaliser. "I just came on the pitch and wanted to make something happen," said Kelly, who has made a habit of being a super-sub during the tournament. The Arsenal player came on as a substitute against Sweden and helped England recover from 2-0 down in a quarter-final they eventually won on penalties -- Kelly scored in that shoot-out too. Then she scored the winner late in extra time in the semi-final against Italy, following in to net after her penalty had been saved. "I know Alessia's strengths and I just tried to put the ball on her head, and then taking the penalty," Kelly said. "I actually missed three penalties in training yesterday but I think it's the belief in this squad, all 23 players and the people that you don't see behind the scenes, the staff members, to get us through this tournament. "I am proud to be part of an amazing group of girls." It is a familiar feeling for Kelly, who scored the extra-time winner when England beat Germany 2-1 in the Euro 2022 final in front of over 87,000 fans at Wembley. In between she was unable to change the game from the bench in the 2023 World Cup final, which England lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney. 'Tough times don't last' Just a few months ago it seemed Kelly might not even make Sarina Wiegman's squad for the tournament in Switzerland, given her situation at club level. In January she asked to leave Manchester City, where she had been used sparingly in the first months of the season. Kelly wrote on social media that people at City had been trying to "assassinate my character" and said her mental wellbeing had been affected. She then joined Arsenal on loan until the end of the campaign, and went on to play for them as they beat Barcelona in the Champions League final in May. "There were a lot of tears at full-time especially when I saw my family because those are the people who got me through those dark moments," Kelly said on Sunday. "I am so grateful to be out of it but if that is a story to tell someone who maybe experiences something the same, then tough times don't last," she added. "Just around the corner was a Champions League final -- I won that, and now a Euros final I have won that, so thank you to everyone who wrote me off. I am grateful." Kelly recently signed permanently for Arsenal, where she also played earlier in her career, and will return to North London as a European champion at club and international level. "Every player has their own story, and I think every story is incredible on its own, but her story is unbelievable," said England coach Sarina Wiegman. "I am so happy for her too. She has been fighting to come back to her highest level. "She loved this moment, she just really wanted to take the penalty -- to be able to score that penalty under that pressure is very impressive too." © 2025 AFP
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Three things we learned from the fourth Test between England and India
Their resilient display, the latest chapter in an enthralling campaign, mean India head to next week's finale at the Oval in London with hope of ending the five-Test series all square at 2-2. AFP Sport looks at three talking points from an engrossing match: India face Bumrah dilemma again Jasprit Bumrah's back injury earlier this year led India to announce the outstanding fast bowler would only feature in three games of the England series in a bid to manage his workload. And the world's top-ranked Test bowler made his third appearance of the campaign in Manchester. But with the fifth Test starting on Thursday, there is little time for Bumrah to recover after a tiring haul of 2-112 in 33 overs -- the first time the 31-year-old has conceded more than a hundred runs in a Test innings. Curiously, the only match India have so far won this series is the one Bumrah missed, when the tourists thrashed England by 336 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston. Stokes' commitment poses problems for England A captain who can lead with both bat and ball is a huge asset, but the England management may yet have to save Ben Stokes from himself with an Ashes tour of Australia on the horizon. The match at Old Trafford was a personal triumph for Stokes as he became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test. Stokes, 34, is also now only the third man in Test history to have scored 7,000 runs and taken 200 wickets after West Indies' Garry Sobers and South Africa's Jacques Kallis. Yet there were times on Saturday, when he didn't bowl at all, when Stokes was in evident pain, clutching his thigh -- a concerning sign given his history of hamstring problems. There seemed no point in him being on the field at that stage except a lengthy absence would have delayed his return to bowling duty. And Stokes duly struck early Sunday to remove obdurate opener KL Rahul for 90. Stokes has now sent down 140 overs -- the most he has bowled in any series -- and is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 at an average of 25.2. But those fine figures are also a reflection of the relative lack of penetration offered by the rest of England's attack. "I'll always try to run through a brick wall for the team," said Stokes after Sunday's draw, adding: "I don't want to eat my words but the likelihood I won't play (at the Oval) is very unlikely." Resolute Gill Gill made a sensational start to his debut series as India captain with three hundreds in four innings. But when his next three knocks yielded a total of just 34 runs, it seemed the bubble had burst. He then came in on a hat-trick with India in dire straits at 0-2 in their second innings at Manchester, still more than 300 runs adrift of England's mammoth first-innings 669. But Gill responded with a marathon 103 spanning seven hours before further hundreds from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar ensured a draw. Gill has now set a new record for the most runs scored by an India batsman in a series against England of 722, surpassing team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal's 712 in 2023/24. And at the Oval he could eclipse opening great Sunil Gavaskar's all-time India series record of 774 runs, set in a four-match campaign against the West Indies back in 1970/71.
