French hopes of seeing one of their own riders fight for the Tour de France yellow jersey have been kept alive by a tiring, but optimistic Christophe Moreau. Moreau will go into the first of three ”transitional” stages on Wednesday in sixth place overall at three minutes and 18 seconds behind leader Michael Rasmussen.
Alexander Vinokourov’s hopes of winning the Tour de France ended in tears when he failed to keep up with the top contenders in the ninth stage, a 159,5km ride from Val d’Isere to Briancon on Tuesday. The Kazakh rider finished three minutes and 24 seconds behind stage winner Juan Mauricio Soler of the Barloworld team.
Scientists say they have cracked a nearly eight-decade-old riddle involving the Möbius strip, a mathematical phenomenon that has also become an icon of art. Since 1930, the Möbius strip has been a classic poser for experts in mechanics. The teaser is to resolve the strip algebraically.
Linus Gerdemann of Germany won Saturday’s seventh stage of the Tour de France to take the overall leader’s yellow jersey as the race entered the Alps. Gerdemann won by speeding out from a group of breakaway riders during the 197km ride from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand.
Belgium’s Tom Boonen won Friday’s sixth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish, while Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara retained the leader’s yellow jersey for a seventh straight day. Boonen won the 199,5km trek from the Burgundy town of Semur-en-Auxois toward the foot of the Alps in Bourg-en-Bresse.
The McLaren Formula One team was charged by the sport’s governing body on Thursday with unauthorised possession of secret Ferrari documents. McLaren were summoned to appear before the FIA’s world motor-sport council in Paris on July 26 to explain how they gained possession of the documents.
Norway’s Thor Hushovd claimed his first victory of the year when he clinched the fourth stage of the Tour de France, a 193km trek from Villers-Cotterets to Joigny on Wednesday. The Credit Agricole rider, who won the green jersey in 2005, launched the bunch sprint 350m from the finish line to edge Barloworld’s South African rider Robert Hunter for the win.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner travels to Serbia this week amid signs that Europe is ready to recognise Kosovo’s independence even without a supporting United Nations resolution. Serbia rejects independence for Kosovo, seen by many Serbs as the cradle of their nation and religion.
The official story goes like this: on the last night of Jim Morrison’s life, the rocker went to a movie in Paris, listened to records, fell ill and died of heart failure in his bathtub at age 27. But rumours and mystery have always swirled around the death of the Doors frontman, and now a former Paris nightclub manager is telling another story.
Where once there were lawsuits and restraining orders, now there are tearful tributes and emotional reconciliations. There can never have been a better time to be a tennis dad. Just ask Dr Walter Bartoli and Richard Williams who provided a touching sideshow to the disappointing Wimbledon final their daughters served up on Centre Court on Saturday.
The hooded killers of the Chadian president’s son were filmed on video surveillance cameras in the underground car park in France where his body was found, a judicial source said on Tuesday. Brahim Déby was discovered dead in his car early on Monday near his home outside Paris.
Hooker Raphael Ibanez will captain France during the World Cup later this year, team manager Jo Maso announced on Monday. He will take over from lock Fabien Pelous. The 34-year-old Ibanez, who currently plays with London side Wasps, was captain of the French team at the 1999 World Cup, taking the team to the final where they lost to Australia.
Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno’s son, Brahim, was found dead on Monday morning in the underground parking lot of a building he lived in near Paris, police and court officials said. President Déby sacked Brahim as his adviser in June 2006 after the then 27-year-old was arrested in a Paris discotheque for possessing an illegal firearm and drugs.
Kimi Raikkonen led Ferrari to a one-two finish and back into the battle for this year’s Formula One world championship on Sunday when he won the French Grand Prix in emphatic style. The Italian team delivered their first one-two of the season and the first in 14 races since last year’s German Grand Prix.
This year, 7/7/07 provides a unique opportunity for superstition and marketing to come together: starry-eyed couples are tying the knot, casinos are over-booked and Live Earth concerts as well as the proclamation of the world’s seven new wonders take place that day.
Brazilian Felipe Massa ended Lewis Hamilton’s two-race domination of Formula One by taking pole position ahead of the young Briton on Saturday for Sunday’s French Grand Prix. The Latin-American Ferrari driver clocked a fastest lap in the final segment of qualifying with a time of one minute, 15,034 seconds.
The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8,3% in 2006, with about 9,5-million individuals now estimated to have more than -million in financial assets, a report said on Wednesday. The financial assets owned by the group totalled ,2-trillion, an increase of 11,4% from 2005.
France, the United States, China and 15 other nations agreed on Monday to redouble efforts to end bloodshed in Sudan’s Darfur region by supporting a new peace force and negotiations on a settlement. ”The international community simply cannot continue to sit by,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the end of the one-day conference.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged world powers on Monday to take a tough line with Sudan if it balks at efforts to end bloodshed in Darfur, and argued that ignoring the situation was tantamount to complicity. ”Silence kills,” Sarkozy told ministers from 20 nations taking part in a one-day meeting in Paris to shore up the peace process in Darfur.
Under-fire defending champion Floyd Landis will be among the notable absentees when the 94th edition of the Tour de France kicks into gear on July 7. Landis’s future is still in limbo following his positive test for testosterone, which brought the Tour to its knees only days after he had sealed a spectacular yellow jersey triumph in Paris last year.
Springbok skipper Victor Matfield is to play for French second division side Toulon next season, L’Equipe sports daily reported on Thursday. The 30-year-old lock will join the Mediterranean coast team on a one-year contract after the World Cup in France.
Records from the trial of Nelson Mandela, a medieval French tapestry, a millennium-old Iranian epic and the Hollywood movie The Wizard of Oz are among 38 new items on a Unesco cultural heritage list, the body said on Tuesday.
Attention hip-hop stars and billionaires: the world’s biggest airliner, the 73m-long Airbus A380 super jumbo, has been ordered by a mysterious buyer for private use. The order could be seen as setting new heights in the private-jet sector, leaving the Learjet, which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air travel, in second class.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met his prime minister on Monday after securing an unexpectedly small parliamentary majority and losing a senior minister — setbacks that nonetheless left his reform programme on track. Sarkozy formally reappointed Prime Minister Francois Fillon, and their first task will be to find a replacement for government number two Alain Juppe.
Audi took a firm grip on the Le Mans 24-Hour Race on Saturday as Peugeot’s return to the classic endurance event threatened to turn into a nightmare. After nine hours, the Audi of Tom Kristensen, who is seeking an eighth victory, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello led teammates Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner by three laps.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked set to win a sweeping mandate for his ambitious programme of reforms on Sunday as the French went back to the polls to elect a new National Assembly, the lower chamber of Parliament. About 35-million registered voters began choosing deputies in 467 constituencies.
France is to begin flying humanitarian supplies into eastern Chad on Sunday to help tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees and Chadians displaced by violence in Darfur, an army spokesperson said on Friday. The humanitarian air bridge will likely only function for several weeks.
World Bank presidential nominee Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday he believed a deal could be clinched in the Doha round world trade talks and that such an accord would give a big boost to development and growth. ”I believe that a deal can be done. I believe a deal should be done,” he told reporters.
French medical charity Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) said one of its aid workers was shot dead in Central African Republic on Monday. The north-west of the former French colony has seen waves of violence in the past two years, with sporadic rebel attacks and counter-raids by government troops.
In all likelihood, the second Sunday in July cannot come soon enough for Roger Federer. For pundits agree there is a good chance he will be holding aloft the Wimbledon trophy for a fifth successive time on July 8. It would be a feat to equal Bjorn Borg’s record, and would prompt fans and aficionados alike to once again debate the Swiss maestro’s place among the tennis greats.
Rafael Nadal destroyed Roger Federer’s historic Grand Slam dream for another year by capturing his third successive French Open on Sunday. The Spaniard’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory emulated the great Bjorn Borg’s record of three Roland Garros titles in a row.
Winning the French Open for the fourth time meant more to Justine Henin than simply lifting the Suzanne Lenglen trophy again — it proved to her that she could go it alone. The Belgian had won her previous five grand slam titles while married to Pierre-Yves Hardenne.