Ugo Humbert, Max Verstappen and Tadej Pogacar impressed this weekend, while Cyrena Samba-Mayela shone to give France a second medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships.
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It was a recovery weekend for many champions and some have already set the tone. Max Verstappen won the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season while Tadez Pogakar won with a lead of 2’44 on the Strade Bianche. On the French side, Biathlon Blues won the mixed relay in Oslo, and Ugo Humbert triumphed in Dubai.
We take the same and start again. The Formula 1 season kicked off this Saturday, and it was Bahrain that was the scene of Max Verstappen’s first win. Starting from pole position in front of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which he resisted in the first corner, the Dutchman was never really worried. He made up the gap from the first laps and then calmly cruised to victory, nearly 30 seconds ahead of his first pursuer and teammate, Sergio Perez. Carlos Sainz completes the podium.
It is Monegasque Charles Leclerc who has had a poor performance over the weekend. Starting alongside Verstappen, he gradually lost his place, and eventually finished fourth, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.
He didn’t have to wait long to get his first win of the season. In this 18th edition of the Strade Bianche, the Slovenian set off alone more than 80km from the finish, effortlessly extending the distance to his followers. He eventually crossed the finish line two minutes and 44 seconds ahead of Tom Skujins (Liddle-Trek) and third place Maxime Van Gill (Lotto Destiny, +2’47). The UAE Team Emirates player thus achieved his 64th career victory.
The presence of three Frenchmen in the rest of the top 10 is notable: Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondial, 6th), Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ, 8th) and Christophe Laporte (Wisma – Lease a bike, 10th). Julian Alaphilippe retired after the fall.
After an intense and emotional week, evidenced by three match points saved in the quarter-finals against Hubert Hurkaz (3-6, 7-6, 6-3) and a victory in the semi-finals against Daniil Medvedev (7-5). , 6-3), Ugo Humbert made his sixth career final in Dubai on Saturday. In contrast, Alexander Bublik, winner of the ATP 250 in Montpellier earlier in the month, did not have much hope for long. After a balanced start to the match, the Frenchman accelerated the tempo, and defeated his opponent of the day in 1h25 (6-4, 6-3).
This is his second trophy in less than a month, after winning the Marseille tournament against Grigor Dimitrov (6-4, 6-3) and, most importantly, his sixth title in as many finals. Here he is now ranked 14th in the world, the best ranking of his career.
We waited until the last race of this World Cup weekend in Oslo, to see the Blues in first place. On Saturday, Julia Simon and Lou Jeanmonot finished 2nd and 3rd in the mass start behind Lena Hackey-Gross. And it was Simon, who started in the lead, who perfectly launched the Blues mixed relay on Sunday, with a flawless shot and a 31 second lead while passing the relay. Sophie Chauveau and Fabien Claude then extended the advantage – despite a few scares and a comeback from Italy -, before Quentin Fillon Mallet finally crossed the line ahead of Sweden (+32″2) and Norway (+35″9).
A result confirming French dominance in the mixed relay, a month after the Blues’ victory in the same discipline at the World Championships in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic).
Less dominant than biathlon, triathlon still returned from the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow with two gems: silver for Sirena Samba-Mayella, who improved her French record, and bronze for Juste Quau-Mathe, both over 60m hurdles. During the last Indoor World Championships in Belgrade as in 2022 (gold for Samba-Mayella and silver for Pascal Martinot-Lagarde), the French delegation relied on its hurdlers not to return empty-handed.
The Scottish weekend was also marred for the Blues by pole vaulter Margot Chevrier’s broken ankle. The nice woman promised, on social networks, will return to the Stade de France on August 5. Indeed, the athletics season will now turn outward with a view to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where we hope the odds still smile on the French at home.
After PSG and AS Monaco drew 0-0 to open this 24th day of Ligue 1 on Friday, Stade Brestois seized the opportunity to consolidate their second place with a 1-0 win over Le Havre on Sunday. A day earlier, Losque did the same in Reims (0-1), while Nice were surprised by Toulouse (2-1 loss). The top 5 remains unchanged but Lens, who beat Olympique Lyonnais with a big 3-0 win, look to be getting closer.
In the recovery section, we also find Olympique de Marseille after Saturday’s 5-1 win against Clermont, the third in a row since the arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset on the Marseille bench, and FC Metz who lost 2-0 against FC. Nantes are edging closer to the relegation zone. Its Breton neighbours, Rennes, also disappointed, losing to Lorient (1-2).
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