When the 2014 Tour de France started in Britain with a British reigning champion riding for a British team, in some quarters there was the feeling that a piece of French heritage was being dragged across the channel.
To make things even worse, the British manager of the champion Team Sky, Dave Brailsford, had almost condescendingly said that his next challenge might be to try to win the Tour with a Frenchman.
The insinuation was that it had been easier to win the Tour with a rider from a country with almost no cycling culture than it would be to do so with a cyclist from the spiritual home of the sport.
For the previous two years Britain had been the epicentre of the Tour de France as Team Sky won the 2012 and 2013 editions with first Bradley Wiggins and then Chris Froome.
On top of that, the best sprinter over the last few years was another Briton, Mark Cavendish.
French viewers and commentators could only stand back in awe, too, at the reception the Tour got, first in Yorkshire where the first two stages took place, and then along the route from Cambridge to London.
German sprinter Marcel Kittel described the crowds as “amazing” while Spanish two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador said he had been “speechless” at the reception.
Garmin-Sharp’s American manager Jonathan Vaughters said he’d only ever seen hoards that big on Alpe d’Huez in the French Alps.
Some were asking whether Britain was launching some sort of Trojan Horse takeover of the Grand Boucle.
But already by the time the Tour left London to reconvene on the shores of its true home, the cracks in British domination were starting to show.
Cavendish had crashed out of the race on the first stage, leaving only three Brits in the race.
It took only two more stages for Froome to crash out and leave Italian Vincenzo Nibali to dominate the race.
Without Froome, Sky capitulated as Australian Richie Porte proved to be a poor substitute leader, finishing the race 23rd overall at more than an hour off Nibali – and actually being beaten by two of his domestiques (support riders).
By the end of the race, Welshman Geraint Thomas was the only Briton left, finishing 22nd overall and almost an hour behind Nibali.
In the meantime, the French were bristling.
Veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud proved his 37 years were no barrier to success, gradually improving as the race progressed to climb all the way up to a second placed finish.
Behind him, Thibaut Pinot secured third place, ensuring France had two riders on the podium for the first time since Laurent Fignon beat legend Bernard Hinault into second in 1984.
French AG2R won the team competition, helped in no small measure not only by Peraud but also 23-year-old Romain Bardet coming sixth and Blel Kadri winning the eighth stage from Tomblaine to Gerardmer.
In Pinot, 24, and Bardet, the future looks bright for French cycling. They finished first and second in the young riders’ white jersey category and both held their own with the best in both the mountains and time trial.
As well as those two, France has a whole host of talented young up-and-coming riders.
Sprinters Arnaud Demare, 22, and Nacer Bouhanni, 24, were French national road race champions in 2014 and 2012 respectively, with the latter also winning the sprinter’s jersey at May’s Giro d’Italia.
Tony Gallopin, 26, won the Tour’s 11th stage and wore the yellow jersey on Bastille Day. He’s a puncher who many believe could become an overall challenger.
But the most brilliant of the lot is perhaps climber Warren Barguil, who won the Tour de l’Avenir – the Tour de France for junior riders – in 2012 and claimed two stages on last year’s Vuelta a Espana.
The future of the Tour appears to be bleu, blanc, rouge, and not before time either.
As Brailsford said: “It’s good for everyone. It’s good for the French because it is after all the Tour de France. It’s good for all of French cycling and we’re happy for that.”
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
CREW
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Company%20Profile
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
HERO%20CUP%20TEAMS
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
