Mark Cavendish produced another masterclass to grab his second Tour de France stage win in three days.
The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider edged out Belgian Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Fenix and Team Arkea-Samsic’s French rider Nacer Bouhani in a sprint to the finish at Chateauroux on Thursday.
“It seems like every time we finish here there's a different line-up,” Cavendish said after the 106.4-kilometre stage. His success has now come after a barren five-year spell on the Tour.
“In 2008 it was uphill a bit, I think it was further down the road. 2011 it was short – still uphill a bit ... It's been 10 years since I last won here. It's pretty special.
“Actually in pretty similar fashion today – we were talking about what to do in the final because there are so many strong sprint teams here. To take it on is a big ask, you always get swamped at the finish by those big teams.
“The wind was coming from the left and Michael [Matthews of Team BikeExchange] left the left side for me to go but I wanted just a split second longer in the wheels before I went so I had to switch trains and go from there.
“You see the guys – you see how much they pulled there. The world champion, Julian Alaphilippe, just burying himself in the last kilometre. It's something special. I'm buzzing.”
Cavendish, 36, completed his third stage win at Chateauroux 13 years after his first in the city.
It also took his overall stage victories in the Grand Tour to 32 and he is now two wins behind Eddy Merckx's all-time Tour de France stage record. But he played down the significance of the impending record.
“I'm not thinking about anything,” he said when asked of the record. “I just won a stage of the Tour de France, if that was my first stage or my 32nd stage, I've just won a stage of the Tour.
“That's what people work their whole lives for, I'm very happy. If I'm good enough to win 50, then I'm good enough to win 50. If I'm not good enough to win again, so be it.”
There was no change in the general classification with Mathieu van der Poel retaining the yellow jersey.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider maintained his eight-second lead over UAE Team Emirates star and defending champion Tadej Pogacar, after they both finished safely in the bunch.
“It was okay. The start was hard with a dangerous move getting away at the beginning of the stage. It was pretty okay towards the finish,” Van der Poel said.
“I did what I could in the lead out, but I think they lost my wheel in the last corner, so I had wait and get back to them. I think we were a bit far, but we managed to set up the train really well.
“Cavendish is just the fastest man. We'll try again. [Tomorrow] will be a hard pedal, I think. The gaps are not too big so for sure some guys will go for the overall. We'll see what happens tomorrow.”
Friday’s gruelling 249.1km stage from Vierzon to Le Creusot, with over 3,000m of climbing, is the longest stage of the 2021 Tour de France.
STAGE SIX
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 3:17:36
2. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Fenix same time
3. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) Team Arkea-Samsic s.t
4. Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
5. Peter Sagan (SVK) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 20:09:17
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:0:08
3. Wout Van Aert (BEL) Jumbo-Visma 0:0:30
4. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:0:48
5. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:21
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UJDA CHAMAN
Produced: Panorama Studios International
Directed: Abhishek Pathak
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: 3.5 /5 stars
Essentials
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Windhoek, with a combination of Emirates and Air Namibia, cost from US$790 (Dh2,902) via Johannesburg.
The trip
A 10-day self-drive in Namibia staying at a combination of the safari camps mentioned – Okonjima AfriCat, Little Kulala, Desert Rhino/Damaraland, Ongava – costs from $7,000 (Dh25,711) per person, including car hire (Toyota 4x4 or similar), but excluding international flights, with The Luxury Safari Company.
When to go
The cooler winter months, from June to September, are best, especially for game viewing.
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
