VILLARS-LES-DOMBES // Mark Cavendish approached the finish line with so much speed that German rival Marcel Kittel had to swerve out of the way.
The “Manx Missile” easily sprinted to his fourth stage victory in the Tour de France on Saturday.
Finishing in the main pack during the 14th stage, Chris Froome had little trouble holding onto the yellow jersey.
It was Cavendish’s 30th career win on the Tour, putting him within four of Eddy Merckx’s record. The British sprinter held up four fingers after crossing the line.
Kittel threw up his arm in protest when Cavendish passed him.
“Kittel had already lost and stopped his effort. He had lost his focus. Maybe Cavendish swerved a bit, but it’s nothing,” retired sprinter Laurent Jalabert said.
Alexander Kristoff, a Norwegian with Katusha, crossed second, and world champion Peter Sagan was third. Kittel came fifth.
“Cavendish is just faster right now,” Kristoff said.
See also:
• Gallery: From British Open to Tour de France, tributes to Nice across sport
• Tour de France continues as planned; leader Chris Froome sends message of support to Nice victims
• Poll: Yates, Quintana or Mollema – Who can deny Chris Froome his third Tour de France title?
The peloton stopped for a minute of silence at the start of the stage in honour of the 84 victims of the truck attack in Nice. Froome, French champion Arthur Vichot, and other leaders of the Tour took their helmets off and stood still at the start line.
It was the first of three days of national mourning in France, and fans waved the country’s flag all along the 208.5-kilometre route from Montelimar to the bird sanctuary of Parc des Oiseaux in Villars-Les-Dombes near Lyon.
Cavendish’s personal record for wins in one Tour was six in 2009. His performance in this race has come as somewhat of a surprise, considering that he has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons.
But Cavendish seems rejuvenated after joining the South African squad Team Dimension Data for this season.
Froome remained 1:47 ahead of second-place Bauke Mollema and 2:45 in front of third-place Adam Yates in the overall standings.
Four riders – Martin Elmiger of Switzerland, Alex Howes of the United States, Jeremy Roy of France, and Cesare Benedetti of Italy – formed an early breakaway and opened up an advantage of 4 1/2 minutes before falling apart in the final kilometres.
Known as a “transfer stage” because it was a lengthy leg that moved the peloton from one region to another to set up the ensuing mountain tests, the route took riders by fields of grain and sunflowers amid winds exceeding 35 kph.
The stage started 15 minutes early because of concerns over a strong headwind and concluded with a 3km straight directly into the wind.
Matti Breschel, a Danish rider with Cannondale, crashed midway through the stage, and was reported to have broken his collarbone.
The Tour enters the Alps on Sunday, a 160km leg from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz featuring six climbs, including the beyond-category Grand Colombier.
Results from the 14th stage of Tour de France, a 208.5km ride from Montélimar to Villars-les-Dombes on Saturday:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDT) 208.5 km in 5hrs 43min 49sec
2. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) at 0:00.
3. Peter Sagan (SVK/TIN) 0:00.
4. John Degenkolb (GER/GIA) 0:00.
5. Marcel Kittel (GER/ETI) 0:00.
6. André Greipel (GER/LOT) 0:00.
7. Bryan Coquard (FRA/DEN) 0:00.
8. Davide Cimolai (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
9. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 0:00.
10. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
11. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/LNL) 0:00.
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
