Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins, right, celebrates on the podium at the end of the 120km and last stage of the 2012 Tour de France after becoming the first Briton to win the famous race. Lionel Bonaventure / AFP
Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins, right, celebrates on the podium at the end of the 120km and last stage of the 2012 Tour de France after becoming the first Briton to win the famous race. Lionel BonaventureShow more

Wiggins becomes first Briton to win Tour de France



Bradley Wiggins has become the first British Tour de France champion - and celebrated his success by leading Mark Cavendish to victory in Paris.

Wiggins completed his 13th day in the yellow jersey and the 99th Tour in first place, three minutes 21 seconds ahead of Team Sky colleague Chris Froome, who became the second Briton, after his teammate, on the podium in the history of the race.

Not content with his personal success, Wiggins played an integral role as world champion Cavendish won the 120-kilometre 20th stage from Rambouillet, sealing victory on the Champs-Elysees for a fourth consecutive year.

It was the seventh British stage success of the 2012 Tour, with Cavendish finishing with three wins, Wiggins with two, Froome with one and David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) one.

All four Britons, together with Ian Stannard, are due to combine on Saturday in a bid to help Cavendish win Olympic gold in the 250km road race on the opening day of London 2012.

Cavendish has won on the French capital's most famous boulevard in each of the Tours he has completed - in 2009, 2010, 2011 and now in 2012.

The 27 year old from the Isle of Man, who also won stages two and 18, now has 23 Tour stage wins, moving above Lance Armstrong and Andre Darrigade into fourth place in the all-time list.

It was a remarkable effort for the Manxman, who spent much of the Tour in the service of Wiggins.

Wiggins repaid the favour, taking to the front with 1.1km remaining, with Edvald Boasson Hagen assuming the lead 600 metres out.

Cavendish came to the front in the rainbow jersey 400 metres from the line and powered to a supreme victory.

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) was second, with Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) third.

Team Sky chairman Robert Tansey said he hopes Wiggins' Tour de France triumph signifies the beginning of a period of British dominance.

Team Sky made their Tour de France debut in 2010 and Tansey believes their success - delivered ahead of schedule - will inspire Team GB at London 2012.

"We have a very strong set up and squad," Tansey said. "Our team loves riding for each other and they'll want to come back and do this again next year.

"We view this as the start rather than the end of something and the hunger is definitely there to repeat it.

"When we launched three years ago our ambition was to win the Tour de France with a British rider in five years.

"A lot of people were sceptical of that so to do it in three years is a tremendous achievement

"This is a great British story and less than a week away from the Olympics this will inevitably give the Team GB cycling squad a lift."

Tansey believes Wiggins' procession into the history books will prove to young British riders that anything is possible.

"What a guy Bradley is. I've seen him a few times over the last three weeks. He's been incredibly calm, relaxed and confident," he said.

"Hopefully he's inspired people up and down the country by showing that a lad from Kilburn can win the Tour de France.

"Twenty years ago when it was viewed as something only people from France, Italy or Spain can do.

"Now the aspiration is real for lots of other people and the hope is that this will encourage more people to take up cycling.

"He's got a great team around him and it's great to see the likes of Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome working with him."

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In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.

Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.

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The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
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Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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6.30pm: Handicap (rated 95-108) US$125,000 2000m (Dirt).
Winner: Don’t Give Up, Gerald Mosse (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).

7.05pm: Handicap (95 ) $160,000 2810m (Turf).
Winner: Los Barbados, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.

7.40pm: Handicap (80-89) $60,000 1600m (D).
Winner: Claim The Roses, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.

8.15pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (Div-1) Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D)
Winner: Gold Town, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

8.50pm: Cape Verdi Group 2 $200,000 1600m (T).
Winner: Promising Run, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.

9.25pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D).
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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

If you go

The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road. 

The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
 

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5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m

Winner Thabet Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)

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Winner Blue Diamond, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi

6pm Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m

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Winner Heros De Lagarde, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m

Winner Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi

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Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

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Director: Laxman Utekar

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon​​​​​​​, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana

Rating: 3/5

if you go

The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to ­Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/

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Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5