From volleyball to football, via mountain biking, the sports news was rich this weekend. Andrea Giani’s Blues ensured their qualification in the round of 16 of the World Cup. The weekend was also lively on Ligue 1 grounds, with many goals and big wins. In Belgium, Max Verstappen signed a new comeback to win the 14th Grand Prix of the season, after a start at the back of the grid. Franceinfo: sport summarizes what to remember from the weekend.
Mountain biking: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins a fourth world title in cross-country
She is the queen of cross-country. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot dominated the world championship race, in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, to clinch the world title. With four victories, she thus equaled the record of the Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle, the only one who had so far had four crowns to her name.
2022 Women Elite XCO World Champion#LesGets2022 pic.twitter.com/rUKXCKMG49
—UCI MTB (@UCI_MTB) August 28, 2022
Impressive throughout the race, in front of her home crowd, the Frenchwoman left only crumbs to her opponents. She finished more than a minute ahead of her runner-up, Swiss Jolanda Neef. The result is more mixed for the other hopeful tricolor, Loana Lecomte, who fails at the foot of the podium.
F1: comeback for Max Verstappen in Belgium
Max Verstappen is more than ever the terror of the circuits this season. Starting 14th, the Dutchman made a good comeback to claim his ninth victory of the season and consolidate his place as leader in the drivers’ championship. He is now 93 points ahead of his new runner-up, his teammate Sergio Pérez.
The Dutchman’s main opponent so far, Charles Leclerc, had a tougher run. Fifteenth on the grid, the Monegasque was stuck at the end of the field for a long time, before being penalized at the end of the race for speeding in the pit lane. With 98 points behind Max Verstappen, he has undoubtedly said goodbye to his title dreams.
Volleyball: the Blues qualified for the round of 16 of the World Cup
They are already in the round of 16. Les Bleus won their second group match of the Volleyball World Cup, 3 sets to 2 (25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 34-32, 15-7) against Slovenia, host country. At the end of a crazy match during which they saved three match points in the fourth set, the reigning Olympic champions snatched their ticket for the final phase of the competition.
After a first victory against Germany in three sets for their opening match, the men by Andrea Giani confirmed their fine form against a tough opponent.
Ligue 1: the nets shook on the lawns
The players put on a show on the fourth day of the championship. With 33 goals in the 10 games, the attacks shone. The slap of the weekend is to the credit of Montpellier, winner 7-0 on the lawn of Brest Sunday afternoon. Marseille also outclassed Nice (3-0), with a brace from Alexis Sanchez, his first two goals in France. Sunday night, PSG was nevertheless slowed down by Monaco (1-1), after a great start to the season. Earlier, OL were forced to a draw with the same score at Rémois despite being ten.
Basketball: the Blues defeated by Bosnia and Herzegovina before the start of the Euro
Three days after their reaction victory against the Czech Republic, the French basketball team fell on the floor of Bosnia and Herzegovina (96-90). Dominated after a hotly contested end to the match, Vincent Collet’s men conceded their second defeat in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.
Square at@EuroBasket. #TeamFranceBasket | #PassionatelyBlue | #BIHFRA pic.twitter.com/MYA8mahwtX
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) August 27, 2022
VSfive days before their entry into the running at the Euro, against Germany, the Blues were not necessarily reassured. Weighed down by their very laborious start to the match, they raced behind the locals for most of the game, and ended up losing after extra time.
Football: OL win the Champions Trophy
Lyon could not have dreamed of a better start to the season. In Dunkirk, the Fenottes disposed of PSG (1-0), on behalf of the Champions Trophy. Danielle van de Donk (13th) was the only one to put her name on the scoreboard. It allowed OL to achieve their third success in four editions of the competition. TThree months after their victory in C1 and two weeks before the resumption of D1 Arkéma, Sonia Bompastor’s players are attacking the year with a bang.