Les Bleues of rugby in control, Tsitsipas princely in Monte-Carlo and Pidcock opportunistic on the Amstel… The sports recap of the weekend

Didn’t follow the weekend’s results? franceinfo: sport summarizes the sports news of recent days.

While the Ligue 1 clubs still involved in the European Cups were resting on Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14, the sporting weekend was marked by a large rugby pageant, between the Women’s Six Nations Tournament and the quarterfinals. Champions Cup final. But not only. In tennis, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas regained his throne at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, while the British runner Tom Pidcock won the Amstel Gold Race.

Six Nations: Les Bleues sign a third success in a row

His last outing in Edinburgh was not generally reassuring. This time, the French XV made a strong impression against Italy at the Jean-Bouin stadium in Paris, winning in style (38-15). The six tries scored showed the progress made in attack by the Blues. Especially since the actions carried out demonstrated a new variation in the game.

Enough to consolidate second place in the Six Nations Tournament rankings before a more than affordable trip to the Welsh side who were defeated by Ireland on Saturday (36-5). Then, there will be a probable “final” against the English in Bordeaux on April 27. For their part, the Red Roses largely dominated the Scots (46-0).

Champions Cup: Stade Toulouse saves the French record

Toulouse will see the semi-finals for the sixth consecutive time. At the end of an offensive festival in their den, the Rouge et Noir crushed the English club Exeter (64-26). A success in the continuity of the previous European meetings of the team coached by Ugo Mola. However, at the break, the tension was present, while the locals only led by a small point. Toulouse had to get the machine going, ultimately scoring a multitude of nine tries.

The partners of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack thus came to the aid of French rugby after the defeats of the two other clubs still in the running. Saturday, Union Bordeaux-Bègles lost by one point at home against Harlequins after a completely crazy match (12 tries, 41-42) despite a match point at the tip of Maxime’s foot Lucu. Then the double title holder, La Rochelle, logically fell on the lawn of Leinster (40-13). Thanks to the Haut-Garonnais, the series of 15 consecutive seasons with at least one Top 14 team in the semi-finals of the European Cup continues.

Monte-Carlo Masters 1000: Tsitsipas triples the stake

The Mediterranean air transports him to another dimension. For the third time in four years, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 by dominating the Norwegian Casper Ruud (6-1, 6-4) in the final. The conclusion of a great week on Monegasque clay, which saw him take the scalp of Italian Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals on Saturday (6-4, 3-6, 6-4).

A meeting nevertheless marked by a refereeing error which weighed down the Italian, despite being in full swing at the start of the season. For his part, Novak Djokovic did not manage to reach the final, due to lack of consistency in the semi-final against Casper Ruud. (6-4, 1-6, 6-4). To gain momentum between now and the defense of his title at Roland-Garros, the Serbian will be keen to shine in Madrid or Rome in the coming weeks.

Amstel Gold Race: Pidcock frustrates the ogre Van der Poel

Everyone was waiting for Mathieu van der Poel but the Dutch world champion – monumental on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – did not weigh in on this first Ardennes classic of the season. The various outsiders therefore jumped on this crumb left by the ogre with the rainbow edges, and it was ultimately Tom Pidcock who won the bet.

The Briton from Ineos Grenadiers won in the sprint, ahead of the Swiss Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and the Belgian Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a Bike). On the French side, the most prominent were Paul Lapeira, Valentin Madouas and Quentin Pacher, all three in the top 10 on Sunday.