Teddy Riner in gold, Léon Marchand on fire and the rugby Blues are not convincing… The sports recap of the weekend

Football, rugby, cycling, tennis, judo and even swimming… The weekend was packed with sports news.

The sporting news was very rich during this weekend concluded with PSG’s victory over Marseille in the Classic, Sunday March 31. But before that, the French women of rugby also imposed themselves sluggishly in Scotland, Saturday, during their second meeting in the Tournament. Without forgetting the triumph of Mathieu van der Poel on the roads of the Tour of Flanders, gold for the French judokas in Turkey, the finals of the Masters 1000 in Miami and a still exceptional Léon Marchand on the other side of the Atlantic.

Ligue 1: PSG wins the Classic, Brest keeps pace

In the Sunday evening poster, PSG escaped from the trap set by its Marseille rival at the Vélodrome by signing a happy victory thanks to two goals from Vitinha and Gonçalo Ramos on the counter-attack (2-0). The Phocaeans can harbor regrets as they posed a threat to Donnarumma’s cage, without finding the fault despite numerical superiority for more than half of the match.

They remain 7th, seven points behind Lille, 4th, who won in the derby against Lens (2-1) on Friday. For their part, the Parisians maintain their lead of 12 units over the incredible runner-up from Brest, again victorious in forceps on the Lorient pitch (1-0). Monaco completes the podium after its success in Metz (5-2) on Saturday.

Rugby: Blues sluggish but victorious

How far away last year’s trip seemed, when the French XV beat the Scottish team 55-0. On Saturday, the walk turned into a path of the cross for the Blues, difficult winners in Edinburgh (15-5). Feverish as possible as soon as it was necessary to concretize their domination – only two attempts in 14 entries in the opposing 22m – Romane Ménager’s partners only owed their salvation to their strength of character. A quality that is certainly necessary, but which will certainly not be sufficient when facing the English on the last day, for the announced final.

Before considering this clash, and to prevent it from turning into a crash, the French women, however, have an interest in redressing the situation. It begins, on Sunday April 14, with the reception of Italy during the 3rd day of this Tournament. Italians who had the good idea to erase the inaugural slap received against England, by winning with a short header against Ireland (27-21).

Swimming: the Marchand raid

Far from the often cozy atmosphere of the French pools, Léon Marchand stacks up titles in the madness of the NCAA university finals in Indianapolis. Pushed by a melting public, the 21-year-old Frenchman added three new individual titles (500 yards, 400 yards medley, 200 yards breaststroke) to his collection, while leading his Arizona State university to final victory. “I just try to explore all my possibilities, I don’t have a time goal when I swim, my goal is just to give my best.”declared Marchand, speaking to ESPN.

Thousands of kilometers from Paris, where he is expected as the Messiah of French swimming at the Games, the three-time world champion is carrying out ideal preparation. Without pressure and in a “friends atmosphere“. And what’s more, the results follow…

Tennis: Collins late, Sinner imperial in Miami

In praise of patience for Danielle Collins. At 30, the American won the first WTA 1000 of her career in Miami by beating Elena Rybakina in the final on Saturday. On her native land of Florida, where she only conceded one set during the week, Collins became the lowest ranked player (53rd) to win this tournament. Not enough, however, to make her reconsider her decision to end her career at the end of the season. She, who suffers from endometriosis, assured that she would not change her mind despite her sparkling form since the announcement of her future retirement (18 victories in 22 matches).

The Italian Jannick Sinner continues to assert himself with authority on the circuit. Thanks to his clear and flawless success against Grigor Dimitrov (6-3, 6-1), in the final of the Miami Masters, the winner of the Australian Open in January, becomes world number 2 this Monday. If he continues his momentum, Sinner can hope to tickle Novak Djokovic and steal his number 1 place. The Italian has a lot of points to take during the clay season, where he was slightly behind in 2023: semi-finals in Monte-Carlo, quarters in Barcelona, ​​eighths in Rome and especially second round at Roland-Garros.

Judo: the good operation of Riner and Malonga

The Antalya Grand Slam on Sunday was an opportunity for the French judokas to score valuable points with a view to the Paris Olympic Games. Without shining throughout the day, but pragmatic, like this final where he defeated the Japanese Tatsuru Saito thanks to a waza-ari even though he had been warned twice by the referee, Teddy Riner provided the essentials. Here he is provisionally among the eight seeds in the Olympic tournament in +100 kg. A few hours earlier, Madeleine Malonga (-78 kg) won gold by dominating the German Alina Bohm, which could count when it came time to choose. The Federation committee must decide next week as to the athlete it will send in this category to the Games. Until then, she was in balance with Audrey Tcheuméo.

Cycling: the new demonstration by Mathieu van der Poel

The Dutchman is not about to shed his aura as an ogre of the classics. Setting off alone 45 km from the finish, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crushed the competition – reduced to nothing due to falls and withdrawals – winning his third Tour of Flanders with more than a minute in advance. At the age of 29, he became co-record holder of the event with six other champions, Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Johan Museeuw, Eric Leman, Fiorenzo Magni and Achiel Buysse. The Italian Luca Mozzatto (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and the German Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), second and third, were able to jump on the crumbs.