Tadej Pogacar's hopes of securing a fourth Tour de France crown took on a knock on Sunday when key UAE Team Emirates-XRG lieutenant Joao Almeida was forced to drop out of the race.
Almeida suffered a fractured rib along with various cuts and scrapes after a 12-rider downhill pile-up at the Mur de Bretagne on Stage 7, limping home losing around 10 minutes on the day, yet still managing to get through the following day's action unscathed.
“It was good to see Joao finish the stage OK,” said race leader Pogacar after Stage 8, as thoughts began to turn to Monday's Stage 10 and its eight classified climbs among other challenges in the Massif Central. “Monday is a brutal stage but nobody is expecting Joao to kill himself for a bike race.”
Before the fall Almeida himself was also contention for a spot on the podium – starting Stage 7 in seventh place in the general classification – and would have been a contender throughout the mountainous second half of the Tour.
But the Portuguese rider's Tour is over for this year after the pain proved too much to bear, especially knowing the challenges coming hot on the horizon, and Pogacar will be a key man down.
“Sadly Joao had to abandon,” said Pogacar after Stage 9 which saw him maintain a 54-second lead over Remco Evenepoel. “It was too much to bear and I think everybody understands and wish him all the best.
"He could have done great things on a personal level here, and of course, he would have been a great help in the mountains, both mentally and physically.Now we'll adapt and continue."
Almeida finished fourth at the 2024 Tour de France and started this year's edition on the back of strong results elsewhere, having won the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie and Itzulia Basque Country.
Pogacar, meanwhile, kept a firm grip on the leader's yellow jersey despite an epic breakaway attempt from Alpecin-Deceuninc duo Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert.
On a sun drenched slog from the Chinon vineyards, Van der Poel and Rickaert broke early and built up a lead of 5 min 30 sec on the flat roads to Chateauroux.
Rickaert won the combativity award for accompanying Van der Poel to within 10km of the line before slumping over his handlebars.
With his gung-ho all-in style Van der Poel grew his Tour de France legend here despite being caught with 700m to go, the plaudits will be both his and Merlier's.
As Van der Poel was reeled in, it looked as though Jonathan Milan would win a second consecutive stage but Tim Merlier got ahead with 50m remaining as Milan finished second with Arnaud De Lie completing the podium.
“One moment I thought I was boxed in but I can come out just before 200 metres or maybe just after, I don't know any more,” Merlier said. “I just go all in and I'm happy I can win my second stage here.”
Pogacar added: “Today was fast and furious thanks to the two guys in front and also the wind was blowing to make it hard.
"Tomorrow is a solid day. A proper climbing day, it does not look so hurtful on the profile but I think it is going to be a really hard race and we are ready."
It is a big day of climbing next up on what is Bastille Day in France with 4,400m of elevation gain across seven category-two climbs and a category-three ascent is likely to put the sprinters in trouble almost from the start on a stage that looks made for breakaway specialists.
Road signs in honour of British cycling great Mark Cavendish had been placed at entry points to Chateauroux – reading Cavendish City – in homage to the now-retired 40-year-old, after he won three stages there in 2008, 2011 and 2021.
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
The biog
Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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