MULHOUSE // Trek sports director Alain Gallopin wept for joy on Sunday after watching his nephew Tony, who rides for rivals Lotto-Belisol, take the Tour de France overall leader’s yellow jersey on the eve of Bastille Day.
Mulhouse, where the ninth stage ended, was also where the late French Tour great Laurent Fignon took his last stage win in 1992, with the older Gallopin working as his soigneur, or caretaker.
“It’s a huge emotion for me,” Alain Gallopin said after his own team rider Fabian Cancellara finished second.
“For my family, there are no words. We’ve been in cycling for 50 years. Every weekend in every corner of France, there is a Gallopin racing. Seeing him in yellow today is something very, very special.
“I could not hold off my emotions to see Laurent ... to see Tony snatch the jersey, I thought of Laurent.”
Tony Gallopin received some help from Cancellara as the group counter-attacked in the stage finale and he tried to increase the gap to Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, who was wearing the yellow jersey.
The Swiss powerhouse put in some hard work at the front of the small group, even though he had no personal interest in doing so.
The new leader is 1 minute, 34 seconds clear of Nibali going into today’s 11th stage, a 161.5-kilometre trek from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles.
Alain Gallopin, who said it was hard to stay focused yesterday, had a big influence on his nephew’s career.
“He trusts me 100 per cent,” he said. “One day [in 2006], he and his father came to me for advice. He was selected for both the European juniors and the world championships. I told him how he should do and it worked.”
Gallopin, the first Frenchman in yellow since Thomas Voeckler in 2011, claimed medals in three of the four events he entered.
“Since then, he has been trusting me,” his uncle said.
While Gallopin grabbed the yellow jersey, it was German rider Tony Martin who showed he has climbing skills to go with his speed by easily winning the stage.
The German, 29, a three-time world time-trial champion, broke away with specialist climber Alessandro De Marchi of Italy and eventually won by nearly three minutes.
Nibali’s week-long hold on the yellow jersey came to an end, but his Astana team say they are where they want to be as the Tour heads into its first major mountain stage.
Monday’s stage has been labelled a duel between Italy’s Nibali and Spaniard Alberto Contador, since defending champion Chris Froome pulled out injured on Wednesday.
Nibali’s performance on the tricky cobbles on the fifth stage means he holds a 2:34 advantage over Contador with the mountains looming.
Although Nibali lost three seconds to Contador in the first hilltop finish on Saturday as his team showed a first glimpse of weakness, Astana got rid of the burden of controlling the race yesterday when deciding not to chase a counter-attack group.
“We saw that Gallopin was in that group, but we were not going to kill our team to keep the jersey,” Astana team manager Alexandre Vinokourov said.
“The most important thing was to save energy for tomorrow’s stage. Tomorrow will be another great finale between Vincenzo and Alberto at La Planche des Belles Filles.”
That said, the team were savouring the moment, for sure.
“This yellow jersey was a present for France,” added the Kazakh, who started his professional career with French team Casino.
Nibali is seeking to become the sixth man to win all three grand Tours (France, Spain, Italy) after Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, compatriot Felice Gimondi, Belgium’s Eddy Merckx and Contador.
He won the Vuelta in 2010 and the Giro in 2013.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Levante v Real Mallorca (12am)
Leganes v Barcelona (4pm)
Real Betis v Valencia (7pm)
Granada v Atletico Madrid (9.30pm)
Sunday
Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (12am)
Espanyol v Getafe (3pm)
Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao (5pm)
Eibar v Alaves (7pm)
Villarreal v Celta Vigo (9.30pm)
Monday
Real Valladolid v Sevilla (12am)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
