Tour de France: Tim Merlier victorious after another crash-marred stage


Amith Passela
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Tim Merlier clinched his maiden stage win in the Tour de France as he led a superb one-two finish for Alpecin-Fenix after a crash-littered day three of the race on Monday.

The Belgian clinched the 189.9km flat stage from Lorient to Pontivy from fellow countryman and teammate Jasper Philipsen with Arkea-Samsic’s French rider Nacer Bouhanni in third.

Another of Merlier’s Alpecin-Fenix teammate Mathieu van der Poel finished seventh to retain the yellow jersey for a second consecutive day.

Tadej Pogacar, the UAE Team Emirates star and defending champion, dropped down three places in general classification to sixth.

“I’m living a dream, I think,” Merlier said. “After the Giro [d’Italia stage win], I was already very happy. But now to win a stage at the Tour, the biggest race in the world. I can’t believe it.

“Mathieu said he was going to do the lead-out, and I said, ‘you are crazy’ but he loves to do it, so then Jasper took over for the last 700 metres.

“It was a great lead-out and I just needed to go the last 150 metres. I looked back and I couldn’t believe it, there was nobody else on my wheel. There was a crash, and so that would be the reason, I think. I can’t believe this, it’s a dream.”

The crash close to the finishing line was between Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan with around a dozen riders in a sprint to the line.

The Australian appeared to catch the wheel of Merlier as he launched his sprint, and took Sagan down as he fell.

It was reported Ewan has suffered a broken collarbone and won’t continue with the Tour and his dream of winning a stage in every Grand Tour this year seems sadly over.

Earlier, Jumbo-Visma’s GC contender Primoz Roglic suffered the most when he went down heavily.

Roglic was on the left hand side of the bunch and fell clear of most other riders. He was helped back by two team-mates and continued to race even as they lost around time.

According to the Jumbo-Visma sports director Frans Maassen, last year’s Tour de France runner up was in bad shape and was being taken to hospital to have his tailbone checked.

“Roglic is not in good shape,” he said. “I'm not a doctor, but he has a tailbone problem. He has been taken to hospital for examination.”

Another rider among many others to suffer in an earlier crash was Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers.

The Welshman also appeared to have suffered a bad injury to his right shoulder but remounted with the help of his support team to continue to the finishing line.

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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites

The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.

It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.

“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.

The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

The story in numbers

18

This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens

450,000

More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps

1.5 million

There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m

73

The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association

18,000

The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme

77,400

The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study

4,926

This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee

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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Gifts exchanged
  • King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
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  • Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
  • Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
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The five pillars of Islam
Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Welterweight

Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) beat Mostafa Radi (PAL)

(Unanimous points decision)

Catchweight 75kg

Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) beat Leandro Martins (BRA)

(Second round knockout)

Flyweight (female)

Manon Fiorot (FRA) beat Corinne Laframboise (CAN)

(RSC in third round)

Featherweight

Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB) beat Ahmed Al Darmaki

(Disqualification)

Lightweight

Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) beat Rey Nacionales (PHI)

(Unanimous points)

Featherweight

Yousef Al Housani (UAE) beat Mohamed Fargan (IND)

(TKO first round)

Catchweight 69kg

Jung Han-gook (KOR) beat Max Lima (BRA)

(First round submission by foot-lock)

Catchweight 71kg

Usman Nurmogamedov (RUS) beat Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)

(TKO round 1).

Featherweight title (5 rounds)

Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)

(TKO round 1).

Lightweight title (5 rounds)

Bruno Machado (BRA) beat Mike Santiago (USA)

(RSC round 2).

Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

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  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Hales' batting career

Tests 11; Runs 573; 100s 0; 50s 5; Avg 27.38; Best 94

ODIs 58; Runs 1,957; 100s 5; 50s 11; Avg 36.24; Best 171

T20s 52; Runs 1,456; 100s 1; 50s 7; Avg 31.65; Best 116 not out