Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France after Mark Cavendish, the British rider, took Sunday's final stage on the Champs Elysees for the third year in a row.
The 34-year-old Evans, the oldest Tour winner since Second World War, showed resilience throughout as he broke three-time champion Alberto Contador's unbeaten run in a grand tour since 2007.
Luxembourg's Andy Schleck was second overall for the third year in succession, 1:34 behind Evans, who claimed his maiden grand tour title.
"Thank you to everyone who supported me, my teammates, my rivals, everyone for this incredible experience," said Evans, who won one stage during the race, after stepping on the podium on the Champs Elysees. "Thank you for that fantastic race. It was a wonderful experience. I couldn't be happier. I had been thinking about this for 20 years."
Frank Schleck was third, 2:30 off the pace as two brothers climbed on the final Tour de France podium for the first time. "Cadel deserved to win. Second place in the Tour is not nothing and being with my brother on the podium is a family's dream. Our parents are proud of us," said Andy Schleck.
Evans's victory also broke Spanish domination of the race after Alberto Contador (2007, 2009, 2010), Oscar Pereiro (2006) and Carlos Sastre (2008) had claimed five titles in a row.
The Australian only took the overall leader's yellow jersey after Saturday's final time trial in which he humbled Andy Schleck by 2:31, easily overcoming a 57-second deficit. Cavendish was also made to wait to finally claim the green jersey for the points classification after starting the day with a 15-point advantage over Spain's Jose Roaquin Rojas.
Cavendish is now the most successful sprinter of all time in the Tour but is also ranked sixth in terms of stages victories, level with 1927 and 1928 champion Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg. The stage started at a leisurely pace as the traditional final parade set off for a 95-kilometre ride from Creteil, where a tribute was paid to Laurent Fignon, the two-time champion, who died of cancer last year.
Tension rose when the peloton reached Paris, with six riders powering away from the pack to snatch their share of the limelight on the Champs Elysees.
Jeremy Roy, Kristijan Koren, Lars Bak, Sergio Paulinho, Christophe Riblon and Ben Swift built a 39-second gap but they were reeled in about four kilometres from the finish as the sprinters' teams swapped at the front of the bunch.
The HTC-Highroad team set their usual lead-out train for Cavendish, who duly delivered to snatch his 20th Tour de France stage win.
The Briton beat Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen and German Andre Greipel, who were second and third respectively.
"Finally! I'm super happy, it did not come easy," said the Manxman, who had narrowly missed the points classification winner's jersey in the two previous years.
"The rules had changed this year, I had to work even harder. I was tired but my teammates keep working hard and we won all together. I was close the previous years now the goal is achieved. I'm so moved. It's an incredible day today," he added.
Since the Tour has been unfolding on the most famous Parisian avenue in 1975, no rider had won the traditional bunch sprint near the Place de la Concorde more than twice.
The last man to have won three final stages in succession was Belgian Eddy Merckx, the most successful cyclist ever, in 1972 when the finale was held on the Cipale track in Vincennes.
Meanwhile, Garmin-Cervelo, who won the team time trial and stages through American Tyler Farrar and Norwegian Thor Hushov, won the team standings.
Pierre Rolland, the Frenchman, who won the prestigious stage to l'Alpe d'Huez, claimed the white jersey for the best under-25 rider while Spaniard Samuel Sanchez won the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Quentin%20Tarantino%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Uma%20Thurman%2C%20David%20Carradine%20and%20Michael%20Madsen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
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
