Yes, Paris-Saint-Germain dominated Strasbourg on Saturday and celebrated with dignity at the Parc des Princes the arrival of Lionel Messi.
Yes, football lost one of the greatest strikers in its history with the death of Gerd Müller on Sunday at the age of 75.
Yes, Raphaël Varane was officially presented at Old Trafford, in front of the supporters of Manchester United, a club with which he is committed until 2025.
But something else happened this weekend that you might have missed.
The three weekend lessons
- From the Olympic disappointment, you will get up
#WTCSMontreal: Historic day for the French triathlon which places three of its representatives on the podium of… https://t.co/ptt6w6PhR6
The French triathlon team had disappointed in the individual events of the Olympic Games by not bringing back any medals. The return to everyday life of the World Series (WTS) was triumphant with an unprecedented French treble at this level on the Montreal stage. Dorian Coninx, who finished 17the in Tokyo, was ahead in the sprint Vincent Luis, double reigning world champion but only 13e in Tokyo, and Léo Bergère. In women, Léonie Périault took a nice 5e place, like at the Olympics.
For this stage in Montreal, which the gold and silver medalists of the 2021 Olympics, the Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt and the Briton Alex Yee, did not compete in, the International Federation proposed a new competition format with shorter distances (300 m swimming, 6 km cycling and 1.5 km running), heats and repechage Friday.
Also disappointing in Tokyo with a 10e Place, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, meanwhile, retained her title of European champion in cross-country mountain biking, Sunday, in Novi Sad, Serbia. In two weeks, she will defend her world title in Val di Sole, Italy.
- The race in Spielberg, you will try to forget
It wasn’t Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco’s weekend. The two Frenchmen entered in Moto GP experienced qualifying and a difficult race Sunday on the Spielberg circuit, during the Austrian Grand Prix. The first let slip the podium in the last laps of the race during a pit stop and finished 7e, while the second dropped out following a fall.
For the second time of the season only, after the Spanish Grand Prix at the beginning of May, neither of the two Frenchmen is on the podium after a race. Zarco lost big during this Austrian weekend. With his retirement and the good performances of the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (2e) and Spaniard Jorge Martin (4e) at Spielberg, the Ducati rider moved from the 2e at the 4e place in the drivers’ classification.
Despite his 7e instead, Quartararo retains his place of leader in the general and even widens the gap on the second, Francesco Bagnaia, who is at 47 points. The only positive point of the weekend for the French driver.
- Your territory, you will mark
Big favorite to his own succession – and to achieve a hat-trick after 2019 and 2020 – Primoz Roglic has already put his foot in the Tour of Spain 2021. In the wake of his Olympic title in the time trial, the Slovenian cyclist won the time trial for the first stage of the Vuelta on Saturday. On a 7-kilometer course in the city of Burgos, he beat the Spaniard Alex Aranburu (Astana) and his compatriot Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Victorious) to directly don the red tunic of leader of the general classification.
The Jumbo-Visma rider especially took a few seconds ahead of his main competitors in the final victory: 14 over Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana), 20 over Adam Yates (Ineos-Grenadiers), 25 over Richard Carapaz (Ineos-Grenadiers) ) or 27 on Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers). Sunday, Primoz Roglic avoided the fall that cut the peloton 4 km from the finish of the second stage won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), unlike Adam Yates, who was delayed, who lost 31 extra seconds.
The weekend photo
When the @ypresrally comes to your place for breakfast ? We meet at 3pm on @canalplus Décalé to experience the… https://t.co/ScSrThpPlf
We bet that this inhabitant did not really appreciate the first of the Rally of Ypres (Belgium) in the calendar of the world championship WRC. At the 9e special, Saturday August 14, in Hollebeke, the Belgian WRC2 duo Pieter Tsjoen and Eddy Chevaillier locked themselves in the garage of a house, without physical consequences. The damage to the garage is considerable. “It’s a shame, my door was new”, reacted to the resident with the Laatste Nieuws.
At the sporting level, the Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) won on his land ahead of the Irishman Craig Breen (Hyundai) and the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota). Fifth in the rally, Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) retains the lead in the championship.
The declaration of the weekend
“We must not live in the past. “
A few days after the departure of Lionel Messi from Catalonia, the whole of FC Barcelona is still traumatized. At a press conference on Saturday, Ronald Koeman tried to reassure the state of his troops: “ We must not live in the past. Things are changing, and I am very excited about the team we have this year. “ The Barca coach also wanted to thank Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, who agreed to lower their salaries. “ Their gesture is to be underlined “, insisted Koeman.
A decision far from trivial because it allowed FC Barcelona, which has a debt of more than a billion euros, to comply with the regulations of the Spanish League and to register the Dutchman Memphis Depay. The latter played his first official match with Barça on Sunday night against Real Sociedad. The former Lyonnais did not score but the Blaugranas won, despite everything, the first match of the post-Messi era, thanks in particular to a brace from the former Toulouse striker Martin Braithwaite (4-2).
The weekend woman
Donata Hopfen will be #DFL CEO from 1 January 2022. More information ➡️ https://t.co/Sl35Ge84lP https://t.co/ZsdekFFvid
Donata Hopfen on Saturday became the first woman to be appointed head of the German Football League (DFL), which she will lead from 1er January 2022. Hopfen, who heads the innovation sector of the US consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, signed a three-year contract with the DFL. She had previously worked for the German press group Axel Springer, including owner of Bild, the most widely read daily in Germany and headed the company Verimi, specializing in the digital field. “She has all the qualities and abilities to guide first and second division clubs to a prosperous future”, said Peter Peters, vice-president of the League.
The weekend figure
19
Like New Zealand’s number of back-to-back wins in the Bledisloe Cup, an annual competition between the All Blacks and Team Australia. This time, the New Zealanders did not cut corners to win this 48e edition of the trophy. After their narrow victory in the first test match on August 7 against the Wallabies (33-25), the All Blacks crushed their opponents (57-22) in this match which also served as the first day of Rugby Championship.
Eight tries, including five in the second period, unchallenged domination, the most points scored against Australia… New Zealand remains unbeaten at home, in Auckland’s Eden Park, since 1994 and one defeat against France. New Zealand and Australia will face off again on August 28, for the 2e Rugby Championship day.