Find the Tops and Flops of the sports weekend awarded by the sports editorial staff of Le Figaro.
TOPS
Sonny Colbrelli, the neophyte (8/10)
The Italians, like Gianni Moscon (taken 16 km from the finish line) animated a fantastic edition of Paris-Roubaix rainy, muddy, unpredictable. In the sprint, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) played with his two breakaway companions, the Belgian Florian Vermeersch and the Dutch Mathieu Van der Poel to clinch the best victory of his career. Colbrelli (31), a successful runner who has just been crowned European champion. He is registered as the first neophyte winner of the “Queen of classics»Since Jean Forestier in 1955.
Sonny Colbrelli, a hellish sprint, to dominate Paris-Roubaix
Castres: Hounkpatin hits hard (7/10)
A show of force. Two times. The right pillar of Castres Olympique, Wilfrid Hounkpatin, shone in the victory against Rugby Club Toulonnais, scoring a brace (13th, 43rd). A rather unusual performance for a pillar. Facing the RCT, the right-hander passed through Narbonne then Rouen came to light. Confirming the extent of his talent repaired by Fabien Galthié and his staff who took him to Australia this summer for the Blues tour (one success, two setbacks). His sparkle on Saturday should remind him of the good memories of the French team preparing for the autumn test matches (Argentina, Georgia, New Zealand).
Rennes stops the Parisian ogre (9/10)
The Rennais put an end to the series of invincibility of the Parisians this Sunday (2-1). In a hectic Roazhon Park, Bruno Genesio’s men inflicted the first defeat of the season on the capital club, Manchester City’s scorer in the Champions League on Tuesday (2-0). A prestigious victory which allows Rennes to chain a second consecutive success and provisionally integrate the top 10 of Ligue 1. The Breton coach has in any case appreciated the performance of his people at its true value: “We played the game we needed, with everything we need to beat this team: desire, solidarity, an ability to put in a lot of effort. We added play, pressing and also a share of success that we had missed. The turning point of the match is Messi’s free kick on the bar, that would have changed a lot of things. We can talk about an exploit, even if we believed we were capable of doing it.»
Read alsoTops / Flops Rennes-PSG: Sulemana shone, Messi and Mbappé harvested
The winning return of the Papadakis-Cizeron duo (8/10)
Ideal return for Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron: after twenty months without competition, the quadruple world ice dance champions have been able to live up to their Olympic gold ambition in four months in Beijing, at the Masters in Epinal (Vosges), traditional national meeting at the start of the season. For their first outing since January 2020, Papadakis and Cizeron, both 26, won with a total of 231.10 points. Saturday, they were rewarded with 137.31 points at the end of their free dance skated on the Elegie of Gabriel Fauré, played on the cello and the piano. The day before, their rhythmic dance had been credited with 93.79 points. Scores of excellence – however not transferable to the international level. “The goal was to show everyone that they were attacking this Olympic season being ready, that we might not be there for twenty months but that we still know how to stand up, more than that. same ! This is accomplished», Appreciates their trainer Romain Haguenauer.
FLOPS
Real Madrid, a week to forget (1/10)
Real Madrid’s black week continues. After sinking at the Bernabéu on Wednesday against Sheriff Tiraspol (1-2) in the Champions League, the Merengues experienced a new disillusionment on the lawn of Espanyol Barcelona (2-1) this Sunday. Despite a new achievement from Karim Benzema, Carlo Ancelotti’s proteges conceded a second defeat in a row and a third unsuccessful match in all competitions. For the Italian coach, it is a meeting to quickly forget: “We played badly. There is not much else to say. We did not manage to keep our calm, to put in place what we had planned. The team was not well positioned, with and without the ball. We have to be honest, this is the worst game of our season. Now we have to use the international window to reflect a bit on why this team has changed its attitude in a week. But defeat is no accident. Two defeats, it’s not our habit in this team, in this club. We must quickly find a cure.»
Read alsoNew failure for Real Madrid who fall on the lawn of Espanyol Barcelona
La Rochelle, the relapse (4/10)
Vice-champion of France and Europe, Stade Rochelais is struggling since the resumption of the Top 14. After three initial setbacks (certainly against big teams), the Maritimes had unlocked their victory counter by sweeping the Biarritz Olympique (59-17). Their season was launched? Not really, since the team now coached by Ronan O’Gara relapsed on Saturday on the lawn of Montpellier (21-11). The end of last season does not seem to have been digested and O’Gara is struggling to restart a machine that was formidable during the last exercise. Kevin Gourdon and his teammates are only 12th in the top flight. Far from the ambitions born of their new status… Catch-up session next Saturday, at Marcel-Deflandre, against Castres.
Read alsoTop 14: Brive sinks the Stade Français, La Rochelle relapses in Montpellier
Wout Van Aert, the mold and piss (5/10)
The weeks go by and look the same for the Belgian. After carrying the favorite sign during the Leuven World Championships which crowned Julian Alaphiulppe, the leader of the Jumbo-Visma team established himself as one of the essentials of Paris-Roubaix. Braked by a fall in the Arenberg Trench, Wout Van Aert then never found the right rhythm. Too far when Mathieu Van der Poel launched his operation to review the lead of the race, he could not then join in the fight for the final victory. He must be content with a new place of honor (7th at 1’16 ”). Far from his dreams of conquest. Exhausted and dejected, he said he longed for rest. To digest. Before relaunching.
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