Animated in the Belgian Ardennes thanks to cycling, the sporting weekend was also marked by the sweeping victory of Jessy Trémoulière’s teammates over the Welsh in the Six Nations, to offer themselves a “final” at Twickenham next week.
It was sadly gray in this not really spring-like weekend, but no problem: there were enough great sporting moments not to leave home. We could even observe a rainbow lighting up the Ardennes sky, with Remco Evenepoel’s new victory over Liège-Bastogne-Lège, a few hours after Demi Vollering’s victory in the form of a hat-trick in the women’s category. No cloud either in the sky of the Bleues du rugby, still on track for the Grand Slam in the Six Nations 2023, nor for Carlos Alcaraz. On the other hand, it darkens in Bavaria, where Thomas Tuchel and Benjamin Pavard’s Bayern Munich have lost their minds.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Vollering and Evenepoel crowned
After the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche wallonne, Demi Vollering (SD Worx) won Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Dutchwoman overtook Elisa Longo Borghini (Treak-Segafredo) in the sprint, to win the Dean of the Classics for the second time in her career, after 2021. The Dutchwoman, big favorite, thus signed a hat-trick on the Ardennes classics, only previously carried out by Anna van der Breggen in 2017, its current sports director.
This hat-trick, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) dreamed of it in the men’s race. But after a heavy fall which caused him two wrist fractures, the Slovenian abandoned the race 150 km from the finish. His long-awaited duel with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) therefore did not take place. In his absence, the Belgian world champion proved intractable, well helped by the undermining work carried out by his teammates, including Julian Alaphilippe. After a fatal attack on the Côte de la Redoute, which only Tom Pidcock survived, Evenepoel left alone 29 km from the finish. Already winner last year in Liège, the 23-year-old prodigy repeats the feat.
Six nations: the Blue offer their “final” at Twickenham
It was their last opponent on the road to England. The XV of France signed a fourth victory in a row in the Six Nations Tournament against Wales (39-14) on Sunday. Carried by a first act of very high level, and a Jessy Trémoulière at the top for his last match on French soil, the Blue dug an advantage then resisted the Welsh pressure on the return from the locker room.
It is now a final at the top for the title and the Grand Slam which awaits them at Twickenham, against the world number 1, in front of a record crowd of at least 55,000 spectators. With a little taste of revenge, the French having been deprived of the title by the Red Roses during the last three tournaments.
Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz for a first
Since the start of the clay-court season, he is the only Top 3 member to have won a tournament. Carlos Alcaraz won in Barcelona on Saturday at the expense of Stefanos Tsitsipas, fifth in the world, to retain a title for the first time in his career. He mastered the meeting, without being sparkling (6-3, 6-4). Favorite of the Masters 1000 in Madrid this week, especially after the withdrawals of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard is in good shape, the complete opposite of his two main rivals.
Forfeited in Barcelona after having already been in Monte Carlo and again this week in Madrid, Rafael Nadal has not set foot on the circuit since his elimination in the second round of the Australian Open. As for world number 1, Novak Djokovic, he has still not won two straight matches on clay, beaten by his compatriot Dusan Lajovic (6-4, 7-6) in Banja Luka on Friday. All this one month before Roland-Garros.
Champions League: Barça takes an option, Arsenal and Wolfsburg back to back
Solid, the Barcelona players won the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals by beating Chelsea (1-0) in London. The Catalans generally dominated the game and opened the scoring very early, by Caroline Graham (4th). Executioner of Lyon in the quarters, the English club will have a lot to do to prevent Barça from playing a fourth C1 final in five years, in the return match next weekend.
In the other semi-final, Wolfsburg believed to take a serious advantage as well. The Louves indeed led 2-0 after barely 24 minutes of play. But the Germans saw their lead melt away against Arsenal, who first reduced the gap before the break, before equalizing in the second half. Final result 2-2, and two teams back to back before the return match in London, Monday May 1.
Bundesliga: Tuchel and Bayern on the mat, Dortmund leader five days from the end
When he was appointed in early March, Thomas Tuchel hoped to achieve a Champions League-Championship-Cup treble with Bayern Munich. A month later, it all came crashing down. The former PSG coach had as many defeats (3) in seven games as his predecessor, Julien Nagelsmann, in 37. Eliminated by Manchester City in the C1 quarter-finals, and by Friborg in the cup, the Bavarians are not yet defeated in the league. but their defeat on Saturday at Mainz (1-3) allowed Borussia Dortmund to regain the lead in the championship on their own five days from the end.
While Bayern had pulverized Dortmund (4-2) for the first match of the Tuchel era, and regained the lead, he shot himself in the foot on Saturday. Dortmund took advantage of the gift, winning 4-0 against Randal Kolo Muani’s Eintracht Frankfurt. With now a point ahead of the Bavarians, Borussia Dortmund is in a strong position to finally dethrone Bayern, champion every year for … ten years.
