what to remember from the sports weekend

Yes, Teddy Riner lost a judo fight, which is rare.

Down. LUCAS BARIOULET / AFP

Yes, Renaud Lavillenie has lost a pole vault world record, which is rare.

Down (twice).
Down (twice). LUKASZ SZELAG / AFP

Yes, the French team won a rugby match, and we would almost get used to it.

To ter-ter.
To ter-ter. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

But something else happened in the sports world this weekend. And you may have missed it.

The three lessons of the weekend

  • The big crystal globe, you will refuse

Luc Alphand, the last French winner of the general classification of the Alpine Skiing World Cup in 1997, may wait another year to know his successor: Alexis Pinturault, who shared with Henrik Kristoffersen the status of favorite at the start of the season , lived a very bad weekend in Chamonix.

From those who make you understand that the big crystal globe will not be for you. This one leans a little more towards Norway: Aleksander Kilde, specialist in speed disciplines, managed the tour de force to take points from the two technicians Kristoffersen and Pinturault on this technical weekend. Sunday, the French railed against the format – inept and inequitable – of the parallel giant, saying he had "The feeling of (Se) to make fly ". The International Ski Federation had nothing to do with his slalom run the day before, when the head of the general classification held out his arms to him.

Madeleine Malonga, world champion and winner of the "grand slam" of Paris on Sunday in less than 78 kilos.
Madeleine Malonga, world champion and winner of the "grand slam" of Paris on Sunday in less than 78 kilos. LUCAS BARIOULET / AFP

Six months before the Tokyo Olympics, one hardly advances by saying that the Japanese judokates have nightmares of the French team. This weekend at the "grand slam" in Paris, the women saved the face of French judo – the male sector resembling a field of ruins after the collapse of its ridge beam.

In the last two categories on Sunday, the prodigy Romane Dicko – she was already European champion at 18 – won gold on ippon in + 78 kg and Madeleine Malonga dominated Fanny-Estelle Posvite for a French double among – 78 kilograms. In this category, Audrey Tcheuméo, double Olympic medalist, will probably not see Tokyo.

The two titles are added to that, which has become ritual, of Clarisse Agbegnenou the day before. France placed its representatives in the semi-finals in all categories. In Tokyo, at the world championships last year, this relatively young but already experienced team had already won three titles, more than the Japanese.

Will the European Union soon be in the minority in the Six Nations Tournament? This may well be the case in 2024 if the project revealed on Saturday by Daily Mail is carried out. According to the British daily, South Africa could enter the tournament after the 2023 World Cup. This project will make the supporters of the tradition of a sport strongly divided between the two hemispheres scream. It would obey an economic logic, while the powerful CVC investment fund is negotiating with the Six Nations Tournament to market its rights.

South Africa has already set foot in European rugby with the integration of two provinces in 2017 in the Pro14 League (ex-Celtic League). Many South African players play in France and the time difference would be much more favorable for local television than when South Africa plays in Australia or New Zealand. According to Mail, this entry would not come at the expense of Italy and the Tournament would pass to seven nations – adding to the busy schedule.

The man of the weekend: Benoît Cosnefroy

Benoît Cosnefroy and an amateur videographer.
Benoît Cosnefroy and an amateur videographer. SYLVAIN THOMAS / AFP

Benoît Cosnefroy is a young first, and we don't say that for his glasses and his tidy hair: at 24, he successively won the Grand Prix la Marseillaise and the Etoile de Bessèges, the first two races of the cycling season on French soil.

La Marseillaise, it was the previous weekend, Bessèges, it was Sunday, at the end of an impeccably managed week: Cosnefroy was the most consistent on the three stages deciding on the final classification, until the the watch disputed on Sunday in Alès (7e).

The Norman, world champion in 2017, begins his third full year with professionals in the shoes of a leader at AG2R-La Mondiale, and his speech after his victory was that of a regular. Cosnefroy has won almost everything that has appeared on French roads since last year, as long as the course is hilly (five wins in 2019). As he himself says, it is no longer on this kind of racing that it is expected, but rather on the World Tour and in particular the Ardennes classics.

The figure of the weekend: 9

In memory of football fans, it’s unheard of: nine missed shots in a row in a professional game. It happened on Saturday during the Japan Supercup: Vissel Kobe and Yokohama struggled to decide after a 3-3 draw.

After successfully completing the first four attempts, the shooters clumsily competed – six shots out of frame – and the goalkeepers – three saves, before Japanese international Hotaru Yamagochi finally found the nets. The Vissel Kobe thus won its first Supercup.

We recommend watching this moment of history.

Weekend wikis

Way

I still had a very solid starting game with Real Madrid this weekend. The 4-1 win at Osasuna allows Zinedine Zidane – who loves me – to stay three points ahead of the La Liga. On Sunday evening, Barça won 3-2 at Betis Seville, in a match where Nabil Fekir and Clément Lenglet scored … and were then ejected.

Difficult

My career does not look like much, but since I returned to Ligue 1, I have done a lot of good at RC Strasbourg.

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