Newsflash: June 20th - Pidcock's staggering speed, Afghan Hopes, and the World Tour Powers at play
This week in your newsflash, Tom Pidcock showcased his fearless descending skills in a stunning stunt in Germany, reaching speeds of 95 km/h solo and an incredible 115 km/h when tethered to a motorbike, further cementing his reputation as one of cycling's most daring downhill riders. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's women's national road cycling championships will return for the first time since 2022, though held in France due to the Taliban's ban on women's sports, offering refugee athletes a powerful symbol of hope and resilience.
In the broader cycling world, the UCI has rejected the Saudi-backed One Cycling project's bid to reshape the WorldTour calendar, citing governance issues. However, the project's supporters remain determined to press on, potentially setting the stage for a major shake-up in the sport's future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SBS Australia
9 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Race Centre is the place for all things Tour de France on SBS
SAINT-LARY-SOULAN PLA D'ADET, FRANCE - JULY 13: (L-R) Pavel Sivakov of France, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - Yellow Leader Jersey and Mikel Landa of Spain and Team Soudal Quick-Step compete during the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 14 a 151.9km stage from Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet 1653m / #UCIWT / on July 13, 2024 in Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet, France. (Photo by) Source: Getty /The place to watch the Tour de France - LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE - plus the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is right here on SBS or via the SBS On Demand Hub. As we continue to count down the days to the start of the 2025 editions of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, it's crucial to know where you can find everything to help you follow every pedal-stroke. That's why the Race Centre on the SBS Sport website is a Le Tour fan's new best friend, no matter if you're a life member of the couch peloton or just want to see who's winning while on the train to work in July. Launching prior to Stage 1, Race Centre will feature a detailed startlist with every team and rider participating, route profiles of all the stages and up to date stats and rankings throughout the event. Fans will also be able to tap into every kilometre of the action on the road with a live race tracker, where a real-time map of the route will show the peloton's progress from first to last kilometre and a timeline of the key events as they happen. Post-stage results, highlights, interviews and more will be available after the riders cross the line. Make sure to bookmark the Race Centre once it's available, or this article, so you don't miss a single moment of the biggest cycling race in the world while watching along on SBS and SBS On Demand. Watch now Share this with family and friends The SBS Cycling Podcast is a punchy podcast covering the world of professional cycling, coming to you during the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Botafogo edge PSG & celebrate with fans!
Football: Catch all the action between Paris Saint-Germain and Botafogo during the Club World Cup.
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- News.com.au
Paris makes clean water bet for River Seine bathers
A year on from athletes competing in the River Seine during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, French authorities guarantee the water will be safe for the public to swim in this summer. Parisians and tourists will be able to dive into the river from July 5, weather permitting, according to authorities. The public will be able to access three bathing sites at bras Marie in the heart of the historic centre, the Grenelle district in the west of Paris, as well as Bercy in the east. Last year, water treatment stations, holding tanks and connections to the Parisian boat sanitation system were installed. "For the Games, we cleaned up three quarters of the Seine. And the water was 100 percent ready for bathing on dry days," said Marc Guillaume, the prefect for the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris. According to Guillaume, the top state-appointed official for the region, the new bathing zones will be popular. This year, the weather is predicted to be drier than the record rainfall during the Games, which had led to the cancellation of six of the eleven competitions held the river. "It was an extraordinary moment (in 2024), but swimming during the Games was not an end in itself," Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had told reporters in May. "Making the Seine swimmable is first and foremost a response to the objective of adapting to climate change, but also of quality of life," she added. - "Bathing plan" - Last year, Hidalgo dove into the Seine in front of journalists from around the world before the Games began. The historic swim signalled the end of years of efforts to clean the Seine and the river which flows into it, the Marne. Work had started in the 1990s, with an initial investment of more than nine billion euros (10.4 billion dollars) from the greater Paris sanitation authorities. Following initial efforts, the "bathing plan" leading up to the 2024 Paris Games was launched in 2016. The French state and local authorities had invested another 1.4 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars). The plan was focused on preventing the city's waste waters from flowing into the Seine. The mid-19th century Parisian sewage system often overflows on rainy days, causing rain and waste waters to pour into the river. - "Insufficient" testing - Flags will inform bathers about pollution levels in the water every day, and if it rains the sites will likely close on the day after, said Paris city official Pierre Rabadan. "We're not tossing a coin, we're relying on scientific data," he said, adding that no athlete had fallen ill after swimming in the river last summer. The presence of the fecal bacteria escherichia coli (E. coli) and enterococci in the Seine will be assessed daily using live sensors and samples. According to the association France Nature Environment Ile-de-France, the planned tests are "insufficient". There are "many viruses which cannot be tested for" in the Seine, said honorary president of the association Michel Riottot. Swallowing too much water from the river could lead a person to catch hepatitis, gastroenteritis or skin diseases, former research engineer Riottot told AFP. Chemical pollution will not be measured either, added Riottot. "If there is occasional pollution upstream, we will be informed, so we will be able to take necessary measures," said Rabadan. The number of species of fish in the Seine increased from four in 1970 to thirty-six reported in February -- a sign that water sanitation has improved over the years. In early June, the Paris City Council gave legal rights and a personhood status to the Seine to protect its fragile ecosystem, as part of a global movement to grant legal personhood to nature.
