Les Bleues rugby in control, Tsitsipas as a prince in Monte-Carlo and Pidcock an opportunist on the Amstel… Sports overview of the weekend

Didn’t follow the results of the weekend? franceinfo: sport summarizes the sports news of the last days.

While the Ligue 1 clubs still taking part in the European Cups rested on Saturday 13 April and Sunday 14 April, the sporting weekend was marked by a big rugby part, between the Women’s Six Nations tournament and the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. But not only. In tennis, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas regained the throne at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, while British runner Tom Pidcock won the Amstel Gold Race.

Six Nations: Les Bleues registered their third success in a row

His last outing in Edinburgh was generally not reassuring. This time, the French XV made a strong impression against Italy at the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris, winning in style (38-15). The six tries scored showed the progress of the Blues in attack. All the more so as the implemented actions showed a new variant of the game.

Enough to consolidate second place in the rankings of the Six Nations Tournament before a more than affordable trip to the Wales side who were defeated by Ireland (36-5) on Saturday. Then there is the likely “final” against England in Bordeaux on April 27. For their part, the Red Roses mostly dominated the Scots (46-0).

Champions Cup: Stade Toulouse saves French record

Toulouse will see the semi-finals for the sixth time in a row. At the end of the offensive festival in their den, Rouge et Noir defeated the English club Exeter (64-26). Success in the continuity of the previous European meetings of coach Ugo Mola’s team. Nevertheless, the tension was present at the break, and the home team led by only a small point. The Toulouse team had to start the machine, eventually scoring more than nine tries.

The partners of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack thus came to the aid of French rugby after the defeat of the other two clubs that are still in the series. On Saturday, Union Bordeaux-Bègles lost by one point at home to Harlequin after a completely crazy game (12 tries, 41-42) despite a match ball on the top of Maxime Luc’s leg. Then the two-time title holder La Rochelle logically fell on the Leinster turf (40-13). Thanks to the Haut-Garonnais, the streak of 15 consecutive seasons with at least one team from the Top 14 in the European Cup semi-finals continues.

Monte-Carlo Masters 1000: Tsitsipas triples stakes

The Mediterranean air transports him to another dimension. For the third time in four years, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, defeating Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final (6-1, 6-4). The conclusion of a great week on Monaco clay, in which he scalped Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals on Saturday (6-4, 3-6, 6-4).

The meeting was still marked by a referee’s error that burdened the Italian, even though it was in full swing at the beginning of the season. For his part, Novak Djokovic failed to reach the final, due to a lack of consistency in the semi-final against Casper Ruud. (6-4, 1-6, 6-4). To build momentum between now and his title defense at Roland-Garros, the Serbian will want to shine in Madrid or Rome in the coming weeks.

Amstel Golden Race: Pidcock frustrates ogre Van der Poel

Everyone was waiting for Mathieu van der Poel, but the Dutch world champion – monumental at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – did not compete in this first Ardennes classic of the season. Various outsiders therefore jumped at this crumb left by the rainbow-fringed ogre, and in the end it was Tom Pidcock who won the bet.

The Brit from Ineos Grenadiers won the sprint, ahead of Swiss Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Belgian Tiesj Benoit (Visma-Lease a Bike). On the French side, the highlights were Paul Lapeira, Valentin Madouas and Quentin Pacher, all three in the top 10 on Sunday.