On The Subject Of Rugby In France 2011
John asks…
How much will tickets to the final of the 2011 NZ Rugby World Cup cost?
The NZ Rugby World Cup website states that:
“Ticket prices are likely to be set in early 2009. For the final and semi finals, these are expected to be based on international prices and will be similar to the semi final and final ticket costs for the last Rugby World Cup in France.”
But what were the final prices for the Rugby World Cup in France?
Stewart McIntosh answers:
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Monfils Begins on a Positive Note
AFP – Lleyton Hewitt said he was feeling fresh ahead of his 15th Australian Open after notching a rain-interrupted 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win over Mikhail Youzhny at the Kooyong Classic Wednesday.
With the flood tragedy unfolding thousands of kilometres to the north in Queensland, poor weather was also affecting Melbourne.
Hewitt’s match was delayed by 90 minutes in the second set before the former world number one returned to court to earn a victory at the eight-man tune-up for the Open, which starts Monday.
The 29-year-old has never played the Kooyong Classic, preferring ATP events as warm ups prior to the first major of the season.
“I knew I’d get three good matches here, it’s a good field,” he said. “You can’t buy matches like the one I just had. This is how you get match-tough and that’s what you have to be for the Open.
“I feel I can compete with most guys now, I had hard weeks of training after my (elbow) injury in September. I’m fresh and feel pretty good. That’s a good sign at age 29.”
Frenchman Gael Monfils also began his season on a positive note with his third straight win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco to open the four-day event.
Monfils, whose last competitive outing came as a losing Davis Cup finalist last month against Serbia, pulled back from the brink after dropping the opening set to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
“It was good, it was the first match of the season, I’m pretty happy,” said the 12th-ranked Monfils, who said his off-season preparation consisted of “a lot of running and some gym work” as he stayed away from tennis after a long 2010 campaign.
“It was a tough start to the match, but once I found my rhythm, I was moving well. I was the aggressor on the court.”
Monfils has never lost to the ninth-ranked Verdasco, beating him in the Paris indoor third round two months ago and at Monte Carlo on clay in 2008.
Verdasco won the Kooyong special event a year ago over France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose opener against Austrian Jurgen Melzer was put back to Thursday after the rain. Monfils plays the winner of that match.
Monfils, watched by his Australian coach Roger Rasheed, showed good early conditioning as he mounted a comeback in an encounter lasting 2hr 52min.
The athletic Frenchman, who lost the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 final to Robin Soderling last November, came through for his first-round victory on a third match point.
Monfils struck gold with a drop shot for a third match point and took the victory as Verdasco ploughed a return into the net.
French Alps avalanche
A British skier was among four people killed by an avalanche in the French Alps today, local authorities have said.
The skiers were in a group of seven people who were skiing off piste in the popular Val d’Isère region. Two of the victims were French and another was Swedish.
Categories: Sport Tags: avalanche, Backcountry skiing, Disaster/Accident, Meteorology, Rescue equipment, Safety, Snow, Val-d'Isère, Weather
Health and the fight against doping in sport
The Agence française de lutte anti-doping (AFLD) is spearheading actions in favour of a more clean sport. The site of the Agency video details the doping control process and list the effects and dangers of certain prohibited substances.
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British skier killed in French Alps
A British skier has died in an accident while on holiday with his family in the French Alps.
John Atkinson reportedly crashed into a rock when he went off-piste at the popular resort of Les Deux Alpes, near Grenoble, while skiing in poor visibility on Christmas Eve.
A spokesman for the resort said Atkinson, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, had diverted off the La Fée piste, a blue run suitable for beginners and novices, when the accident happened. He was not wearing a helmet and was skiing behind his son and daughter, who are said to be in their 20s, when the accident occurred at about 2.30pm yesterday.
A doctor on holiday who was skiing behind him came to his aid and sent out an alert, but poor weather conditions prevented a helicopter being sent out. A local doctor arrived at the scene and Atkinson was pronounced dead at about 3.30pm.
Atkinson, his wife and children arrived at the resort on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the police in Les Deux Alpes said the family were “in shock” and too upset to talk about what happened. “He was skiing with his children on a blue piste at around 3pm yesterday,” the spokeswoman said. “It was snowing, and the visibility was not good. He crashed into a rock.”
The Atkinsons had booked their holiday with the holiday company Les Deux Alpes Loisirs. Marie-Claude Berini, from the company’s rescue department, based at the resort, told the Evening Standard.
She said: “Mr Atkinson was skiing at 2,400 metres and hit a rock. He was experienced, but you always take a risk if you go off-piste.”
Atkinson’s wife, Susan, had decided not to go out with the others and had stayed at their rented flat.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are aware of the death of a British national at the Deux Alpes yesterday and we are attempting to contact the next of kin to offer consular assistance.”
Two Britons died at the resort in March last year. Richard Ryan, 27, and Christopher Lockwood, 28, fell down a ravine after a night out.
Winter sports: the economy of white gold
France, rich in the variety of its stations, today is a world leader in winter with 10 million visitors and 7 million practitioners including 2 million foreigners ski tourism.
The France has a unique infrastructure and ski stations distributed on its various mountainous massifs: with 357 stations, or 8.9% of the global capabilities, include three nations ski in the world, elbow to elbow with the Austria and the United States.
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Categories: France Holiday, Sport Tags: Åre, Entertainment, France, Hospitality/Recreation, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry, Savoie, Ski resort, Sports, tourism, Vanoise Express
France Sports Same Team
France coach Marc Lievremont has opted to stick with the same squad for the clash with Ireland despite fitness fears over Luc Ducalcon, Aurelien Rougerie and Benjamin Fall.
France opened up their RBS Six Nations rugby campaign with an impressive, forward-dominated victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.
Categories: Sport Tags: Aurélien Rougerie, Benjamin Fall, coach, France, Luc Ducalcon, Marc Lievremont, rbs, Republic of Ireland, rugby, sixnations, Sports, stade de france
RadioShack Team for 2010 Tour de France
Johan Bruyneel, the manager of Team RadioShack has released the details of 14 cyclists in contention for the 9 places with the team’s 2010 Tour de France programme.
The first-year ProTour outfit’s long term programme contains several experienced Tour de France entrants, led by seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
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Tour de France 2010
The 2010 Tour will be launched from the south side of Rotterdam, for a prologue time-trial. The launching pad will actually be set up in Zuidplein, from where the riders will move north.
The choice of Rotterdam, a vast urban centre with one million two hundred thousand inhabitants, is directly in keeping with the special start of the Tour in London in 2007. The proposed project – “Rotterdam and the Tour, a new energy” – seduced us. It fits into an overall policy that aims to an even bigger place for the bicycle in the city’s heart, while leaning on the popularity of the biggest cycling race in the world, the Tour de France. From the banks of the Thames to the biggest port in Europe: the same desire, the same will.
Categories: Events, Sport Tags: Belgium, Crédit Agricole, cycling, energy, Europe, France, Germany, Hospitality/Recreation, Italy, journalist, London, Luxembourg, Netherlands, queen, Rhine, Rotterdam, Spain, Thames, Tour de France, Wassenaar
Lance Armstrong Seeks Victory at 2009 Tour de France
Lance Armstrong believes he can win an eighth Tour de France title, well aware that after 4 years of retirement, his ageing legs are not as strong as they used to be. The 37-year-old Armstrong won the last of his record seven straight Tours in 2005, and his unexpected comeback has fans worldwide eager to see if he can add another victory to his cycling legend.
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Categories: News, Sport, Tour Tags: 10//2, American Tour de France stage winners, Armstrong, Astana, Belgium, Bobby Julich, cancer, chemotherapy, cycling, Firmin Lambot, France, Inigo Cuesta, Italy, Lance Armstrong, Monaco, Nevada City, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Sports, sports world, surgery, testicular cancer, Texas, Tour de France, United States, Yellow jersey statistics