Former French rugby stars Christian Califano and Philippe Bernat-Salles are ready for the grueling demands of the Dakar Rally when they make their debuts tomorrow.
Califano, 36 and capped 72 times by France, is competing in the motorbike race and came sailing through the final administrative checks on Wednesday.
Califano, who was a stalwart of the great Toulouse team of the 1990s winning six titles and the 1996 European Cup before becoming the first French player to compete in the Super 12 when he signed for the Auckland Blues, is a motorbike fanatic and undertook lessons from two-time Dakar winner Cyril Despres.
“I am living a dream come true,” he said.
“I am feeling very humble. My target is to get to the finish and nothing more than that,” added Califano, who was celebrating New Year with nothing stronger than a bottle of water.
Bernat-Salles — who was capped 41 times and was a member like Califano of the squad that reached the 1999 World Cup final — is taking part in the car section but the 38-year-old is part of the same team “100% Sud-Ouest.”
The Dakar has a habit of attracting people from other sports with former French skier Luc Alphand winning in 2006.
The grueling two-week race has been switched from Africa to the relative stability of Argentina and Chile after last year’s edition was canceled because of security fears.
It was the first cancelation in the history of the race and was sparked by the murder of four French tourists in Mauritania.
The race runs till Jan. 17 and sees the competitors cross Argentina and Chile before returning to Buenos Aires for the finish.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
RSS