- Israel bans main UN Gaza aid agency, says pursuing hostage deal talks
- Curry to miss at least two NBA games with left ankle injury
- Hefty electric vehicle costs dent Ford profits
- COP16 chair hails biodiversity attaining 'equal footing' with climate crisis
- Aitana Bonmati wins second successive women's Ballon d'Or
- Ohtani named in Dodgers starting line-up for World Series game three
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or ceremony
- US finalizes curbs on investing in Chinese tech
- Harris blasts Trump after racist rally rhetoric
- Tens of thousands protest in Georgia over 'stolen' election
- Man Utd sack Ten Hag, reportedly set to appoint Amorim
- Bolivia says Morales falsely claimed assassination bid
- Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim set for Manchester United job: reports
- Retiring Popp signs off as Germany's first female football superstar
- Chopin waltz unearthed after 200 years
- England's Freeman keen to make 'life a misery' for All Blacks' Reece
- Serie A strugglers Genoa sign Mario Balotelli
- German citizen's execution by Iran 'extrajudicial killing of hostage': NGO
- Trump team on defensive over racist rhetoric
- Israel to pursue new talks on Gaza hostage deal
- El Salvador troops target gangs in large-scale operation
- North Korea sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia, US says
- Who said what on Ten Hag's sacking as Man Utd manager
- Alcaraz back in Paris with unfinished business at Bercy
- Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump rally
- Tens of thousands rally in Georgia after contested vote
- Clint Eastwood skips premiere of new film 'Juror #2'
- Georgia president hints at Russian-aided vote fraud in AFP interview
- Apple rolls out AI features across devices
- Sacked Ten Hag was a 'dead man walking' at Man Utd - Shearer
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or over perceived Vinicius snub
- Sexual assault trial of French actor Depardieu suspended until March
- North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia: Pentagon
- Palmer says Chelsea's youth creates its own pressures
- Harris, Trump and two contrasting 'first families'
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or over perceived Vinicius snub: club
- Suit filed in Pennsylvania to halt Musk's $1 mn giveaways
- Mowed down by cars, European hedgehog numbers shrinking
- One in three tree species at risk of extinction: report
- Five candidates to replace Ten Hag at Man Utd
- UN chief says Sudan is enduring 'nightmare' of hunger, violence, illness
- Trump, Harris enter final week of tense US election
- Ferdinand says sacked Ten Hag like a 'boxer knocked down'
- Chad hunts attackers after 40 killed in Boko Haram raid
- Oil prices tumble, global stocks rise as Iran fears ease
- Verstappen controversy, Hamilton happy - Mexico Grand Prix talking points
- Boeing announces stock offering expected to raise up to $19 billion
- UK far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson jailed for 18 months
- Sexual assault trial of French screen legend Depardieu opens without him
- X suspends new account posting on behalf of Iran leader Khamenei
Van der Poel - man for all seasons and surfaces
Mathieu van der Poel won the Tour of Flanders for a third time on Sunday adding to his burgeoning reputation as one of the all time greats of one-day road cycling.
Considered the greatest of the ultra-long one-day 'monument' races the 29-year-old Dutchman also won the iconic race over the cobbled lanes and hills of Flanders in 2020 and 2021.
Champion at two of the five monuments in 2023 with victories at Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, Van der Poel also won the Glasgow world championships road race last season.
He also stars on the winter mud of cyclo-cross, winning a sixth world championship in February.
On his first Tour de France, he settled a blood debt for his famous grandfather, French rider Raymond Poulidor, who never wore the leader's yellow jersey despite eight final podium finishes.
On stage two on his Tour debut in 2021, Van der Poel attacked repeatedly and escaped for good with a finishing rampage over the Mur de Bretagne to win the stage and take the overall leaders jersey, an honour his revered grandfather missed out on so many times by a whisker.
Against the odds, Van der Poel defended the Tour de France lead for six swashbuckling days.
His riding attracted a new generation of fans to the Tour de France, even though some felt his style too aggressive and detractors said his all-in style was distorting the usual strategy of the 21-day marathon.
Having originally said he would quit the Tour once he had lost the jersey, he instead completed it.
His fortunes took a nosedive in the mountain-bike competition at the Tokyo Olympics. He crashed on the first lap unaware that a ramp of rock, in place during practice, had been removed on the big day.
The subsequent back injury dogged his one-day campaign in 2022, but Van der Poel did win the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia, picking up his first-day Giro pink jersey.
Controversy struck in Australia when he was arrested overnight before the world championships at Wollongong in 2022 after chasing two teenage girls who had repeatedly woken him by knocking on his hotel door in a prank gone wrong.
He showed up at the start of the race after a sleepless night in a cell, but pulled out after an hour, leaving Australia under a cloud a few days later.
He won the world title in 2023 in Glasgow and dominated the one-day classics season before getting into hot water on the cyclo-cross circuit for spitting on an abusive fan.
L.Mason--AMWN