THIS WEEK:ALL ABOUT

Le Tour de France

ALSO:Petanque: what is the story behind this fascinating sport?

FRENCH

More about French soccer!

And: everything you wanted to know about the French Open

Contents

Introduction 3

Everything about the Tour de France 4-6

Dutch in the French Open 7

French Soccer 8

Everything you ever wanted to know

about petanque 9-10

Sources 11

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Introduction

Sports in France play an important role in French society, and the country has a strong sporting history.

Especially in the field of cycling, soccer, rugby and pétanque (what we in the Netherlands call ‘jeu de boules’) a well-known country. Famous French sporting matches are Roland Garros, which is a tennis tournament, the Tour de France, for cyclists and the classic Paris-Roubaix, also for cyclists.

France is also country were parkour and horseball were first played, these are two new sports that are increasing in popularity.

In this magazine, we focus on the Tour de France, soccer, tennis and petanque. We have done this, because these are the most popular sports in the Netherlands. Every year lot of Dutch people watch the Tour de France and the French tennis games. We are also massive soccer fans, and on vacation we don’t shy away from some petanque.

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Everything about the Tour de France!

The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the

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The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the

The first Tour de France was staged in 1903. The plan was a five-stage race from 31 May to 5 July, starting in Paris and stopping in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes before returning to Paris. Toulouse was added later to break the long haul across southern France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Stages would go through the night and finish next afternoon, with rest days before riders set off again. But this proved too daunting and the costs too great for most and only

The First one

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The first Tour de France was staged in 1903. The plan was a five-stage race from 31 May to 5 July, starting in Paris and stopping in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes before returning to Paris. Toulouse was added later to break the long haul across southern France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Stages would go through the night and finish next afternoon, with rest days before riders set off again. But this proved too daunting and the costs too great for most and only

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Famous losers- Joop Zoetemelk doesn’t really

belong in this list, because he won the Tour in 1980. He was runner up six times and ended up in the top 10 eleven times.

- Raymond Poulidor stood on stage eight times between 1962 and 1976, but he was never the winner. This left him the nickname the eternal runner-up.

- Michel Pollentier was pulled out of the race as the leader of the classification because he tried to outsmart the doping-inspectors at Alpe d’Huez.

- Roger Rivière fell during the descend of the Perjuret in 1960. He broke his vertebra. His business career failed and he died of cancer at 40.

- Maurice Garin was the winner of the first Tour, but he was disqualified in the second Tour, because it was rumored that he had taken the train.

- Andy Schleck was runner-up in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

- Lance Armstrong had to hand over his seven victories because he was found guilty of the use of doping. No new winners were assigned.

The competitors with the most triumphs are the French Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, the Belgian Eddy Merckx and the Spanish Miguel Indurain. The all won the Tour five times.The most recent Dutch winner of the Tour de France was Joop Zoetemelk. He won the Tour in 1980. The Tour of 2012 was a very special edition for the Dutch. No less than eighteen racers started the Tour in Luik. This is the biggest number of racers for the Netherlands since 1991, when there were also eighteen Dutch racers who started the Tour. The record of thirty Dutch racers is still standing, this record is from 1989.The Tour de france of 2013 is a Tour for allrounders. There are climbs like the Alpe d’Huez and the Mont Ventoux, but also a time trial, team as well as individual. The Dutch Andy Schleck will be competing as well.

The French Open

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During the Open Era (since 1968) 25 Dutch tennis players have participated in the main event of the men's singles at the French tennis tournament Roland Garros (also called French Open). Tom Okker was the first Dutch participant in 1969. In the subsequent 1970s Dutch participation couldn’t be taken for granted with six tournaments in which no Dutch tennis player took part in the main tournament. In the 1980s the Netherlands would be represented by Michiel schapers, who participated for eight years in a row, but not in 1982. In the 1990s, the Netherlands were represented each year. This was also the Decade of the widest Dutch representation, especially thanks to Paul Haarhuis who participated in eleven games in a row. In this century The Netherlands only failed to participate in 2009. In 2003, the first and so far only Dutchman Martin Verkerk made it to the finals of the tournament, in which he, however, lost in three sets by the Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. The French Open is very popular with the Dutch people.

Dutch in the French Open

French SoccerThe France national soccer team represents France in international soccer. It is fielded by the French Football Federation, the governing body of soccer in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe. The national team's traditional colours are blue, white and red, the colors of the national flag of France, known as the drapeau tricolore, and the coq gaulois is the symbol of the team. France is also known as Les Bleus (The Blues), which is the name associated with all of the country's sporting national teams, due to the blue shirts each team incorporates.French soccer players are internationally known. Several French soccer players play at Dutch soccer clubs, too. A few examples are the players Edouard Duplan, who plays for FC Utrecht and Julien Escude, who played for AFC Ajax.Duplan signed in 2007 for four seasons at Sparta Rotterdam. In 2010 Sparta degraded, so Duplan signed a three-year contract with FC Utrecht in August 2010. In Duplan's first season for FC Utrecht, he made in both the Europa League as well as in the Eredivisie a good impression. This led even to interest from the Serie A.

Escudé transferred in the summer of 2003 from Stade Rennais to Ajax. He made his debut for Ajax in the Champions League qualifying round match at Grazer AK in August 2003. In February

2004, he scored his first goal for the club, at home against FC Twente (1-0). In 2006

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Escudé moved to the Spanish Sevilla FC. Reportedly Ajax received some 1.5 million for Escudé, who signed a contract for three and a half years.

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What’s the story around jeu de boules?

The game that every Dutch person calls jeu de boules, is actually called pentanque. It’s one of many sports played with steel boules. One of the other well-known variants is Jeu Provençal. In this game, de boules are thrown from a bigger distance and the players take a run of three fast passes, at each throw. At the beginning of the last century, when a few players from the fishing town La Ciotat were playing a game of Provençal, an old champion had to watch from his chair. This old champion, Jules le Noir, isn’t capable of making these three fast passes because of his rheumatism. But, he is capable of throwing the balls while standing still. This is the reason why his friends simplified the rules of the game. They decide to throw the balls from a shorter distance en from stagnation. This is how the game, in which men throw from a throwing circle with their feet on the ground, is created. The word ‘petanque’ comes from the French pieds tangués, which means ‘with feet closed on the ground’.

Everything you ever wanted to know about petanque!

The biggest tournament in the world

The first Sunday of July in Marseille, Mondial La Marseillaise, the biggest and most prestigious petanque tournament in the world. Then the squares of the city in the south of France fill up with more than 3000 triplettes (teams of three) who are challenging for the championship. The biggest Dutch tournament is held in Esch (in the province of Brabant). In the second week of September 2000 players gather and play against each other. The good thing about this tournament is everyone can participate, even people without an official license.

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What’s the story around jeu de boules?

The game that every Dutch person calls jeu de boules, is actually called pentanque. It’s one of many sports played with steel boules. One of the other well-known variants is Jeu Provençal. In this game, de boules are thrown from a bigger distance and the players take a run of three fast passes, at each throw. At the beginning of the last century, when a few players from the fishing town La Ciotat were playing a game of Provençal, an old champion had to watch from his chair. This old champion, Jules le Noir, isn’t capable of making these three fast passes because of his rheumatism. But, he is capable of throwing the balls while standing still. This is the reason why his friends simplified the rules of the game. They decide to throw the balls from a shorter distance en from stagnation. This is how the game, in which men throw from a throwing circle with their feet on the ground, is created. The word ‘petanque’ comes from the French pieds tangués, which means ‘with feet closed on the ground’.

Jeu de boules in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the players of pétanque are organized in the ‘Dutch Jeu de Boules Association’ (NJBB), which was found in 1972. The NJBB joined the Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FIPJP) in 1974. In 2011 the NJBB involved around 18.000 members, spread over 210 clubs. So, jeu de boules is played all over the Netherlands, but it isn’t really popular. Dutch people don’t often talk about the game and there isn’t much publicity about the game. But still, the French did have some influences on Dutch sports, since more than 18.000 people are member of a club and a lot of people play the game when they are on vacation.

International tournaments

-10 July: Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque in Parc Borely, Marseille (France)16-20 July: World Championship Triplette in Genève (Switzerland)5-7 September: World Championship youth in Brno (Czech Republic) 7-9 November: European Championship women in Rastatt (Germany)

Sources1. www.sportinfonu.nl2. http://www.njbb.nl/3. http://stkildasportsclub.com.au/st-kilda-petanque-club/4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France5. http://www.nu.nl/sport/2843976/achttien-nederlanders-nemen-deel-tour-france.html6. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronde_van_Frankrijk7. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nederlanders_op_Roland_Garros_%28heren_enkelspel%29

Cookbook sources1. http://dutchfood.about.com/od/aboutdutchcooking/a/FoodInfluences.htm22. http://www.ifood.tv/network/dutch3. http://www.personal.psu.edu/srh122/French.htm4. http://www.frenchcrazy.com/2011/10/croque-monsieur-french-ham-and-cheese.html5. http://www.french-culture-for-visitors.com/french-cheese.html6. http://www.gall.nl/wijn/landen-en-streken/frankrijk#7. www.smulweb.nl8. www.mijnreceptenboek.nl9. www.24kitchen.nl10.www.dekooktips.nl11.http://www.kvk.nl/download/Importerenvanwijn_tcm14-339832.pdf12.www.ah.nl/recepten

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NEXT TIME IN THE SECOND EDITION,

APRIL 2013:

- More about the upcoming Tour de France of this summer;

- Facts about The Olympic Games;

- Doping;

- Qualifications for the World Cup;

- Information about the upcoming FINA World Aquatics Championships;

- Savate; French (kick)boxing is a traditional French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques;

And much more about your favourite sports and sporters.

MADE BY:ALEXANDRA DE JONG

KAYLEIGH VAN DER LECK

JANY MASTENBROEKKAYLEE OENEMAANNA DE VRIES