+374 10 650015 Leading European Kids Entertainment studio TeamTO has appointed Clélia Santi as Head of Production and Judith Bruneau as Line Producer and Talent Scout The new positions come amid a strong 2020 slate that remains unabated during the COVID-19 pandemic “Clélia and Judith have already become valuable and active additions to our studio even under the current challenging circumstances We are absolutely delighted to have such talented women managing the production line and nurturing the talent that is at the heart of TeamTO’s success.” Clélia Santi will focus solely on managing the day to day activities of the studios’ productions overseeing the multiple projects in both TeamTO’s Paris and Bourg-les-Valences’ studios Their current slate of development and production includes TeamTO’s Presto and Silvergate’s Netflix series Creature Cases Santi obtained a first professional master’s degree in Cinema and Technological Arts at Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée followed by an Audio Production degree at the renowned Gobelins School of Animation she worked at ON Entertainment for seven years on projects such as The Little Prince and Peter Pan she became the Production Manager of Arthur and the Minimoys (Studio 100 / EuropaCorp) followed by a role at Xilam working on their first 3D project before becoming Executive Producer at Blue Spirit Judith Bruneau takes on the key role of Line Producer and Talent Scout Bruneau will manage the staffing needs for both studios (80% in Paris and 20% in Valence) Bruneau returns to TeamTO with 20 years of VFX experience at the most innovative and accomplished CG studios in Europe she was VFX Coordinator and Producer for film she oversaw the production of Duran’s feature film Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart with EuropaCorp she set up the Brussels office of noted studio Mac Guff returning to France to work with TeamTO as Director of Production on Skylanders (series 2) and Ricky Zoom (series 1) as well as Superprod’s Les Blagues de Toto (Toto Trouble) Despite the challenges faced by the COVID pandemic TeamTO has kept all production on track and on deadline by transitioning to work-from-home in a remarkable three days The speedy process was possible due to having already implemented the technology and protocols necessary for working remotely in preparation for their planned move to a new studio in 2021 Additionally all of TeamTO’s production is done in house eliminating the further coordination and delays that would come from subcontracting to the Far East TeamTO is one of the most creatively innovative studios in the industry today growing from a boutique Paris-based production studio in 2005 to a world-renowned creator of original premium IPs – with a singular roster of accomplishments to its name: visually and technically ground-breaking TV series; two state of the art studios in France with 300+ full time animators; offices in three continents; a slew of international awards for its productions; a free animation school to train domestic talent for the booming industry; and unparalleled R&D division leading to revolutionary new animation software www.teamto.com We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorised as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By The Associated PressVITTEL France (AP) -- Mark Cavendish has been forced out of the Tour de France after suffering a fractured shoulder blade in a serious crash caused by world champion Peter Sagan who was disqualified from cycling's showcase event Hours after Tuesday's crash in a chaotic sprint finish to Stage 4 Cavendish's Team Dimension Data said on its Twitter feed that "Unfortunately @MarkCavendish has been forced to withdraw from #TDF2017." The British rider sustained hand and shoulder injuries in the crash "I'm obviously massively disappointed to get this news about the fracture," Cavendish said "They executed to perfection what we wanted to do this morning I feel I was in a good position to win and to lose that and even having to leave the Tour a race I have built my whole career around The crash occurred about 50 meters (yards) from the end of the stage who was squeezed against the barriers to his right Cavendish slammed into the barriers and two other riders plowed over the British sprint specialist sprints as Britain's Mark Cavendish crashes during the sprint of the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 207.5 kilometers (129 miles) with start in Mondorf-les-Bains "Mark suffered a fracture to the right scapula," Team Dimension Data doctor Adrian Rotunno said "Fortunately no surgery is required at this stage and most importantly there is no nerve damage "He's been withdrawn from the race for obvious medical reasons and we'll continue monitoring him over the coming days." Race jury president Philippe Marien of the UCI said race rules allowed organizers to disqualify riders in "serious cases" "We have decided to disqualify Peter Sagan from the 2017 Tour de France after the tumultuous sprint here in Vittel including Mark Cavendish and others who were involved in the crash," Marien said Australian Mark Renshaw was thrown out for a head-butt that cleared a path in a sprint for his teammate Cavendish to win the stage in Bourg-Les-Valence I'm not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that," Cavendish said I'd just like to know about the elbow "I'd just like to speak to him about it." Sagan went over to see how Cavendish was and patted him on the back while the British rider showed him his wounds The Slovak said later he had apologized to Cavendish "It's not nice to crash like that," said Sagan who had finished the stage in second place behind Demare I just didn't know that Mark is behind me he's coming from the right side," Sagan added "Mark was coming pretty fast from the back and after I just didn't have time to react and he just came (into) me and after into the fence." A medical team quickly ran out to treat Cavendish jogging into the oncoming stream of riders to reach him When Cavendish was finally helped to his feet his jersey was badly torn and blood was streaking down his side Cavendish rode in with a teammate after treatment gingerly holding his right arm close to his body It's already been a difficult year for Cavendish who came down with mononucleosis caused by the Epstein-Barr virus in April then you have to congratulate the jury for having the courage to punish the world champion the big star of cycling today," said France's Arnaud Demare There was another crash earlier that delayed Tour leader Geraint Thomas but the Welshman retained the yellow jersey since it happened in the neutral zone near the stage finish Thomas leads Sky teammate and three-time champion Chris Froome by 12 seconds with third-place Michael Matthews of Australia also 12 seconds back Thomas scraped his knee but said it was OK "I hit the deck but I'm fine," Thomas said Demare clocked nearly five hours over the largely flat 207.5-kilometer (129-mile) route which started and finished in two spa towns Mondorf-les-Bains in Luxembourg and Vittel in France Demare's win ended a long wait for the home fans with the previous French victory in a bunch sprint at the Tour being won by Jimmy Casper in Stage 1 in Strasbourg in 2006 "We've been working with Arnaud for a long time on sprints," said Marc Madiot "Winning in the Tour is the best." Alexander Kristoff moved up to second place in the stage Stage 5 on Wednesday concludes with the first serious climb of the Tour The 160.5-kilometer (100-mile) leg begins in Vittel and winds its way to La Planche Des Belles Filles with a short but steep finishing ascent that features a leg-breaking 20-percent gradient in the final meters All of the overall favorites should swing into action Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page France - In the frenzied and dangerous mass sprints at the Tour de France competitors often need to keep their heads The Australian lead-out man for sprint specialist Mark Cavendish was kicked out of the race after head-butting a rival Thursday which cleared a path for his British teammate to win his third stage at this year's Tour It's not wrestling," said course director Jean-Francois Pescheux who called Renshaw's aggressive tactics "flagrant" and the punishment necessary "There are rules to respect," Pescheux said Andy Schleck of Luxembourg retained the yellow jersey and rode conservatively during the 114.6-mile ride from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence so that he could save his energy for tough climbs in the Pyrenees during the final week The 25-year-old race leader cruised to the finish in the main pack after riding part of the stage discussing a vacation with his main rival "It was quiet and we can act like normal people," Schleck said through a translator "So we spoke about - we remembered - our holidays." It wasn't nearly so quiet near the front of the pack With the sprinters' teams barreling toward the finish at about 40 miles per hour Renshaw rammed his head three times into the shoulder of Julian Dean of New Zealand the lead-out man for American sprinter Tyler Farrar on Garmin-Transitions the race jury said Renshaw was "removed from the competition for a particularly serious case." They also said the HTC Columbia rider was fined 200 Swiss francs (about $192) for a grave case of "irregular sprint." "I'm extremely disappointed and also surprised," Renshaw said "I never imagined I would be removed from any race and never in my career have I received a fine or even a warning." causing Dean to shake his head in apparent exasperation That allowed Cavendish to spurt ahead in the final 300 meters with Alessandro Petacchi of Italy in second and Farrar in third I had no idea Tyler Farrar was there," Renshaw said "By no means would I ever put any of my fellow riders in danger." alleging that Dean had tried to elbow his teammate "Mark used his head to get away," Cavendish said "There's a risk when your elbow's that close (that) the bars are going to tangle Mark gave us a bit of space which kept everybody upright." took his third stage win in this year's Tour and the 13th of his young career "They don't need to ride like that," said Farrar who is still looking for his first Tour stage win "They need to think about the safety of everybody France — One day Peter Sagan was twirling his fingers and celebrating victory the world champion from Slovakia and one of the sport's biggest stars was disqualified from the Tour de France Sagan was sent home Tuesday for causing a serious crash in a chaotic sprint finish that left Mark Cavendish needing treatment for his injuries and further examinations in a hospital About 50 meters (yards) from the end of Stage 4 "We have decided to disqualify Peter Sagan from the 2017 Tour de France after the tumultuous sprint here in Vittel including Mark Cavendish and others who were involved in the crash," race jury president Philippe Marien of the UCI said Marien said they were applying UCI race rules that allow them to disqualify riders in "serious cases." Cavendish was taken to a hospital with hand and shoulder injuries "I will definitely need stitches in this finger it might be something to do with a previous injury it's sat backwards so I'm not sure if I've done something to the ligament but from the feelings I'm not optimistic." the big star of cycling today," said France's Arnaud Demare Sagan was aiming to match Erik Zabel's record of six green jerseys in the Tour's points classification and he was right on target after winning Stage 3 I'm not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that," Cavendish said "It's not nice to crash like that," said Sagan and after I just didn't have time to react and he just came (into) me and after into the fence." Paris-based TeamTO and Cake Entertianment in London have started production on season four of Angelo Rules which will make its debut on  TeleTOON+ (France) and Super RTL (Germany) in early 2018 Animated comedy Angelo Rules  follows 11-year-old sweet-talking genius Angelo and his gang of friends The new 52 x 11-minute season brings the series’ episode total to 234 crowdfunding and social media) and new characters Launched in 2010, Angelo Rules has aired in more than 100 countries and has continued to expand with a recent licensing deal in Germany Most recently, Cake teamed up with digital content producer and distributor Diagonal View to create a joint-venture focused on the production and distribution of digital kids content TeamTO, meanwhile, has expanded into China, opening an office there just a year after establishing a brand-new 11,000-square-foot state-of-the-art animation studio in Bourg-les-Valence This is just some random content to show the different layouts possible then his leadout man Mark Renshaw appears to ride with his head while Cavendish's sprint to a 13th career Tour stage win was the end result it was the incident that immediately preceded it which caught the eye: Renshaw bashing his head repeatedly against another wing man as he tried – successfully – to get the Kiwi to move aside to let Cavendish launch his winning effort It is not uncommon for sprinters to whack each other with their heads in the run-in to the finish as they battle for position behind what they feel is the wheel to follow But headbutts are rarely ever seen in the very final metres of a stage mainly because walloping another cyclist with the head destabilises the bike Renshaw could also be seen dropping back into the trajectory of the American Tyler Farrar – Dean's leader in the sprint today and the eventual third‑placed rider on the stage – although it was impossible to tell if it was by accident or design with Farrar having no option but to shove the Australian out of the way Renshaw deserved full marks for keeping control throughout but the judges were not looking for artistic effect He might have argued that Dean had stuck his elbow out to hold him back and that the Kiwi was attempting to close out Cavendish but the race referees judged the manoeuvre to be dangerous and threw the Australian out of the race it was up there with the legendary episode at Marennes in 1997 when the Belgian Tom Steels let fly with a bottle at 40mph Renshaw said in a statement released by his team: "I'm extremely disappointed and also surprised at this decision safe and a straight‑up sprinter and never in my career have I received a fine or even a warning." He claimed he had responded to Dean's actions "Julian came hard in on my position with his elbows I needed to use my head to retain balance or there would have been a crash If had used my elbows when Julian brought his elbow on top of mine we would also have crashed The object was to hold my line and stay upright." Renshaw's disqualification could prove a major setback in Cavendish's battle to win two more stages and perhaps the green points jersey in this Tour As the man who leads him out immediately before he makes his final effort for the line the Australian is the key rider in his leadout train the man who paced Cavendish to his stage win on the Champs Elysées last year HTC‑Columbia were already a man down after losing Adam Hansen to injury and another strong Australian in the team has another priority because he is vying for a high placing overall Cavendish still has the speed to win stages "You can't do a sprint like that," said Farrar "I can't say it stopped me winning but you need to think of everyone's safety I'm not sure they needed to put Mark Renshaw out but they could have relegated him to last place." Cavendish offered an equally improbable spectacle as he faced the press after the finish: self control The remodelled teeth that gave him so much gyp earlier in the year were as good as gritted no hint of any toys flying out of the pram the team did a good job." Long silence Then he expanded: "We came round the last corner in a good position Julian Dean came up on the right and hooked his left elbow over Mark's right There was a risk of their elbows tangling which would have put everyone in danger He kept everyone upright." It was a masterly attempt at spin but by then Renshaw was on his way home The standings in the points award – Cavendish's pre-stated goal for this Tour – has been thrown wide open by the combined with a relatively low placing of seventh for the green jersey wearer Thor Hushovd The maillot vert is nowon the shoulders of the Italian Alessandro Petacchi while the Manxman is now only 29 points adrift because there are only two stages left in which the sprinters can be confident of a blanket finish: next Friday's run up to Bordeaux and the grand finale on the Champs Elysées Saturday's finish at Revel includes a hill shortly before the finish which could complicate matters for all the sprinters although on paper Cavendish can climb Tomorrow's stage could see casualties among the race's many stragglers some 67 of whom were tailed off in the final kilometres yesterday as the peloton sped towards the finish The baking weather of recent days has clearly had a cumulative effect and that will be felt over the 210 kilometres on the strength-sapping roads of the Ardèche There are two climbs rated second-category including the ascent to the finish above the town of Mende up a steep hill named after Laurent Jalabert vicious ascent to the town's aerodrome should see the double winner Alberto Contador and the race leader Andy Schleck resume their duel of Tuesday with the other overall contenders attempting to hang on to their coat-tails On the back of 25% growth in its production slate Parisian animation studio TeamTO has upgraded its Bourg-lès-Valence facility into an 11,000-square-foot The expansion staff bumped up to 220 from 150 by the end of the year at this studio location At more than double the current capacity of TeamTO’s Paris studio the new environmentally friendly space will house 60% of the company’s 380 employees and is located in La Cartoucherie a media complex home to the renowned animation director’s school La Poudrière which has been distributed in more than 35 countries Among the prodco’s development projects are Cartoon Forum selection HeroEEK!, a non-dialog animated version of lol pet videos called Take it Easy Mike, and medieval comedy My Knight and Me The company also continues to operate an L.A.office run by former Disney and HIT Entertainment executive Lenora Hume Please enter your email below to reset password New Animal Detective Children’s Series animated by TeamTO will Debut on Netflix Globally from April 2022 UK – 23rd March 2022 –   Silvergate Media (Silvergate) is excited to announce plans for the broadcast launch of its new animated series which follows the adventures of a unique detective duo who specialise in solving animal mysteries The first season will debut on Netflix’s global streaming platform from 12th April The Creature Cases is an original series created by Head Writer/Producer with executive producers Adam Idelson and Kurt Mueller The action/comedy/detective series is animated by TeamTO which has a strong track record of animating hit children’s shows Sam Snow and Kit Casey are the lead agents of CLADE: the Covert League of Animal Detective Experts who solve animal mysteries by exploring the habitats and behaviours of fascinating Armed with top-secret intel from their miniature contacts these brilliant animal sleuths travel a world populated exclusively by animals solving mind-boggling animal mysteries that mix real zoological facts with wild detective action “The Creature Cases invites young viewers to train a watchful eye on the many mysteries of the natural world,” said Kurt Mueller Silvergate Media and Executive Producer Creature Cases but instead of solving paranormal mysteries Sam and Kit are solving strange but true animal mysteries Each episode offers a super serving of odd zoological facts We look forward to introducing the show to audiences around the world this spring.” “For our first collaboration with Silvergate Media The Creature Cases was a very ambitious project The diversity generated by the concept of discovering a new animal species in its native environment in each of the 40 episodes was a real challenge But thanks to our fantastic team combined with Silvergate’s talent we managed to deliver an amazing show with a very cool design!”  said Guillaume Hellouin Silvergate Media has an extensive development slate and is in production on a number of commissions for new properties from partners such as Disney Netflix and Ten Cent as well as producing a string of new content for hit shows Octonauts and Hilda Silvergate’s world-renowned content is created by its talented team of Executive Producers in New York.  The company’s London-based commercial team builds global IP franchises via content distribution, consumer products, live entertainment and attractions partners with China a particular area of expertise. Read more about Silvergate Media at www.silvergatemedia.com learn more We use web cookies to offer you a better experience on our site. By clicking on "Accept" you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Here we are to serve you with news right now quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis you can have full digital access to all news Proces du 13-November : ce que ces hommes opaques ont dans la tete Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit Blanditiis optio incidunt eum omnis ratione error temporibus iure porro esse Integer consectetur quam eget ipsum dictum accumsan Donec non lectus id risus rutrum ullamcorper sit amet vel nulla Portugal's Sergio Paulinho gave Team RadioShack its first success of the 2010 Tour de France on Wednesday winning the 10th stage in a two-man sprint among breakaway riders Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank retained the yellow jersey He finished in the main pack more than 14 minutes back alongside his biggest rivals for the title Paulinho edged Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus and Team Caisse d'Epargne over the sun-baked 111-mile trek from Chambery to Gap that featured one difficult climb - the Laffrey pass - as the Tour de France left the Alps Paulinho pointed skyward then sucked his thumb after beating Kiryienka by less than half a wheel at the finish It was the Portuguese rider's first individual stage win at the Tour though he was part of the Astana squad - including Lance Armstrong and 2010 Tour winner Alberto Contador - that won the team time-trial last year RadioShack leader Armstrong fell out of contention in the first Alpine stage on Sunday after getting tangled up in three crashes and losing crucial minutes against the top contenders The team is now banking on the podium hopes of Levi Leipheimer "This is a victory we've been looking for a while after all the bad luck we had in the first week," Paulinho said "I hope this victory gives morale back to our team." were part of a six-man breakaway made up of riders far back in the overall standings Riding with a fractured left elbow from a crash on Sunday Evans called it "a good sign" that he felt better during the 179 kilometer race "I felt much better but obviously it was a different kind of race today," Evans said The Australian will undergo additional X-rays later this week to determine if there is any displacement of the injury Cervelo TestTeam's Thor Hushovd did his best to keep his lead in the sprinter competiton for the green jersey Hushovd added "The big battle for the green jersey started today We will have to battle every day like this It will be a real battle all the way to Paris." Riders are likely to breathe a bit easier during Thursday's 11th stage a flatter 114.65-mile route from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for more Tour de France 2010 coverage and please support our advertisers - they make our coverage possible road bike shopcycling manager game All rights reserved. © 2024 Roadcycling.com® - part of Seven Sparkles Intl By Ian Failes | 01/19/2017 9:07 am | 4 Comments the French and Belgian co-production My Knight and Me is just one example of the prospering trend of cg-animated programming being made for television in Europe which is set in the Dark Ages with a hearty mix of over-the-top and comical action and stylized design is directed by Joeri Christiaen and is a collaboration between France’s TeamTO and Belgium’s Thuristar who had previously worked together on the series Plankton Invasion Production at TeamTO has been particularly busy in recent years with the studio working on titles such as Angelo Rules It’s also in the middle of the second season of Skylanders Work on My Knight and Me came out of Christiaen’s short 850 Meters The project was pitched at Cartoon Forum in 2012 “Joeri wanted to use his character like an actor in a way,” explained TeamTO head of production and executive producer Corinne Kouper “He wanted to use the same character through several projects For the show we widened the story and ended up with a stronger relationship between the father and son especially the daughter as a rugged princess and the Queen Mother.” My Knight and Me followed a traditional production cycle with some animation done in 2D at Thuristar and the cg work distributed between TeamTO’s Paris and Bourg-les-Valence (near Lyon) studios Voice-overs were then recorded in both French and English before final animation was completed The production time for the 52 x 13-minute episodes was around 18 months Having completed an animated feature (Yellowbird) prior to My Knight and Me TeamTO took advantage of some internal pipeline developments for use on the show That included moving to a Pixar RenderMan rendering workflow “RenderMan really improved our lighting,” said TeamTO president and CEO Guillaume Hellouin “At the beginning it was not easy because in RenderMan you have to build your own shaders but when you do it you get to keep using that library You can tailor and re-use and re-develop everything.” Hellouin and Kouper also suggest a point of difference for the show is its stylization It’s clearly in the realm of cg animation but occasionally looks more graphic in nature The idea here was to clearly separate the characters from their environments the characters are lost in the background,” said Hellouin “We wanted this show to have the characters pop off screen and we really stylized the background in order to make a contrast with the characters.” My Knight and Me has already aired in France It premiered earlier this month in the United States on Cartoon Network and has been picked up by CN parent Turner for other EMEA The studio now has offices in Los Angeles and Beijing and has several of its own properties in development along with continuing third party animation projects “The studio has evolved a lot in the last few years,” said Hellouin “basically because of the success of the shows We reached 360 people in 2016 and will be full again before next summer.” Ian Failes is a writer covering visual effects and tech for Cartoon Brew Head-butt in sprint earns Cavendish lead-out man early exit Australian Mark Renshaw was disqualified from the Tour de France today for his aggressive actions in the sprint finish of the 11th stage to Bourg-les-Valence The HTC-Columbia lead out man for Cavendish had help the Manxman win three stages in this year's race Cavendish unhappy with Renshaw's ejection Renshaw was told that he had been disqualified by Cyclingnews reporter Jean Francois Quenet His immediate reaction was: "I can't be out of the Tour de France if Barredo and Costa only got a fine a few days ago." "I'm extremely disappointed," he continued "I'm extremely harshly done by the decision of the jury I've never had anything against me in the past There's no possibility of appeal to this decision." Renshaw said that his actions look worse on television than they actually were "Julian (Dean) moved off his line by more than one metre Then I had only two options: to be left in the barriers or to push him back with my head Race director Jean-Francois Pescheux reviewed the film which shows Renshaw repeatedly head-butting Garmin-Transitions man Julian Dean The move delayed Farrar's ability to sprint They all could have ended up on their backs tonight "I still think I did nothing wrong," said Renshaw or a fine or a disqualification for the stage I was trying to get points as well to help Cav' win the green jersey I'm in the best form of my life and now I have to leave the Tour Svein Tuft turns 41-years-old and to celebrate the WorldTour’s eldest statesman on his birthday Canadian Cycling Magazine wanted to look back on the Langley Tuft has established himself as a selfless teammate on Mitchelton-Scott the squad he joined in 2012 after stints with Spidertech The Giro d’Italia is his final Grand Tour and 2018 is looking like his final year as a professional Here are five career highlights from Tuft’s career The opening team time trial stage was a big focus for the team and an opportunity to take the pink jersey Tuft lead the nine-man squad to victory ahead of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and BMC Racing Leading Orica-GreenEdge across the line on his birthday was Tuft who with the win earned the races first pink jersey Tuft stormed to a silver medal at the 2008 UCI world championships time trial in Varese Italy The gold medal went to German Bert Grabsch with the bronze going to David Zabriskie Tuft suffered a flat tire in the final 5 km and was forced to finish the race on his road bike Grabsch finished 42.79-second ahead of Tuft Tuft has earned 10 Canadian national time trial championship titles Tuft has proven to be consistently the strongest rider against the clock in Canada Tuft was undefeated against the clock in the Canadian championships Tuft has only earned two national road race championship titles but the way he did it in 2014 was truly impressive On the rolling course around Saint-Georges Tuft took off solo with about 100 km still to race in the 180 km championships teammate Christian Meier and up-and-comer Michael Woods for the win by over one minute The win meant Tuft would wear the Canadian champions jersey in the WorldTour the following year Orica-GreenEdge arrived at the Tour de France with stage aspirations and chief amoung the goals was the Stage 4 team time trial were racing their first career Tour de France’s Tuft was a key member of the team’s hope on the stage Orica-GreenEdge would win by a narrow one-second margin ahead of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Tuft’s teammate Simon Gerrans moved into the yellow jersey before it then moved to teammate Daryl Impey until Stage 8 Get the digital edition of Canadian Cycling Magazine France's contender for best animated feature at Sunday's Oscars the latest in a string of international hits for French animation studios The low-budget whodunnit thriller -- whose original title is Une Vie de Chat -- is the fourth French animated feature to compete at the Academy Awards in recent years following such hits as the Franco-Iranian Persepolis Created by longtime associates Alain Gagnol it chronicles the double life of a Parisian cat who spends his days with a little girl and her police officer mother -- and his nights with a burglar With vibrant colours and a sleek hand-drawn aesthetic the film is geared toward children but also taps into darker themes beloved of its creators -- who cut their teeth on the film noir genre "We wanted to make a film for young people -- because it remains very hard to get funding for an animated film aimed at adults only," said Girerd who founded the Folimage studios in southeastern France where the movie was created.Appealing to a younger public meant reining in the gorier impulses of writer Gagnol who started out penning comic books and several thrillers From the first sequence there was already a suicide with blood everywhere But older audiences are still treated to a raft of film world references -- from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino and an escape scene borrowed from the 1955 classic The Night of the Hunter is a delightfully stylised caper that casts a beguiling spell without requiring 3D glasses or a mass of merchandising An accident on one of France’s busiest motorways caused hours of disruption yesterday (August 23) after tractors were ejected onto the road from the transporter lorry carrying them One tractor was even thrown across the central reservation onto the other side of the road Traffic was brought to a halt at around 12:15 on the motorway after the transporter lorry crashed into the central reservation following a minor bump with a commercial vehicle between Tain-L’Hermitage et Bourg-lès-Valence (Drôme) Despite the nature of the incident only four people were hurt suffering minor injuries according to the emergency services which was heading in the direction of Marseille veered into the middle of the motorway having bumped into a smaller commercial vehicle The tractors the lorry was carrying were then thrown off the vehicle with one ending up on the other side of the central reservation Around 30 workers from the emergency services attended the scene Traffic passed via one lane during the disruption causing traffic jams to form for many kilometres Read also: Alcohol, drugs and technology blamed as French motorway deaths rise the traffic was still heavily disrupted as the emergency services worked to clear the road Writing on Twitter one user said: “I had to do a 60km detour to avoid the traffic jams lasting 1h30 minutes I’d had enough of the heat and the fatigue” more lanes opened to allow traffic to pass through but delays persisted for much of the afternoon The accident took five hours to be completely cleared with traffic continuing to build up during the afternoon South France: Heat sparks pollution alert, public transport made free Radars to catch drivers wrongly using car share lane on rise in France French motorway breakdown fees have gone up, here is what you pay now Speeding fines, older drivers: Five ways driving in France will change City council reduce time that a property can be rented to short-term guests The Italian operator has announced competitive prices for its summer journeys The new measure will apply to 240,000 children and 500,000 over-65s Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time STAGE 11 RESULTS, MAP FOR STAGE 12 AUSTRALIAN sprinter Mark Renshaw has been sensationally kicked off the Tour de France for head-butting New Zealand rider Julian Dean in the finishing sprint of stage 11 from Sisteron to Bourg les Valence Footage shows Mark Renshaw head-butting New Zealand rider Julian Dean in the race to the finish line Renshaw was leading out his British teammate Mark Cavendish who went on to claim his third victory for the race --------------------------------------------------------------------STATEMENT BY MARK RENSHAW Front-on footage of the clash between Mark Renshaw and Julian Dean GERRANS: RENSHAW DISQUALIFICATION TOO HARSH NOT THE FIRST TIME AUSSIES HAVE HEAD-BUTTED ON TOUR-------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean was also attempting to lead out his Garmin-Transitions teammate when about 500 metres from the finish he began to move ahead of and across Renshaw The Australian responded by fended him off with a series of headbutts and then as Cavendish came off his wheel to sprint for the line with 350 metres to go appeared to drift across the path of Farrer A fan waits for the riders to get her message across to Lance Armstrong.Credit: AFP Renshaw is a world champion track rider and headbutting happens frequently on the track he was disqualified from the Tour by the race technical director Jean Francois Pescheux Cadel Evans of Australia flashes a v-sign as he rides in the peloton.Credit: AP "We saw the film over and it was blatant He head-butted Dean twice like in a keirin race Everybody could have ended up on their backs This is professional cycling," Pescheux said race leader Andy Schleck rides with defending champion Alberto Contador.Credit: AFP Renshaw has tried to lodge an appeal against the decision but has been told that there is no provision in the rules for him to do so The Australian has told The Sydney Morning Herald that he is mystified by the decision considering that Portugal's Rui Alberto Costa (Caisse d'Epargne) and Spaniard Carlos Barredo were fined only 400 Swiss francs for fighting after the finish of stage six. The Caveman . . . French rugby star Sebastien Chabal attends the podium ceremony.Credit: AFP It was Cavendish's 13 Tour stage win, which he won on Thursday from Italian Alessandro Petacchi, Farrar and Robbie McEwen Immediately after the end of the race, Farrer called for Renshaw to be kicked out. "Cavendish would have won anyway," he said. "So why did he have to do something so dangerous?" Before hearing of his disqualification, Renshaw did not see anything wrong with his conduct. "It's nothing new," he said. "It's part and parcel of sprinting. Very tough final there. The Garmin rider [Dean] came across at me. I don't know what else I could do. I am definitely not going to brake. I was in front of all the riders, so I had the right of way. He tried to come left over me. What can I do?" Renshaw said the team had had to change its tactics after the loss after stage one of injured fellow lead-out rider Adam Hansen, leaving the team without the extra horsepower. "We have changed our tactics and we are still winning so we are happy," he said. "I wouldn't consider it rough house. It was a little bit of shoulder barging ... in the end of the day if I didn't use my shoulders and head I would probably crash. That's part and parcel of being a pro bike rider I think." Cavendish later defended Renshaw. "That is what sprinting is like," he said. "I have a team which looks after me. Everyone gives everything they have. You need a lot of courage and sometimes you need to do things - even that," he said after watching a replay. "I am very proud of Mark. You can see Julian was pushing with his elbow too. He was trapping him and Mark had to get out. I am really lucky that Mark would do that to protect me." The controversy certainly marred what was another brilliant sprint by Cavendish. The results also intensified the battle for the green points jersey. Petacchi's second place was enough for him to depose Norway's Thor Hushovd, who placed seventh, from his green jersey reign. Petacchi, who has won two stages here, leads the green jersey race with 161 points from Hushovd (157 points), McEwen (138) and Cavendish (132). Hushovd said he was ready for the green jersey fight to go all the way to the last sprint on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday week's last stage. "I know I am not as fast as last year in the sprint. My injury [a broken collarbone in May] slowed down my preparation for the Tour," Hushovd said. "I feel like I am getting stronger day by day. I am sure the green jersey battle will come down to Paris. I have to stay focused on doing my sprints and try to get as many points as possible. The Tour de France is long. Anything can happen. You never know what happens from one day to the next." Meanwhile, the stage led to no change to the top overall classification. Luxembourg's Andy Schleck still leads the Tour from defending champion Alberto Contador by 41 seconds and Spaniard Samual Sanchez by two minutes, 45 seconds. Top Australian is the ACT's Michael Rogers in 15th place at seven minutes, four seconds, while Victorian Cadel Evans, who is nursing a fractured left elbow that triggered his collapse in stage nine, is still 18th overall at seven minutes, 47 seconds. Evans said his fractured elbow was still stiff and sore, but was getting better. "It's the bumps that really hurt. Hopefully, I'll be back to good level for Friday to be able to stick somewhere within range," he said. "There's a lot of guys like myself who are pretty tired and stiff and sore like myself. Hopefully, we'll have one more day to recover before we get too serious." AUSTRALIAN sprinter Mark Renshaw has been sensationally kicked off the Tour de France for head-butting New Zealand rider Julian Dean in the finishing sprint of stage 11 from Sisteron to Bourg les Valence. Renshaw was leading out his British teammate Mark Cavendish, who went on to claim his third victory for the race. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean was also attempting to lead out his Garmin-Transitions teammate, American Tyler Farrrer, when about 500 metres from the finish he began to move ahead of and across Renshaw, elbowing him in the process. The Australian responded by fended him off with a series of headbutts and then, as Cavendish came off his wheel to sprint for the line with 350 metres to go, appeared to drift across the path of Farrer, slowing him down. Renshaw is a world champion track rider and headbutting happens frequently on the track, especially in the keirin discipline. Soon after the end of the stage, he was disqualified from the Tour by the race technical director Jean Francois Pescheux. \\\"He is out,\\\" said Pescheux. \\\"We saw the film over and it was blatant. He head-butted Dean twice like in a keirin race. \\\"This is cycling, not fighting. Everybody could have ended up on their backs. The rules have to be respected. This is professional cycling,\\\" Pescheux said. Renshaw has tried to lodge an appeal against the decision but has been told that there is no provision in the rules for him to do so. The Australian has told The Sydney Morning Herald that he is mystified by the decision considering that Portugal's Rui Alberto Costa (Caisse d'Epargne) and Spaniard Carlos Barredo were fined only 400 Swiss francs . It was Cavendish's 13 Tour stage win, which he won on Thursday from Italian Alessandro Petacchi, Farrar and Robbie McEwen Immediately after the end of the race, Farrer called for Renshaw to be kicked out. \\\"Cavendish would have won anyway,\\\" he said. \\\"So why did he have to do something so dangerous?\\\" \\\"It's nothing new,\\\" he said. \\\"It's part and parcel of sprinting. Very tough final there. The Garmin rider [Dean] came across at me. I don't know what else I could do. I am definitely not going to brake. I was in front of all the riders, so I had the right of way. He tried to come left over me. What can I do?\\\" \\\"We have changed our tactics and we are still winning so we are happy,\\\" he said. \\\"I wouldn't consider it rough house. It was a little bit of shoulder barging ... in the end of the day if I didn't use my shoulders and head I would probably crash. That's part and parcel of being a pro bike rider I think.\\\" Cavendish later defended Renshaw. \\\"That is what sprinting is like,\\\" he said. \\\"I have a team which looks after me. Everyone gives everything they have. You need a lot of courage and sometimes you need to do things - even that,\\\" he said after watching a replay. \\\"I am very proud of Mark. You can see Julian was pushing with his elbow too. He was trapping him and Mark had to get out. I am really lucky that Mark would do that to protect me.\\\" Petacchi's second place was enough for him to depose Norway's Thor Hushovd, who placed seventh, from his green jersey reign. Hushovd said he was ready for the green jersey fight to go all the way to the last sprint on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday week's last stage. \\\"I know I am not as fast as last year in the sprint. My injury [a broken collarbone in May] slowed down my preparation for the Tour,\\\" Hushovd said. \\\"I feel like I am getting stronger day by day. I am sure the green jersey battle will come down to Paris. I have to stay focused on doing my sprints and try to get as many points as possible. The Tour de France is long. Anything can happen. You never know what happens from one day to the next.\\\" Meanwhile, the stage led to no change to the top overall classification. Luxembourg's Andy Schleck still leads the Tour from defending champion Alberto Contador by 41 seconds and Spaniard Samual Sanchez by two minutes, 45 seconds. Top Australian is the ACT's Michael Rogers in 15th place at seven minutes, four seconds, while Victorian Cadel Evans, who is nursing a fractured left elbow that triggered his collapse in stage nine, is still 18th overall at seven minutes, 47 seconds. \\\"It's the bumps that really hurt. Hopefully, I'll be back to good level for Friday to be able to stick somewhere within range,\\\" he said. \\\"There's a lot of guys like myself who are pretty tired and stiff and sore like myself. Hopefully, we'll have one more day to recover before we get too serious.\\\" Mark Cavendish is in a 'must win' situation to take the Tour de France's green jersey. His next chance comes tomorrow, the last of three possible sprint stages. "We can't go and try to collect every point on the road, that's not realistic," said HTC-Columbia's sports director, Rolf Aldag, "The main goal is try to win stages and then the jersey comes or it doesn't." After a rough start to the Tour de France, Cavendish won two stages and seems to be back up to the winning ways that gained him a remarkable six stage wins last year. However, time is running out for Cavendish to make up his 39-point deficit to leader Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam), who leads by 124 to 85. "If Cav wins and Thor doesn't do anything, then that's the only way we can be back in the game. It's not going to happen if Cav wins and Thor gets fourth." Organisers award 35 points for the win and the following points for second through 25th: 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. In addition to Hushovd's win at Arenberg, he has consistently finished in the top places for points. Cavendish survived the last stages through the Jura and Alpine mountains and he is now ready for the challenge. "I had some great guys around me and I could draw you an image of Bernie Eisel's calves right now - I've seen a lot of them in the last few days. It was just about getting through it," said Cavendish this morning. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! He said that he is aiming for a win in tomorrow 184.5-kilometre stage to Bourg-Les-Valence. "It's the first sprint day for a few days and we'll do our best for a win." Aldag added that Cavendish will also try on the stages to Bordeaux and Paris, the last two chances for sprinters. Even without more wins, though, he said that Cavendish should be satisfied. "Any other rider would be happy with only one stage in the Tour. He already has won two, so it cannot be considered a disaster." Cavendish started the Tour de France with the goal to win the green jersey, but with Aldag he had to re-assess after missing out in the first sprint stages. Regardless of winning the green jersey, they will re-focus after the Tour de France and aim for the rainbow jersey at the World Championships on October 3 in Geelong, Australia. Wiggins to aim for Tour de France stage win? Dan Lloyd battles on in Tour despite groin strain Riis secures replacement sponsor but Shleck in doubt Tour de France 2010: rest day review (July 12) Sky's objective clear ahead of Tour's high mountains The Feed Zone (July 10): Tour de France news and views Thomas: 'Yellow jersey would be unbelievable Thomas happy with Tour's white jersey; but says 'All for Brad' Cavendish keeps up fight for first Tour win Sky delivers Boasson Hagen to third without pressure Stage nine: Casar wins stage as Schleck and Contador go head-to-head Stage seven: Chavanel wins stage and takes overall as Thomas drops out of Tour's white Stage six: Cavendish makes it two as Tour hots up Stage five: Cavendish wins his first stage of Tour Stage three: Hushovd takes dramatic win; Thomas second on stage and GC Stage two: Comeback man Chavanel takes victory in Spa Stage one: Petacchi wins in Brussels as bunch left in tatters Tour de France 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index Tour jerseys: What they are and what they mean Brits in the Tours: From Robinson to Wiggins Tour teams take to the cobbles: Photo special Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms from good old-fashioned print to online journalism THE CHALLENGES facing young talents in Scottish rugby desperate for game-time has become a thing of the past for Finn Douglas as the former age-grade internationalist takes his first steps into the French game The 20-year-old was one of the latest raft of youngsters released by Scotland’s pro teams the former Melrose and Southern Knights wing/full-back being let go by Edinburgh in the summer as their back three berths became congested rather than return to his club roots in Melrose the Scotland under-18 and under-20 cap sent his CV across Europe and was picked up by French ProD2 club The team is currently languishing third bottom of the league with just one win from its opening six games but 20-year-old Douglas has enjoyed success playing the full 80 minutes for the ‘Espoirs’ team in the very competitive French under-23 league the Borderer making his debut in a 36-19 win over Bourgoin-Jallieu and opening his try account in Saturday’s 33-13 victory against US Bressane Kyle Rowe on bouncing back from adversity with Glasgow as he eyes first Scotland home try Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership Round Five Dream Team Opportunity knocks as Edinburgh fly Harri Morris out to South Africa “I was delighted to get my first 80 minutes “I thought I played quite well and was a bit disappointed I didn’t get on the end of a try but I started again on Saturday and got off the mark He has undoubtedly changed from the player who left Scotland in July – most notably in his hairstyle  “Straight after my debut I was taken out the back of the changing rooms with another few guys the shaver came out and that was that – the hair was gone I’m not too happy about that but you’ve got to do these things in rugby; you have to go with the traditions and it’s been great to be welcomed into the team so quickly.” The experience of living and playing in France is changing this promising young Scot in other ways too not least improving his skills and building confidence Training’s fun and I’m just looking forward to getting more games under my belt.” Douglas arrived in July in Bourg-les-Valence a town of 20,000 people around 40 miles south of St Etienne and west of Grenoble But he couldn’t play in pre-season matches as he waited for a visa (one of the challenges created for travellers by Brexit) which meant he could not be insured to play just in time for the first match of the season with his father Andy (the former Jed-Forest and Scotland under-21 centre) and mum Leagh making it out to France for his debut While he remains hopeful of breaking into the senior team staying with the uniquely French ‘Espoirs’ (‘Hopes’) may prove the best route for his development Mark Bennett is one of a few Scots to have previously trodden this path the Edinburgh and Scotland centre admitting his basic skills rapidly improved in the Clermont Auvergne Espoirs about three hours’ drive north-west of where Douglas now plays If they continue their winning form through October and November nicknamed ‘The Checkers’  – on account of a chequerboard-type strip – will qualify for the national France-wide championship that kicks in after Christmas Douglas admitted that as unusual as the environment might be with players from several countries and different languages “The difficulty in Scotland is that as a young academy player you’re not really involved with any one team,” he explained “I was in the Edinburgh academy but I was here I could be down at the Southern Knights training and playing or training with Edinburgh and then in Scotland under-20 camps trying your best to impress all the different coaches but I never felt properly part of one team “This is probably the first time since I played under-18 rugby at Melrose that I’ve felt part of a team and I’m loving it; you don’t realise how important that is to being able to enjoy your rugby and play well until you’re in it “The Knights was a very short season and with Edinburgh it was a good team with great guys but you don’t feel part of it when you’re not playing for them in games so it’s nice again to have the same goal as the rest of the team and have that goal for a full season.” The  youngster laughs that he wishes he’d stuck in a bit more with his French studies at Earlston High School but as the sunny blue skies welcome him to training there is no hiding his enjoyment You’re not only getting challenged at your rugby every day but you’re having to learn how to speak French but I’m loving the challenge of learning French I’m actually becoming a bit obsessed with my lessons and trying words and phrases out each day and in the last maybe two weeks I’ve started having my first proper conversations with the French boys so hopefully that will just improve and I’ll be able to speak to them more and more Opportunity knocks as Edinburgh fly Harri Morris out to South Africa Our Edinburgh-based experts advise both individuals and businesses across a range of sectors Saffery is the 15th largest accountancy firm in the UK by turnover and has had a presence in Edinburgh for over 30 years Website: www.saffery.com you’ve exposed yourself to a different culture & language and that’s not easy as a young lad You should be congratulated for taking this adventure on who left to seek his fortune when Roy Laidlaw was in his pomp and ended up in French speaking West Africa I wish you all good luck and feel sure a pro contract is coming your way soon 🏉🙂👍 An under 23 league you say… what a revolutionary idea Whether we agree with the edin decision not to sign him up or even if we had no mSQ wingers or project players the real world is we do not have enough slots for everyone coming through Hence guys like this get praise for initiative and for spreading our net That said there will no doubt be a bitter Frenchman somewhere moaning about Finn blocking the pathway of a young french player Not the case in france there is a restriction on nomber of non French players allowed to stop exactly that A great opportunity for a talent that was sadly let down by the Scottish system and coaches who like there project players at Edinburgh ( sadly unlike the warriors who give youth a chance ) Stuart Hogg facing lengthy lay-off and … “If Langholm proves anything, we have to stay focused. As far as the title race goes, it was huge for us that Kelso got only three points at Earlston.” … “We did well to fight back at times, but we gave away some silly penalties, allowed them far too easy access into our 22. When you give them access to the 22 time and time again, it’s difficult to put that amount of effort in.” … Enjoyed this article? Quality journalism like ours is made possible by readers like you. If you value our in-depth coverage of Scottish rugby at all levels and want to see more, please consider supporting us with a subscription or donation It helps us keep delivering the news you love Thank you for being a part of The Offside Line community independent and up-to-date coverage of all aspects of Scottish rugby photographers and business minds bring their talents and enthusiasm to our unrivalled coverage of the game © 2016-2025 Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line | Kept onside by webporty