FDJ-Suez teammate Vittoria Guazzini second Anna Kiesenhofer third in 27.23km race against the clock in Les Herbiers "It couldn’t have been a better ending," FDJ-Suez posted to Instagram following her victory in Les Herbiers wearing her world champion's skinsuit and gold aero helmet Brown covered the undulating 27.23km course with a winning time of 35:26 She beat her FDJ-Suez teammate and former under-23 time trial world champion Vittoria Guazzini by 51 seconds and former Olympic road race champion Anna Kiesenhofer (Roland) by 54 seconds A post shared by FDJ - SUEZ (@fdj_suez) Results powered by FirstCycling Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games. She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023. 12:30 amFacebookFacebook MessengerTwitterEmail Paris Saint-Germain secured the domestic treble with a 2-0 victory over third-tier minnows Les Herbiers in the Coupe de France final The Championnat National club had already produced one of the biggest shocks in French football as they defied all the odds to reach the final against the Ligue 1 champions proved a match too far for Stephane Masala's side who could yet by relegated to the fourth tier this season PSG invited Les Herbiers skipper Sebastien Flochon to lift the trophy with Thiago Silva Giovani Lo Celso's 25-yard effort broke the deadlock midway through the first half and Edinson Cavani added a second from the penalty spot with 15 minutes left to secure what was PSG have now won the Coupe de France four times in succession and a record 12 overall It also saw coach Unai Emery mark the end of his reign with another domestic trophy having also secured the Coupe de la Ligue by beating rivals Monaco 3-0 at the end of March with Lo Celso and Kylian Mbappe both hitting the woodwork early on Argentine midfielder Lo Celso saw another effort come back off a post before finally finding the back of the net with a curling effort in the 26th minute Dani Alves sent a curling 30-yard free kick just wide and then Mbappe's header was off target as Les Herbiers made it through to half-time without conceding again Cavani saw an effort saved by a fine stop from Matthieu Pichot PSG thought they had doubled their advantage after 51 minutes but Mbappe's strike was ruled out following consultation with the Video Assistant Referee Marquinhos was adjudged to have handled in the build-up which saw the ball turned onto the crossbar by Les Herbiers defender Diaranke Fofana Pichot produced another smart save with his legs from Mbappe's close-range effort before PSG eventually wrapped things up in the 75th minute when Cavani latched onto Angel Di Maria's pass and was brought down as he went to round the goalkeeper Cavani drilled in the resulting penalty to end any hopes of a fairytale comeback from Les Herbiers who at least forced goalkeeper Kevin Trapp into a late save at his near post from Fofana You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Vendée minnows to take on mighty Paris Saint-Germain but the French Cup final is rich in fairytales Singularity has always been ingrained in the Coupe de France and this season is no exception. The centenary final, to be held on Tuesday, pits Paris Saint-Germain against Les Herbiers who hail from a small town in western France of 16,000 people and have an average attendance of 1,400 there is no contest: PSG’s budget is 275 times that of Les Herbiers (around £1.7m) who turned professional only three years ago and play in the third tier of French football where they sit just above the relegation zone mostly made up of free transfers and a few loanees (with three players having briefly experienced Ligue 1) has cost nothing to assemble and the average monthly wage is £2,200 the Vendéens eliminated another small third-tier club who have racked up 11 promotions since their inception in 1989 in the 14th division a feat achieved without benefiting from the largesse of a wealthy benefactor modelled on a defensive Internazionale by the French-Italian Luzi family which has run the club for the last three decades had dispatched Ligue 1 Strasbourg in the quarter-finals but were no match for Les Herbiers’s all-attacking style played at Nantes’s La Beaujoire stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 35,000 Chambly had held Monaco to a pulsating 3-3 draw in normal time before losing 5-4 in extra time rates his team’s chances of beating PSG at the Stade de France at “about 0.5%” but as L’Équipe printed on its front page of 18 April which revolted en masse against government troops during the French revolution Not least because their cup odyssey has boosted the club’s coffers by £1.6m with a £650,000 bonus on offer to the winner Although no team below the second tier have won the trophy (second division Le Havre and Guingamp achieved this in 1959 and 2009 giantkillers – les tombeurs de gros – such as Chambly hold a special place in Coupe de France lore Calais shot to national prominence in 2000 when “Calaismania” swept the country and they lost 2-1 to Nantes only because of a dubious stoppage-time penalty Read moreOver the past five years alone 15 amateur or semi-professional clubs (fourth division and below) have reached the last 16 The difference in level between the top three divisions and the rest is relatively small in France and the gradual introduction of a series of rules designed to protect teams in the lower leagues The absence of replays also favours underdogs who French cinema consecrated plucky minnows in the 1979 box-office hit Coup de Tête a satirical comedy centred around the fictitious AS Trincamp The film was inspired by the rise of Auxerre and Guingamp’s heroic cup feats of 1973 when the then fifth division team beat four second division clubs Guingamp used the cup proceeds (£90,000) to mount several promotion campaigns that took them to the top flight in 1995 an astonishing achievement for a town the size of Totnes The Coupe de France was founded in 1917 on the initiative of Henri Delaunay chairman of the forerunner of the French Football Federation who was impressed by the vibrancy of the FA Cup Delaunay felt the Coupe could play a unifying role in a country torn asunder by the first world war and decreed that it should be open to all French clubs including hundreds in the French overseas territories and the tournament kicks off with regional rounds some 13 months before the final in May the following year making it the most inclusive and largest domestic competition in world football The 11 best overseas clubs – les ultramarins – enter at the seventh round in November (there are 14 rounds; 15 in the larger regions) along with Ligue 2 clubs The FFF covers expenses for clubs drawn to play in mainland France or overseas As round-trip distances can exceed 20,000 miles for the first time in four years no ultramarin got past the preliminary rounds and it could also reflect the parlous financial state of French overseas football Many clubs are in effect bankrupt and the FFF is increasingly having to bail out local leagues as they struggle to retain promising players keen to relocate to mainland France for football or professional reasons the final will be played on a Tuesday – a bank holiday That may take a few fans by surprise but this mismatch between PSG and Vendée Les Herbiers is unlikely to deter lovers of the rebellious and unpredictable spirit of the Coupe de France: the most watched Coupe final of the past decade is Lyon v third-tier Quevilly in 2012 with nearly seven million viewers twice as many as last year’s final between PSG and Angers Kevin Quigagne is a former football writer for Les Cahiers du football This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media there arent any match using your search terms A la pause les bordelais sont devant au score (1-0) Stefan Bissegger rounds out podium in third place in Les Herbiers Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) secured the victory in the race against the clock at Chrono des Nations in Les Herbiers The British and European champion covered the 45.43km course with the fastest time of 52:02, beating World Champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) by 13 seconds.  Tarling and Evenepoel were the only two riders to average above 52km/h Third place on the day went to Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) The early best time at the first intermediate checkpoint was set by promising young Belgian TT specialist Alec Segaert (Lotto-Dstny) French National TT Champion Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep) and Bisseger to go better.  with Tarling the only rider to go under 13 minutes at that checkpoint and Evenepoel just 10 seconds back the World and European time trial champions were set to battle for the top spot of the day A winner of the junior edition of the same race in 2022 and a bronze medallist in the Worlds in Glasgow Tarling subsequently proved to be the fastest in each of the checkpoints pushing his initial advantage to 17 seconds at the second intermediate split and then maintaining his consistency all the way to the finish Evenepoel had to settle for second in his last race of the season a week after he had finished ninth in Il Lombardia following an early crash “I couldn't go faster, so I don't want to make too many excuses. It went smoothly, but Tarling was slightly better,”  Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws. I came a little closer to the finish in that last part.” and riders weighing 80 kilos do that slightly better while I get pushed from left to right.” Evenepoel said his crash and injuries incurred at Il Lombardia had not helped but that overall “it probably didn’t make a difference.”  And 50 minutes of going flat out on a difficult course was a nice way to end it.” Results powered by FirstCycling Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006 Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023 Paris Saint-Germain's record scorer has promised that he will not be departing Parc des Princes this summer Edinson Cavani has pledged his future to Paris Saint-Germain for next season, despite rumours linking him to Atletico Madrid The 31-year-old has found himself pushed into the shade by Neymar at the Ligue 1 champions, but despite admitting that he has had trouble with the Brazil star in the past he is not planning on leaving the French treble winners Cavani retains an importance at the Ligue 1 champions thanks to his prolific goal scoring with his penalty against Les Herbiers in a 2-0 Coupe de France final win on Tuesday his 40th strike of the season And though he has been linked with Atletico Madrid he has said he will not be going anywhere this summer “I think that it has been a good season -- intense I am pleased for the supporters and to be here “Four consecutive Coupe de France wins represents a lot of history for PSG We are here to win and win titles for the club.” he hailed the contribution of outgoing coach Unai Emery who will make way at the club at the end of the season I know that he gave everything for PSG each day,” the Uruguay ace said “He is leaving but he should be congratulated because we can be sure that he gave the maximum for the club." Cavani recently became PSG's all-time recent league scorer, beating Zlatan Ibrahimovic's tally of 113 Les Herbiers' achievement was not lost on PSG's Thiago Silva who invited skipper Sebastien Flochon to lift the Coupe de France trophy Paris Saint-Germain may have clinched the domestic treble but Tuesday's Coupe de France final was more about minnows Les Herbiers than the French giants It truly was a David and Goliath battle as third-tier side Les Herbiers went head-to-head with Ligue 1 powerhouse PSG at the Stade de France There were no surprises about the result – PSG claiming their third treble in four seasons with a 2-0 win thanks to Giovani Lo Celso and Edinson Cavani Les Herbiers' achievement was not lost on PSG captain Thiago Silva who invited fellow skipper Sebastien Flochon to lift the Coupe de France trophy together  May 8, 2018 Injured star Neymar was also part of the celebrations which included a guard of honour for Herbiers post-match  Merci au pour son accueil ! May 8, 2018 Reported Real Madrid target Neymar – recovering from a foot injury – returned to Paris having spent months rehabilitating in his native Brazil Champions !!!!May 8, 2018 The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. This Page Has Washed AwayLooks like this page has disappeared with the tide — perhaps it’s buried in the sand at Vazon or drifting off Petit Port Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser