French F1 Driver Pierre Gasly Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension with Alpine Team 

Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
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French F1 Driver Pierre Gasly Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension with Alpine Team 

Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)
Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly arrives on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2024, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. (AFP)

Formula One driver Pierre Gasly has signed a multiyear contract extension with the Alpine team.

Alpine said in a statement Thursday the deal "will take Pierre into the 2025 season and beyond." No further details were given.

The 28-year-old Frenchman is in his second season with Alpine. After a tough start to this campaign, he has scored points in the past three races heading into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

He finished 11th in the drivers' standings last season, with a best finish of third place at the Netherlands GP.

"It has always been the plan to build a long-term project with the Team," Gasly said. "While on track it’s been a challenging season so far, I remain faithful to the project and I am not going anywhere. I am happy with the changes made, the hard work, and the direction the team is taking."

Gasly's teammate Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine at the end of the season. The French-owned team said it will announce "in due" course who will replace him.

Ocon and Gasly have made no secret of the fact they don't have a great relationship. The pair collided approaching the tunnel section at the Monaco GP last month, with Ocon taking responsibility for the incident and receiving a five-place grid penalty for the following race.

In March, two executives in charge of designing Alpine's new F1 car quit after a disappointing performance at the season-opening Bahrain GP.



Last Cycling Tour Stage to Go Through Butte Montmartre in Paris

(FILES) The pack of riders (peloton) cycles in Montmartre during the men's cycling road race during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
(FILES) The pack of riders (peloton) cycles in Montmartre during the men's cycling road race during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
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Last Cycling Tour Stage to Go Through Butte Montmartre in Paris

(FILES) The pack of riders (peloton) cycles in Montmartre during the men's cycling road race during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
(FILES) The pack of riders (peloton) cycles in Montmartre during the men's cycling road race during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

The final stage of this year's Tour de France will go up the Butte Montmartre, a year after the road race of the Paris Olympics went on the iconic hill, organizers said on Wednesday.
"An exceptional route has been designed, inspired by the course of the road race at the 2024 Olympic Games, which drew over 500,000 spectators last August," Amaury Sport Organization said in a statement.
"The riders will climb Montmartre hill and pass at the foot of the Sacre-Coeur before contesting a stage whose scenario could break with the traditions established over the past 50 years in the heart of the capital."
The Tour has been finishing on the Champs Elysees every year since 1975, at the exception of 2024, when it ended up in Nice.
The Champs Elysees stage is usually a procession to the avenue, where only the final sprint is contested, but this year's route is likely to break this scenario, Reuters reported.
The Tour starts on July 5 in Lille and ends on July 27.