Laperche wins the Route du Rhum, Alcaraz rules Paris: your French sport weekend

From Lyon to Guadeloupe via Brazil, you needed eyes everywhere to follow sport on 7 and 8 November. Here are the six moments that mattered.

1. Laperche wins the Route du Rhum with a record ⛵

On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Tom Laperche, 29, won the Route du Rhum, the solo transatlantic race from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe. His time of six days, 13 hours and 27 minutes is a new race record, and it makes him the youngest multihull winner in the event's history. The previous record came in 2022 from Charles Caudrelier.

2. He beat the big names comfortably

Sailing the giant trimaran SVR Lazartigue in the Ultim class, Laperche finished clear of Thomas Coville (second) and Louis Burton (third). "I've dreamed of the Route du Rhum since I was little," he said in Pointe-à-Pitre, adding that the boat gave him speed, sensations and a feeling that everything flowed.

3. Alcaraz finally wins in Paris 🎾

Carlos Alcaraz had never won the Paris Masters 1000 (one of tennis's biggest tournaments after the Grand Slams). On Sunday the world number two beat American Ben Shelton 7-6, 7-5. It is his fifth title this season and his 29th on the main tour.

4. Luca van Assche is the home-crowd surprise

The French 22-year-old lost to Shelton in the semi-finals, but had never before gone beyond the second round at this level. On Monday he reaches a career-best ATP ranking of 34th.

5. Les Bleus crush Fiji but lose Ntamack 🏉

France beat Fiji 54-17 in Lyon, a third straight win in the autumn Nations Championship. Eight tries were scored, the last by Antoine Dupont, named player of the match. The bad news: coach Fabien Galthié said Romain Ntamack has a "fairly serious injury", probably to his left shoulder. South Africa, the double world champions, await on Friday at 9:10 pm.

6. Norris wins in the rain, Hadjar on the podium 🏎️

Lando Norris won the Brazilian Grand Prix from pole as rain arrived 12 laps from the end. Max Verstappen, who started 21st, took second and Frenchman Isack Hadjar third, his third podium of the season. Kimi Antonelli, the new world champion, finished fifth, and Mercedes sealed its ninth constructors' title.

In football, PSG beat Troyes 1-0 for a seventh straight Ligue 1 win, while Marseille won 2-1 at Lens, and Lyon lost 2-0 to Brest in their first game without Paulo Fonseca.