Cyclist Chris Froome joins Board of Factor Bikes

Monaco-based professional cyclist Chris Froome has joined with Point King Capital and Skip Capital to invest in premium bicycle brand Factor Bikes, and in the process has signed on to the company’s Board of Directors.
Factor Bikes and its parts and accessories subsidiary Black, Inc. now have a bona fide cycling superstar on their Board in the form of Chris Froome. The Monaco-based racer has joined up with two investors, Sam McKay, Co-Founder of Point King Capital, and Scott Farquhar, Co-Founder of Skip Capital, to invest in the company’s future.
Froome and McKay will sit on the Factor/Black Board of Directors, and CEO Rob Gitelis will keep his position as majority shareholder.
“We are genuinely excited to bring on new capital partners who will help Factor realise its potential,” said Gitelis in a statement. “With Chris, Point King Capital and Skip Capital we have the ideal team to support and advise us on every aspect of our business as we enter a new, growth-oriented chapter. They all understand and support our mission to push boundaries and challenge the status-quo, which is critical.”
The new influx of capital will help the company in its global growth strategy. The focus will be on continued investment in the products, innovation, talent and global channel expansion.
Factor/Black had recently announced its intention to open a new retail shop in Melbourne as part of improving on their direct-to-consumer experience. They have also signed on for another year as the sponsor for the UCI World Tour professional cycling team, Israel Start-up Nation, who Froome races for.
This will be Froome’s first foray into investments in a bicycle company and he intends to play an active role in strategic direction, product development and marketing and sponsorship decisions.
The Brit has won seven Grand Tours including four editions of the Tour de France, one Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España twice. He has also won several other stage races, and the Velo d’Or three times. He has also been awarded the Oder of the British Empire (OBE) for his achievements.
Speaking from Monaco, Froome shared his excitement about the new venture, saying, “I’m really excited to be joining the Factor/Black Inc team. Over the past year, I’ve had a first-hand look at Factor/Black Inc’s technical and development prowess. I truly believe that they’re building something special, and I can’t wait to bring my racing experience and product understanding to help the company continue to bring ground-breaking innovations to cyclists all over the world.”
Factor CEO Gitelis is equally happy about Froome’s involvement, saying, “As much as his physical abilities, Chris’ obsession with extracting every last ounce of performance from his equipment has played a key role in his becoming one of the greatest cyclists of all time. The fact that he chose to make his maiden bicycle company investment in Factor/Black Inc. after just one season of racing on our products speaks volumes about his belief in what we’re doing. We will benefit greatly from his knowledge of both the product and the peloton.”
 
 
 
Photo supplied
 
 
 

SBM donates fountain coins to Fight AIDS Monaco

The Société des Bains de Mer has handed over 115kg of coins collected in four fountains at the Carré d’Or to Fight Aids Monaco, equalling about €3,500 for the Princess Stephanie-led charity.

Making a wish whilst tossing a coin in a fountain has been a long-standing tradition, but in the case of the four fountains in the Carre d’Or section of Monaco, the coins will not only benefit the coin thrower, but will make dreams for others come true.

The fountains, maintained by the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM), had collected some 115 kilograms of coins over the past 18 months. When emptied recently, the haul came to an estimated €3,500 worth. This number came after counting the value of a single kilo of coins, then multiplying the amount by the weight.

“We were not going to keep all these coins,” said Jean-Luc Biamonti, CEO of the SBM. “We then thought of donating the amount to charity and our choice ultimately fell on Fight AIDS Monaco, which is a great cause for us.”

The act, he said, may be repeated in the months and years to come, “when a reasonable sum is reached again.”

The decision to make the coins a gift also has a practical side.

“You have to know that the parts end up damaging the fountains. We have to remove them, and this is an operation that we repeat often,” Biamonti explained.

The handover took place on Thursday morning when the Deputy Chairman made the donation to Christine Barca, who was there representing Fight AIDS Monaco.

Barca, the General Secretary of the association, thanked SBM, saying that the move “once again proves its loyalty.”

A meeting will soon take place between Princess Stephanie and the charity’s Board of Directors to determine how to best use the unexpected windfall.

“It is quite possible that this sum will be used for the weekends of resourcing of the affiliates that we have in the Principality,” said Ms Barca. In any case, the tidy sum will no doubt be put to good use for a good cause.

 
 
Photo by Manuel Vitali, Government Communication Department

 

 
 

European Commission hands €289 million to Lithuania

The European Commission has given €289 million to Lithuania in pre-financing to kick-start investment and reform measures in the country as part of a major EU pandemic recovery plan.
The European Commission disbersed the money on 17th August, equivalent to 13% of the country’s financial allocation under the Recovery Resilience Facility (RRF) and as part of NextGenerationEU, which will eventually provide €723.8 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across Member States.
“After three very successful bond issuances under NextGenerationEU over the past few weeks, and the first payments for other NGEU programmes, I am glad that we have now also reached the disbursement stage for the RRF,” said Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration. “Intense cooperation with Lithuania and solid preparation within the Commission allowed us to pay out the funds in record time. This shows that with the resources raised, we will be able to swiftly deliver on the pre-financing needs of all Member States, thus giving them the initial boost in implementing the numerous green and digital projects included in their national plans.”
The RRF in Lithuania will finance projects that include €242 million to develop offshore and onshore wind and solar power, as well as to create public and private energy storage facilities. €341 million will be invested to phase out the most polluting road transport vehicles and increase the share of renewable energy sources in the transport sector.
€73 million will be allocated to develop the rollout of very high capacity networks, including by facilitating the 5G rollout, connecting digitally intensive enterprises and institutions.
€312 million will be invested to consolidate teaching and learning resources, improve preschool, primary and secondary education, vocational education and training, as well as adult learning.
“The first disbursement for Lithuania will kick-start the implementation of a recovery and resilience plan built for success,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “NextGenerationEU is powering a more sustainable, a more digital and a more resilient future for Lithuania. An ambitious digitalisation plan and reforms in education and research will give a boost to Lithuania’s innovation and competitiveness.”
The Commission will authorise further disbursements based on the implementation of the investments and reforms outlined in Lithuania’s recovery and resilience plan. The country is set to receive €2.22 billion in total, fully consisting of grants, over the lifetime of its plan.
 
 
 
Photo source: European Commission
 
 

Back-to-school “as normal as possible” in France

France says that university students will not need a health pass to attend lectures this September, but they will be needed to access cultural, leisure or sports events. Meanwhile, primary and secondary pupils will not need a health pass for face-to-face learning, but several rules for safety will apply.
French Minister for Higher Education Frédérique Vidal and Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer are singing from the same song sheet regarding the safe return to school in September.
On Sunday 22nd August, Blanquer unveiled the protocol for primary and secondary schools, saying he intends to make it “as normal as possible”. He announced that no health pass would be required, but that those who are not vaccinated potentially face distance learning in the event of an outbreak of Covid at schools.
Mask wearing is compulsory for all students from primary school up, but mixing will be allowed. Sports can carry on both indoors and out, with the exception of indoor contact sports.
Classes will be closed and distance learning imposed in elementary school classes with one positive case, but middle and high school classes will continue to operate. Only the infected students and unvaccinated students who have been in contact with the infected student must home school, and then only for seven days. For double-jabbed students, even if they had contact with infected pupils, they may continue with face-to-face lessons.
As for universities, Minister Vidal mimicked her colleagues words, telling Le Parisian on Tuesday that she expects as “normal as possible” return to school.
“There will be no gauge in the lecture halls, in order to exploit the maximum capacity of the rooms and allow 100% face-to-face,” she said, adding, “this means that there will be no physical distancing. But we maintain compliance with barrier gestures, such as wearing a mask or the ventilation and cleaning instructions for premises.”
The health pass won’t be required to go to lectures, but will be necessary to attend other events where members of the general public are also allowed, be it sport, leisure or cultural. This will also include any seminars or conferences that have 50 or more people where the public is invited.
Two and a half million self-tests have already been delivered to universities and will be offered free to students, with additional tests covered by the government.
University students, like their younger counterparts, must wear masks in class to try and prevent the spread of the virus. But if cases do crop up, the minister warns that universities may have to set up systematic screening methods.
If three positive cases arise from a single teaching group over a one-week period, the school must contact health authorities and start tracing. Anyone who tests positive and any unvaccinated contact cases will have to self-isolate for seven days. Any contact case who has been fully vaccinated will not have to isolate.
To encourage students to get their jabs, vaccination centres will be set up on campuses.
 
 

Booster recommended for over-65s

France’s medical regulator has announced its recommendation of a third dose of the Covid vaccine for people over 65 as well as for those with pre-existing conditions.  
France’s High Authority of Health (HAS), the medical watchdog agency of the country, has advised that fully vaccinated over-65s and susceptible people go in for a booster of the Covid-19 jab starting in autumn.
It comes after last month’s announcement from the Health Ministry that a booster would be available for roughly five million of the most vulnerable, including those living in care homes.
The HAS statement asked for the net to be widened for those eligible for the third shot and stated that the “priority for the next few weeks is to increase vaccination coverage in particular in the 80+ age group where vaccination coverage remains insufficient (at 79.9 percent).”
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation is calling for a stop to boosters until at least the end of September to allow the countries without steady access to the vaccines to catch up.
But with France racking up about 20,000 new cases each day, and back-to-school just around the corner, there are worries about a new wave of infections.
France is not alone in administering third doses. Israel was amongst the first to do so back in July after a rise in cases, and both Germany and the United States have announced they will begin their booster programme in September.
The boosters in France are on track to be rolled out from the end of October.
 
 
Photo by Mat Napo on Unsplash
 
 
 
 

Red and Whites eliminated from Champions League playoffs

Despite playing well, AS Monaco could only manage a draw with Shakhtar Donetsk Wednesday night, nudging them out of the Champions League playoffs with a final score of two all.
The good news is that AS Monaco seem to be back on good form. The bad news is that they weren’t quite good enough to pull off the win against Shakhtar Donetsk, thus ending their Champions League hopes and relegating them to the Europa League.
Before the match, Coach Niko Kovac made clear he understood how tough this game would be, saying, “We will have to fight from the first minute. We will have to fight first and then play football. I and the players know that we will not give up on our dream. I am sure that tomorrow we will show again the true face of AS Monaco, that of last season.”
The Red and Whites definitely had their game faces on, and the game went on for two full hours with both sides playing at super high levels.
This match marked the return of Youssouf Fofana in midfield and the dynamic duo of Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland on the attack. Their energy brought an intensity to the match and led to Ben Yedder scoring the game opener, also giving him his first point of the season.
It was beautifully played, with Benoît Badashile firing a shot to Volland. Volland went for the goal, but the ball was pushed back, landing at Ben Yedder’s feet. He took the shot and in it went, giving Monaco the advantage. Ben Yedder followed this up in the 38th minute when he doubled the score, leaving the Red and Whites sitting pretty by half time.
In fact, the team made a total of 13 attempts on goal, showing how aggressively they were playing.
The second half saw the Ukrainians make their move in the 74th minute when Marlos made an amazing shot past Alexander Nübel’s near post. This tipped the scales and forced the game into overtime, where it was so balanced it appeared that the game was heading to penalties to make the final call.
Finally, at 115 minutes, Ruben Aguilar sealed Monaco’s fate, making the final goal and ending their Champions League run.
Now is time to look to the future, and to Ligue 1, where the team go up against Troyes on Sunday, looking to take their first outright victory of the year.
 
 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco press release, photo by AS Monaco