The measure most likely to rankle the French was a proposal to scrap two national holidays: Easter Monday and May 8, which commemorates the end of the Second World War in Europe and is often used as a “bridge” by the French to take a four-day weekend in the middle of spring.

British rider Simon Yates has won the first mountainous stage of the Tour de France while Irish rider Ben Healy has been consoled by taking the yellow jersey. Healy was nominated the most