The Tour de France, the country's big cycling event, has a new hero. He hails from Spain and his name is Alberto Contador. The Spaniard's win in the time trial all but guarantees a second Tour win for the firm favourite. According to Spanish daily El Mundo, Contador won the stage in the style of former Spanish Tour winner Miguel Indurain. El Mundo says Contador "wrote a new legendary chapter" in his already highly successful career.

Hoping for a place alongside Contador on the podium in Paris on Sunday are two brothers from Luxembourg. The Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, could ride their way into Tour folklore by being the first brothers to climb onto the podium together. An enormous sporting success for the tiny Grand-Duchy, and one covered in minute detail by the country's biggest daily newspaper, the Luxemburger Wort. The German-language paper asks the question: “Two Luxembourg riders on the podium?” 24-year-old Andy Schleck is already the Tour's best young rider. His older brother still has plenty of work to be done before making sure of a top three finish. According to the Luxemburger Wort, the Schlecks are "the world’s fastest cycling brothers."

Over in the United Kingdom, swine flu is making for some striking headlines, both in the broadsheets and in the tabloids. Conservative paper The Daily Telegraph's headline reads "100,000 infected by swine flu in a week." Alongside the headline, an emblematic picture of a young man sporting a protective mask outside the Houses of Parliament. The Telegraph reports that "children are being hit the hardest” and that, according to officials, “the disease is approaching epidemic levels.”

The other side of the newspaper spectrum, the tabloid The Daily Mail headlines with "Swine flu cases double in week". The “National Flu Pandemic Service website” crashed within minutes of going live, with 2,600 hits a second. The Daily Mail goes on to report that the National Health Service is "planning for up to 65,000 deaths from swine flu." Statistics and estimates tell the whole story. The Mail quotes health officials who believe 30% of the population could end up catching the infection.

From Berlin, the story of the mobile phone worth a whopping one million Euros. German daily. Der Tagesspiegel reports on diamond-encrusted mobiles, the likes of which Paris Hilton has been seen using in her many public appearances. Their only "minor" drawback: they weigh a lot more than your normal mobile phone, and, according to Der Tagesspiegel, the diamonds keep it from getting good reception. At least they look good.