Well,
I’ve broken my own blogging rules big time here and have dismally
failed to update for over a month. This is how not to do it, ladies and
gentlemen. From now on, I practice what I preach...
At the
moment, my life revolves around clearing the decks in time for ITV 4’s
excellent nightly round-up of the Tour de France – and what a race it’s
turning out to be! Some amazing riding, none of the depressing
high-profile drug-related exits we’ve seen in past years (so far,
anyway), and two British riders making a serious impression: Bradley
Wiggins in the General Classification and Mark Cavendish with four
stunning sprint finishes (so far) and some finish line drama that saw
him – I think unfairly – stripped of vital points that have cost him
the green jersey. Plus the awesome Lance Armstrong, supremely graceful
Alberto Contador and the Shleck mountain machines. As I write, the odds
are on Contador holding onto his yellow jersey all the way to Paris,
but the other podium places are far from decided. Compelling stuff, and
even if it wasn’t who could possibly resist the gorgeous backdrop? I
was in the Dordogne two years ago when the Tour went through – it's some spectacle, of which the peloton itself is only a tiny part, and the atmosphere was amazing.
High on my list of Things to Do some year very soon is to get myself to a mountain stage...
Stage 9 (12 July) St Gaudens-Tarbes: Climbing the
Col du Tourmalet.
Stage 17 (22 July) Bourg-St-Maurice-Le-Grand-Bornand:
Seriously hard work for them, but an amazing vista for us!
Stage 17 (22 July) Bourg-St-Maurice-Le-Grand-Bornand:
Andy Schleck, brother Frank (the stage winner) and Alberto Contador. Pix: Tour De France
Meanwhile, just loving it and don’t want it to end...
And if Wiggins does make it into the top three – or even the top five – what a result that would be for British cycling: this is the same guy, remember, who came home from Beijing with two gold medals less than a year ago. Wiggins and Cavendish are both supremely gifted but their success is also further proof that, as with everything, you get out what you put in: give talented performers the resources and leadership they need to excel and they surely will. Just need to see the same formula applied to UK athletics now...
