Tour de bore

As the Tour de France has just rolled to a ceremonious end in Paris today, I have been left with a feeling of disappointment.
Billed as the great clash between the old warrior Lance Armstrong and the new sensation Alberto Contador, this year's Tour never really lived up to it's hype and despite some flashes potential history making moments, the surprises came few and the racing came slow.
The problem was probably due to there being far too many flat stages where the peloton race in a bunch very steadily for a few hours and then the last kilometre is a mad sprint, usually won by Britain's Mark Cavendish.
Cav let us down, he didn't have the passion to win the green (sprinter's) jersey. He may look back on the Tour with regret. The fastest man on the road he was but points aren't just won at the finish and Thor Hushov deserves all the plaudits for making breaks midway through stages to collect some points for himself.
One rider who can hold his head high is our very own Bradley Wiggins. I may be disappointed that he didn't nick a podium place (a fiver each-way at 200/1) but coming fourth is the best any Brit has done and the bravery he showed up the mountains was admirable. He looks like a skeleton but the legs are obviously strong and this experience is sure to bring him some big prizes in the future. I want his autograph!

And Sir Michael Stoute didn't do bad at the weekend either but I think it was a weak renewal of this now substandard race. Year on year, we are left with the also rans to collect this big prize and it's about time someone did something about it.

Accountability in horseracing? That's a whole new debate!

A Quick Thought

Would it be hard not to laugh if you had an argument with race-caller Simon Holt because when he's having a go at you it would sound like he's on some epic commentary, Persian Punch and Jardine's Lookout style?


I'll be posting in the next few days...that's a promise!!