The Vuelta went uphill yesterday with none of the faffing around with sprinters stages that other tours sometimes bother with. Somehow even this excitement couldn’t stop the slightly dull commentary that focussed on such exciting topics as whether Phillipe Gilbert was drinking coke or water at one point.
Luckily, having decided that he was on water, after he tipped it over his head, we could at least focus on the racing. The story was of Contador attacking over and over again on the last climb in a way that was either a display of his strength and eagerness to race again, or his desperation to get away but inability to make it stick as he was marked by the top three riders.
In the end he could only manage fourth, behind Froome who bagged a useful four second bonus by beating him to the line, and the stage was won by Valverde as Rodriguez gave us all a lesson in not getting complacent towards the line.
In road racing it is transfer season, which you can keep up with here. This has fuelled a bit of rumour around the Sky team as Wiggins pointed out what might be the most obvious change in terms of Cavendish potentially thinking about going back to a team where he would get the support to win more stages. In a way that I don’t remember seeing before this has been picked up all across the media despite being hardly a surprise at all.
More of a good surprise in the Cav and Wiggo Show was news that both riders would be at the Tour of Britain.
It feels like time to revisit the Cycle Show on ITV4 after giving it a few weeks to get bedded in. It was on again last night and it’s now been extended to an hour and still manages to feel weak. Interviews feel forced and are only occasionally interesting and the features seen to cater mostly for people new to cycling, but yet still doesn’t make it all that exciting. Maybe cyclists aren’t interesting to interview, and maybe the London-focus is irritating as there are endless commuter features, but it constantly feels like it’s missing an opportunity.
The occasional interesting fact, like putting the power output of the Sky team into perspective, still doesn’t save it from spectacularly dull parts like “cycling team of the week” which features a seemingly endless stream of middle aged men in lycra.
I suppose what’s missing is the fun factor. The idea that riding a bike is just exciting and that even the commute is exciting and a thrill, doesn’t come across in the midst of men who engage in the dull practice of road posing. Surely there should be more playing in the woods and messing about? (And I’m sorry but I don’t mean bike polo). At the moment, watching it taped, the fast-forward button gets a lot of action in my house.
Still apparently Gee Atherton's dropping in next week so maybe that'll be an improvement.
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