Armchair Cyclist

From my sofa where I sat injured for weeks this summer I was at least able to appreciate some of the cycling that was going on elsewhere.

Most obviously for every summer was the Tour de France. The start coincided with my crash so that my routine could include watching the live coverage each day, and I was treated to one of the best races I can remember. It had everything from rising stars to riders coming of age (in particular Geraint Thomas) and a real fight for the race. It wasn’t even completely decided as they took on the Alpe d’Huez on stage 20 and the racing would go to the line as Quintana fought to try to overcome the gap that hindsight may well have put down to inattentivness in the first, flat, week.

In Grand Tour terms we’re now well into the last of the season and the Vuelta a Espana will pick up today after the first rest day and smash straight into a brutal stage that should really sort the pack. Perhaps here we’ll see if Froome can tempo ride towards a double, or if it’ll go on as an exciting race defined by new faces and crashes. De Moulin is in red for now with a strong lead, but he is not known as a climber. At least everyone seems to have forgiven or forgotten the neutralised first TTT stage that appeared to have been planned to ride on the beach.

Follow the Vuelta highlights on ITV4 at 7pm each night and also look forward to the Tour of Britain, which starts on Sunday and is now maturing into a race where it’s no surprise to see some of the biggest names in the game.

So plenty going on to keep this currently armchair cyclist going. Even if tomorrow’s National Cycle to Work Day will be a bit ironic in my head at least.

A