Bicycle Race...

Well, I think I can probably assume that none of you have been watching the Tour de France (by all means prove me wrong by leaving a comment), after all, cycling rarely gets the coverage afforded to other sports (unless it's the kind of cycling where you ride fixies in circles for many laps and Scots win gold medals). But I would suggest that there is a good deal to promote cycling as a spectator sport.

This year's Tour de France is but 3 days old and already there have been more crashes than a stock exchange full of sozzled bankers. Yesterday saw the wet conditions claim a number of high profile victims, including Christian Vande Velde (who was described brilliantly in today's Guardian as a rider so accident prone it's surprising he hasn't reverted back to stabilisers), both Schleck brothers (one of whom managed to crash and then crash into a motorbike seconds later), Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador. In a Tour that had already seen Brit David Millar (among others) topple over a stray dog in the first stage. Interestingly enough, no the first time a dog has had its say in the standings of the General Classification, only 3 years ago Marcus Burghardt's progress was halted spectacularly by a slightly befuddled mutt wandering in front of a group of riders.

People have been pointing to the difficult stages taking place in the Low Countries, but if they thought yesterday's slightly sodden, hilly venture was bad, then they may struggle to cope with the cobbles of today's stage. There was a time when any self-respecting pro cyclist would partake in the classics including the notorious Paris-Roubaix, known affectionately as 'The Hell of the North', which might as well be held on the streets of Weatherfield. However many GC riders in this age of rolling and face clutching in sport tend to avoid it these days. It should be interesting to see how they cope today...

If you're one of those people who tune into F1 on the offchance that someone does a Kubica (or perhaps that should be a Webber now) then dip into cycling for a change.