Vino wins gold; Cav stood no chance in the end

That don't look much like Mark Cavendish ... Alexandr Vinokurov, he of the school of former dopers, wins Olympic Gold in final road race. Photograph: Bettini

One hundred and forty-four cyclists took to the start line in London on Saturday for the men's Olympic road race  and five of them were British. Those five held the hope -- and the best odds going for them -- that the race would come down to a bunch sprint, the other 139, wanted anything but, for to gain any other kind of a finish would leave the result open to a number of contenders, but to take it to a sprint up the Mall, would all but ensure a British victory by way of pre-race favorite, Mark Cavendish. The 139, not surprisingly, beat the five and a surprise name in Alexandr Vinokurov took home the Gold.

A Sunday mountain biking at Kelso Park

Sunday was a glorious day outside and one I couldn't pass up on going out on the mountain bike for a while. The Olympics might be into full swing now after a fantastic opening ceremony on Friday night, but whatever was on could be re-watched later as I decided I couldn't spend the next two weeks entirely on the sofa.

Bradley Wiggins: A champion we can believe in

Bradley Wiggins is a man of the people and a champion we can at last completely believe in

What would you be doing today? The day after you have just won the Tour de France? I know where I'd be and it would result in a nasty headache in a few days time. But not Bradley Wiggins. "I'll just go on my usual loops and it will be nice to ride along with a bit of peace and quiet, enjoying riding the bike without all these bloody idiots on motorbikes taking photos of you!" said the new Tour de France champion.

To be fair to him, he would probably be doing the same as me if it wasn't for the Olympic Games next week and his continued preparation to add a Gold medal in the time-trial to his recent Tour victory, and if that happens then you can really expect the celebrations to begin. But it's the kind of answer that he provides that makes him different from the rest.

You call it dull ... I'll call it clean ... Wiggin's says it's "More human now"

The days of wildly entertaining rides like those by Marco Pantani are a thing of the past, but surely that's actually a good thing?

"Someone is going to have to sustain 500 watts over 20 minutes of a climb to stay away which is not possible anymore unless you’ve got a couple of extra litres of blood. That’s the reality of it. It really is."

-- Bradley Wiggins

It was the early evening of Saturday July 19, 1997 and Marco Pantani had just crossed the finishing line at the top of Alp d'Huez having gone up the fabled mountain of 21 switchbacks faster than anyone before, or since. It was a phenomenal sight, at an average speed of 14.3 mph, and the Italian mountain goat who could defy, as the band Queen would sing, the laws of gravity, was the toast of the Tour. A year later he would become the first pure climber since Lucien van Impe in 1976 to win the Tour de France but by February 2004, he would be dead.

How the British (and French) press broke the news of Wiggins's victory

A look at the front pages of a number of Britain's daily newspapers and how they were reacting to the news that one of their own, Bradley Wiggins, had just won the biggest bike race in the World for the first time. With the Olympic Games just days away, it's one hell of a time to be a headline writer for the sports sections of a daily British paper and an even better time to be a cycling fan...

Proof that you probably shouldn't bet on my advice

Before the tour began I laid down my predictions for the top ten overall as well as the top three in the points and mountains classifications. To say I was quite wide of the remark with regards to some picks would be an understatement though to be fair you can never predict crashes that might suddenly eliminate a contender. Perhaps the closest I got, aside from picking Jurgen Van Den Broeck correctly in forth, was picking Wiggins in second, one place below where he finished. Why did I ever doubt you Brad? The following is a look at where my picks ended up finishing along with the actual stage winners by comparison to my questionable picks in the stage previews.

Cav makes it 7 stage wins for Britain as Wiggins makes history

Rambouillet to Paris (Champs-Élysées), 120 km (74.6 mi)

Job done. Wiggins is on top of the cycling world as champion in Paris. Photograph: Getty Images

There was only ever going to be one winner today. In a warmup for the blast up The Mall on July 28, Mark Cavendish took the perfect lead out, including the rare sight of the Yellow jersey at the head of the peloton setting a ferocious pace that no rival team could move ahead of to take control with a kilometre to go, to swing out of the final corner, around his final lead out man of Edvald Boasson Hagen and clear to the line. It was a dominant victory, once again by several lengths, and from much further out that his rivals might have expected. As they were hoping to grab his wheel and come around him out of that final corner, they straightened up only to find Cavendish was already twenty yards up the most famous avenue in the World and heading for his forth straight victory in Paris.

A moment that will burn long into the memory

Bonneval to Chartres, 53.5 km (33.2 mi)

The moment Bradley Wiggins became the first British winner of the Tour de France and the greatest British athlete of all time. Photograph: AFP

The image above is one that will burn long into the memory. The moment that Bradley Wiggins all but cemented his victory to become the first British winner of the Tour de France. It was a ride to show those that felt the better man was finishing in second were wrong and the pride in that came spilling out as he crossed the line and punched the air.

How the French see it...

BRITISH TIME

Wigins sets the record straight. At 50 km/h average speed, he dominated the ride against the clock of the Tour 2012, beating teammate Froome by more than a minute. Today, the Londoner triumph's in yellow on the Champs-Elysees.

Cavendish's statement of intent

"Bring on London" screams Cav (I reckon) as he blitzes his opponents. Photograph: AFP Photo

It was a statement of intent to anyone thinking of taking on and beating Mark Cavendish on Sunday's run up the Champs-Élysées, and to anyone who thinks they can beat him on July 28, at the Olympic road race which will finish on The Mall in London. It was one of the biggest winning margins in a sprint finish that we have seen for a long time as Cavendish broke from the pack, surged past a late break effort of Nicolas Roche and Luis Leon Sanchez as if they were standing still, and powered over the line a good five yards ahead of the rest. That the others got the same finishing time of him is probably a little inaccurate by the race organisors.

Wiggins passionately defends his worthiness as a now inevitable Tour de France champion

Brad Wiggins is wearing the Yellow jersey on stage 17 of the Tour de France. Baring a disaster such as a terrible crash or a dozen punctures in Saturday's time-trial, he is just a few days away from becoming Britain's first ever winning of the race. He has dominated every race he has been in this season up to and including this Tour de France. He has had his big outburst, but has also maintained and reinforced the staunch anti-doping stance he has had throughout his career. Yet, the man was still answering questions about how worthy he feels to be on the verge of this great achievement during today's press conference.

Valverde wins a stage; has Nibali and Wiggins to thank

Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes, 143.5 km (89.2 mi)

A familiar sight as the most loyal of domestiques, Chris Froome, leads home his team-leader, Brad Wiggins in his Yellow jersey. Photograph: Stephane Mahe

Alejandro Valverde's Christmas card list just grew by two people today, for without them he wouldn't be winning his first Tour de France stage since 2008 on his first Tour back since his suspension. It was the day when Bradley Wiggins confirmed he had all but won the Tour de France as he and his strong climbing team-mate, Chris Froome, showed why nobody had been able to attack them all tour long.

Voeckler provides the entertainment on a disappointing showing by the race favorites

Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, 197 km (122.4 mi)

It took four mountains worth of effort, but Thomas Voecker took the win and the mountains jersey. Photograph: AFP

Once again it was a race of two parts. Part one was the battle involving those who are not a threat to the general classification and allowed to go off the front early and entertain; the other part is the battle involving the Yellow jersey. As has been the case since Brad Wiggins took Yellow back on stage 7 and cemented his lead at the time-trial two days later, this battle has become a real damp squid, so thank goodness for the entertainment put on by stage winner, Thomas Voeckler.

Schleck tests positive; considers 'poison' defense; Another notch in the belt of Bruyneel

Frank Schleck today has a tougher road ahead that he otherwise thought when he woke up yesterday morning. Photograph: Pascal Pavani/AFP

A rest day wouldn't be a rest day in the Tour de France if all the riders and it's pack of following hacks just tookt he day to rest. No, the rest day is the day the Tour uses to get out some scandal filled news bites while the riders are tucked into the safe confines of their hotel rooms rather than out on the road. And in particular when the said rest day is in Pau ... that sleepy little Pyraneen town loves a good doping scandal as Alberto Contador found out to his peril in 2010. You can bet nobody was eating beef last night, but you can also bet that everyone was on edge just waiting to see who they hammer would fall on. At some time in the early evening of yesterday, it came down on Frank Schleck.

The other jersey competitions...

Frederik Kessiakoff has a lot to do if he want's to reenact this move in Paris. Photograph: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Europe

I haven't wrote a lot about the other jersey competitions of this year's Tour but with today being the second rest day and a drugs scandal yet to break, it seems like a good time to come up to speed with what's going on in them. Some remain close and may be decided over the next few days, others appear to have been won and done for days now...

Le Tour on Twitter: Episode 3

Two weeks down and baring the small group in today's break, the rest of the race had a virtual day off. With a rest day to come tomorrow they should be fresh for the final kick ahead. Here's what's on the riders minds as they take to Twitter ahead of the rest day tomorrow. 

Fédrigo wins on unofficial rest day for the peloton

Stage 15 -- July 16: Samatan to Pau, 158.5 km (98.5 mi)

Pierrick Fédrigo is the first to start his rest day. Photograph: Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters

Pierrick Fédrigo should have been a name to mark for the rest of the race today. It should have been a name you put some money on also, for the last time the race finished in Pau two years ago, he was the winner. The Frenchman clearly knows the city well despite being born some 200 kilometers north in Marmande. It was his forth Tour stage win to go with that 2010 victory and wins in the 2009 and 2006 editions.

A-tack A-tack A-tack; Tour descends into puncture carnage; Sanchez avoids Sagan

Stage 14 -- July 15: Limoux to Foix, 191 km (118.7 mi)

Cadel Evans finally gets some help after picking up a tack. Photograph: AFP Photo

It was a stage with a final climb that promised so much, but in the end delivered little, but only in terms of a challenge to Bradley Wiggins's Yellow jersey. Other than that there was endless talking points on a day when the battle for the stage win was as hotly contested as you could hope for, and the drama at the summit of the final climb was as surreal as it gets in a Tour de France.

Make it three for the big German

Stage 13 -- July 14: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Cap d'Agde, 217 km (134.8 mi)

So much for the sprinters having it easy by cruising through the majority of the stage, letting their teams pull in the lead break and then doing their big effort in the final meters once their leadout men pull to the side. That's a rarity in this Tour ... I mean, just look at the total stage wins by Mark Cavendish so far -- ONE. Today's looked like it might be one of those stages, but thanks to an ultra steep but short little climb not too far out from the finish, the peloton was splintered into pieces as the big GC-names came to the fore briefly, and Bradley Wiggins in his Yellow jersey even turned into a leadout man for Edvald Boasson Hagen, only for the big German, André Greipel, to prove he can survive a tough little climb if there's a victory to be had at the line. There was and it was his third and counting of this years Tour.

Make it four for the British

Stage 12 -- July 13: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay/Davézieux, 226 km (140.4 mi)

This is what winning clean will do to you. A more satisfying victory ... once you recover, of course. Photograph: AFP

Last week sometime I talked about waiting years for a British Yellow jersey contender to come along only two to come along at once, but how about stage winners? I remember in 1996 it being a big deal among the British cycling community that one of their own, Max Sciandri, had won a stage of the Tour de France for aside from Chris Boardman in prologues, it was such a rarity. Then along game the likes of Mark Cavendish who would bring home four or five sprint victories for Britain in a single Tour to the point it was rare for the nation not to have a stage winner, but there was far from the outright dominance we're seeing here in 2012. Thanks today to the stage win by the old boy, David Millar, Britain now have four different stage winners in this Tour to go with the GC domination by Brad Wiggins and Chris Froome. Unthinkable not so long ago.

Rolland wins for France while Froome shows his strength but waits for Wiggins

Stage 11 -- July 12: Albertville to Fontcouverte-la-Toussuire/Les Sybelles, 148 km (92 mi)

Despite have just crossed three mountain passes, Pierre Rolland has time to finish and lift his bike in celebration while waiting for the others to finish. Photograph: Nathalie Magniez/AFP/Getty Images

It was a day of high drama. A day we might look back on as the one that swung the balance of this Tour into the lap of Bradley Wiggins once and for all, but also the day that his team-mate, and somewhat reluctant super-domestique, Chris Froome showed he had the potential to win the Tour and almost certainly will be trying to do so twelve months from now. It was the day the French had their hopes lifted once again thanks to Pierre Rolland, that not to far into the future they could have their own Tour contender once again.

Good for Tommy

Stage 10 -- July 11: Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, 194.5 km (120.9 mi)

You'll be hard pressed to find a cycling fan that wasn't pleased with today's result. Thomas Voeckler became a fan to millions for the way he rode last years Tour de France, defending the Yellow jersey as though his life depended upon it and riding above and beyond his natural talent levels to keep it right up until the final days in the mountains. Not many being realistic believed he could repeat such a feat this year for he would be a marked man from the beginning but we never got to find out for sure when he ran into a number of first week accidents that left him well down the overall standings.

Wiggins chasing the Indurain model

A quick disclaimer. In no way is the following a comparison of Bradley Wiggins to the great Miguel Indurain. Such an argument wouldn't be put forth until we were sitting here sometime around 2016 talking about Brad Wiggins winning another time-trial and pulling on yet another Yellow jersey. What I am doing here is highlighting the comparison between the two era's after the Tour organizers decided to bring back the second individual time-trail at the end of the first week of the race. People have said this current Tour is in risk of being a little drab now that Wiggins has cemented his lead leaving him with no need to go on the attack the rest of the Tour, especially with another time-trial to come, but it reminded me a lot of those Indurain days and I've put together a look at how the big Spaniard would seize control of the Tour at the early time-trail before marking his rivals all the way to glory.

Of course, the difference here is that Wiggins isn't Indurain. Wiggins probably is breakable and that there is some savage racing to come in which the likes of Cadel Evans will do everything in his power to crack the Englishman. If he does, he'll then have to find a way to do the same to Chris Froome, who looks the best climber in this Tour in a way that Andy Schleck might have been had he been healthy, but also a man who can time-trial, unlike Schleck. Anyway, right now Wiggins is doing his best Indurain impression and given it's success rate, you can't blame him. He's ticked the first box by winning that early time-trial and pulling on the Yellow jersey ... can he do the next by keeping it to Paris?

1991 -- Stage 8: Argentan to Ancelon, 73 km

Coming into this one the race had been relatively flat. Indurain was sitting outside the top 15, 3-25 behind the Yellow jersey of Thierry Marie who two days before had taken the race lead after a spectacular and long solo break. More importantly, Indurain was 2-18 behind pre-race favourite Greg LeMond. Indurain won the time-trial, beating LeMond by eight seconds moving him up to forth in the GC, 2-17 behind LeMond who had taken the Yellow jersey. LeMond would crack in the mountains, Indurain would mark the major moves and take over the race lead. By the second time-trial the tour was in the bag. He beat his new rival, Gianni Bugno by 27 seconds to seal his first Tour victory by a 3-36 margin over the Italian.

1992 -- Stage 9: Luxembourg to Luxembourg, 65 km

The race started in Spain and by stage nine's time-trial was already in Luxembourg. This was the Tour of the EU rather than the Tour de France, and in it's early days already had a couple of mountain stages as well as a team-time-trial. As a result the race was well shaken up. Pascal Lino was in Yellow coming into the time-trial with a 5-33 lead on Indurain. More importantly Indurain was 2 minutes behind Claudio Chiappucci, 1-04 behind LeMond and 27 behind Bugno. Naturally, he won the time-trial in one of his most dominant performances ever. Second place man, Armond De las Cuevas was 3 minutes behind. Lino kept Yellow but he was never a serious GC threat, and as a result Indurain had already put his biggest rivals behind him. After stage 13 and the first major league day in the mountains, Indurain was in Yellow and on his way to his second Tour victory.

1993 -- Stage 9: Lac de Madine, 59 km

After a first week in which Indurain won the prologue, lost some time in the team-time-trial, and watched the sprinters do their thing or non-contenders win from successful breaks, Indurain came into the time-trail well down in the general classification but in a similar position to his rivals. He won it -- his third straight first time-trial of the tour victory -- by 2-11 from Bugno. It put Indurain into Yellow 1-35 up on Eric Breukink and he never looked back. He marked his rivals through the mountain stages, came second to Tony Rominger in the penultimate stage time-trial but beat the Swissman in the final overall standings by 4-59. Fifth place Bjarne Riis was over 16 minutes behind.

1994 -- Stage 9: Perigueux to Bergerac, 64 km

Chris Boardman won the prologue, Indurain's Banesto team lost little time in a third place finish in the team-time-trial and the rest of the first week belonged to the sprinters meaning that come the by now annual ninth stage individual time-trial in 7th overall, 30 seconds behind the Yellow jersey of Johan Museeuw but 28 seconds on his biggest rival, Tony Rominger. In the time-trial it was the usual statement of intent. Indurain beat Rominger by 2 minutes with nobody else even close. It put him comfortably into Yellow and again the marking began. Piotr Ugurmov beat him comfortably in the final time-trial but by then the Tour was long won as the Spaniard made it four in-a-row with Ugurmov in second 5-39 behind for Indurain's biggest winning margin of his five wins.

1995 --Stage 8: Huy to Seraing, 54 km

Indurain didn't wait until stage 8's time-trial to put the hurt into his rivals. On a flat stage into Liege the day before, he went on the attack with Johan Bruyneel and nobody could do anything about it. Bruyneel hugged his wheel the entire way coming around him only to take an undeserved victory, but for Indurain it was a time-trial before the time-trial and he took 50 seconds out of his rivals. In the time-trial he looked tireder than normal but still won it, beating Bjarne Riis by 12 seconds, Rominger by 58 and Evgueni Berzin by 1-38. It put Indurain into Yellow and once more he never looked back. He won the final time-trial on stage 19 and rolled into Paris with a 4-35 advantage over Alex Zulle for his fifth straight title.

* * * * *

2012 -- Stage 9: Arc-et-Senans to Besançon, 41.5 km

The 2012 Tour throwback to the Indurain era doesn't just begin and end with the fact they have two individual time-trials, but putting it right in on stage 9 made the comparisons uncanny. Unlike the Indurain days there had been a few mountain stages leading into it and that had been enough to bring the top riders in the Tour to the fore and put Brad Wiggins into Yellow by a handful of seconds. In the time-trial though he did what only Indurain did between 1991 and 1995 and won that first weeks time-trial, and like Indurain he blew away his opposition with team-mate Chris Froome second at 35 seconds, time-trialing legend Fabian Cancellara third at 57 seconds, and Wiggins' biggest rival coming into the Tour, Cadel Evans, 1-43 down. As a result Wiggins now carries a 1-53 lead into the big mountains showing that this crucial time-trail was as important as many suggested it might be when the route was unveiled all those months ago.

Like London busses...

Anyone who grew up in and around British cycling, much like myself from the late 80's until 2008, will know all to well what it was like to take a rooting interest in a British cyclist. It went as far as Chris Boardman and Sean Yates for years in the hope that the former might win the prologue and the later might win a stage. That era reached it's peak in 1994 when Chris Boardman took the Yellow at that opening mini-time-trial. He lost it a few days later before the race travelled through the south of England, and -- call it bad timing (kind of!) -- when it left those shores back to France, Sean Yates got into a break and pulled it on himself. Two British men in Yellow in the same Tour ... in the first week of the same tour. Of course, nobody expected it to last -- Brits didn't win the Tour -- and it didn't. Miguel Indurain won his forth straight title while Boardman abandoned on stage 11 and Yates finished well down the pecking order. How times have changed.

Wiggins seizes control

Stage 9 -- July 9: Arc-et-Senans to Besançon, 41.5 km (25.8 mi)

So Fabian Cancellara won the opening long-time-trial of this years Tour and now we head into the rest-day, right? Wrong. Just when it looked like he would win it when he set the fastest time, along came not one, but two Sky riders to destroy the RadioShack party and put a serious dampener on the hopes and dreams of Cadel Evans. Bradley Wiggins tore up the course, putting serious time into his most serious rival while making Cancellara look like some kind of time-trialing wannabe, as he won with ease, extended his Tour lead and put the pressure on everyone else to stop him riding to a first ever British tour win.

Bradley Wiggins blows up ... but not in that way

Stage 8 -- July 8: Belfort to Porrentruy, 157.5 km (97.9 mi)

Brad Wiggins stepped onto the podium to retain his Yellow jersey, then stepped into a press conference with a few choice words to his doubters. Photograph: Fotoreporter Sirotti

You have to feel sorry for Thibault Pinot. He won the stage today yet this is the only mention he's going to get about it. A Frenchman winning a Tour de France stage in an area in which he is a local. It should have been one of the feel good stories of this Tour so far, yet the headlines for it will be buried deep into the days coverage and stories thanks to an Englishman, Brad Wiggins, and his tongue lashing to the doubters.

Froome wins; Wiggins takes yellow; the race is blown to pieces

Stage 7 -- July 7: Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles, 199 km (123.7 mi)

Peter Sagan makes it look easy up over the summit of that brutal final climbs. (He did finish some twelve minutes down).

Today, things got real and at long last some people lost the tour on physical merit rather than an unlucky crash, though even then we still weren't spared a couple of spills. Generally speaking things went to plan up to the final three hundred meters. The main bunch got whittled down one by one as Team Sky took to the front and set a ferocious pace up the very step but quite short final first category climb. Eventually only Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali and Rein Taaramae could stick with Bradley Wiggins and his pace man -- or should be pace man -- Christopher Froome.

A pair of idiots

The carnage brought about by an act of madness at 70 kph. Photograph: Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

That "idiot" that Garmin's David Miller referred to after yesterday's epic crashes turns out to have been a pair of idiots: Alessandro Petacchi and Davide Viganò. They were the pair that caused the crash that took down the majority of the Garmin team and resulted in their team-leader, Giro d'Italia champion, and loan Canadian hope, Ryder Hesjedal, to withdraw from the tour this morning.

Sagan puts a bell on his bike

It might be something you would get laughed at for having on your bike if you showed up to your local club run, but given the way things have went in this Tour de France with multiple crashes every day taking down many big names, it seems only sensible that Peter Sagan has decided to attached a bicycle bell to his own race bike.

"The motorbikes are always beeping and looking for space here at the Tour, so now I can do it myself," said the 22-year old Slovakian.

It didn't slow him down any as he won the stage today though it would be interesting to find out if he used the bell at any stage during the race. If he did, then it worked for he avoided any of the days big spills. Expect to see them at a club run near you soon.

Le Tour on Twitter: Episode 2

Following today's mayhem, here is a look into what the boys in the peloton have been saying for themselves. Some make their points after a cool shower and a massage, some come over the line with their heart-rates at max and reach for their phones... 

Tour smashed to pieces in horror crash; GC dreams die for Hesjedal

Stage 6 -- July 6: Épernay to Metz, 207.5 km (128.9 mi)

Today was meant to be the last day off for the big contenders of this years Tour. A final roll of the dice for the sprinters for at least a week as the race snaked its way towards the mountains. There's an old phrase in cycling when someone puts the hurt on a bunch of his opponents on a climb that he has 'thrown a hand grenade into the group and blown the race to pieces,' well, let me say, had someone literally thrown a grenade into today's peloton as it hammered its way towards the finish, 25 kilometers outside of Metz, there might have been less carnage than what we seen.

A couple of sprint stages; a couple of final kilometer crashes

Stage 4 -- July 4: Abbeville to Rouen, 214.5 km (133.3 mi)
Stage 5 -- July 5: Rouen to Saint-Quentin, 196 .5 km (122 mi)

Crashes inside the final kilometers have become a common sight. Tyler Farrar was the latest victom and it brought out the rage within him. Photograph: Bogdan Cristel/Reuters

The last two days have been the stages the pure sprinters have been looking forward to ever since this Tour began. Totally flat, with yesterday's having not a single categorised climb. It was always going to end up with the big bunch sprint. Sure groups would go clear but inevitably be washed away inside the run for the line. Saying that, yesterday's break almost threw a spanner into the works and had the line come 500 meters earlier, might well have cost the sprinters a shot at glory. Were the race radio's that aid the tempo of the bunch to catch these breaks not working?

Danger: Fun police in attendance at the Tour

Peter Sagan celebrates his first career Tour de France win with a Balotelli impression

You know it's been a controversial free start to the Tour when the biggest debating point isn't the route the organizers have chosen or a doping scandal, but rather the celebrations of Peter Sagan in two of the four race stages thus far. First up he crossed the line doing what appeared to be his best Mario Balotelli impersonation (see above) and followed it up two days later by mimicking Forest Gump running, though it looked more like Lloyd from that Dumb and Dumber scene below.

Le Tour on Twitter: Episode 1

You'll have noticed throughout the Tour so far I have a Twitter feed on display of all the cyclists in the Tour de France as well as a number of journalists and media outlets that are following the race bringing you their thoughts as and when they put them into cyberspace. On top of that, every now and then, I'll post a list of some of the best Tweets I come across from the previous day or days depending when I get the chance to troll through the varied words of wisdom. Here's episode one of this Tweeting saga...

The talented Peter Sagan

Stage 3 -- July 3: Orchies to Boulogne-sur-Mer, 197 km (122 mi)

Sagan runs his way over the line as those behind suffer. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

It was the celebration of victory that I have always dreamed of doing on the bike but never felt there was the onlooking crowd, nor the victory big enough, to match the occasion. So it was with a tint of jealousy that I looked on at Peter Sagan as he crested the final brutal climb -- much like on Sunday but with a greater winning margin still -- sat up and done his Run-Forest-Run style celebration while his biggest rivals grimaced at the onset of pain several yards behind.

Normal order restored to the first week of the Tour

Stage 2 -- July 2: Visé to Tournai, 207 km (129 mi)

Back to normality with a bunch sprint and a Cavendish win Photograph: AFP

It was a sight we have seen twenty times before on the Tour de France. Mark Cavendish breaking from the pack with about two-hundred meters to go and powering his way to the line. Sure it wasn't as definitive as it has been in the past and had it been perhaps ten more meters his old foe Andre Greipel might even have had him, but it wasn't and as the saying goes, it doesn't matter whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning and nobody does it better than Cavendish.

Show of strength

Stage 1 -- July 1: Liège to Seraing, 198 km (123 mi) 

Peter Sagan does his best Mario Balotelli pose. Photograph: AFP

Just as yesterday was always likely to be Fabian Cancellara's stage to lose, so today was always going to be one for the men who can produce an incredible turn of power over a short distance. Like stage one last year in which Philippe Gilbert powered away to take the Yellow jersey, today was set up perfectly for a man like the Belgian or an uber talented young Slovak called Peter Sagan.