Somehow winning the Giro wasn't enought to win Hesjedal Canada's athlete of the Year award

Hesjedal wins the Giro, but it's not enough to win Canadian athlete of the year

First, let me say congratulations to Christine Sinclair for becoming the first female athlete and first soccer player to win Canada's Lou Marsh award as athlete of the year. She had an outstanding year and elevated the woman's team further than it ought to go at the Olympics, to a bronze medal. She was top scorer in that tournament and was part of what was probably Canada's uniting moment of those games. But now let me ask the obvious question: What on earth were the writers who voted for the award thinking in overlooking Ryder Hesjedal's Giro d'Italia victory?

For everything great Sinclair did this year, I can't quite comprehend how winning what was arguably the hardest sporting event on the planet in 2012 -- even by comparison to the route of the Tour de France -- wasn't enough to seal his name for the award. That no Canadian athlete had won a Grand Tour in cycling before only added to the magnitude.

I suppose you could say that having remembered all the jokes about Canada forever winning Bronze at the London Olympics -- taking twelve in all by comparrison to their solitary Gold -- perhaps it's fitting the Athlete of the Year is someone who came third. But that would be unfair ... to say that would be to ignore the status of Canada in woman's soccer and to look at what the expectations were coming in not to mention the roll Sinclair played in the teams success. Yet if I'm to say that, then it should have been factored in what Canada's status is in professional cycling and what the expectations would normally be at a Grand Tour.

Where have you gone Greg LeMond? Cycling turns it's lonely eyes to you

One of the most recent times a Tour was likely won clean

On July 11, 1991, I was sitting in the cafe of our holiday camp on the west coast of France with my dad, brother and our cycling club watching stage six of the Tour de France. I was nine years old and I was trying to figure out how my favorite cyclist Greg LeMond was doing, which was proving a challenge given I didn't speak a word of French. Each morning one of the men on our trip would pick up a French paper and inform us who was leading and what was happening. I'm not sure if he spoke French or just looked at the results and made his assumptions but it kept us in the loop at least.

The stage that day was won in epic fashion by Thierry Marie, who rode clear of the bunch early and stayed away for 234 kilometers to win by almost two minutes and take back the Yellow jersey he had won at the prologue a week before. Two days later we traded in watching the Tour on TV for standing at the side of the road to watch it for real. We made the 300 kilometer trip from Saint-Jean-de-Monts to Alençon in the clubs old mini-bus that had managed to get us all the way from Bangor, Northern Ireland, across to Scotland, down through England and across the North-West portion of France without falling apart. It was the first individual time-trial of the Tour and it was the day LeMond would strike.

But he didn't ... well, not really. A Spaniard by the name of Miguel Indurain beat LeMond by eight seconds with nobody else close. But LeMond moved back into Yellow and the next day when we went 180km to Rennes to watch the final three hundred meters of the stage, standing for several hours catching all sorts of goodies thrown from the passing caravan. After watching a break of ten men speedy by, in which Mauro Ribeiro won, I caught a brief glimpse of LeMond as he flashed past in Yellow while surrounded by the fast moving collection of colours, metal and skin of the peloton. Had I held my breathe the moment the first rider of the peloton past, I'd have no fear of oxygen deprivation by keeping it held until the last went by and everyone started making their way home.

My next five months...

UCI confirm that I won't win the Tour de France

The offices of Pat McQuaid at the UCI headquarters

For weeks now, ever since USADA's report broke with their recommendation that Lance Armstrong be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, I have been living in hope that perhaps the UCI will see fit to grant them to myself. I had two reasons to believe this might be possible and so you can see why perhaps I was a little saddened yesterday to learn that they were giving them to nobody. I had to assume too many people -- like numerous kids screaming for not enough chocolate -- led the UCI to say, "right, if that's how you're going to behave, nobody's getting them".

The first reason I thought I stood a chance was because I was a bike racer who has never doped. In the grand pyramid of the cycling system, with Mount Everest being the top where Lance once stood (he's currently swimming the with fishes), and the bottom being the depth of the deepest Ocean, I'm probably hovering in and around the Titanic. But there had to be this chance that they were all a bunch of dopers right the way through the system as far as me and that's why I was as low down the ladder as I was and thus the best option to reward those Tours to. Heck, for a while I even pronounced myself "7 time winner of the Tour de France ... by default," on my Twitter page.

The truth shall... get you fired

Bobby Julich (left) in his not-so-glory days on the 1998 Tour de France podium with Marco Pantani (middle) and Jan Ullrich (right).

Yesterday former American rider Bobby Julich decided enough was enough and in keeping with a new trend that has emerged in recent weeks, told all about his sordid doping past in cycling in an open letter. 'Enough with the lies,' he must have thought, 'let's come clean once and for all,' and when he did, it cost him his job with Team Sky.

Julich was a coach with the Sky Team, who off the back of recent admissions of former and current professionals across the sport, sat down with each member of their own team and asked them about their past. They got everyone to sign up to a new anti-doping policy that gave the team the right to let them go if it emerged they were involved in doping practices. Julich understood this, but came clean anyway.

"I have recently made a full confession to Team Sky senior management about my doping history and understand that by doing so I will no longer be able to work for a dream team performing my dream job," wrote the American.

The route for the 100th edition of the Tour de France looks epic

It's going to be a spectacular route for 2013. Let's hope the riders make it a spectacular race. Photograph: AFP

At first glance, the 2013 Tour de France route looks mouth watering. Two trips up Alp d'Huez on the same day, two individual time-trials, a team-time-trial, four mountain top finishes, a visit to Mont-Saint-Michel, and a night finish in Paris that will see the riders loop up and around the Arc de Triumph for the first time.

It certainly appears to be a race of firsts with the clear intention of the organisors to make it a memorable one for the 100th Tour. The race starts on the island of Corsica with three stages that could potentially see a sprinter snag the Yellow jersey from day one, a scenario that is surely mouth watering for Mark Cavendish.

From there the race hits the south coast of France for a team-time-trial in Nice. I was in Nice last summer for my honeymoon ... in fact, it'll be two years to the day that I arrived in Nice that they'll run the TTT and only highten to make me wish they'd started this whole Tour de France thing two years earlier meaning this 100th anniversary route took place in 2011.

Dreams of France; More on Lance; and McQuaid blasts Hamilton and Landis: An ode to cycling news today

Which small towns will the race visit next year?

TOUR DE FRANCE ROUTE UNVEILING ALLOWS ME TO DREAM FOR A LITTLE WHILE

Before I get started, let me ask a question: Anyone else hoping the unavailing of the Tour de France route for 2013 tomorrow will, at least for a day (or even a few hours), cool the obsession and non-stop beating of the drum that is the Lance Armstrong saga? It's all been quite interesting at times, but it's also getting a bit old and here's hoping that in revealing tomorrow's tour route, we get a little break from it all and remember that there's still cycling going on in the present.

So how about the unveiling of the route? It's always a fun day for cycling fans to see what exactly the organisers have in store for us, and given the way the race format has chopped and changed in recent years, it's hard to know just what we're going to get. Some people say more climbing, some say even more time-trialing. I say, whatever they come out with will make for a great race and also for some quality day dreaming.

I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard. When the route comes out I trace the route around France looking at the various stops and start to wish I had the money and the time to head off there next July and watch the race pass. From some quaint little French village in the middle of the country, to some warm sea-side city on the south coast, to a hair-pin bend on the side of one of the Alpine giants. I'll scope out where I would love to watch the race, then face reality and scope out which stages I'll have to make sure I make time for to watch on my television.

McQuaid: "Armstrong has no place in cycling" ... won't resign himself

What a waste of time that turned out to be. Photograph: AFP/Getty

Lance Armstrong is on more than just drugs now ... he's on a banned for life list courtesy of the UCI. As I sit here writing this, I have now won as many Tours de France as him and that's quite the achievement for someone who has won but two mountain bike races (all this year) in the past decade.

Yes, pull up Wikipedia and search 'Tour de France winners' and already you'll see the word 'Vacated' in place of where it used to say Lance Armstrong seven times between 1999 and 2005. Greg LeMond is once again the only American to have won cycling's biggest prize.

Speaking before a collection of cycling hacks, UCI head-suit, Pat McQuaid confirmed what we knew and did what we expected he would do when left with no more rugs with which to sweep allegations against Lance Armstrong under. He confirmed his old pal, Lance Armstrong had been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life.

UCI set to announce Monday that Armstrong was "a very naughty boy"

Pat McQuaid set to condem Lance Armstrong and auction off his titles. Photograph: AFP

Lance Armstrong is set to hear exactly what his old pals at the UCI really think about him on Monday when cycling's top federation have said they will give their judgement on the USADA case. It's expected that chief blazer, Pat McQuaid, President of the UCI will take to a podium surrounded by microphones and flashbulbs and reveal that, yes, Armstrong was,  "A very naughty boy".

As part of this they will reaffirm their own commitment to anti-doping, and confirm that not even bribes in the form of an anti-doping machine will save you. They will then announce that the winner of the seven Tours de France that Armstrong has been stripped of will be put up for auction on ebay to the highest bidder. Early reports that Armstrong himself might bid to buy his titles back are as yet unconfirmed as are those that suggest McQuaid might even take a run at the years 1999 and 2002.

Sadly amid the joy and elation of seeing another dagger -- to follow those by the USADA, his old tell-tail-team-mates, the fans, the media, Phil Liggett, Nike and Nike -- being sunk into Armstrong, as well as the titles auction, the UCI will announce that Don, Hein Verbruggen, will keep his position as company commander.

The back of him would be too much to ask for, of course, so we'll settle with Armstrong, for now.

News of Mark Cavendish signing for OPQS breaks the tedium of continued doping stories

It became clear as the season went on that Cav was looking away. Photograph: Sirotti

Thank you Omega Pharma Quick Step. Thank you Mark Cavendish. Just when the fallout from the 'Lance Armstrong was a big-fat really-fit cheat' was beginning to get a little tedious what with non-stop stories about the history of doping in cycling going round and round and round, you guys go out and give us something different ... a new piece of news ... something that can make us debate what it means for racing in 2013 from a racing perspective.

With this move the shackles of Sky are now off the ankles of Cavendish and he can once again be the main man with a lead-out train built around him. Sky were right to pour their efforts into Bradley Wiggins once it became clear he was capable of winning the Tour de France, and it proved to be the right move. Winning the Yellow jersey is more important than the Green, and infinitely more important than winning stages, and I think even Cavendish would accept that, but it was clear he had to move on to pastures new because of it.

At OPQS, stage wins and a Green jersey at the Tour will be one of the major goals, along with results in the spring classics. With Tom Boonen set up nicely to win the later, signing Cavendish is the perfect coup for the former. People will talk about how they'll work Boonen v Cavendish, but I don't see it being a problem because of the races each will target. Boonen isn't the pure sprinter he once might have been -- if he was ever a pure sprinter -- and if he does ride in the Tour, I reckon he'll be more than glad to play the roll of leadout man. Boonen has become the all-rounder in recent years as seen by his results earlier this season, and that shouldn't change in 2013 with Cavendish now on board.

Phinney calls out the caffeine pill poppers

The coffee stop could be a moral minefield for the weekend warrior in the not to distant future

You love your local clubs coffee run on a Saturday and Sunday morning, right? Well, it could be put in serious jeopardy if clean-racing all-American boy, Taylor Phinney has his way. He's suggested any form of pain-killer and caffeine should be made an illegal performance enhancer and that he doesn't dabble in such substances unlike the majority of the professional peloton.

Alright, so Phinney was talking more about pain killers and caffeine in tablet form rather than in your coffee cup or coke can and he himself even admitted that he still drinks coke during a race, but it's a slippery slope we're talking about here.

If we're to ban anything that aids in the enhancement of a cyclists performance starting with pain killers and caffeine tables, won't coffee be next, followed shortly after by energy gels, electrolyte mixes, tri-bars, race radio's, bikes that the poorest man in the race cannot afford, and so on and so forth?

It's easy to get lazy in the off-season

Cycling's off-season isn't clearly defined and it all depends what level of cycling you ride at as to when it comes and goes, if indeed it comes and goes at all.

To the hardened pro it ends when your team tells you it ends, probably sometime around late September and it runs until your team meets in a warm climate in December to ride loads of miles ahead of a new season in January. That's not how it works for me, though I wouldn't mind the trip to a warm climate for a few weeks in early December, but come January, I'll be surrounded by a world up to it's knees in snow.

That's why I can't be the year-rounder either. You know, the kind of weekend warrior who gets fit for the summer season but then when that ends can spend the rest of the year enjoying his rides until spring when it becomes time to up the fitness anti once more. Well I can. There are people around here in Southern Ontario who will find a way to ride all year round, and all the power to them, but that ain't for me.

The model pro knows when and how to say sorry

A simple tear and a the word 'sorry' might yet save Armstrong. Photograph: Reuters

It would seem the way to do it in modern cycling is to begin your professional career by cheating like hell. Drug up and drug often, and win races until you are caught. Then in a teary press conference in front of the cycling world break down in apology.

Say sorry to your team, your fellow pros, your friends and don't forget your family, then after serving your ban (don't forget to keep your prize money!) come back as a staunch anti-doping advocate. You'll be welcomed back with open arms and remembered more as a once lost sheep now back in the fold as opposed to a one time cheat. If worst comes to the worst and you don't get caught, then you'll finish up your career as a very good rider as opposed to a decent rider.

It's tried and tested and you don't need examples here of cyclists who have used it. Saying that, it would appear cycling and its fans hold their contempt of cheating to a higher standard. Even British football fans dismay at the corruption of good English boys by foreign divers is vastly outweighed by cycling fans hate of a doper.

What is my stance on the whole Armstrong issue and cycling's fight against drugs in general?

Now that we know it wasn't real, we can begin to move on. Photograph: Getty Images

October 10, 2012. Fourteen years and three months after we got stung in the face about the reality of doping within cycling at a systematic level as the Tour de France opened in Dublin, Ireland in July 1998, we finally hear the chilling truth about how the supposed 'new era' as it was presented to us after 1998 was as dirty as any before it.

That isn't to say we didn't have a fair idea for some time now, but yesterday was the confirmation ... the evidence we've been waiting for. And not just against Lance Armstrong who dominated the seven years after the '98 Festina Affair, but the testimonies of those who fessed up publicly about about what went on. It only took those fourteen years, but maybe now the illusions we had so many times that the sport was turning a corner can now become a reality and with the lid coming off hard on the past, we can allow the present day of cycling which has itself moved on a lot, to truly start pointing towards the future.

After thinking about, reading about and talking about the Armstrong saga for the past twenty-four hours, I took a break from focusing solely on the cycling angle for just a moment while sitting in a Starbucks over lunch and passing the half hour I had before returning to the office. I posted the following comment on Facebook in relation to other sports and the Lance Armstrong investigation: I asked, 'Will Fifa, Uefa and/or national FA's go after teams employing doctors named in the Lance Armstrong investigation with investigations of their own or continue to bury their collective heads in the sand?'

Yates buries head in the sand while Armstrong takes his cheating to Strava

I SAW NUFFIN', HOENSTLY

Team Sky directeur sportif and former team-mate and DS of Armstrong, Sean Yates.

Upon cashing a check made out to him by someone by the name of L. Armstrong, Team Sky directeur sportif, Sean Yates, addressed BBC Radio 5 Live to confirm that he "never saw an indication of anything dodgy going on" during his time as Lance Armstrong's team-mate (1992-1996) or directeur sportif of the Discovery Channel team (2005-2007).

Yates who would have seen plenty that was dodgy going on given everyone else associated with the team from George Hincapie down to the coffee boy appear to have seen something, claims that all he did during his years managing the team was ride his bike in the morning and then drive the car in the afternoon.

The USADA case against Lance Armstrong in full

USADA Reasoned Decision

Someone has just opened the cupboard door in that big witch hunt of Lance Armstrong and have uncovered a stack of witches.

Armstrong contemplates the harsh reality. Photograph: Mark Gunter | AFP

USADA have at last publicly pulled off the lid on their can of worms that is their case against Lance Armstrong ... and the worms are everywhere. The evidence against Lance has finally been exposed proving that it either wasn't a witch hunt at all, or that the witches have shown up at last. Suspensions have been dished out like goody-bags at a child's birthday party to the current riders who testified, two former pros who conveniently retired a few weeks ago released almost identical statements admitting it all and some other guff about wanting to make it better, while there is a deafening silence coming from camp Armstrong.

Well, the later isn't entirely true. The morning began with one of Armstrong's lawyers trying to discredit the USADA investigation once more calling it a waste of tax player dollars in what I can only presume was a last ditch attempt to encourage some to keep their heads in the sand after the days revelations broke. It will have no doubt worked though USADA did hit back by confirming the US Postal Team received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in funding.

When the days revelations did break, it came hard and fast with USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart, saying that "The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," beating the East German program from the old Cold War days into second place, I would assume. That's the kind of cycling domination that Lance should be proud of. He may have lost his record of having won the Tour de France the most times but he gained the privilege of being involved in the most professionalized and successful doping program in an era when it was all about systematic doping.

The Tour de King ends the season

The second annual Tour de King took place last weekend and like the year before marked the end of my racing season. Good weather is becoming rarer by the week and it'll be less time than you think before those once hard and dry trails I spent an entire summer on, will be covered in snow. Thankfully last Sunday was one of those good days which was in stark contrast to the Tour de King of 2011.

I wouldn't say it was hot ... certainly not by comparison to the best of the summer months and had the temperatures been what they were for one ride in the middle of July we'd have complained about how cold it was, but for the last day of September it was a comfortable 15 degrees Celsius. Good enough for shorts though I went with a long sleeve top that by the halfway point I wished I could shed but had no conceivable way of doing so.

The Tour de King is a 50 kilometer -- though closer to 40 than 50 kilometers -- race through the township of King, just north of the Greater Toronto Area. It's a point-to-point race over roads, fire roads and single track, meaning that upon finishing you either take a bus back to your car at the start or leave your car at the finish and have a friend give you a ride to the beginning. The final option is to ride back to the start when you finish, which seems well and good given it would still only be a 65km ride all in, but you're never in any mood to traipse along the road back to the start after ploughing through the back roads and single tracks of King for the past two hours.

Its been a tough year for Gilbert after dominating 2011, but he makes a great World Champion

Gilbert decked out in the stripes of Belgium, wins, and will replace them with the stripes of the World Champion. Photograph: Sirotti

It might seem a little strange to suggest Philippe Gilbert has had a 'tough' season when you consider the fact that he won two stages in the Vuelta just a few weeks ago, but by his high standards that were set in 2011 when it felt like he won virtually every race he entered, 2012 had been a struggle for form. Those Vuelta wins hinted at the form returning and when he burst clear with a devastating turn of power in the final two kilometers of Sunday's world road race championships, it was the Gilbert we know and love, and there was nobody who could match him.

Gilbert will now have the honour of wearing the rainbow stripes for the next twelve months and, like Cavendish this past year, you know he'll honour it in style. His Vuelta wins coupled with yesterday's wins suggests we might again see the best of him for next years spring classics and what a sight it would be to the see the rainbow jersey leading the charge at the Paris-Roubaix.

The race was one of chaos in it's closing stages. Riders were going in all directions as the pace was turned up. It led to all sorts of splits in the main field, but came together nicely for the final lap. Almost everyone who is anyone who could win on such a short but very sharp up-hill finish was still in the field and it was anyone's guess as to who might win.

How an idiot on the 401 costs me my ride at the provincial championships

This time last year was my first mountain bike race since arriving in Canada. This year it would be my 16th race of the summer and as I was cruising across Toronto on the 401 highway late on Saturday evening, I was looking forward to getting back to the place where my mountain biking in Canada all began the year before. Practice had been cancelled earlier in the day in order to preserve the course from the downpour that pushed through Southern Ontario that morning, but the weather was to be great for Sunday. Then I glanced at a bright light closing fast in the corner of my car's right hand mirror.

At first I thought it was a cop as he raced across three lanes as quickly as he was moving forward and dropped right in behind me on my bumper. I waited for the sieren to sound all the while looking at my speed which was not anything considered unacceptable for the 401. The car several lengths in front of me was travelling at a similar speed as were those on the inside. It was free flowing traffic at a steady speed.

But right about that time I knew it couldn't be a cop ... he was driving far to recklessly and just as I thought he was about to run into the back of me he swerved out into the inside lane to me and in one motion back in towards my car. I don't know if he was trying purposely to push me off the highway and onto the fast lanes shoulder or whether he was just blind drunk and completely mis-judged where the front of my car was, but I like to think it was the later. Either way I had no choice but to bank onto the shoulder all while he screamed right across the front of my car missing me by very little, went right up behind the car that had been in front of me, and back to the right across a car that had been in the middle lane as he proceeded to weave his way across all lanes in and out of cars up the highway and into the distance.

Contador hangs on to win Vuelta a-top brutal final climb

The brutal climb -- and final climb of this years Vuelta -- to the very top of the Bola del Mundo. Photograph: Sirotti

It was only a few days ago that I was proclaiming a finish as the toughest I had ever seen as the riders came to virtual standstills as the pedals fought to turn against the wishes of their legs which when pushing the pedals almost looked as if they were turning in a square motion. Then came yesterday's finish on the Bola del Mundo. A 11.4 km climb after four prior mountains with an average gradient of well over 10% topping out close to the summit at a mind blowing 23%. I didn't see everyone go up that climb, but I'm willing to bet that further towards the rear of the field a few boys felt that moment of shame when they had to step off, and walk. In fact, it's so steep that cars cannot follow the riders right to the summit and the sports directors must switch to motorbikes in order to follow their leading riders.

The men at the front didn't, but it wasn't as though they didn't come close and their legs must surely have been screaming for them to stop. It was mind over matter stuff and a climb of two races. One for the stage victory between Richie Porte and Denis Menchov -- the last two survivors of an earlier break -- and the race for the final podium positions.

In the race for the victory, Porte and Menchov rode together all the way up the climb. When they past the 500 meters to go sign at the side of the road I was sure it would end up in a sprint between the pair. But it's amazing how long 500 meters takes to ride when it's as steep as it was and the riders are as exhausted as they are. It seemed like minutes past and in that final half a kilometre, Menchov still had time to attack a broken Porte and cross the line for the win a full 17 seconds ahead of the Australian. If you only read the results you would have thought Menchov had attacked him halfway up the climb and rode the most of it solo for the victory.

Contador siezes control in dramatic fashion after several wild days at the Vuelta

El Pistolero is back in command. Photograph: Bettini

While most of the cycling world have been off reading more stories about Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton's new book, and whatever other doping story of cycling's dark past that we're all too aware of by now anyway, a brilliant Vuelta a Espana has been unfolding around us. What started out as a four way race between Britain's Chris Froome and three Spaniards, Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde, whittled its way down to a three man race last week, a two man race by the weekend, and as of this past Wednesday, a one man victory.

The two man race was established between Rodriguez and Contador heading into last weekend and with a couple of huge mountain stages ahead. It's seemed to me like almost every day of this tour has finished a-top one climb or another. Either a short but steep and punchy climb or a drag to the top of a brutal mountain pass, but flat days for the sprinters have been few and far between. I like a good bunch sprint, but it's good to see that this Tour has -- as some tours have in the past -- not been dominated by them, in particular the first week.

Over the weekend Contador tried and tried again to go on the attack on the steepest parts of the toughest stages. He could break everyone except the man he needed to break who would follow his wheel each and every time and then, as if to stick in the knife, he would attack himself to win the stage and take a couple more seconds out of Contador.

Rodriguez moves into the hot seat; Froome slips away

Rodriguez opens up a gap on the stage and the GC. Photograph: Sirotti

Joaquim Rodriguez who managed to fight off his fast rivals against the clock yesterday, extended his lead today and now sits in prime position to win his first Grand Tour. There's a lot of racing still to go and enough climbs for a bad day to be had, but one thing is clear, the terrain ahead is all to the liking of Rodriguez and his victory today showed why he's looking confident.

Yesterday's individual time-trial was the best shot for Chris Froome to win this years Vuelta. He needed to go out and ride like he did in the Tour and at the Olympics and put serious time into his opponents. Alberto Contador would always be a tough nut to crack, but this is where his Vuleta would ultimately be won and lost. And as it turns out, it would appear this is where it was lost.

To be fair to Froome he came out of that time-trial just 18 seconds behind race leader Rodriguez, but with no time-trials to come and Rodriguez looking as strong as anyone in the mountains even that gap was going to take a big effort to overcome.

Four way battle in the Vuelta GC

Three of the 'big four' minus Chris Froome grind to the top of Saturday's final climb. Photograph: AFP Photo

The Vuelta hit its first rast day today, which was fine by me as I was back into work after a nice weekend in which I, for once, had the free time to sit down and watch both stages. That sort of stuff is becoming all to rare, so when I realised I had a free weekend I jumped on the computer to see what kind of stages lay ahead for my viewing pleasure. I almost got a nasty scare.

I misread the stage schedule at first and thought it said the rest day was on Sunday. I began cursing the race organisers for not putting everyone's weekend and a rare opportunity to put aside a couple of straight hours to watching the race on TV, only to find out it was my error and that I should curse myself for giving myself such a nasty shock.

Four way battle

Saturday was a 'high mountain' stage according to the stage guide which precisely the words a cycling fan loves to watch when they look to see what the stage they're about to watch has in store. And it didn't disappoint.

What now? Leave the record book empty, that's what

Armstrong congratulates Ullrich on a solid second place, or as of today, potentially, the Tour de France victory. Photograph: Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Safe to say that when I whittle your way through the entire cycling pyramid and discount anyone who doped or who I suspect of doping, I have just become the Tour de France champion ... SEVEN times.

You've all heard the news by now that rather than facing the evidence, or having it presented to the wider public, Lance Armstrong has ran away and accepted whatever the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) decide to throw at him. The evidence we all hope will still come out allowing those few with their heads still buried in the sand to come up for a gasp of reality, but until it does this is Armstrong saying, 'You can take my titles, but my PR machine will ensure you don't take my good name'.

Do I think Armstrong doped? Absolutely. I'd love to see what evidence they have once and for all, but from what I've heard the evidence they do have is pretty serious and they have more than enough sworn witness testimony that was made before a Grand Jury of the United States government that suggests to me he's hardly the innocent boy in all of this. Not to mention the fact everyone he pummeled into the ground for seven straight years were doped to the eyeballs themselves. That of course should lead me to point out that despite being stripped of his titles today, he still won those Tours given who he beat along the way. Going after Lance is correct so long as the same standard applies to others from which evidence exists. Bjarne Riis and Jan Ullrich have admitted to doping yet remain the 1996 and 1997 champions, while there's a stack of evidence against the now deceased Marco Pantani who won in 1998. And what of Alberto Contador who still retains his victories from 2007 and 2008?

The fun hasn't stopped; The Vuelta is underway

You wouldn't want to be a cycling fan living in the south of Spain

Just when you thought you couldn't get anymore good cycling this fine summer -- what with an fantastic Giro d'Italia in the early days of the summer that now seems oh-so-long-ago, and then a Tour de France that itself seems longer ago than it really is thanks to the Olympic games which offered us two weeks of wheel-to-wheel action from the road race, to the time-trial, the track cycling, the BMX and on the final days of those brilliant London games, the mountain bike race -- this past weekend seen the start of another Grand Tour: the Vuelta a España.

The route itself has the potential to throw out lots of drama and right from the beginning. The climbs come early, and as we have seen, they're testing enough to separate the contenders from the rest and let us know before the race is even a week old just who will be contending for the red jersey.

British cycling is in the midst of its finest year in history. A golden age and the crest of a high wave, though don't tell anyone too loudly that this is the 'crest', but it's seen British track cyclists clean up at the World Championships earlier in the year and dominate the track at the Olympics, a British winner of the Tour de France for the first time ever thanks to Bradley Wiggins and the same man winning Gold in the Olympic time-trial. Throw in the dominance of the British team in general at the Olympics and how quickly England's failure at the European Championships -- remember those? -- back in June has subsided into forgotten memory. Even Andy Murray's Olympic Gold allowed everyone to forget his defeat at Wimbledon just a few weeks before on the same court to the same man he beat in his Gold medal game.

Winning a series; and signs that the season is ending

This week was the final race in the Tuesday night series at Kelso Park. I'm gonna miss that series. 12 races, of which I took part in 10, throughout this fine summer went by like the summer itself, much too quickly. After winning two of my first three races up there in the Sport category, I never tasted victory again, but I apparently rode consistently enough through most races -- even including that July dip in form when my brother came to visit and we spent more time eating out than out on a bike training, but with no regrets, of course -- to finish the 30-39 age class in first place.

If I'm honest, I don't remember the last time, if ever, that I won a mountain bike series? I might have when I was in my teenage years at the North Down CC winter mountain bike races that my dad and uncle would run and that would take place in far more hostile conditions to those I had to adapt myself to on these hot balmy Tuesday evenings, but I can't be sure. I think I did, so I'll choose to say I did, but I may not have and if it is the case that I did but just forgot about as a teenager is apt to do on the belief you'll do it again and again anyway, then I won't make the same mistake twice.

It's been a fun season of mountain biking and these Tuesday night races have allowed for me to do more racing this year than I have since I was about 15, and even then this might be the most in a single year ever. It was nice to win twice in this little series even, as I say, if it was a mid-week series sport category, but it's something that feels good no matter what the standard is and having not done that on a bike for about 15 years, it sure felt good and you remember why you enjoyed it before and wonder why you allowed yourself to wait so long to do it again.

Slippery when wet in Buckwallow

A great days racing at Buckwallow today. No hills on the course which suits me just fine, but a technically challenging course in parts with plenty of mud after a lot of rain earlier in the weekend. I finished sixth.

I probably could have went harder the last lap but didn't see a single other rider to push me on and decided to just enjoy it ... and keep a lookout for the bear. There had been reports of a bear being seen on the course the day before and so I figured it was worth keeping a little energy in reserve, just in case!

I didn't get practicing the course before hand for they had cancelled the Saturday pre-ride due to the weather and not wanting several hundred mountain bikers ripping up the course a day before they needed to, which meant many of us rode it blind. I never like riding a course blind ... you have no idea what's coming up around the next corner and whether or not to conserve something for a hill that might suddenly appear. I was assuming this course might have at least one big climb to rip me apart, but it didn't. Had it been very dry it would have been a super fast lap, but was it was with the mud, most energy was spent making sure the bike stayed upright.

The King of Britain

The peoples champion. Bradley Wiggins.

The pressure on Bradley Wiggins doubled on Saturday afternoon when the British team failed to deliver Mark Cavendish to Gold in the road-race, but you'd hardly have known it. As if it were scripted, as if just behind our camera's a director was sitting on a chair shouting 'lights, camera, action', Brad Wiggins ride in Wednesday's time-trial was never in doubt, and as he powered through Bushy Park, with the road lined either side, ten deep, by flag waving excitable British fans with the Olympic Games on their home turf and their finest cycling hero on his way to glory, it became the image of the games thus far. Wiggins crushed his opposition and with it took his forth Olympic gold, and seventh medal in total to make him the most decorated British Olympian ever.

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.