2013 season in review: The year of first times; plus Awards & Gongs

2013 was the year that Nelson Mandella and Margaret Thatcher died, a Royal baby was born, a Pope resigned, Typhoon Haiyan devistated the Philappines, the Syrian chemical attack and the Boston marathon bombings. But it was also the year that Fabian Cancellara did the Tour of Flanders/Paris-Roubaix double, that Daryl Impey became the first African born rider to wear the Yellow jersey and Chris Froome the first African born rider to win the Tour de France, that Vincenzo Nibali rode through the snow at Tre Cime di Lavaredo to cement his first Giro d'Italia victory, that Chris Horner became the first cyclist over 40 to win a Grand Tour, that Portugal got its first World Road Race Champion in the guise of Rui Costa, and that Peter Sagan became the first rider to win virtually every other race on the calender ... or so its sometimes seemed.

The year in review

The year began not at a race, but on the sofa of Oprah Winfrey's television show. Lance Armstrong sat before us and confessed to what we had known for some time, that yes, he had taken drugs throughout his career and that yes, he was sorry he got caught. All of that madness fueled old media and social media alike for weeks on end as bad press of cycling's days of yore were heaped upon the sport once again and fans were left crying out for the start of some actual racing and the chance to put the over-abused subject of doping in the sport on the back burner for a while.

Some couldn't let it go, of course, but for the rest of us that welcomed the sight of a race, one arrived later in January with the Tour Down Under in Australia in which the little known Tom-Jelte Slagter prevailed. At Paris-Nice and Tirreno–Adriatico, Richie Porte and Vincenzo Nibali triumphed respectively before the Spring Classics finally reached us. Cycling was back.

Billed as the battle between Cancellara and Sagan, it was the Swissman who won by taking two Monument victories at Flanders and Roubaix to Sagan's none. Sagan was consistent however, finishing second at Milan-San Remo behind Gerald Ciolek, second to Cancellara at Flanders, and winning the non-Monument classic, Gent-Wevelgem. The other Monument classic won in the Spring was that of the Liège–Bastogne–Liège by Ireland's Dan Martin. He became the first Irish winner of a Monument since Sean Kelly at the Milan-San Remo in 1992.

2013 season in review: The year of speculating wattage

It started early and it started fast and it continued relentlessly throughout the 2013 season. What watts is so-and-so -- usually Chris Froome -- putting out on such-and-such a climb? Is it worse than Lance Armstrong in his pomp? Is it within the threshold of normal? Normal being what a professional could put out without the need for drugs, but still beyond the normal for you and I. Nobody really knew for sure but a fair few began to speculate and so a wave of wattage began to grow and grow, sucking more and more onto it until it swept over the 2013 cycling season, threatening to take away the enjoyment many are supposed to be experiencing when watching a bicycle race.

Now don't get me wrong. Wattage has its place in cycling ... it helped Sir Bradley of Wiggins win his first and only Tour de France. It is the power output of a cyclist through their pedals at any given time ... divided by the riders weight in kilograms, you are left with a figure that determines a riders watts-per-kilogram. The one with the highest number over a stretch of road -- often fantasised about on climbs -- is the one who goes the fastest. It's a new(ish) technology, an expensive technology, and one that is in widespread use on the computers of cyclists throughout the professional peloton. If you know your maximum wattage at your present weight you know when you're at your limit and how best to judge a ride. It goes against the purists dream of riding by feel, but technology is a fact of life in the 21st century.

What we found in the year that was 2013 however was that the guessing game of these figures has went beyond what is fact on the riders computer into what is fiction among speculating fans.

The Paris to Specialized spring classic coming to you in 2014

Fear is rife among the 96,984 good citizens of Roubaix in Northern France that despite originating sometime in the 15th century, before the United States became a nation, that they may be forced by bicycle company Specialized of Morgan Hill, California, USA, to change the name of their town because the bicycle manufacturing behemoth actually owns the trademark on it.

That fear is spilling over from recent revelations that Specialized, formed approximately 500 years after the town of Roubaix, give or take, are threatening a small bicycle shop called Cafe Roubaix in the Canadian wilderness for daring to use the name Roubaix which they believe is owned by them for use on a line of their bicycles only. They have threatened the shop with legal action if the name is not changed and Roubaix, France (along with perhaps, Roubaix, North Dakota) is on high alert that they could be next.

What the ramifications of this could later mean for the town is one thing with some wondering if the Gare de Roubaix railway station that offers connections from the town of Roubaix to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris must cease operations at once due to its name, but for cycling fans there is the question as to what it means for the famous bicycle race, the Paris-Roubaix formed some 78 years before Specialized in 1896? Will the name change and if not will it be forced to finish elsewhere or use another name? And what of the Pave sections that make this race famous, will they have to go given their association with the name Roubaix in order to appease Specialized?

Roubaix may have survived two World Wars passing through its neighbourhood, but it won't survive the wrath of this American bicycle company.

Shortlist for 2013 cyclist of the year

It's December: The Christmas tree is up, the countdown to the arrival of Santa is on, cheesy festive tunes are pumping out of the radio, the early winter snow fall is already melting due to a brief warm spell but hopes are high it will return before the big day because the worst spell of winter is still to come. And yet, professional cyclists across the globe are already back training with their attentions fully tuned on 2014. No rest for the wicked, especially those wanting to build on their successes of 2013.

With that in mind, and ahead of a review of the year article I hope to find time for between bouts of Christmas shopping, I've drawn up a shortlist of the best ten riders of 2013. There are some who (if they actually read this) might feel aggrieved at being left out, but I couldn't find a better ten and, after much deliberation and hair pulling, I will pick a winner come that year end review. So here we go (in alphabetical order!)…

Notes from the Winter training bunker: Snow means winter means anintroduction to the training bunker

The first snowfall serves as a nasty reminder. Not that winter is here, that I need to get the snow tires on the car, or that the winter coat will take pride of place in the closet for the foreseeable future, but that winter training is now, finally, upon me.

I’ve spent the past three months being pathetically lazy, falling into that trap, or should I say catching that bug known as bone-idleness. Following my final mountain bike race of the year which marked possibly the fittest I had been in some years after a solid couple of months worth of riding, I went out just once in September after moving to our new house. Various things got in the way and the time moved fast as it always does now, but mostly it was just that bone-idle bug.

A few weeks ago I got myself a turbo trainer. Actually it was a Christmas present, one that I demanded be opened before Christmas so I could maximize its use before the spring arrived. So it would do a great disservice to those that got it for me if I continued to sit around doing nothing. And I must say, I’ve made a good go of doing just that in the two weeks since buying it, setting it up and getting the bike ready to go. I like to blame it on being ill for a few days, on spending time getting the Christmas tree up, the outside lights done, but the fact is that a major side effect of the bone-idleness disease is the wish to come home after a long day at work and plonk yourself onto the couch for the remainder of the evening -- or at least for as much as a twenty month old daughter will allow. And, for honesty sake, not even being busy with a child is a complete excuse (though it is on quite a few days, if I’m totally fair to myself), because there’s still time to do something after she has fallen asleep rather than opening a beer, eating some junk food and watching another hockey game on the tele.

The turbo might as well be wrapped up under the tree as things stand.

Thoughts on Truth and Reconciliation

Last week two cyclists -– one a former drug cheat, the other a current day pro believed to be as clean as they come -– were speaking out for and against the idea of a Truth and Reconciliation (T&R) process for the sport of cycling. To think about it immediately you would imagine the drug cheat would be the one against it with the clean cut modern day pro desperate for the cheats that came before him to announce themselves so his generation could move on with their careers. But it isn’t so simple. Lance Armstrong is the retired/banned cheat; Mark Cavendish is the current pro.

To Cavendish it is the egos of the cheats that will ensure they don’t come clean and it’ll only open the door further on cycling’s skeletons, something that he and his fellow professionals will be left to deal with. He no doubt fears that sponsors and TV networks could walk away if more and more scandals are unveiled and further bad press heaped upon the sport. In Armstrong’s view the sport needs a T&R to move forward. He believes that to throw the door open on the said skeletons would be to clear it out once and for all and save the problems coming out in drips and drabs for the next decade, something that would be worse for cycling and its sponsors and TV networks.

I suppose it is safe to say that both have a point and the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle, as ever.

Hesjedal also used drugs ... years ago

It’s been over a week now since the Ryder Hesjedal used performance enhancing drugs bombshell dropped on the cycling community and upon the Canadian sports landscape. At the time I remember being surprised, but hardly shocked. Surprised that it could be this good Canadian boy who we know has rode for the Garmin team this past five years, but not shocked because this is a rider who did, after all, ride in ‘the era’.

The revelations that Hesjedal may have used Performance Enhancing Drugs came by way of the latest disgraced former cyclist turned tell-all-athor, Machael Rasmussen, who claimed that he showed Hesjedal how to use EPO. He confirmed that he never saw Hesjedal use the drug and so it left the door open for Hesjedal to use that famous cyclist-caught-in the-headlights tactic and to deny, deny, deny. But full credit to the Canadian. He didn’t try hide from it, he didn’t threaten legal action against Rasmussen, but instead came out later the same day and held his hands up. He admitted that in 2003 he used EPO but has not used it since … certainly not during his run at winning the 2012 Giro d’Italia.

2014 Tour has just one time-trial and plenty of cobbles, but still no downhill time-trial

The day of the unveiling of the next years Tour de France route is a double edged sword for me. It's always exciting to see what the new route is going to be, to see what parts of France they'll visit, what mountains they'll climb and from it all decipher what kind of contender it suits best. On the other hand it's like a kid getting to see his Christmas present in March before it's put away again for the next nine months.

Yesterday the route for the 2014 Tour de France was released, but there's little point me banging on about how great it looks and how excited I am for next July. I say that virtually every year because there's no such thing as a bad Tour de France. That is unless the organisors decided to skip the mountains altogether and give us twenty-one stages of bunch sprints. Mark Cavendish might beg to differ, however.

The 101st edition of the race will begin on Saturday, July 5th from England as we already knew -- the first three stages in Britain had already been announced some months before -- and will cover 21 stages for a total distance of 3,656 kilometres. There's nine flat stages in all, five hilly stages, six mountain stages, one 54-kilometre time-trial, two rest days, and nine new stage cities.

British washed out while Nibali heroics come up short as Costa becomes World Champ

Rui Costa became the first Portuguese rider to win the World Road Championships in a traitorous day in Florence. Costa rode his ride to perfection, hanging tough with the more pure climbers on the final lap and then attacking at the perfect time to claim glory. Costa had two Spaniards fighting against him in the final kilometres, but in one of them -- Alejandro Valverde -- he had his trade-team mate and as such played them off against one another perfectly with his attack that also took advantage of an exhausted Vincenzo Nibali. Costa outsprinted an impressive Rodriguez with Valverde settling for his fifth World Championship medal ... none of which are Gold. And all this without a single British rider in sight.

It was a shocking day for the British riders. A day in which they lost the race the moment they climbed out of their warm beds in some plush hotel in Florence, drew back the curtains and seen the falling rain. They didn't fancy it and for all intents and purposes, would have been as well climbing back into their beds and staying there such was their showing in the event.

The event was the Men’s World Road Race Championship this past Sunday. A race staged on a hilly circuit that really should have suited the likes of Chris Froome or even Sir Bradley Wiggins, but which seen both of them last about half the distance before packing. Wiggins went AWOL entirely -- put off by the falling rain and the need to go downhill one can only assume -- whereas Froome either crashed himself or got held up in a crash and had little in the way of team-mates to help him back to the bunch.

Circuit racing is as good as it gets, especially in Montréal

There's no better way to watch a bike race than when they're going round and round. Forget these point-to-point races that are the tradition of bike racing -- those are well and good to watch on the television -- but when you're on the side of the road, getting to see the riders time and again, especially on a course with a good climb, is hard to beat. It's why the World Tour race in Montréal this month is one of the best races to go watch at the elite end of the pro calendar.

It's this kind of circuit racing that reminds you why Kermesse racing is so popular in Belgium. People can stand at the side of the road and be entertained by a race for hour after hour. They'll watch the race speed by then duck into the cafe's or pub's for a drink before stepping back out to the edge of the curb to see them go past again. You don't have to stand at the side of the road for three or four hours spending more time collecting cheap goods thrown from a publicity caravan than you do watching the actual race go past is the case in point-to-points. They wiz past in a matter of seconds and as if someone's stolen something from you, you're left wondering what to do next.

The Tour de France might be a rare exception to this if you happen to be up on one of the mountains. The atmosphere there alone would create a memorable experience not to mention the riders passing at a slower speed, with the look of suffering on their faces in small groups spread out across the mountain. But let's face it, the Monument spring classics, and the majority of Tour stages that start in one location and finish in another make for brilliant TV, but are not the most spectacular spectator sports.

A look back at the Vuelta

After writing plenty about the Giro and then providing blanket coverage on Le Tour, I had plans to do something similar with the Vuelta, but as time is apt to do, it got in the way and I never really got the chance. Thankfully through I still got the chance to watch the majority of it and thank goodness for that, because what a Vuelta it was.

To be fair, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a bad Grand Tour. Yes I know sometimes an overall battle may be without intrigue and people are quick to label it a dull race, but the reality is that far too much goes on between individual stage races, various jersey competitions and much more for the entire thing to be dull. It's just maybe that we've seen some epic Grand Tours in recent years from the 2011 Tour to the 2012 Giro to this 2013 Vuelta that we're quick to dismiss any that don't measure up.

You know you've been spoiled when there's a lead change on the second to last stage and that the swing in time for that lead change is a mere six seconds. Vincenzo Nibali, clearly beginning to look fatigued from the efforts of his Giro win some months before seen his lead whittled down to just three seconds before he lost it to the the 41 year old -- yes, forty-one -- Chris Horner by three seconds. Horner didn't look back and cemented his first Grand Tour win a day later to become the oldest man in history to win a Grand Tour. His superb ride on that 20th stage seen him take the overall victory over Nibali by just 37 seconds.

A summer of riding on the bike as time (and fitness!) flies by

And there goes the summer. The leaves outside are gradually beginning to change and there has been a very noticeable drop in the temperature in recent weeks. The mornings are much cooler and when I'm waking up it's dark, and when I'm getting home I'm eking out those final few hours of daylight before dusk sets in. It's been a busy old summer on many fronts -- not least a summer holiday and moving to a new house -- and the cycling season has just got swept up in it all.

The last time I wrote on here it was a review of the Tour de France way back on July 26th. A long time ago it sometimes seems though in another way I'll tell people that this summer has flown in. Way back then the summer days were still long, the leaves green and the temperatures soaring. I was riding home from work when I could and looking towards the late season mountain bike races upon returning from a trip back to Northern Ireland.

The road riding back in Northern Ireland was three great rides on beautiful, hedge lined, quiet, narrow, rolling country roads with my old club, North Down CC. Given I tend to do a lot of my riding home from work and, as such, by myself, it was nice to get out with a group for a change. It was the first time I rode with a group since my last trip back the previous December. It was also nice to get onto quiet roads with some short-sharp little hills.

2013 TOUR REVIEW: Back to reality as the circus leaves town

A brief look back at what was before getting on with the summer; also a look at how my poorly picked pre-tour predictions turned out; and the results of that fictional pure-sprinters competition I made up...

So the dust has settled on the 2013 Tour de France and on Monday I found myself coming home from work and for the first time having to look to see what was on TV. I no longer had a recording of the days stage to keep me entertained for the evening. The withdrawal had set. Nothing left to do now but look back at the memories it created.

All in I wouldn't say this Tour was one of the all-time classics, but there was enough in there to make it fantastic in its own right. Then again, that could be said of every tour. For a fan like myself there is no such thing as a dull Tour. How could that ever happen over three weeks of relentless racing across all sorts of terrain? That is what is so special about the Tour. It is a three week TV drama; a travelling circus, and the story lines develop and take shape as the days go on. Any Tour serves up enough action to write a book about and in this case you had the 100th edition starting on the beautiful island of Corsica, that packed the Alps into the final week and that finished under the lights of night-time Paris, to only add to the magic.

Chris Froome may have taken control by the end of the first week and all but cemented his victory on Mont Ventoux at the end of the second, yet there was still questions about the strength of his Sky team and given the number of riders so tightly packed on time behind him, there was, if not the question of whether collectively they could still attack him often enough in the Alps to finally crack him, then the race to be the final two on the podium. And that played out right to the final climb of the Tour.

But the lack of a Yellow jersey battle going to the wire, as we have seen in some recent years, and general classification attention being on second and third places alone didn't spoil the race. There was still so much else to captivate us: The King of the Mountains competition that went back and forth all through the Tour and was only decided on the final mountain; the battle of the four sprinters, Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel, Marcel Kittel and Peter Sagan; the desperate hope that a break might survuve; looking for a French stage win; the question of whether the tricky descents might catch someone out; Echelons; Bus-Gate; and of course the sporting arena in which it all takes place ... France.

Shock, Horror: Riders took drugs way back in 1998

That long anticipated list of riders who retroactively failed drug tests from the 1998 Tour de France was published today at the ruling of the French Senate, and from it 18 names have shown up as having had traces of EPO in their system with 16 more being listed as 'suspicious'. The names contained nobody that will have shocked you -- not that anyone being on drugs back then should be taken as shocking -- and so has left me wondering why on earth, fifteen years down the road from that ugly Tour, did we need this coming back to haunt the sport?

Where were you in 1998?

It was a time when bands like the Spice Girls and Boyzone were topping (and some might say destroying!) the music charts, and 'Armageddon' was the big box-office smash. I was sixteen years of age back then and heading down to Dublin to watch the opening stages of that years Tour de France. A long time ago, but not long enough for that French Senate.

Cav beaten on Champs-Elysses; Froome seals the deal

It was the usual run in to Paris in so many ways, but then, in so many other ways it was very unique. Sure there was the usual moments of the various jersey winners posing for their picture at the front of the final stages roll-out, sure there was the obligatory glass of champagne for the Yellow jersey on the outskirts of Paris, and sure the stage still finished with its crit up and down the Champs-Elyeese, but then there was all the new stuff: Finishing at dusk, going around the Arc de Triomphe and someone not called Mark Cavendish winning the stage.

As ever the stage was a slow one to begin with. Everyone was celebrating the fact they had made it through three weeks of hard racing and nursing a few heavy heads and stomachs from their rare treat of junk food and an extra glass or two of wine the night before given the real work had been completed. That jersey picture was taken, the glass of champagne drank, and even Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez -- second and third in this tour -- spent about ten minutes on the front of the peloton trying to light a cigar.

It was a parade, a closing ceremony if you will, and everyone was reveling in the moment that they had made it. For Froome it was the chance to realise his dream of winning the race, for Sagan it was enjoying the repeat of the Green jersey, for many others it was the satisfaction that they had simply finished it. Take Canada's Svein Tuft. A 36-year old veteran cyclist who was riding his first Tour. He finished dead last as the 2013 Lanterne Rouge. His job was as a domestique: He worked for the team, he helped them win the team-time-trial, he spent time on the front of the peloton relentlessly over the first week when his Orica GreenEdge team were passing the Yellow jersey among themselves, and he suffered over the mountains. Finishing last isn't a disgrace in the Tour. It's respected because you still finished and so he too could enjoy the moment.

Quintana cements his potential as a future Tour winner with stage win, KOM title and Young riders crown

If you weren't sitting on the edge of your seat screaming and yelling for Jens Voigt to shut his legs up as he so often does himself, hoping upon hope that somehow the pace behind would relent allowing him the kind of buffer he would need going into the final climb to win what would have been an epic solo victory for the 41-year old German, then you're probably not a cycling fan. It was a big effort as he left everyone else in his breakaway group in his wake on the penultimate climb of this Tour -- including King of the Mountains chasing Pierre Rolland and a few other noted climbers -- in a bid for a great victory. It wasn't to be though and when the general classification favorites upped the anti on the climb to Semnoz, everyone in front was swept away and it was Nairo Quintana, a pure climber out of Columbia who had already sealed the Young riders competition and who at 23 was marking himself out as a future winner of the Tour, who broke clear to win his first Tour de France stage and with it seal the King of the Mountains prize.

It was a fantastic stage to bring to a conclusion a fantastic week in the Alps. From Pierre Rolland continuing where he had left off the day before in going after as many King of the Mountains points as he could, to Voigt's big effort, to Quintana winning solo as he so deserved, to Froome crossing the line moments later to all but carve his name into the Tour de France winning trophy, it was a great finish.

You know, when they put this stage together just a day before Paris the race organisors must have hoped that the Yellow jersey battle would have come down to this climb and not just the King of the Mountains prize and had you been told before the Tour started that Froome would come into the day with more than a five minutes lead you might have thought it would be a dull finish to the climbing, but as this Tour has proven throughout: Just because someone has a pretty commanding lead in the general classification -- even from the earliest days of the second week of the Tour, it doesn't mean the racing itself can't be great to watch and indeed even the battle at the sharp end of the overall standings have proved intriguing to the end.

Rui Costa wins again

Where have we seen a finish like this before? I know, it was three days ago in Gap. Same man, same kind of victory and both brilliantly executed. It's hard to believe that three days after infiltrating a break and then riding away from them near the end his rivals around him let him do it again, but that's exactly what Rui Costa did for his second stage win in what turned out to be a tough mountain stage with a very tricky descent into Grand Bornand.

It was especially tricky because of the weather. Late on in the stage but with the final climb to come the rain started falling in a deluge. There was thunder overhead and before long it looked as though they were rehearsing for the night time finish into Paris such was the darkness. The TV camera's may have made it look darker than it was, but as the clouds descended over the Alps and the rain fell, the cars following the riders had their headlights on and the shine of it was reflecting on the wet roads and the riders freshly shaved legs.

What the conditions did do was open an opportunity for someone confident in their descending to go for the win and it was Costa who seized it. He flew down the wet descent to the point where I was often cringing as he swung into a corner that at any moment the bike was going to go from under him. But it never did. It was a brilliant display of bike handling and by the time he reached dry roads again his lead was secure and he came home 48 seconds ahead of veteran Andreas Klöden who beat home scatterings of riders from the earlier break.

French win at last; Froome gets penalty, blows, still increases lead ... Why haven't they done a twice up Alp d'Huez stage before!?

It was the stage that sent a gasp around the media centre when the Tour de France route was unveiled in Paris all them months ago. Two trips up the fabled Alp d'Huez in the one day. It looked iconic, it was sure to be epic, it would be the stage we'd all be looking forward to. And it was. It was everything we could have hoped it was and more. Drama from the beginning, action up and down the mountains, a throw of the dice by Alberto Contador on the descent we were waiting to see, a heroic effort by Tejay Van Garderen that fell just short, the sight of the Yellow jersey of Chris Froome attacking and then ... wait for it ... blowing, Froome getting a time penalty for taking on food too close to the finish, and the French timing it perfectly -- literally and emotionally -- in the guise of one Christophe Riblon to win their first stage of this 100th Tour de France.

Maybe it's just perception, but every time I watch the Tour go up the slopes of Alpe d'Huez, and aside from promise that next time I'll be there, I could swear the crowds are bigger than ever before. Often it maybe just seems that way, but this year I think it genuinely was. When it came down to deciding which mountain stage people would take in I think they quickly settled with this one given that the entire days wait to see the race arrive would be worth it because they'd get to see them all twice. It was a stroke of genius by the race organisors and give its success I think it's something we might see again in the future.

The crowds packed in. There was the famous Dutch corner, and to rival it the newly founded Irish corner, and with everyone else standing ten deep with a gap wide enough for the riders to move through in single file only, it was everything you imagine about the Tour. Yes there was the idiots who felt the need to run along side the riders and on some occasions almost knock them off, but let's face it ... nobody was knocked off and that running is just another part of the Tour's special culture.

Froome wins third stage; increases lead in GC heading into the high Alps

Chis Froome loves his calculated risks and once again he took one on this stage and it paid off. He changed his bike, like quite a few others did, once he crossed the second of the two climbs in today's time-trial and the time lost in doing so was less than the time he made up in using the slick aerodynamic machine as he powered the final kilometres, overturning a 2 second deficit to Alberto Contador at the 6.5km check (top of the first climb), a 20 second deficit at the 13.5km check at (bottom of the second climb), and an 11 second gap at the 20km check (top of the second climb) to win the time-trial on the line by 9 seconds over the Spaniard. The result was Froome's third stage victory in this Tour and puts him 4 minutes, 34 seconds ahead of Contador who himself lept up into second overall as they get ready for three brutal day in the Alps.

Contador has said he's feeling better by the day and fully intends in bringing the race to Froome over the next three stages, and why not. He's said he doesn't care about finishing 2nd or 12th, it's the win that he would prefer, and so that should set us up for some fantastic racing. Of course, the 4'34" he needs to overcome does look a little much but stranger things have happened in the Tour and all it takes is one bad day from Froome -- indeed, one bad climb by Froome -- or some unsavoury incident on one of the descents and everything could change. Not that we want something like that to swing the balance of the race, but all it takes is some of the weather we seen today and the race could be thrown into chaos before the weekend.

That weather was meant to upset the times of the GC favourites going later in the day. It started to lash with rain and hail and you couldn't help but think the leading time set by Tejay van Garderen right before the rain came was going to stand for the afternoon as the rest were slowed by the wet descents, but either the top ten went super fast on the climbs or the rain didn't affect the course in the way it looked like it might as one by one the times began to fall. Alejandro Valverde looked to have rode the time-trial of his life when he charged over the line but it was soon bettered by Joaquim Rodriguez, then Contador and finally Froome. Indeed Rodriguez himself put in a blistering ride for a man not known for his strengths against the clock but that only proved how big a factor the two category two climbs were on the stage as well as the descents for which Rodriguez is a specialist.

His heart must have been broken when he seen Contador roar up the finishing straight and beat his time by less than a second but will have been glad to see Froome power home on his time-trial bike ten seconds quicker than him. Easier to go to bed knowing you were beat by ten seconds than half a second.

Rui Costa wins as the only man in the picture; while Contador attacks, Froome reacts and both almost crash

Rui Costa of the Movistar team was the man who emerged from the large breakaway group, attacking alone on the last climb of the Col de Manse and dropping like a stone into Gap to finish with the solo victory as the only man in the photograph. A fantastic ride by the 26-year old from Portugal giving the Movistar team their first victory of the Tour.

If you were to open your text book of cycling stage racing to page five under the heading 'Transition Stage' and note the description, that is exactly what you got here in stage sixteen. Indeed, one click of the link at the bottom of the page (if you're reading the digital edition, that is) and you'd be taken to this stages video highlights, such was the expectancy of it.

The break went clear early, a huge group of riders, plenty of whom are made for these kind of stages, and they built a large enough lead to ensure they wouldn't be caught but not large enough that they wouldn't be chased either and fought it out for the win. It was Costa who made the winning move and try as the chasing quartet may, they couldn't bridge across to them. With the number of Frenchmen in the attacking group this surely served as their best chance yet to win a stage in this 100th edition of the Tour, yet they couldn't find a way to get it done and the French had to settle with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place positions, 42 seconds behind Rui Costa.

Time is running out for the French to get a stage win and if they don't it would be the first time they went without since the 1999 Tour. A national crisis is brewing.

How my pre-tour predictions are shaping up...

I meant to run this yesterday during the rest day just as I had the first go of it at the first rest day, but other things came up and so here it is today. Before the Tour started I picked my top ten for the overall as well as the top three in the other competitions, but as I said last week, it's as well you didn't place your bets off the back of those picks. I think only Joaquim Rodriguez is riding in and around where I had picked him and while the Alps have still to come and could yet shake up the overall it's unlikely we'll see many of my predictions fall into their respective placings. Still, with the joy of hindsight let's look back at those inaccurate picks.

The Darkness on the Edge of Town

Why I reckon Chris Froome is clean; and why cycling should be cut a little slack

It is the rest day in the Tour de France and so naturally without a doping scandal to go with it, the media are out in force questioning Chris Froome and his epic performance on Mount Ventoux, desperate to try crack the Sky rider like no rival has been able to do on the road in the hopes that he breaks down and admits it all, saying that he is on drugs. The questions about his performances have been coming thick and fast and they're the same questions every couple of days. You can see why he's getting fed up with it ... I'm getting fed up reading about it, though it's no shock that he's sticking with the denial. I mean, if he says he isn't cheating the first time, do you expect him to change that point of view with a week to go in the Tour?

But that's the Tour de France for you now. No performance can go without question and the doping angle, of which cycling has aired that dirty laundry in public in order to try and right its ship remains the sinister story that the scandal driven world we live in gravitates itself towards. Drugs in cycling here in the 2013 Tour is best described by the words of Bruce Springsteen as, the darkness on the edge of town. It's subject is there, we know its there, and nobody can help themselves but to go looking for it in spite of the great action we're witnessing in front of us, for real, in this Tour.

It was always going to happen though. It happened with Bradley Wiggins last year and it's the doubled edge sword with being successful in the sport of cycling here in the second decade of the twenty-first century. On one side Froome must be delighted that he is living out his dream and going full steam ahead to win his first Tour de France, yet on the other side he must wish he was the worlds best Tennis player instead. Free to exploit your talent and free from questions. Heck, in Tennis he'd be free from a lot of the testing he must endure also.

Then again, the amount he is being tested and questioned will eventually prove rewarding for him if those tests remain clean and he finds a way to prove to the media and some elements of the fans that he is indeed clean. There will be no doubting him then. But how does he do that?

A weekend of superb racing at Le Tour

Looking back at three days of wild action, from Echelons to a break succeeding, to drama on Ventoux

Coming into Friday Chris Froome looked comfortable. He had a big lead in the Tour and as I had written earlier that day, it was rare that such a lead had been squandered in the past. Still, we held out our hopes that in the final week of racing we might still had something to keep us on the edge of our seats and that maybe someone could find a way to challenge Froome and make a Tour of it. Well, writing here on the rest day, it's clear that Froome looks stronger than ever after a dominant display on Mont Ventoux on Sunday but an epic battle on Friday proved that his rivals won't just let him romp away with the Tour if they can help it.

Friday was a flat stage and one that was meant to be the last feeding ground for the sprinters before Paris. I was expecting a stage in which we'd see the early break go clear as has been the way of it on flat stages, before being rounded up late leaving Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Andrew Greipel and Peter Sagan to fight out the win in a dash for the line.

So if you'd told me that morning that the day's winner would be Cavendish from Sagan as was the case, I'd have shrugged that off with little surprise. But this was no ordinary win for Cavendish, indeed it might well be his finest Tour de France stage victory, coming after a monumental day of fighting cross-winds in a stage that became a battle of cycling know how, tactics and positioning.

German television hypocrites

After twelve days of racing -- eleven stages if you don't count the team-time-trial -- German riders have won five of the stages. Three different Germans in all -- Marcel Kittel on stages 1, 10 and 12; Andrew Greipel on stage 6; and Tony Martin in the individual-time-trial -- yet nobody in their own country will have seen this new generation of German cyclists thanks to the generation before them as well as hypocritical television broadcasters.

Off the back of a number of doping scandals involving German riders, from Jan Ullrich to Erik Zabel and the entire Telekom team for that matter, German TV pulled the plug on Tour coverage several years ago. And it wasn't just the German riders it was the sport itself. They lost their patience for drug problems in the sport and walked away.

On the face of it you might think that is quite admirable ... and it would be if they did it for sport entirely, but it appears the only sport they gave up on was the one that was doing the relevant testing and taking the punishment of cheats seriously.

Marcel 'the next big thing' Kittel wins again; and I manage to avoid the result all day

I did it. I managed to stay off Twitter and Facebook and the various cycling websites for the entire morning and afternoon yesterday to avoid hearing what was going on over in France. It allowed me to return home after a short bike ride of my own without a clue as to what was going to happen when I sat down to watch my recording of the days action. It was great.

All through this Tour I've followed live updates on the Cycling Weekly website, I've been on Twitter and have even hopped on to check out a live stream of the final 10 kilometres or so. It means when I get home and sit down to watch the recording of the entire stage, hours upon hours worth -- and I watch it all -- I do so in the knowledge of who is going to win, and worse, how they are going to win.

Sure I might get to see how it's won but it's not the same as lying back on the sofa with a hot cup of tea or a cold beer and really enjoying the flow of the race, seeing it build into something unscripted.

What happens when you lead the tour by at least 3 minutes after 11 stages?

Eleven stages are in the books and for the first time we're more than half-way to Paris. Chris Froome has a daunting 3 minutes, 25 seconds lead over his nearest rival following yesterday's dominant display in the individual time-trial in which only Tony Martin -- a non-GC threat -- could take time from him. Many think the Tour is all but won and that everyone else is fighting for second. Indeed it certainly looks that way given that the five behind him are separated by just 45 seconds, something that might see them fight one another for podium places rather than try reign in Froome together, but what does history suggest?

Well history is on his side. 15 times in the last 50 years someone has carried a three minute lead or greater after stage 11 and on 10 occasions that same man wore the Yellow jersey into Paris.

Martin hangs on for win; Froome smashes his rivals

The stage result was predictable enough. So predictable that even I predicted it right. Tony Martin won and that makes it a staggering two stages in a row that I've got the prediction right after Marcel Kittel's win yesterday. He trounced the 33 kilometre course to the beautiful and scenic Mont Saint Michel in a staggering 36 minutes, 29 seconds for a mind-blowing average speed of 54.271 km/h.

Martin is the master at the time-trial, but he went so early on the day that the television camera's weren't live to catch him and as a result was made to sit at the finish for some four hours waiting to see if he'd win. That's because Chris Froome, the last man on the road in his Yellow jersey made him wait right until the final hundred yards to confirm the German had indeed won the stage.

Froome won't mind too much at falling twelve seconds short of Martin's time, despite beating him by a single second and then two seconds at the two respective time-checks out on the course. The headwind into the finish caught up with Froome but it caught up with the men he was most concerned with more as he took huge chunks of time out of them all.

Who is the best pure sprinter in the 2013 Tour?

You would think the simple answer to that question is Mark Cavendish given his years of success in the bunch gallop and given that he's the man everyone looks for when the finish draws near and everyone's altogether, but that might only have been the answer before the Tour began as Cavendish hasn't quite been himself so far this year. Peter Sagan might be leading the Green jersey points competition, but let's face it, he's picking up points on stages the pure sprinters have no chance on and as a result is walking away with it. To me the points competition rewards the most consistent rider rather than the best sprinter. No, as things stand Marcel Kittel is the best sprinter at the 2013 Tour and here is why...

Cav takes down Veelers in crash that overshadows Kittel's brilliant win

It was only a matter of time before someone hit the deck in the final few hundred metres of the dash for the line. Unfortunately it happened to be Tom Veelers, but given the way all the sprint teams have been lining up for the dash to the line in this tour, I wasn't shocked. Still, it didn't take long for those of us on the moral high ground of our arm chairs to wade into social media with fingers of blame pointing in all directions. Was it Mark Cavendish's fault, or did Veelers move off his line? It certainly took the attention away from a fantastic second stage win for Marcel Kittel, but if you ask me, the blame for the accident lies with neither man.

What did shock me about the crash was that only one man went down. It was an amazing escape and I was delighted he wasn't hurt, but this has been coming. Going into the final few kilometres of these flat stages we're no longer seeing one lead out train control the front of the pack, but rather three and four of them. Cavendish has one with his Omega Pharma Quickstep team, Kittel has one with his Argos Shimano team, Andre Greipel has what seems like the best one thus far with the Lotto-Belisol team, and even Peter Sagan's Cannondale boys are getting in the mix.

The upshot of everyone wanting to control the front is lines of teams across the road and it's causing chaos.

A look at how my top ten projections are panning out (not well!)

Heading into the first rest day I thought it would be a good time to take a look at my predicted top ten before the tour began and see how each of them are doing. No doubt about it there have been a few of them who have come in well below expectations, replaced in the top ten by some who have gone way beyond what anyone thought they could do. But that's the Tour de France for you, that's what makes it so special. You never know how a persons body is going to react until they're thrown into the race and often there are surprising results. I'll also take a look at my predictions for the other jersey competitions and how they are shaping up. Suffice to say, I hope you took my only decent advice and didn't go laying any bets based on my pre-Tour projections!

Sky crumble; Froome survives; Martin becomes first Irishman since uncle in '92 to win a stage

When I woke up this morning I was well aware that this saw-tooth of a stage would be well underway. Perhaps already having crested the first couple of climbs, but confident that the real action was still waiting for me when I ambled into the living room and turned on the television. How wrong I was, because as I slept someone out there in the fast moving peloton of the Tour de France had lit the match and the race had exploded into life.

As it turns out the race wasn't even on the TV. They were showing the F1 and the build up to the Wimbledon final instead, but it was being live streamed on TSN's website and so I didn't have to miss the action. As I sat down on the sofa I had to my right the lights going out to begin the German Grand Prix and to my left a shrinking peloton of men, only one of which was a member of Team Sky, heading up into the mountains.

Somehow, somewhere, down the road the rivals of Chris Froome and Sky had managed to isolate the Yellow jersey with half the stage still to go. It was exactly what they had to do after the beating they had taken the day before and now, if they played it right, they could badly expose Froome. This would be a true test of his abilities and if he came through it we'd know just how good he was looking to win this race.

Froome blows the Tour de France to pieces

It was the first day in the mountains and it could well be seen as the decisive day. It was the day that Chris Froome, after a week of waiting, stepped forward and showed his rivals just what he was made of. Stage eight was the day that Chris Froome pulled the pin on the proverbial grenade and lobbed it into the shrinking peloton of contenders on the climb to Ax 3 Domaines, blowing the race to pieces and riding off alone to win the stage and take the Yellow jersey. It was epic stuff.

Some people will complain that the dominance was so great that the race is in the bag, but let's face it. Such dominance is sometimes brilliant to watch, especially when it is the attacking and aggressive sort that we seen today. Regardless of what kind of tone this sets for the rest of the Tour, today's stage had me on the edge of my seat. The action was plenty and it came early and it continued over both climbs all the way to the summit. It was the day that the heavy hitters finally came out to play and the day we finally got a weeks worth of questions answered. The first day in the mountains is always special and tonight we know better than never before what shape the 2013 Tour de France is taking.

Those who complain about the level of dominance and what it might do to the Tour will claim that Froome and Sky have made the Tour boring, but let's take a look at that for a moment. Last year people complained because Bradley Wiggins played the Miguel Indurain game -- taking time in the time-trials, and marking his rivals where required in the mountains. They called the Indurain years dull because of his conservative tactics and they likened it to Wiggins. These people pointed a finger at Andy Schleck and his brother for being too negative and never attacking when the opportunity to seize control of the tour presented itself. They were equal in their criticism of Cadel Evans for being a follower rather than an attacker. They didn't like that Alberto Contador was getting it too easy. Yet there will be complaints with regards to the competitiveness of this Tour because Chris Froome was none of those things and actually seized the moment ... attacked and went for it ... left his rivals behind in a display of climbing brilliance and rode away.

Cannondale team time trial away from the sprinters and Sagan finally gets his win

It was a hilly-ish stage today and because the sprinters had been somewhat satisfied the past two days I thought a break might be allowed to go away as everyone else kept their powder dry ahead of the big mountains tomorrow. But then, I had also to consider the fact that Peter Sagan had yet to win a stage, had finished second on three occasions, third on another and with his Green jersey rivals Mark Cavendish and André Greipel sniffing close by, he might want to do something before those mountains arrived. The stage profile was ideally suited to a man of Sagan's abilities, though had you told me he'd go win the stage today -- as he did -- I'd have bet on him getting into a break and winning from that, much as he did during the spring classics. As it turned out though we got one almighty pursuit across southern France in an epic battle for the Green jersey.

It all kicked off on the first major (I say major, but it was a lump in the road for what's to come) climb. Sagan's Cannondale team went to the front of the race and put the hammer down and one by one the pure sprinters slipped out the back. By the time they rolled over the summit they had more than two minutes lead on a large group forming behind and the race was on.

Cavendish who was in the third group put his Omega Pharma Quickstep boys on the front and chased down the second group on the road containing André Greipel, and as both their teams set about chasing down the leading peloton, Cannondale remained on the front setting a vicious pace. Clearly those sprinters wanted one more shot at win after all, though I reckon most of their fear was the idea that up the road from them was Sagan riding away with all the points and their hopes of getting close to that Green jersey again.

Impey the first(ish) African to wear Yellow; and I am happy to admit I'm obcessed with the Tour de France

Before I get started, a quick word of congratulations to Daryl Impey who today became the first African* to wear the Yellow jersey when he finished on the right side of a small finish line split in today's stage to move ahead of his team-mate Simon Gerrans into the race lead. All he had to do was finish seven places ahead of Gerrans, but the three second gap between the 16th and 17th ensured he moved ahead on time also.

*According to Phil Liggett, Impey is the first South African born rider to wear Yellow, but not the first African born. That would be Richard Virenque who apparently was born in Morocco. You learn something new every day. Saying that, Virenque may have been born there but he is French. Impey grew up in Africa and that's good enough for me.

So it was while sitting watching this quiet stage in which the entire peloton stayed together for almost the entire day setting up a bunch sprint that Andre Greipel won, that I realised just how obsessed I am with the Tour de France. The stage itself was far from anything memorable. Mark Cavendish crashed and had to chase back on and that might have left him a little tired to properly contest the sprint he finished fourth in, and Impey took Yellow, but aside from that it was lots of scenery and lots of admiring how the commentators fill hour after hour with interesting talk when nobody is doing much.

Cav wins with ease in thrilling sprint

The headline here that Mark Cavendish won today's stage 'With ease' is perhaps slightly mis-leading. If you look at an overhead shot of the final 250 metres and in particular the final yards over the line then, yes, it does look easy given that he was second wheel behind his leadout man and burst around him to win the stage by at least a bikes length. But it was far from easy if you watched the lead in to the sprint through the final two kilometres. If anything it was mayhem.

Never before have I seen so many leadout trains going into a sprint. Given the success of Mark Cavendish it's no surprise that everybody wants one, but it was amazing to see them all there in action as the race came to the final few thousand metres. Then as things really came to a head the race split onto two sides of the road.

Andre Greipel's Lotto team had it's train on the far side, while Cavendish had the Omega Pharma Quick Step train on the near barrier. Both men at the head of the train were pushing to keep pace with one another and as it swept left onto the final straight it was the OPQS boys who timed things right and came out of the corner with their man at the front and Cavendish on his wheel.

Orica Greenedge romp to fastest TTT ever putting Gerrans into Yellow

For the longest time it looked as though the Omega Pharma Quick Step boys would win the day having set the fastest time and the fastest average speed in team-time-trial history, but then the unlikely winners in Orica-GreenEdge arrived up the Promenade des Anglais in Nice at an average speed of 57.841 kilometres per hour to beat them by three quarters of a second and put their man, and stage two winner, Simon Gerrans into the Yellow jersey.

The Australian team certainly send their nine riders over the finish line with greater effect than they do the team-bus, and their average speed was enough to beat the 57.324 km/h set by Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team back in 2005. And before you start to panic by drawing a link between that team and their shady past and this Tour, remember that Orica-GreenEdge put their marker in over a 25 kilometre course that was completely flat on a beautiful day on the South coast of France. By comparison the Discovery Channel time was set over a much longer 67.5 kilometre course.

It was a fantastic stage and for me watching it brought back fine memories of being in Nice. I arrived there two years ago to the day on my honeymoon, which left me wondering whether I got married two years too early or the tour arrived two years too late? Wouldn't my wife have been delighted when having rolled into town and upon wondering what the large crowds were all about I informed her that, "What a coincidence, the Tour just so happens to be here also." Nice is a nice city, it's got a fantastic beach and in the old part of town there are some quaint little restaurants squeezed into those little narrow cobbled streets.

Sagan beat into second again; Gerrans wins; Bakelants stays in Yellow and wins the Tour of Corsica

With 92 men within one second of him coming into today's stage the odds were surely stacked against Jan Bakelants staying in the race lead through today's lumpy stage up the west coast of Corsica, but stay in Yellow he did as his Radioshack team kept the days break within touching distance and the teams of the fast men that had managed to stay with the front group brought in any last minute stage hopefuls to force a bunch sprint. Simon Gerrans surprised Peter Sagan with the win but for his two second place efforts, Sagan moves into the Green jersey he'll likely keep until Paris, while Bakelants clings onto Yellow with the number of men within a second of his prize now reduced to a mere 71.

Baring his Radioshack team winning tomorrow's team-time-trial back on mainland France, Bakelants will lose the Yellow jersey but you have to admire him for hanging onto it through today's stage. When previewing this Tour and the opening three days I didn't think the leading group would have been as big as it was by the finish. I knew the big favorites likely wouldn't attack one another but I thought things might split up more.

I guess in the knowledge that there were three more Sunday's worth of racing ahead of them likely reminded a lot of the better riders to hold tight and keep their powder dry until later in the race. The two hilly stages on this most beautiful of islands allowed for plenty of attacking action by men seeking out a stage result, especially by those who might have lost enough time the day before and who wouldn't be a threat to Bakelants Yellow jersey. Still his Radioshack team set the pace for most of the day and the break were never allowed to get far up the road.

I thought we'd be leaving Corsica with Sagan in Yellow and but for the length of two bikes yesterday, we would have, but Bakelants's big effort on Sunday came with a great reward and he comes away as the unofficial and unrecognised champion of the three days Tour de Corsica!

Bakelants holds off charging Sagan as other fast men fall away

Today was never likely to be one for the sprinters but it is a testament to the all round ability of Green jersey hopeful Peter Sagan that he was able to stay with the front group and come within two bike lengths of taking the stage win. Unfortunately for him the one remaining man of a late breakaway, Jan Bakelants, was able to survive and take the win with a gap just big enough to ensure a one second split to the rest and with it the Yellow jersey.

Actually, with Marcel Kittel -- the Yellow jersey for the stage -- well down the road, the race for the line on this one had that extra incentive of being for the Yellow jersey because every single rider the day before had been awarded the same time as the stage winner. By putting a second into everyone else Bakelants could take the jersey as the sole leader on time.

There was some tricky climbs on the stage and it wasn't long before the bigger boned sprinters began to slide out the back of a fast moving peloton. There were attacks throughout the day as plenty had the scent of Yellow in their nostrils and it really hurt those who didn't fancy the lumpy roads. The Autobus that included the likes of Kittel and Mark Cavendish came in over 17 minutes down -- and this wasn't a high mountains stage. Also into that Grupetto was the surprising face of Thomas De Gendt who finished third in the 2012 Giro and who was expected to be a solid competitor in the mountains this year. Is he riding injured? One man who is hurt is Tony Martin. He was badly injured in a crash yesterday but is soldiering on clearly in the hopes of recovering in time for the first individual time-trial where he is a favorite to win.

Bakelants resembled the fox sprinting for its life while being hunted down by a pack of wild dogs. A pack numbering 92 riders which means he goes into tomorrow's stage with the haunting knowledge that those 92 riders are all within a single second of his jersey. That the stage is another lumpy one up the east coast of Corsica should prove a challenge. Will that old theory that the Yellow jersey gives you that extra strength hold true and allow for Bakelants to stick with the front group? Knowing how close they are to Yellow you have to think there are dozens of men licking their chops at the opportunity of sticking just a single second into the group in order to realise a life-times dream.

Mayhem on Corsica

Crashes to the days favorites and a bus wedged under the finishing banner with a charging peloton just five kilometres out that resulted in a roaming finishing line ensured the Tour got off to the kind of dramatic start we all expected when they announced the opening stage in Corsica would be a flat one with the Yellow jersey up for grabs.

So chapeau to Marcel Kittel who avoided all the chaos to take the win and the first Yellow of the tour, but baring a clean day in which someone like Mark Cavendish delivered the win everyone expected of him, the days winner was always going to be overshadowed by the goings on further down the road. In fairness nobody could have foreseen the whole bus saga that almost resulted in the race being won and lost three kilometres further out that expected.

The Orica Green Edge bus got jammed under the finishing banner late in the stage and when it became apparent that they might not be able to move it and that the leadout trains of Cavendish and Andre Griepel were with in five or six kilometres, the decision was made to move the finish line. How exactly that would have worked would have been fascinating to see, from the riders themselves trying to judge the sprint to what surely would have amounted to a line of chalk in the road, to the fans beyond that point who had waited on the races arrival all day.

Eventually someone came up with the wise decision to reverse the bus back up and off the road in time for the races arrival which resulted in the finishing line moving back to it's original location.

The off shoot of this unthinkable drama was a confused peloton which meant things were never going to end well given the stage we'd been given.

Gearing up for the greatest show on earth

Twas the night before the Tour and all across Crosica not a cyclist was staring, not even a last minute doping scandal, despite Lance Armstrong's interview with a French newspaper in which he revealed it was impossible to win the Tour without drugs, but from which the newspaper conveniently ignored the word 'was'.

To cycling fans, tonight is indeed like the night before Christmas, but better. This is like the night before a Christmas that lasts three full week and from which the presents only get better and better and the days go by. Forget the twelve days of Christmas, this is the twenty-one days of Le Tour. That is, twenty-one days plus two rest days where column inches will be filled with gossip and scandal.

And here's hoping that scandal is some inter-team rivalry that has reached breaking point when one super domestique has decided to take on the roll of team leader by refusing to wait for his struggling captain, as opposed to something more sinister.

The Tour de France is the greatest annual sporting event in the world. It's arena is an entire country, it's attendance is measured in the millions, it's scenery unmatched in sport, it's drama and intrigue fitting for any good reality TV show, and it's ever twisting story line befitting a soap.

The grinding 24 Hours of summer solstice mountain bike race

I've never done a 24 hour mountain bike race, and I suppose technically I still haven't. I mean, I didn't quite ride my bike non-stop for 24 hours, but the little timing chip I carried in my back pocket when I was on the course, did travel round and round for 24 hours, and that's good enough for me.

I was part of a four man and one woman team for this adventure. It was something I'd never done before, not even close. My standard run out on the mountain bike is either a couple of hours messing around on the trials, or if it is a race, then an hour and a bit hammering around to the point of exhaustion before packing up and heading home for a beer. I've never hammered around for an hour to the point of exhaustion then sat around trying to recover (or sleep) before doing it again. And again. And again.

The event took place at Albion Hills just north of Toronto, last weekend (June 22 - June 23) starting at noon on the Saturday and finishing at noon on the Sunday. The weather was scorching and according to anyone I talked to after the event, we must have been the only pocket in all of southern Ontario that avoided the deluge of rain that swept across the provence that weekend. It rained only briefly on the Saturday morning and that only served the course well, packing down the dusty trails ahead of 24-hours worth of punishment by the wheels of 2,100 bikes. Had the forecast held true and it rained for most of Saturday, the course would have been a mud-bath by the time it came to the night. In short, the lack of rain saved us a nightmare.

White jersey competition a four-way (at least) battle of the future

One jersey competition that is often more unpredictable than the Yellow jersey is the White jersey for the best young rider simply because there is often someone in their first or second Tour who comes to the fore and stakes their claim as a future winner of the race. We seen it last year in Tejay Van Garderen who is still young enough to contend for it again. He wasn't on many peoples radar to win the White jersey but he did and he beat another young upcoming star in Frenchman Thibaut Pinot.

Both are eligible to compete for the prize again and we can only hope that this is a sign of a future rivalry between a Frenchman and an American that we haven't seen since Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond in 1989. But despite the fact nobody else finished within an hour of the young duo, that doesn't mean they're a lock to win it in 2013. New protagonists arrive on the scene every Tour looking to stake their claim and this year is no different. Indeed, another American will be out to beat them both.

His name is Andrew Talansky. Second in Paris-Nice this year and seventh in the Vuelta last year, Talansky who rides for Garmin, looks a huge talent and a potential future winner of the race. Of course with Ryder Hesjedal as his team-leader as well as Dan Martin ahead of him in the pecking order, Talansky's hopes of a White jersey challenge might be hampered by the work he'll be required to do for the team. Still, that work will bring him up the standings in the mountains and will see him fight it out with Van Garderen and Pinot.

Pinot is the leader of his team which will be of an advantage. No Frenchman has won the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985 so you can imagine the pressure that's on his shoulders after his stage win and 10th place finish last year not to mention where that hype might go should he move further up the GC this year. I just hope that pressure doesn't get to him.

Van Garderen is in an interesting position when it comes to team leadership. Technically Cadel Evans is the BMC team leader, but Van Garderen beat him in the overall last year showing strength into the third week that Evans -- 12 years his elder -- could not possess. Evans has bounced back this year with a third place in the Giro, but then again, Van Garderen at 24 and really coming into his own won the Tour of California. His time to start showing his talent really is now and while the official line from BMC is that Van Garderen will ride for Evans, don't expect him to hang around long if Evans starts to run into trouble. I personally can't help but think that perhaps BMC have elected Evans team leader in order to keep some of the pressure off of Van Garderen and leave the rest watching Evans allowing for Van Garderen to surprise.

Then there is Nairo Quintana, the young 23-year old Colombian climber who looks another potential winner of a Grand Tour in years to come. A chip off the Colombian climbers block of names such as Luis Herrera and Fabio Parra, Quintana is primed for a solid Tour and thus being in the mix for the White jersey. But he isn't just a pure climber despite what his 130 lbs frame might suggest. No, Quintana can time-trial also, finishing just 17 seconds behind time-trialing master Tony Martin at this years Tour of the Basque Country proving himself to be a bit of an all rounder. If Quintana can display that ability in this Tour, hang in there in some of the climbs, and even grab himself a stage win he could well finish in the top fifteen overall if not higher.

Or maybe someone new that nobody was expecting will come through and show their potential. Van Garderen, Pinot, Talansky and Quintana will be the ones to look for but nothing is ever a given in the Tour, not least when it comes to young talent looking to make their name while trying to gain experience and find out exactly what kind of rider they are.

Bauer ends Canadian professional cycling team project

It was sad to learn this week that Canadian Cycling legend, Steve Bauer, the man who once finished fourth in the 1988 Tour de France, had failed in his bid to find new sponsorship for his cycling team to continue in the sport in 2014. After having taken a year out when sponsorship with SpiderTech fell through in 2013 it had been Bauer's hopes to return with the kind of sponsorship that might see the team gain WorldTour status, but he has had to admit defeat citing a lack of sponsorship opportunities due in part to the current financial crisis as well as the fallout from the Lance Armstrong affair.

This is a real shame and it further highlights why it pisses me off that cycling is continually in the headlines for the wrong reasons when it really shouldn't be these days. It's always a drug story when there's so many other stories that make the sport great and should see sponsors scrambling to get involved. The main stream media, onlooking fans of other sports sports, potential sponsors, and even some so-called cycling fans who push the doping agenda relentlessly, have this impression that cycling is a mess when in reality it fights the doping problem more than any other sport.

The sad thing is that if cycling turned a blind eye to doping like it did in the 90's and like other sports -- football (soccer), tennis, hockey, baseball, basketball, the NFL, rugby and so on and so on -- do to this day, then maybe Bauer would have found a sponsor and the team would be thriving.

The 2013 Tour de France preview

DRAW A NAME FROM A HAT TO PICK A WINNER

Here we go again ... the finest month in the lives of cycling fans -- unless you happen to live in Belgium and therefore breath the spring classics, which I love, don't get me wrong -- but July means sunshine, it means live cycling on the television every day for three straight weeks (excluding two rest days) and it means it's time to sit on the sofa watching the peloton whizz through small scenic French towns in the French countryside while wishing you were sitting out front of one of their small cafes or pubs sipping a tea or a beer waiting for the race to come streaming past. July means the Tour de France and say what you will about the power of the spring classics and the heroism of the grueling Giro that can be argued is even harder than the Tour of late, this is still the Tour -- the 100th edition of the Tour at that -- it's what any good cycling fan has grown up with and this is The Cycle Seen's bumper edition guide to it, 2013.

The first question when I talk to anyone about an upcoming Tour de France isn't what town they'd like to visit most on the route, which stage they'll be taking a day off work to watch, or who they think will provide us with the first doping scandal of the race, but rather the simple question: Who do you reckon will win this year?

One of the real beauties of the Tour de France is the inability to pin down a certain winner ... at least not since Lance Armstrong retired (actually, given this past winter we're supposed to admit that we don't know who this Lance Armstrong character is since his name was stripped from the record books, or at least to believe him to be some bloke who raced in the 90's before cancer forced him to retire). In the years that have followed 2005 we've had some fantastic wide open Tours.

In 2006 we had no idea who would take up the reigns and even when we thought we had a winner in Floyd Landis it turned out he wasn't the winner at all, it was Oscar Pereiro. He soon vanished and Alberto Contador took up the flag. A supreme talent he wasn't without suspicion and that soon bore fruit in 2010 when he failed a test for clenbuterol. Still, he was often a pre-race favorite but thanks to the likes of Andy 'always-second-except-when-Alberto-is-disqualified' Schleck, Cadel Evans finally overhauling Thomas Voeckler, and even Carlos Sastre who sneaked in and grabbed a victory in 2008, we never went into a Tour sure who the winner would be.

In 2012 we had the first British winner in the history of the race and while Brad Wiggins was the pre-race favorite it was still hard for this fan -- who grew up watching British riders on the fringes of the race vying for a prologue to get the yellow jersey or a flat stage to pick up a win -- to see him actually doing it. I thought Evans would spoil the party with a handful of others in the mix, yet Wiggins prevailed and took an historic victory.

Which leads me to a quick thank you to Team Sky: Thank you for telling us that Bradley Wiggins would not be entering the 2013 Tour de France before I started this whole preview thing. The first defending champion (not counting retirement) to fail to take to the start since Stephen Roche in 1988 (LeMond as defending champion failed to start in 1987 also). I can now put someone else in my forthcomming 'ten-to-watch' list at his expense.

2013 has the makings of a classic, which of course is a cliche rolled out ever year when people look ahead to an upcoming Tour de France, and to say that this is the most wide open Tour in history would not only be another famous cliche, but probably inaccurate. Still, at first glance it sure looks as wide open as they come and as much as any in recent times it has you only guessing at who might win. Of course, I'll try and predict a winner but in reality I'd be just as well cutting up small pieces of paper with various riders names on them, dropping them into a hat and drawing out who I think the winner will be.

Consider what we've got in store: It's the 100th edition of the Tour, the race is visiting (for the start) the island of Corsica for the first time, there's six mountain stages, two time trials, a team-time-trial in beautiful Nice, four summit finishes including two trips up Alp d'Huez in one afternoon, and a host of top riders.

Contador, Froome, Rodriguez, Hesjedal, Evans, Porte, or even a sudden re-emergence of Andy Schleck? How about slight outsiders Tejay Van Garderen, Valverde, Van Den Broeck, Thibaut Pinot, or Pierre Rolland? And what about a potential late entrant of Vincenzo Nibali going for a Giro-Tour double? And that's just in the battle for Yellow.

The proof, of course, is in the pudding, but until the pudding lands on the table and we can indulge in it, below is a look at ten riders to watch as well as well as some predictions on who will be standing on the podium in Paris with a yellow jersey slung over his shoulders.

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TEN TO WATCH

Alberto Contador
Age: 30 | From: Spain | Team: Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank

Alberto Contador is arguably the most talented rider of his generation, though not without fault. The Spaniard has finished in Paris as the winner of the Tour de France on three occasions (2007, 2009 and 2010) but lost his 2010 title after failing a drug test for clenbuterol in the infamous Spanish beef scandal. Indeed, since 2007 he had won every Tour he started up until the 2011 Giro before his positive test seen him stripped of his tour title, his result from the 2011 tour and his victory in that 2011 Giro.

He returned from suspension in time to win the Vuelta for the second time in 2012 but appeared short of form in the early season in 2013. That drop in form has naturally been seen by some as a good thing ... a sign that he's learned from his suspension, but make not mistake about it, he remains one of the best in the business and you can expect him to be in the mix this year once the race hits the mountains.

Chris Froome will be his nearest rival and goes into the Tour as favorite, but if Contador hits peak form at the right time it's hard to look past anyone getting the better of him over three weeks.

Prediction: 1st; stage win.

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Chris Froome
Age: 28 | From: Kenya/GB | Team: Sky

Chis Froome had been a so-so top end professional for several years before breaking onto the scene at the Vuelta in 2011. He followed up that podium finish by finishing second in the Tour last year behind team leader Bradley Wiggins despite at times looking much stronger than Wiggins on the climbs. With a route designed more towards the climber than the time-trialist who can climb, Froome was Sky's pick to lead their charge in 2013 despite Wiggins's at times claiming otherwise.

When Wiggins withdrew from this years Giro with illness it seemed like he would turn his attention to the Tour and we would get the epic inter-team battle we were hoping for. It wasn't to be though. Sky have said Wiggins wont be starting in Corsica and so Froome goes into the race as undisputed leader of the team.

He also goes in as favorite, in blistering form and as someone who can still perform very well against the clock he'll be a tough man for his rivals to shake. Sky will be favorites for the team-time-trial, he'll not lose much time in the individual time-trial and when the racing hits the high mountains he should be at his best.

Froome was born in Kenya but rides under a British license, raced in the Olympics for Britain and the British media haven't been slow in adopting him as their own. As a result we could be on the verge of having waited a lifetime for a British Tour de France winner only to have two come along in two years. Still there will be a few others who'll have something to say about that.

Prediction: 2nd; mountain stage win; team-time-trial stage win.

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Ryder Hesjedal
Age: 32 | From: Canada | Team: Garmin-Sharp

The big Canadian has had a run of bad luck since winning his first Grand Tour at the Giro in May 2012. He crashed out of the Tour last year when hopes were high of a strong finish, he took ill and had to abandon the Giro while defending his title this year, and just this June he crashed out of the Tour of Switzerland while showing excellent early form.

How injured he is from that crash and how being unable to finish in Switzerland affects his form going into the Tour remains to be seen but he should be able to use the first week to get himself together ahead of the big mountains. Hesjedal is one of the strongest riders in the bunch ... he doesn't have the acceleration of a Froome, Rodriguez or Contador but he can tap out huge watts to bridge gaps and ride away himself if need be. He's aggressive and will go on the attack early and as one of the best descenders in the race he could utilise that to gain time on the purest of climbers.

Canada would love to see him in contention of a Grand Tour again and should he shake his bad luck there's no reason he can't be. He won't be drained from three weeks at the Giro this time and should have all his eggs in the Tour basket. A podium finish is certainly not out of the question.

Prediction: 3rd; stage win.

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Joaqium Rodriguez
Age: 34 | From: Spain | Team: Katusha

Rodriguez is one of the best climbers in the world, certainly on the steep climbs when it comes to attacking. The Spaniard can jump clear with superb speed though maintaining it is often a problem. He's at his very best in the final few kilometres of a mountain stage at getting clear and grabbing a stage win. He done this to great effect at the 2011 Giro, often sweeping up bonus time on the line to push Ryder Hesjedal all the way until the final stage of the race to get the Pink jersey from him.

Rodriguez is an outside bet to win the Tour having skipped this years Giro and at the very least he's a safe bet to win one of the mountain stages. Chances are he'll not quite have enough to shake both Alberto Contador and Chris Froome, and when he comes to that realisation he might well turn his attention to the King of the Mountains competition. It would be great to see a pure climber like Rodriguez win that prize.

Rodriguez will be invisible until the race his the mountains, but when it does he'll attack and he'll keep the rest of the contenders on their toes and hurting. Little climbers like Rodriguez spice up mountain stages and often kick start the action.

Prediction: 5th; King of the Mountains; mountain top stage win.

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Cadel Evans
Age: 36 | From: Australia | Team: BMC

Cadel Evans is coming into the Tour off the back of a podium finish at the Giro and is hoping to maintain that form from and use it to help him to a similar such finish in France. Actually, Evans is intent on stealing the show from Contador and Froome and winning what would be his second Tour in three years.

Of course the main problem for Evans is the fact that few in this day and age can come from a productive Giro and put it together again for three weeks at Le Tour. On top of that he's now 36 years of age now and his best days are likely behind him which made his appearance at the Giro a bit of a surprise.

Even so, one thing we are guaranteed with Evans is spadefuls of grit. He isn't the most aggressive rider out there but he'll hunt down every attack until he's at the point of collapse and just when you think he's lost contact and has blown his chances for good he'll grind his way back onto the wheels of the leaders.

He comes into the Tour as BMC team leader but with the young American Teejay Van Garderen chomping at the bit to be let free to show what he can do this might well be the Tour in which we see a changing of the guard in BMC leadership. Should Evans show signs of age, they won't be long in passing the tourch over to Van Garderen. Saying that, in 2012 Van Gardern finished ahead of Evans so it could be argued that was the changing of the guard, but BMC have said that Evans will go into the 2013 Tour as their team leader. Then again, that could be a ploy to keep the attention and pressure off of Van Garderen until it's time for him to shine come the mountains.

But who knows, the Australian is a proud man and could well have one last kick at the can left in him and wouldn't it be great to see him go into the final few mountain stages still very much in the mix?

The BMC leadership and where it flows in this Tour is one of the many intriguing sub-plots that awaits us.

Prediction: 9th

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Andy Schleck
Age: 28 | From: Luxembourg | Team: RadioShack-Leopard

You might be wondering why I've included Andy Schleck in this list given the form, or lack thereof, that he's displayed this season. Schleck's fall from the upper ranks of cycling to a man who appears incapable of keeping up in any of race he's entered has been stunning. Is he riding clean now or did he just peak too soon in his career? The chances that he'll suddenly show up in Corsica ready to compete for the Yellow jersey that he won in 2010 thanks to Contador's disqualification appear unlikely, but it'll be fascinating to watch how he goes regardless and that's why he's on this list.

Schleck missed the Tour last year with an injury and perhaps it's something he's never fully recovered from. His season to date would make it all too easy for him to back out of this years Tour also, so credit to him for showing up to try and give it a go. A stage win would be a huge bonus for him and it could happen if he loses a lot of time in the early mountain stages. I hate to see anyone struggle and so it would be nice if he found some form and got into the mix, but it's hard to see it. His brother won't be on hand and even should he suddenly show up at the front of the race when it hits the mountains it'll only draw skepticism from onlookers. He's in a no win situation in that regard.

Still I hope he goes out and risks it all rather than hanging in hoping to survive. He should go on the attack in an early mountain stage from a long way out and try to turn the race on its head. What has he to lose if he fails? But if he succeeds then it could reignite his season altogether.

Prediction: Outside the top 25

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Tejay Van Garderen
Age: 24 | From: USA | Team: BMC

The young American sprung to everyone's attention last year when he won the white jersey for the best young rider in the Tour while finishing fifth overall. Riding for BMC he is technically still the super domestique for Cadel Evans, but with plenty of miles and a Tour title already in the legs of Evans, Van Garderen is surely thinking about his own goals in this Tour. Should Evans slip it's hard to see Van Garderen being made to wait for him.

He's got a stage victory in him and he'll be hot favorite along with Thibault Pinot for the White jersey again, but given what we seen from him last year don't rule him out of a GC contention. Chris Froome and Alberto Contador might have a little too much for him, but he won't be thinking that way and if he can hang in there in the early going anything could happen.

Van Garderen is very much the future generation of cycling and -- given what we learned this past winter -- if he does go on to win the Tour he'll be the first American to do so since Greg LeMond in 1990. Let's hope he is to American cycling what LeMond was and not those that came after.

Prediction: 4th; stage win; young rider competition

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Thibaut Pinot
Age: 23 | From: France | Team: FDJ

I wanted to include a Frenchman in this ten and that might have been expected to be Thomas Voeckler or his team-mate Pierre Rolland. Both have stood out the last two years with Voeckler being a surprise challenger in 2011 and Rolland emerging as one of the bright young talents of French cycling with a couple of top ten finishes, but I've went with Thibaut Pinot, one I reckon to be the brightest of all young French riders and the one who can oneday become the first Frenchman to win the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

Pinot was the youngest rider in the 2012 Tour but came to everyone's attention on stage eight when he won a mountain stage to Porrentruy. You might remember his team manager, Mark Madiot hanging out the car window cheering on the young rider (see picture above). Pinot converted that opportunity and a number of other strong showings in the mountains into a top ten finish, the youngest man to finish in the top ten since Raymond Impanis way back in 1947.

Don't be shocked to see Pinot pushing further up the GC this year and vying for a stage win. He's still learning but if last years promise is anything to go by then it shouldn't be long at all before he's challenging to win a Tour. I mean, his fellow countryman Laurent Fignon won his first of two straight Tours aged 22. A nation turns its Yellow jersey barren eyes to you Thibaut. No pressure then kid.

Prediction: 6th; stage winner.

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Mark Cavendish
Age: 28 | From: Great Britain | Team: Omega Pharma-Quick Step

The fastest man in the world ... the fastest man of all time. Fitting titles for a man well on target to win more stages than anyone in the history of the Tour de France. His 23 stage wins in 107 races is good for a staggering 21.5% success rate and at only 28 years of age has plenty of time on his side to win the 12 more required to move ahead of Eddy Merckx for the most Tour de France stage victories. If he can average three stage wins per Tour for the next four years he will do it.

The Isle of Man sprinter is coming into the Tour in fine form. He won five stage in the Giro and nobody could touch him. Yes there will be the rare time he gets boxed in, the occasional time he gets caught in an accident near the finish, and the odd time he loses contact on a late-stage climb, but more often than not when the race arrives inside the final kilometre and the day's break has been caught with perfect race-radio-aided timing, there is only one winner.

On his day -- which is often -- he's untouchable and arguably the best cyclist in the world at what he does. He rode for Sky last year but felt he had to move on to a team that was focused on helping him win stages rather than someone else the Yellow jersey and it appears to be working out for him. He still managed three wins despite Sky's distractions towards Bradley Wiggins, but with his good old lead out train chasing down breaks and setting him up don't be surprised to see him win more than three this year.

Cav will also be looking to win his fifth straight stage into Paris on the Tour's final day. He'll also be fighting for the Green jersey but might find it hard to shake someone like Peter Sagan who can sprint well but also pick up points on the more lumpy stages that will catch Cav out. Indeed, the Green points jersey normally goes to the Tours best sprinter, but in the era of Cav (2011 aside, when he won it) that is not proving to be the case.

Prediction: 4 stage wins; 2nd in points competition; Lanterne Rouge contender.

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Peter Sagan
Age: 23 | From: Slovakia | Team: Cannondale

Some call Peter Sagan the next Eddy Merckx, but that's a little unfair. Sagan might become the classics rider Merckx was, he can certainly sprint like Merckx could, but it seems unlikely he's going to be the Grand Tour rider Merckx was. All he serves to do when these comparisons are drawn is remind us how good Merckx was because as a stand alone talent, Sagan is supreme.

This ten to watch preview isn't the likely top-ten on GC and that's why Sagan is in here. He's one you want to watch at the Tour, one who makes the Tour better for being there as we found out last year and as entertaining a character there is in the peloton. If he isn't pulling a wheelie up over a tough climb he's doing the running man celebration or some other wacky move with which to enjoy his racing by, and when all else fails he's pinching the bottom of a podium girl. Sagan is a breathe of fresh air in modern day sport and he'll be great to watch in this Tour, especially the first week.

Corsica looks made for him. Day one is perhaps a little too flat for him and the fastest of sprinters (namely Mark Cavendish) should have their way, but stages two and three have enough tough climbs to get rid of the pure sprinters but keep classics men like him around. The short climbs will suit his punchy style and the power he can produce on a short hill is enough to leave behind even the pure climbers. Don't be surprised to see Sagan return to mainland France with the Yellow jersey on his back and then ride into Paris little under three weeks later with the Green points jersey over his shoulders. He seems a lock for that contest.

Prediction: Three stage wins; green points jersey; maybe a top 30 overall.

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STAGE-BY-STAGE
(With a stage importance rating out of *****)

Stage 1, Jun 29 -- Porto-Vecchio to Bastia, 213 km **
Stage 2, Jun 30 -- Bastia to Ajaccio, 156 km **
Stage 3, Jul 1 -- Ajaccio to Calvi, 145.5 km **
Stage 4, Jul 2 -- Nice to Nice, 25 km TTT ***
Stage 5, Jul 3 -- Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille, 228.5 km *
Stage 6, Jul 4 -- Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier, 176.5 km *
Stage 7, Jul 5 -- Montpellier to Albi, 205.5 km ***
Stage 8, Jul 6 -- Castres to Ax 3 Domaines, 195 km *****
Stage 9, Jul 7 -- Saint-Girons to Bagnères-de-Bigorre,168.5 km *****
Rest Day
Stage 10, Jul 9 -- Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo, 197km *
Stage 11, Jul 10 -- Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel, 33 km TT *****
Stage 12, Jul 11 -- Fougères to Tours, 218 km *
Stage 13, Jul 12 -- Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 173 km *
Stage 14, Jul 13 -- Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule to Lyon, 191 km **
Stage 15, Jul 14 -- Givors to Mont Ventoux, 151 km *****
Rest day
Stage 16, Jul 16 -- Vaison-la-Romaine to Gap, 168 km ***
Stage 17, Jul 17 -- Embrun to Chorges, 32 km TT *****
Stage 18, Jul 18 -- Gap to Alpe d'Huez, 172.5 km *****
Stage 19, Jul 19 -- Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Le Grand-Bornand,204.5 km *****
Stage 20, Jul 20 -- Annecy to Annecy Semoz, 125 km *****
Stage 21, Jul 21 -- Versailles to Paris Champs-Élysées,133.5 km *

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PREDICTIONS

Overall:
1. Alberto Contador
2. Chris Froome
3. Ryder Hesjedal
4. Tejay Van Garderen
5. Joaquim Rodriguez
6. Thibaut Pinot
7. Jurgan Van Den Broeck
8. Richie Porte
9. Cadel Evans
10. Pierre Rolland

Points: Peter Sagan
Mountains: Joaquim Rodriguez
Young: Tejay Van Garderen
Team: Sky
Most stage wins: Mark Cavendish