Sport on TV: Heck of a wreck for Schleck as his Tour chances hit the deck

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

Despite its popularity, the death penalty would allow the state to kill innocent people

The University of Michigan law school and Northwestern University have just compiled a database of o...

Listen and hear. Or meet us in Tahrir

Today Tahrir Square is not the scene of demonstrations against the military. Instead, it is a centre...

It seems the French are finding the Tour de France (ITV4 and British Eurosport) somewhat of a turn-off these days; 72 per cent of them under the age of 35 now claim to have no interest.

Taking a wild stab in the dark, the fact that a Frenchman hasn't won it for 25 years might have something to do with it; Monday's action was bigged up as the 100th anniversary of the first Pyrenean stage, but while the crowds lining the climbs seemed thicker than ever, there weren't too many tricolores flying as a Spaniard, Alberto Contador, battled with a Luxembourgeois, Andy Schleck, for control of the yellow jersey.

Schleck had been talking the talk in a pre-stage interview, claiming that Contador, last year's winner, was scared of him, but when it came to it he couldn't quite pedal the pedal. All of a sudden his back wheel hopped in the air and his chain came off, the sort of thing that used to happen to you when you were going down to the sweetie shop aged eight.

This allowed Contador to scoot up the road and turn a 31sec deficit into an 8sec lead, apparently in contravention of some unwritten Tour rule that riders shouldn't take advantage of a rival's mechanical failure. But Phil Liggett, ITV4's seasoned commentator, was having none of it: "It's the Tour de France," he harrumphed. "We'll be stopping for guys with flat tyres next."

Perish the thought; at least Schleck fared better than one Eugène Christophe in 1913, who walked 10km down the Col du Tourmalet with his bike on his shoulders to find a blacksmith after his handlebars broke. Under the rules of the day riders had to make their own repairs unaided, so Christophe welded his handlebars back together himself, only to be docked another 10 minutes because the blacksmith's daughter had worked the bellows for him.

Thursday's stage, finishing on the Tourmalet's summit, was billed as the day the Tour would be decided, so over to the seven hours of Eurosport coverage rather than ITV4's two hours. But it hasn't been the same on Eurosport since they pensioned off their waffler-in-chief David Duffield, with his riffs on obscure vintages and where to get the best cassoulet in town. The action was a bit of a letdown too, as Contador hung grimly on Schleck's wheel throughout to preserve his 8sec lead.

A bunch of sheep, made nervous perhaps by the sight of two men in mankinis right behind them, strayed into the road to liven things up, but barring accident it seemed inevitable that Contador would be entering the Champs Elysées in triumph on Sunday.

"If you ever get the chance to visit Paris, do go to the [Musée] d'Orsay," chuntered Duffield one year. "I love painters; they've got Monet, Ceganne, Déjà..." If the Duffer is there this year, he'll be able to enjoy a Déjà view all over again.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original
Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

White House denies putting politics before national security
Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

The world No 1 is fiercely proud to be from Serbia and to be improving his country's profile. And he knows that winning the French Open – and therefore holding all four Slams – will do his cause no harm at all
Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

After Hull's Martin Gleeson failed a drug test last year it sparked an avalanche of lies, complacency and confusion which Robin Scott-Elliot reveals for the first time
Ian Bell: Forget good-looking shots, I want to be known as a tough operator

Ian Bell: View From the Middle

It was nice to play a pressure innings at Lord's on Monday and be recognised for it