A review of week one (and a bit) of the Tour de France, up to the first rest day and it’s business as usual, only more so...
As if determined to hang on to the black skull and crossbones jersey as the sporting event that ‘goes up to eleven’, to slightly misquote Nigel Tuffnel, the Tour de France continues to cross the line between genius and madness like it’s the pedestrian crossing by my local newsagents.
Before it even started, you got a sense that all would not be well over the 3 weeks of sporting sadism that is Le Tour. At a slightly surreal ‘introduction to the teams’ held in what appeared to an old Roman amphitheatre, defending champion* Alberto Contador was roundly booed. Why? Well it’s all in the asterisk. After last year’s Tour it was revealed Contador had failed a dope test. The Spanish cycling authorities accepted his claim that it was due to eating some contaminated meat and cleared him to race on.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) weren’t so easily satisfied and wanted a new hearing before this year’s Tour. Lawyers for Contador got the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing postponed, so he’s free to take part this year, but nobody knows if he’s the defending champion or not!
As if determined to hang on to the black skull and crossbones jersey as the sporting event that ‘goes up to eleven’, to slightly misquote Nigel Tuffnel, the Tour de France continues to cross the line between genius and madness like it’s the pedestrian crossing by my local newsagents.
Before it even started, you got a sense that all would not be well over the 3 weeks of sporting sadism that is Le Tour. At a slightly surreal ‘introduction to the teams’ held in what appeared to an old Roman amphitheatre, defending champion* Alberto Contador was roundly booed. Why? Well it’s all in the asterisk. After last year’s Tour it was revealed Contador had failed a dope test. The Spanish cycling authorities accepted his claim that it was due to eating some contaminated meat and cleared him to race on.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) weren’t so easily satisfied and wanted a new hearing before this year’s Tour. Lawyers for Contador got the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing postponed, so he’s free to take part this year, but nobody knows if he’s the defending champion or not!
