This summer, it looks as though the recipe for a great sporting event must include a soupcon of controversy, a hint of madness, a dash of celebrity and, of course, a Spanish winner. The World Cup gave us tuneless vuvuzelas, deliberate handballs and a goal that never was. Wimbledon played host to HM the Queen, David Beckham and an unfeasibly long first round match that lasted more than 11 hours. The 97th Tour de France featured several crashes, a head-butting incident, a little mechanical difficulty and a guest appearance from Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.
I'm ashamed to admit that cycling's blue riband event rarely figures on my sporting radar. I've spent 30 years steering well clear of it, only half listening to news bulletins about the exploits of multiple winners like Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. I live in London, where the local cyclists cruise the pavements like marauding bandits with a take no prisoners attitude, so watching the sport on TV seemed about as appealing as a dose of sun stroke.
But when I did finally tune in to the latter stages of this year's Tour, I realised that personal prejudice, willful ignorance of French geography and an unfamiliarity with team tactics wasn't going to spoil my enjoyment. This was an event that had everything, from the compelling duel between Spain's Alberto Contador and Luxembourg's Andy Schleck for the coveted yellow jersey, to the scintillating speed of Britain's top sprinter Mark Cavendish. And then there was the valedictory lap for seven-time winner Lance Armstrong.
If you like a little scenery along with some cut-throat competition, the 3,642 kilometres route from Rotterdam to Paris offers a wealth of highways, byways, châteaux and mountains. But for the teams, including Britain's Sky, Armstrong's quaintly named RadioShack and Denmark's Saxo Bank, there are also numerous hazards that can leave you — quite literally — broken and battered by the wayside. One of the most striking elements for a Tour "newbie" like me is just how dangerous it can be. Next time I see an overpaid footballer writhing in mock agony, I'll remember one-time race leader Aussie Cadel Evans soldiering on with a fractured elbow that wrecked his chances on Stage 9.
Perhaps it's an oversimplification, but there's an element of that old fable about the tortoise and the hare in the respective journeys of Cavendish and Contador. Cavendish (HTC Columbia) won five stages this year, including the final stage along the Champs-Elysees, but lost his bid for the green jersey to Italy's Alessandro Petacchi. Despite his blistering speed, he finished 154th in the overall standings, whereas Contador failed to win an individual stage yet finished nearly four hours ahead of the Brit.
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