The Manx Missile – New World Champion

It was brilliant to see Mark Canvendish, ‘The Manx Missile’, take out the world championships road race gold medal last Sunday. I have to admit – I am a big fan. I love the way he goes about his cycling. He wears his heart on his sleeve, is a straight talker and never forgets the people who have helped to get him where he is. He has gone through a transformation in recent years, turning himself from a yappy kid to one of the most respected riders in the PRO ranks. He has learnt that sprinters don’t win races without help, and he’s learnt when to be arrogant, and more importantly, when to be humble. And it’s this humble, gifted racer, who speaks with passion that we all like so much.

Cavendish started out his cycling life on the bmx and then moved to mountain biking at 12. Inspired by David Millar, he started winning races and took steps to become a professional cyclist. He began life as a professional on the track, winning gold at the 2005 world championships in the Madison. In 2006 he began his road cycling career, and quickly started earning his reputation as the fastest sprinter in the world. To date, he has won 20 stages at the Tour de France and in the 2011 edition, took home the coveted green jersey which had eluded him in previous years.

As far as the World Championships decider played out, it was a fast and furious race. At 260 km’s, it was a long course and the field went out hard in the beginning, averaging 50km/h for the first hour of racing. Many break aways were reigned in and despite many of the predictions by cycling commentators, it came down to a bunch sprint that initially looked to be controlled by an Aussie train. The push by Cav at the end was not as explosive as normal, but steady. He pushed to the front, as fast as a missile, and made it over the line first, despite a massive effort by Matty Goss, who came VERY close to coming over the top of Cav at the end. I was a happy man – two of my favourite riders placed 1 and 2.

I respect the way Cav races, it takes a lot to come through at the end smash the opposition. Trust me I know, it’s guys like him who beat me in the weekend road races. You can be as strong as you want for 50 or 100 or 200 km’s, but if you don’t have the legs at the end then forget about it. He also brings a flair to the UCI Pro Tour that could be compared to the Armstrong effect. Like Lance, Cav can talk – and it’s stuff you actually want to hear, not the typical dross that AFL or NRL players dish out. And… he has a sensational girlfriend, Page 3 girl, Peta Todd. Nice one Cav!

Le Tour - Week Three Wrap

Who looked good
What an emphatic win by Cadel Evans! Right from the Grand Depart he looked strong, you could see the focus in his eyes. This was a man that was always going to win the Tour in 2011, we just didn't all see it at first, but by the time he took to the podium for the start of the final time trial in Grenoble the writing was on the wall. His face said it all. This was the face of a man that was going to overcome any time advantage the Schleck boys had. He was a picture of focus and determination - and yet was also calm. He had that sense of control in the face of adversity that is the mark of champions - Armstrong had it in bucketloads. It was an historic win for Australia and the mainstream media have jumped all over it - some proclaiming that the win was the greatest Australian sporting achievement ever! I don't know about that - but it was pretty damn good. I can't wait for him to fly home and get all the hometown recognition he deserves! If there is a parade, I'll be there in the front row! The Schlecks also rode a brilliant race and looked great. One of them will win a Tour de France in the not-too-distant future I'm sure, they just need some work on their time-trialling. Others that looked good in the final week were Tom Danielson and Pierre Roland. Roland's win on the Alpe d'huez was awesome, and it seems he will be a yellow jersey contender in the years to come.

Who looked bad
He wasn't terrible, and fifth in the overall General Classification is definitely not a bad result, but Contador's loss of time in the Alps was a shock, especially when it seemed that he was getting over the sore knee and coming good. He lost significant time on Cadel and the Schlecks on stage 18 up the Col du Galibier. Perhaps he was affected by the win in the Giro - or perhaps we are now seeing the real Contador - the clean, human one. Who knows. Levi Leipheimer and Ivan Basso were two other stars that failed to impress. Basso finished eighth, again, not a bad result, but his race was a war of attrition. He held the others wheels and rarely attacked. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of the end of a long and tumultuous career. As for Leipheimer, he had a bad crash on stage six, but never really featured after that. I expected a bit more from the 2011 runner-up of the Tour of California and the winner of the 2011 Tour de Suisse.

Best stage
The best stage in week three had to be stage 18, the 198.4 km grueling race from Pinerolo to Galibier - Serre Chevalier. Andy Schleck attacked early in the stage leaving the other contenders (primarily Evans) surprised and confused by how to counter this move. In hindsight it was a brilliant strategy. Schleck knew that the GC's would stick to his wheel like glue on the final climb - the only way to get a significant time gap was to roll the dice and go early. His gamble paid off and he took more than 2 minutes off Cadel. What was equally amazing about this stage was Cadels response. He looked at the others to help claw back the time Andy had taken (which was over 4 minutes at its peak), the others all chose to be ticket collectors and suck his wheel. Instead of complaining and getting angry, Cadel steeled himself and dragged the peloton along himself - bridging the gap by half and it was here that he ultimately saved his Tour. This resilience was the story of Cadels Tour de France, he simply fought and fought and fought, it was this dogged determination that won him the Tour.

Defining Moment
There were a few moments in week three that will be remembered and looked back on. As mentioned already, Andy's unanswered breakaway on stage 18, and Cadel's fight to claw back the time Andy had gained were both incredible junctures in the Tour, moments where, had things gone differently, the final result would have changed. Contador falling away on the Galibier was a moment because, if nothing else, it showed he was fallible. Cavendish's final win on the Champs Elysees was also a special moment. HTC Highroad rode the perfect race and lead-out train was textbook perfect. Cavendish finally got the Green Jersey and it was his 20th win in five tours; this has definitely cemented him in the record books. But the stand out moment for me was Cadel on the start line of the final Time Trial. This was a man possessed - a man completely focussed on what needed to happen, anything but a win was not an option.

And another thing...
- Well, it's over, we can all go back to regular sleeping hours, and personally, I'm looking forward to not stuffing my face with chips and Maltesers at 1am in an effort to stay awake!
- What was with Scott Sunderland's shirt on the final wrap-up of the race? It looked like it was made from my nannas curtains - check it out!
- Loving Robbie McEwans moniker for Andy and Frank Schleck - Frandy!
- As usual, top effort by SBS. Lets hope the Cadel-mania dies down and the commercial stations don't get any funny ideas about presenting the Tour in future - could you imagine Eddie Maguire hosting?
- Top job by Mike Tomolaris and Dave MacKenzie... great commentary.
- Twitter is brilliant during the Tour - especially the comments from DNF riders. Some of Vinokourov's comments were comedy gold!
- And the final word should go to this year's 'Lanterne Rouge', the last place of the Tour de France - the Italian Fabio Sabatini. Just to finish a race like the TdF is a massive achievement!

That's it! Did I get it right? What did you think of Cadel's win? Comment below!

Le Tour - Week Two Wrap

Who looks good
Well, after a hard week in the Pyrenees not a lot has changed. All of the main contenders are still there and, as I predicted in the week one wrap, Thomas Voeckler has hung on to the yellow jersey for more time than even he thought he would. So the pointy end of the field looks much the same, with Voeckler, Evans, Basso, Sanchez, Contador and the Schlecks all still in the mix, but the racing was anything but dull. Cavendish has shown he really is the fastest man on two wheels, picking up another two wins. His turn of speed in the last 200 meters is incredible. The sprint finish win by Greipel on stage 10 was also inspiring. The rouleur’s of the peloton (Rojas, Gilbert and Hushovd) all still look great and one of these may pick up a win on stage 16 or 17. There are some young guns like Tom Danielson and Peter Velits that are showing some great form – they will be ones to watch in future grand tours.

Who looks bad
I expected more from Nicholas Roche, Tony Martin and Levi Leipheimer in the past week, it was a little disappointing Roche and Martin couldn’t stay with the leaders up the Plateau de Beille. Though, I still think Roche and Martin have long, and prosperous careers ahead of them. Leipheimer is obviously still suffering after a few crashes early on. There are a few teams that have gone missing also, Team Sky have disappeared with the withdrawal of Wiggins, and Ag2r La Mondiale and Cofidis haven’t featured much, though David Moncoutie (Cofidis) is showing some great form.

Best stage
As Thor Hushovd is one of my favourite cyclists, I loved his emphatic stage win in Lourdes (Stage 13). He destroyed the field with raw power and took out a stage that, on paper, looked like it was meant for a climbing specialist. He continues his incredible season in the rainbow jersey. As far as simple viewing pleasure goes – you couldn’t have gone past Stage 14 up Plateau de Beille. This was a cracker of a finish, Andy Schleck kept attacking and Evans, Voekler, Basso and Contador had answers for him every time.

Defining moment
As well as being a great stage to watch, stage 13’s climb up Plateau de Beille was also my defining moment of the week. The fact that the field could not be split, despite the climbing of a peloton-destroying mountain, will have repercussions for the rest of the Tour. This may trigger a change in tactics from the major protagonists – they know now that short attacks aren’t splitting the field. If no one can pull off a long lung-destroying attack and nothing changes in the Alps, Evans will go into the final time trial in Genoble with a huge advantage. He is arguably the best time trialist of the group and he will easily be able to chip away at the lead that Voeckler and Frank Schleck have over him. It is looking good for Cuddles, the little Aussie battler!

And another thing…
- I know you should never laugh at a cyclist hitting the deck, but Jens Voigt’s two crashes within seconds of each other on Stage 14 was hilarious. He is such a colourful character and when he lost his shit after the second crash I couldn’t help but have a chuckle!
- My heart skips a beat everytime I see a rider pick up his bike and toss it to the side of the road like it was a piece of rubbish. As someone who races on a cheap(ish) aluminium Fuji I would give anything for one of those bikes! And if I had one I would definitely treat it with care – even if it was given to me for free!
- How good is Matty Keenan?! For those of you outside of Australia, he is our homegrown cycling commentator that is the warm-up act for British cycling legends Liggett and Sherwen. I say give him a whole stage to commentate, he’s great!

So have I got it right? What’s your predictions for the last week? Comment below…