Tuesday 9 September 2008

Tour de Britain, Tour de Missouri

At the Tour de Britain I managed to catch up with Garmin DS Matt White for a top quality interview


STIGT: Matt. Many thanks for your time.

Matt: For sure

STIGT: Garmin has riders capable of not just stage victories, but of the over all as well

Matt: For sure

STIGT: Will you be concentrating on one or the other or just seeing how the race unfolds?

Matt: For sure

STIGT: Er, It's been said that with only six rides per team everyone has to be super vigilant or else the winning break could be up the road.

Matt: For sure

STIGT: So have you got a race plan or are you just going to play it day by day and see how the race develops?

Matt: For sure

STIGT: Er, you haven't answered my question

Matt: For sure

STIGT: In fact all you've said is for sure

Matt: For sure

STIGT: OK I'll try something different.

Matt: For sure

STIGT: Will Dave Millar be allowed to finish the race early, so he can go back to your house and have sex with your wife?

Matt: For sure

Dave Millar: For Sure.



Having been thrown off the bus, I then went looking for another victim, Alessandro Petacchi

STIGT: Alessandro, how do you feel after winning the stage

Alessandro: I is verrry happppyy

STIGT: You timed your sprint very well, were you confident before the race started?

Alessandro: I is verrry happppyy

STIGT: Your team mate Di Luca attacked early, was this to gain time or to force the other sprinter teams to chase?

Alessandro: I is verrry happppyy

STIGT: You haven't raced for four months, how difficult did you find today?

Alessandro: I is verrry happppyy

STIGT: What are your aims for the rest of the Dave Millar went round to your house to have sex with your wife whilst you're racing?

Alessandro: I is verrry happppyy

Dave Millar: I is very happy.



Meanwhile the racing had started, but over on ITV 4 you'd never know it, we saw the riders in the nuturalised zone and then if was off to Bletchley park, because it was only 7 miles away, er.. OK.
Now as far as I know (or AFAIK as we say in modern) the only vague connection to cycling is you can drive down Alan Turing way on the way to Manchester Velodrome, which I think is a bit too tenuous even for ITV 4. So why? Do they cut away from a football match to show you the delights of an couple of old building 7 miles from the ground? Oh, they do, I'll shut up then.

Top ride by Stannard, he's had a great season, rode all the classics and rode them well, great to see him off the front, just a shame he was alone, a couple more riders and maybe he could have stayed away, although the final climb slaughtered him, he was the rider of the day in my book.

Cav's at it again, winning that is, no problems in a chaotic one in the Tour de Missouri, despite a long and hard season he's still unbeatabley fast, so for all those that said why is he riding in the US here's the answer, winning in your sponsors back yard. Hopefully the road closures in the US were of a higher quality than over in Britain, where at some points it looked like the race was going through a Go-Ride snake.

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