Well, not a huge amount to post, as of course it's been the Tour. This year has been a corker, and hats off to the race organisers for ensuring a real mix of stages. Last year, they crammed a lot of the climbing into the final week so there was a bit of a hiatus in the middle but nobody could say this year's race has been uneventful, what with headbutting sprinters, the duel between Contador and Schleck, Lance Armstrong's crunching out of the GC competition, the fabulous scenery and in general the awesome racing. Most days I get to watch the afternoon stage live and usually watch the Highlights as well. I thank goodness for Sky+ as this means I can zip through the adverts, and in the evening, the Highlight show usually includes some interviews and new material with the day's stage winners, so I can focus on them and zoom through the bits already seen. Of course, sometimes the action is so good you want to see it again. I'll certainly remember the infamous sprint finish with the flailing elbows and sideways headbutt, yesterday's stage when Vino did one of his mad breakaways that so nearly succeeded and today when off he went again. What was also fabulous was the mountain stage when Contador and Schleck did their duel, dancing on the pedals up the mountain, leaving a stream of cracked and broken riders behind them. The weather for the racers has been so hot, the road has been melting under their tyres. I wish the Tour was more widely appreciated in the UK as a sporting event - I think it has everything, awesome scenery, complex rivalries, team and individual competitions, Byzantine politics, superb spectacle, a real risk of dangerous crashes on every stage, great technology and the constant and amazing way the race throws up curveballs that surprise even seasoned veterans, whether they are accidents, punctures, fitness issues, and just straightforward cussedness (Vino being a good example of a rider who doesn't follow the script). The race attracts its own travelling circus of characters, with the best known probably being the "Devil" who has followed the race for years, and can usually be seen capering at the side of the race at some point, waving his trident, cloak blazing in the sun.

I'll stop there as it's time for a gin, and to feed the woofs.