Mark Cavendish wins by 11cm over 185km!

Gazzetta della sport run the race and have a Mario Cippollini interview here.  Websites and news agencies across the globe are full of Cavendish’s win but in Britain it’s a 15 second radio item and well-buried articles on the BBC etc.  Most UK news even forgets to mention that he’s only the second Briton to win the race – the other being the tragically great Tommy Simpson.

The Milan-San Remo spring classic even has it’s centennial edition this year but that obviously isn’t good enough for the UK!  It’s 185km of up and down, finishing with a sprint.  Mere mortals would die from the effort!  Good profiles and maps are here.  Even the finish is dodgy – after descending perilous hairpins the sprint is in a town with more bends and obstacles.

But the UK general public are oblivious.  Cavendish has won more TDF stages than any other Briton – in short, apart from a few speed time-trialling type records, he’s the most successful British cyclist ever and he’s only just started!

But how’d you know?

Chris Hoy and the other Olympians had their moments of fame and he even won Sport Personality 2008.  What are they doing now?

How’d you know?

This Year’s Tour de France

Lance Armstrong has said he’s going to give it another go.  Cavendish is flying.   Mont Ventoux where Simpson (Holly’s uncle) died in that race, is scheduled to be climbed for the first time since 2002 …

The omens are there – it stands to be a cracking race.  But will we be able to see it in the UK in normal time if you don’t get Eurosport?  I doubt it.

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