A heads up sports fans.
As a nation, thanks to Channel 4 and the legendary title music, many an armchair enthusiast could be forgiven for thinking pro cycling begins and ends in July, with a 3 week scenic slog around France.
But for actual sport, this Sunday's Tour of Flanders followed by next Sundays Paris-Roubaix, is the pinnacle of cycling.
These races have all the pain, brutality & history of Le Tour.
But as they never got onto UK TV, these two massive events, that pretty much stop Europe (only a minor hyperbole), never get any recognition over here.
Both are live on Eurosport, and 5-live sports extra will, for the first time, be commentating on Roubaix.
Obviously I'm not saying a newbie should settle down for all 4 hours of live coverage (the whole race will take 6 hours).
But if you enjoy Le Tour, Sky/Team GB cycling etc, perhaps you're knackered after the marathon or had a particularly heavy lunch, I think you could do a lot worse than settle down and catch a bit of cobbled cycling.
As a nation, thanks to Channel 4 and the legendary title music, many an armchair enthusiast could be forgiven for thinking pro cycling begins and ends in July, with a 3 week scenic slog around France.
But for actual sport, this Sunday's Tour of Flanders followed by next Sundays Paris-Roubaix, is the pinnacle of cycling.
These races have all the pain, brutality & history of Le Tour.
But as they never got onto UK TV, these two massive events, that pretty much stop Europe (only a minor hyperbole), never get any recognition over here.
Both are live on Eurosport, and 5-live sports extra will, for the first time, be commentating on Roubaix.
Obviously I'm not saying a newbie should settle down for all 4 hours of live coverage (the whole race will take 6 hours).
But if you enjoy Le Tour, Sky/Team GB cycling etc, perhaps you're knackered after the marathon or had a particularly heavy lunch, I think you could do a lot worse than settle down and catch a bit of cobbled cycling.
until tomorrow morning:-
