Cavendish wins in Paris

A tour for the British. The victory by Mark Cavendish on the final stage of the Tour de France signals the end of the most successful campaign ever for British cycling. Trailing Cavendish over the line compatriot Bradley Wiggins secured the yellow jersey for overall winner.

The final lapped stage around the streets of Paris was given added excitement by a break that looked to push the teams of the sprinters all the way to the line. At times holding a lead of half a minute, the eleven man group looked hopeful to stay away. However in the last lap a combined effort by the teams of the sprinters brought them back into the mix.

The sprint never looked to go to anyone but Cavendish. A rare image saw the yellow jersey leading out the sprint before the Manx missile emerged from the field to obliterate the field. It is the fourth year in a row that he has won on the Champs-Elysees.

The stage was the culmination of three weeks of racing that saw a large number of cyclists dropping out through injury or so as to better prepare for the Olympics in a few weeks time. Attention now turns to London as cyclists vie for the chance to crowned Olympic champion.

Signalling the start of the games; the cycling road race is the first medal on offer. Other disciplines are the individual time trial as well as track events. The newly built Velodrome in London, nicknamed the Pringle because of its unique shape will host these events over the coming month.

'ttacks at le Tour

Rabobank rider Louis Leon Sanchez won the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday with a solo break away with eleven kilometers to go. The hilly stage saw the peleton summitting two first category climbs and promised to be critical in the decision of who would wear the yellow jersey into Paris.

The team of overall leader Bradley Wiggins were able to control the peleton however and only allowed a small group off the front - including Sanchez. They were allowed to stay in front the whole day with none being close enough to pose a threat to Wiggins' lead.

The real talking point of the day was to come at the summit of the final climb of the day. French radio has reported that a fan had thrown tacks on the road. This caused a large number of riders to puncture and caused much confusion on the descent.

With so many riders being affected Wiggins, as the race leader decided to neutralize the rest of the stage. And so all the main contenders crossed the finish line with the same time.

Wiggins did manage to see the funny side of the incident and suggested that if the perpetrators were found perhaps (the police) 'can find a football match to take them too.'

The throwing of tacks was at one time common practice. During the pre-war years it was reported that fans would often throw tacks under an unpopular cyclists wheels to force him to stop. However since world war 2 it is something that is mentioned only as being from a by-gone era.

The Sabotaging of sporting events is not uncommon and the incident got me thinking of other instances of it.

The mention of the name Pieter van Zyl, is enough to bring shame to any South African. The pot bellied, beer swilling drunkard attempted to tackle referee Doug McHugh during the Springboks loss to New Zealand in 2002. Unfortunately for van Zyl, Ritchie Mccaw was first to the break down.

And then of course their is that crazed Irish father's rights activists. He is becoming a familiar face at sports events. Not only has he interrupted a Formula one race but also the Olympic marathon in 2004. His exploits in that race cost a Brazilian athlete the gold medal. I wonder if he has qualified for the London games?

Speaking of the London Olympics; G4S the security company contracted to supply 10 000 trained security staff for the London games has failed to deliver. Reports in England state the level of security personnal provided by the company is way below what is required. Just days before the Torch is to be lit, the army has been forced to supply more troops to fill the vacancies.

South African's everywhere have no comment on the situation.