Tour Down Under

As I write this, the first stage of the Tour Down Under has already finished and the new racing season is underway. I'm now going to spend the rest of the day frantically avoiding any media outlets that will spill the beans and ruin the result for me. As per usual, i'll probably manage until mid afternoon and then will click onto www.bikeradar.com without thinking and ruin things for myself.
It's kind of hard though when you're addicted to cycling like I am.
And so, to pro cycling and the tour itself......
I saw the Cancer Classic crit race highlights on Sunday (surprise result beautifully ruined by a Facebook update from Team Sky by the way) and don't honestly know what happened to Cavendish and Greipel at the end. Anyone got any idea why they weren't there at the finish? Nice to see Matt Goss get the win though. He's come a long way since his 80's music success in Bros.
The main excitement though has to be about the Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel showdown. Both are amazing talents in their own right but my money has to go on Cavendish. He's such a talent and it's refreshing to have someone who's so brutally honest all the time. Admittedly, he doesn't always say the right thing all the time but I like the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve.
The other big news of the TDU is the international retirement of Lance Armstrong. Love him or hate him, I can't help but feel a little sad about his departure. He's raised the profile of the sport as a whole and I hope he can get into a break this week and give the fans a nice send off.