The Greatest Show on Earth

In Simon Barne's book The Meaning of Sport he eloquently argues that the Olympics is the "Greatest Sporting Event in the World". True such a bringing together of nations, sexes and sports is incredible but on this occasion I think I may have to disagree with his assessment. For me the greatest sporting event is the Tour de France.

Every year I am entirely engrossed by the Tour mixture of spectacle and substance and have even had the pleasure of seeing 2 stages first hand. In 2005 I witnessed one of the most remarkable achievements in sporting history as Lance Armstrong rode to his 7th Tour victory after recovering from cancer. I was hooked. Ever since I have feverishly watched the tour each year, praying that another doping scandal won't erode the public respect for a body of phenomenal athletes

This years tour is the best for some time. Brit Mark Cavendish simply can't be beaten in the bunch sprint finishes that inevitably occur on flat stages where break away riders simply can't evade the might of the peleton. In terms of the general classification there is an almighty battle between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, both of Team Astana, after the Texan made an unlikely return from retirement this year. Unknown Italian Rinaldo Nochentini holds the coveted yellow jersey currently although his stay looks to be temporary as the two favourites get ready to slug it out in the Alps.

Contador seems to be the favourite. He is perhaps the best climber currently in the world and his mercurial talents were highlighted when he accelerated away from the leaders in the last 2 kilometres of this years only mountain top finish to date. Despite this I would find it hard to bring myself to ever bet against Lance Armstrong to win in the Tour de France. He showed that his tactical acumen is still is a present as ever in the first week by sticking to the wheels of the Columbia HTC team when they forced a break on the run to a sprint finish in a challenging cross wind. Not only that but his climbing capacity seems undimmed as he rode with the leaders and looked comfortable on mammoth climbs like the Col d' Tourmalet. The Alps will be where the tour is won and lost but if Armstrong is actually as comfortable as he seems then I think he will win.

How romantic it would be to see Armstrong ride into Paris with the jersey on his shoulders. It would cement his place in cycling history as undoubtedly the greatest ever. Perhaps such a dramatic comeback would also cause something more important - the elevation of the Texan who fought cancer to his rightful place as the Greatest sportsman that ever lived.

Last Chance?

A few things this week have made me think of tipping points. Moments in peoples lives that are so close to being something amazing and then fall short. Such is the profundity of the moments it always makes me question; what could have been?

This question will be reverberating around Andy Roddick's head since late Sunday evening when he lost in a marathon final set to Roger Federer. The final will mainly be remembered as Federer broke Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slams and earned his deserved place in the history of Sporting greatness. Despite this Andy Roddick pushed Federer so close when many, myself included, had haughtily predicted a win in 3 sets for the Swiss Maestro. How sweet it would have been for Roddick to finally win Wimbledon when his recent form in the Majors had been waning. How vindicated he would have felt after having the misfortune of being at his peak when the greatest player ever to have lived was at his. Roddick's huge serve, natural athleticism and competitiveness would have more than likely ensured him to be the best grass court player of most generations barring those containing Bjorn Borg and his eventual nemesis Roger Federer. Having been beaten pretty easily in the previous two finals that he reached it didn't take a lot of bottle to predict a similar result this time around. But Roddick proved the doubters wrong and took Federer all the way and matched him until the 30th game of the 5th set.

In the end it was probably Roddick's fitness that was his undoing. He suffered from contesting some epic five set matches against the likes of Hewitt and he was also taken to GB's Andy Murray. If he had just managed to drag himself across the line against Roger Federer maybe it would have signalled a last hurrah or even a late career Renaissance. Either way Sunday's match was a tipping point for any Roddick, a tipping point that he was just unable to roll over.

The Jake and Tiarnan Podcast Episode 11

In this weeks Podcast we can only really talk about one thing; the death of a dancing peadophile. We also examine Uri Geller's reaction to the death of his "great friend" and wonder when aerial shots of a dead mans house became news. Not only that but there is also the new Podcast Campaign to become shit celebs in the wake of uber-cunt Arthur Kade. Download it and subscribe or listen from here now!