Not to worry..I've got a copy to re-post if required.Well, there was only one thing to open for Stage 9, and that was a classic Australian Shiraz Cabernet. Metala White Label ’97 is still a baby, but maturing just nicely. It’s a great big gob full of blackcurrants with some secondary characters just starting to add some complexity and a happy balance of tannins through the finish. It needs at least another five to settle right in, I suspect.
The websites have gone nuts with support for Cadel and rightly so. He might have lost a lot of precious minutes, but plenty of high profile riders without broken arms lost similar amounts of time – Wiggo, Sastre, Dodger and the list goes on right down to a battered David Millar and his "new entry in his top five worst days in the bike" . Cadel can hold his head up with pride for so many reasons. His brand new team can also stand tall for the effort they put in supporting him to and on the line. Chapeau, BMC..
Speaking of pain, just how many faces of pain does Jens! have? Many it would seem, and a fair few of them were on display as he towed Andy & Bert up that big hill. Pain to the point that I’m fairly sure he needed a push or two from the tifosi to get across the last few metres to crest Col de la Madeleine. But take note of where he finished – he came in 12th. Hard man just doesn’t cover it.
Apart from the Bert’n’Andy dance which is always such a joy to watch, the other high point was the Phil’n’Paul commentary. The Sandy Casar and the dog crash story got an airing at least four times, and I amazed Phil didn’t mention it again as he took the stage. Missed opportunity, I reckon..
