I’m a bit of an annual cycling fan – that is, I get really into the Tour de France every summer, and barely follow the sport at all the rest of the year. It’s a bit like only watching Tennis when Wimbledon’s on, or football when it’s the World Cup. Which, come to think of it, I do a bit too – but not as regularly.
Now, part of this is because the Tour de France is the only professional cycling race that’s generally covered on “mainstream” TV – I’ve never had the “luxury” of Eurosport. A few years ago, even that was in doubt, with Channel 4 suddenly dumping the rights, and ITV rather half-heartedly taking them over. Which brings me to this year’s “good news, bad news” story.