Being confined to an armchair for much of the day has given me the opportunity to follow the Tour de France cycling event courtesy of Eurosport TV: something I've wanted to do for a while but just hadn't had the time.I remember back in the 1980s there was a cycling road-race series that took place around the streets of British cities. I really enjoyed the series - I seem to remember it was screened on Channel 4 on a Monday night - it was good television with a simple format: points awarded for the first cyclists to cross the finishing line, with the man who finished top of the cumulative league table at the end of the season declared the champion.
The Tour de France takes place over 3 weeks - 4 to 5 hours or so cycling a day with just a couple of rest days - starting in the South of France, ending with a sprint in Paris, with one stage leaving France for Catalunya.
The Tour has always seemed 'complicated' to me - part of the reason why I've not really followed it before: points for the top sprinters, points for team time-trials, a green jersey, a yellow jersey and even a polka-dot jersey. Four days into the tour and I'm starting to understand how it works. It's becoming clear that cycling is like any other sport - the more you follow it, the more you learn about it, the more you appreciate and enjoy it.
The television coverage from Eurosport is superb. The commentary team clearly know their stuff and do a good job of explaining some of the subtleties of the Tour, bearing in mind that some of their viewers will be - like me - new to the sport. I'm starting to understand the team structures, how the team trial works and what the different jerseys represent. I'm starting to recognise some of the 'names' amongst the 180 or so cyclists, and understand the roles that particular cyclists perform within their team.
Cycling is massive throughout Europe but in Britain it's always been viewed as something of a minority sport. With the launch in January 2010 of a British team that has ambitions to compete in the Tour next year I can see the sport really taking off amongst British fans.
If you want to see a major cycle race the Tour of Britain starts their 6th leg, Frome to Bideford on the 17th September. I have already booked it off - not just because the roads are going to be closed but for the spectacle.
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