Well Done Wiggins and Ernie, and Welcome to Olympics Week!

Wiggins wins the Tour de France

On Sunday Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to triumph in The Tour de France as his Team Sky teammate Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the streets of Paris. Cavendish has now won this stage four times in a row which is some feat in itself. Wiggins conquered the peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees on a hellish two thousand one hundred and seventy three mile journey spanning three weeks, which surely puts him amongst Britain's greatest sports men and women of all time? Having won three gold, a silver and two bronze medals at three Olympic Games, as well as seven gold, four silver and one bronze at various cycling World Championships I can't see that there is an argument against this train of thought. A mention should also go to his team mates whose support was valuable to Bradley throughout. Briton Chris Froome, also of Team Sky, finished second behind Wiggins and three minutes ahead of their nearest rival. Bradley also showed great sportsmanship to fellow competitor Cadel Evans who suffered three punctures on one stage; carpet tacks were thrown on the road and Wiggins slowed the Peloton to allow Evans to catch up which isn't always the done thing. I'll be honest, I'm no expert on cycling and I wouldn't even say I'm a fan just yet. But what Bradley Wiggins achieved over the last three weeks is monumental, and his accomplishment, coupled with the fact that the Olympic Road Race is in the Surrey Hills just down the road means that I will probably tune in and I suspect I won't be alone. 

Massive congratulations to South African Ernie Els who won his fourth Major and second Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Lytham and St Annes.  Many thought that 'The Big Easy' might never reach such heights again, but he did all you can do as a golfer; post a score and see what happens. What did happen beggars belief. After the fourteenth hole where Scott made a birdie, some bookmakers were offering odds of 1/100. You have to wonder how many people thought they could make a quick killing? Scott went on to make four bogeys, missing a putt to take the tournament to a play-off and the rest is history. It will give Ernie a massive boost, but you have to fear for Adam Scott. The Australian was quite pragmatic in the aftermath, but like a boxer taking punch after punch, it must take its toll. He definitely has the talent, and Steve Williams on the bag must be a plus point, but he needs to invest in a sports psychologist I would say!


Strangely for me, I am getting somewhat disillusioned by the Olympics. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be a complete shambles. The threat of striking by British Border Control staff, the 'crackdown' on enterprising business people who aren't allowed to use words like 'Summer', 'London', 'Gold', 'Silver' or 'medal' in conjunction with each other. Just in case it is perceived as guerrilla advertising. Hardly. It is just honest people trying to earn an honest living, yet again being hindered by bureaucracy. It seems the 'Team GB' umbrella only extends so far. I am sure I will get in to the swing of things once the competition gets underway, but the seven years since I had a tear in my eye when Jacques Rogge announced London had won the bid is going very, very slowly. The last few weeks have been like swimming in treacle but we'll see.

Sorry to get all political, but it had to be said!

Close-season football shorts

Football's pre-season friendlies have begun so its not long now! 

Luka Modric is on strike at Spurs; Chelsea have signed Brazilian Oscar, Belgian Eden Hazard and they are also signing the younger Hazard, Thorgun. 

Much to my surprise, Everton sell Tim Cahill to New York Red Bulls for around £1m. I wouldn't want to doubt David Moyes, as pound for pound I think he is the best manager in the league. I have been saying for years that he will be the next Manchester United manager, but there will be more to come on that when it happens.

Unless Portsmouth can offload their last senior players, they will have no option to close their doors on the August 10th deadline. There are seven high earners left who must find a compromise, or the South Coast club will have played its last game. A very sad state of affairs.

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Where now for Khan and Chisora?

After Danny Garcia's 'Swift' dethroning of Amir 'King' Khan, where does the Bolton born boxer go from here? Certainly not in the direction of a super-fight with Floyd Mayweather which was the intention before the fight at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.  

A stunned Khan takes a count from referee Kenny Bayless

Once again Khan failed to stick to the game plan, and as soon as Garcia started to catch him with heavy shots his brain went and he wanted to get in to a war; most boxing fans knew that this was never going to be the way to win the fight. If I am honest, as soon as Garcia caught Khan with the long left hook (half in the neck!) in the third round the fight was over. I thought Kenny Bayless was generous to say the least with his first count and if that punch had come ten seconds earlier the fight would have been over there and then.
So where now? I heard British super-middleweight Paul Smith say the other day something along the lines of 'boxing is funny, because it's hard to get the fights you want when you're winning, but everyone wants to fight you when you're losing' so getting fights shouldn't be a problem but they will certainly not be at the same level. Khan did well to get back to the big time after losing to Breidis Prescott, so to do so again is a mountain and a half to climb. I probably see Khan taking time out to reflect and seeing how the division develops over the next six months or so. It remains to be seen what is to happen to Lamont Peterson, so there isn't a re-match there at the moment so the only fight out there at light-welterweight is a re-match with Garcia. Would Khan want it? I doubt it. That means either coming back to European/Domestic level which is unlikely, or stepping up to welterweight anyway and trying to fight his way up from the lower levels of the division. I can see Khan fighting someone in the top 20 welterweights to get a foot in the door and trying to rebuild a career from there. The only thing is, that he will then have men that are 7lbs heavier raining punches down on his glass chin. It is a tricky one. Khan is a wealthy man, so could he retire at the tender age of 25?


And so to Haye versus Chisora. Haye finished the fight with a KO in the fifth round, and to be honest he looked a class above Chisora throughout the fight. Chisora was a game opponent until the fifth round, but I think it was obvious that Haye's class would tell in the end. If you ask me Chisora got what his actions in the recent past deserved. Maybe now he will take his disgusting behaviour and disappear into a dark hole somewhere. To both boxers credit, they were quite gracious to each other after the fight, despite the ridiculous trash talk in the build up. If you ask me, the fact that Chisora has even had a world title fight is a huge indictment about the state of the division at the moment. The sooner there is a greater degree of competition the better. I can't wait for David Price to make the step up to that level.  If he carries on making progress as he has done over the last few years it should be exciting. His trouble will be getting people to fight him as he has got a reputation as a bit of a banger. Price may even fight Chisora on his way to greater things. One thing I can say for sure is that Frank Maloney will not rush things with Price. It looks from an outsiders view that he knows Price can achieve big things if he has the right fights at the right time.

SPORT SHORTS

Well done to Britain's Adam Gemili, who this week triumphed at the World Junior Athletics Championships, and also became the fastest ever man in the history of the championships by running 10.05s. After being at Chelsea as a young footballer, he only started to concentrate on athletics at the beginning of the year! Exciting times ahead. 

This time next week Britain could have it's first ever winner of the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins has a lead of around two minutes with six stages still to go. It would be a huge acheivement for the three time Olympic Gold medalist to add to his CV. Good Luck!

Mark Webber pipped Fernando Alonso to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last Sunday. The conditions were changeable to say the least, but Webber was on the right tyres at the right time and overtook Alonso with four laps to go and stayed ahead to take the chequered flag. Red Bull Racing will be double pleased as Webber signed a one year extension to his contract this week. Webber did admit to being tempted by the lure of the prancing horse, but head prevailed over heart in the end.

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