27. March 2009 03:07
I can sum up this rant by using a recent quote from Lance Armstrong’s twitter feed…
Read the Sunday Times Sports section on the flight. Pages and pages of rugby, soccer, cricket and barely a mention of Cavendish. Pitiful.
For those of you that don’t know (don’t feel bad about not knowing – there was very little way to get the information) – Mark Cavendish won the Milan-San Remo cycling classic with a mad sprint to the line in a photo finish. This included getting through the 185 mile course in just 6 hours and 42 minutes! To put this into perspective, Lance Armstrong himself has raced this course 7 times and never won it. The last (and only other) British person to win this race was the sadly departed Tom Simpson in 1964. Cavendish said that this was his greatest victory – far greater than the 4 stage wins in the Tour de France.
With all this in mind, I would expect to hear at least a mention of it in passing on the BBC news. But nothing. Even after the emphatic victory of the track cyclists in the Olympics in Beijing, cycling still isn’t given any coverage by the media. I just don’t get it.
Don’t get me wrong, I follow football myself (I’m a Liverpool fan in case you were wondering) but as a nation we have a way too overinflated opinion of ourselves in the likes of football, cricket and rugby. It seems to me that the stuff we are actually good at, gets tucked away into side stories in obscure newspapers and the like.
But never mind, at least Lance is giving Cav some kudos:
Congrats to Cavendish on a spectacular victory. Cool kid.
It was great to see Cavendish back on the track last night despite not winning anything – he looked strong and enthusiastic – at just 23 he’s got a great career ahead of him.
Rant over. Have a nice day :)