Grassmarket

Don’t want to hear from any tennis players complaining how cold it is in Paris!

Think it’s something to do with all the upcoming races which clash. All the Belgian classics, plus week 3 of the Giro will coincide with Week 1 of the Vuelta, so is possibly UCI imposed.

Ganna will also lose the Maglia Rosa - has been delegated to help Thomas. Thomas gets back on to a bigger group on a descent but not looking good. Seemingly a hip injury. Thomas lost a minute already in the foothills. Brad Wiggins thinks it’s a broken rib - end of race. Simon Yates also in trouble! Cannot keep up with 8k to go. Idiot fans out in force today. Jonathan Caicedo & EF Pro wins the stage after being in the day’s breakaway. Looks like Nibali, Fuglsang, Pozzovivo, Majka, Kruijswijk for the overall. Yates & Thomas surely out of it for good. Sagan’s bid for the KoM jersey also a casualty.

Dog (labrador) on the road incident in the Giro - fortunately no damage done to man or beast. 32k to go, building up to explosive climax on Mt Etna. Geraint Thomas had a crash in the neutral zone - is already off the back before the main climb! That looks like it already. Will lose minutes. Plan B is now Geoghan Hart for Ineos.

Like the true gentleman he is, Joe Biden refuses to take advantage of Pres Trumps misfortune. He’s taking the day off.

Of course they do. Why would they turn down all that lovely French money? Same reason the Netherlands Antilles voted to remain Dutch.

Alaphillipe did get relegated for the swerve. Doubt that’ll make him feel better.

Alaphillipe sure he had won the LBL, celebrated too early, Roglič snatched it!

Lizzie Deignan won the Women’s LBL after a 30k solo break. Grace Brown second after a long solo chase, never quite managed to close the gap. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/54406778

Giro d'Italia: EF Pro Cycling team fined for controversial 'duck' kit https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/54405087

Brigid Kosgei wins Sarah Hall puts in an amazing last 1k sprint finish to get second! Chepngetich a bit shell-shocked to get beaten into third after being second for so long.

World record (women’s only race) pace at halfway in London. Cold & wet though. Brigid Kosgei & Ruth Chepngetich contending. Falling off the pace now, more of a tactical race. Getting a bit confusing because there are now lapped runners cluttering the place up. Incidentally, the comms are talking about Olympic Qual times, so it must be valid. Kosgei now running solo for the win.

It’s Sicily: not quite Singapore when it comes to high & incorruptible standards of public works maintenance.

Mathieu van der Poel off on a solo attack in the BinckBank, using the Kapelmuur at Gerardsbergen to break up the race. 40k to go. 20k to go, van der Poel still has a minute, peloton has broken up. Now got an an exciting three-way chase for the overall between vdP, Kragh Andersen in Chase Group 2 & Pedersen in Chase Group 3. van der Poel gets the stage by seconds, Kragh Andersen screams with rage because he misses out on the bonuses. Great race!

Sadly Red Number 3 failing to adapt himself to this new hill in Bregtdorp, well behind in 18th place again. Unfortunately I think there’s a bit of ego involved - if he’s not at the front contending with the leaders he just loses interest & fades away.

Bekele’s out! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/54386018

Yeah, cause the Walking Quals opened a couple of weeks back & I thought marathons were the same. Would be a bit crazy to miss one of the peak periods.

Entry lists are here. https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/event-info/spectator-info/elite-fields/index.html Women’s race 07:00 UK time, men’s 10:00.

Last regular live track meet of the season from Nairobi tomorrow.* Hope there’s some kind of crowd, Kenyan home fans are always mad keen. https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/how-follow-2020-continental-tour-gold There’s also the London Marathon on Sunday, don’t know what coverage is like internationally, but it’s all on the BBC. * There’s a special all-distance meet from Valencia on Wednesday, also.

Good day for - Soren Kragh Andersen takes the stage, Mads Pedersen retains the overall lead. Final stage tomorrow over some of the classic Flemish bergen,

Binck Bank today is a short, hilly, twisty ITT around Riemst. Ought to see some changes in the GC. Kind of improvised at the last minute, but in Belgium there’s always plenty muddy fields of root vegetables willing to welcome a hastily-organised cycle race. Bit hard to tell if those are spectators or scarecrows, though.

Joe Biden begins October as he spent most of September, by taking the day off.

Twisty, narrow finish on wet roads in Aalter today for the BlinckBank, high likelihood of crashes if there’s a sprint. 20k to go. Phew, got through it thanks to many outrageous diversions through front gardens & pedestrian precincts. Did Mads Pedersen get any wins in the WC jersey? Got one today. In the TdF we see beautiful monasteries & stately homes. In Belgian we get helicopter views of remarkable transport intersections.

An artificial intelligence-equipped robot named 'Curly' beat one of the world's best curling teams by quickly adapting to changes in the ice, its developers claim. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8788915/Robot-named-Curly-uses-AI-beat-one-worlds-best-curling-teams-game.html Also, more curling on YouTube this weekend, a mixed doubles tournament from St Gallen, Switzerland.

Plenty stadiums free in the Netherlands.