Grassmarket

Honestly, hope Andre Greipel is good at carrying bottles or something, because it’s hard to see wjat else he’s doing to earn a place hear.

Roglič is not really a product of Slovenian cycling, though. All his adolescence he was part of the Ski Jumping team, was not encouraged to cycle. After he lost his SJ World Cup place he rode as an amateur for a small team in Slovenia, then transferred into the Dutch pro scene, where he learnt his trade. It’s not like there is a kind of DDR-style talent programme going on.

Sagan giving Bennett a slapping on the climb leading up to the sprint.... Sagan 15.

Roman Bardet DNS this morning - concussion.

These things happen, it is no mystery. Ireland had no great cyclists, ever - then two at once, Steven Roche & Sean Kelly. Then nothing for 35 years and the new generation are Steven Roche’s son Steven Roche’s nephew From the very same small town where Sean Kelly lives.

Just catching up with the T-A from Wednesday - there was already some fresh snow on the ground in the mountain passes, so expect some disruption for the Giro in three weeks.

Father is an Iron Man triathlete also.

Aachen is one of those German towns which suffered from some over-enthusiastic urban planning attempts by the Royal Air Force during the 1939-1945 Police Action, so there is not much of it left. Well, there was quite a lot left, just not many things still attached to any other things.

Looks good for Schachmann, but 15k solid climbing to go. French hopes sliding away one by one. Race will be v , or Cumbia versus Polkas.

Also home to the Netherlands’ only vineyard. (About 5km to the East of town on the road to Aachen.)

Long past time that someone pushed by against these Satanic practices, so well done the fine Christians of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels. .

EF set it all up well, got three credible guys in the break, now Powless immediately breaks and gets a lead. ES Comms talking about Powless being the first Native American to......not quite guys, Native maybe, Quintana & Bernal and no doubt guys going back to the 80s were Natives.

Will be needing a new pair of shorts, though.

Opens up a top-5 chance for someone. Also good for the break as everyone in the peloton dials back for Bardet.

Another French fave down - Roman Bardet into the hedges. Is back & pedalling. Nairo Quintana & Bauke Mollema in the same crash.

First of the big mega-climbing days. I’d be surprised if any of the big GC teams wanted to put in a big attack today - too many bad days to come. So the French KoM guys will want to start pocketing points here. Then at the end for the GC, Roglič going for 10 seconds over everyone Green Jersey off the back already.

Because in America only important people who appear on TV are allowed to have opinions. Oh, and what’s this? Fans have also been banned from Dressing how they normally do Wearing facepaint as they normally Chanting as they normally do. So, in other words the team & organisation went out of their way to call their own paying customers a bunch of racists. I’d say boos were mild in the circumstances. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8716917/Chiefs-nix-headdresses-face-paint-start-NFL-season.html

International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach is "extremely concerned" about the death sentence passed down on an Iranian champion wrestler who took part in protests two years ago.

Chance for Sagan to get some points back today - he’s still up with the leaders, the others are out the back. 45k to go: climby.

Doesn’t always work out though. They’ve got lots of Ethiopian-Jewish marathon runners. They’re all terrible!

Plus the organisers make their money out of the towns they go through, so they’ve got an incentive to have long stages.

Problem is there are no universally agreed rules, each sport must make their own and then defend them in court.

Ewan gets the stage: Sagan beat Bennett for 2nd.

More live Curling this weekend, from Adelboden https://www.youtube.com/user/curlingchampionstour

Another not very exciting day. Bennett 17 Sagan 14 in the intermediate. 55k to go.