Grassmarket

And to Siberia.

Well, if the Ain is a prediction for the TdF, it’s going to be a dull race. Ineos go the the front, drive up the climb. Jumbo-Visma go to the front, drive up the climb. 500m from the top, Ineos & J-V fight it out for the win & bonus secs. Anyway, today Roglić - no hang on, that’s not right - Roglič takes the stage & the Tour.

And nobody lost any money gambling on the results!

And close it out after looking hopeless four hours ago!

Lordy, England closing in on a very unlikely win against . Could still go either way, though. N

We in Great Britain are now obliged to wear a mask if we visit aquariums. Not quite sure if this includes Chinese restaurants, or what happens if you have an aquarium at home.

Roglić gets the win & the yellow jersey, followed home by Bernal & Conti. Sets up a big finale on the HC climb tomorrow.

Setting up a good battle between Ineos & Jumbo-Visma in L’Ain just now.

As the Marballympics reaches its climax, the Marbulla-E season resumes with a visit to Berlin.... No spoilers, but an exciting race & a lot more changes of lead than you will ever see in the four-wheel version of the sport.

Yeah, it was a tragedy that she broke her legs & could not compete in ski cross in Korea. Had a good chance if a dual medal as well.

Wow, absolutely incredible sporting story I have just heard! Eddy Alvarez, who took Silver for in the 5000m ST in Sochi made his Major League Baseball debut for the Miami Marlins on Wednesday! Played 2 games against Baltimore. He’s the first, needless to say, Winter Olympian ever to play in MLB. https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/08/06/marlins-eddy-alvarez-olympic-speedskater He is from a Miami Cuban family - and was in fact the first Cuban-American ever to make the Winter Olympics. Since Sochi had been playing pro Baseball in the minor leagues eventually rising to the AAA level - ie one level below MLB. Marlins have been hard-hit by COVID, so that’s probably why, but an incredible achievement. There’s been lots of dual skaters-cyclists but.....

Don’t want to get into a political argument, but there are lots of people saying that the incessant politics is a huge turn-off for many traditional fans. Anyway, noticed today that as well as the cardboard fans everyone else has they now have computer-generated fans in the stands celebrating home runs etc. Hoping they’ll have virtual fans throwing imaginary beer mugs on the field when the away pitcher head-hunts the home slugger.

Has been a terrible season. Whole team, all backroom staff & ownership deserve to end up in charity shops.

Cool win from Richard Carapaz . Jumped with about 400k before the sprinters started, just held on for the win.

Agree with that. Day -2 & -1 you get some action, then day 0 comes & there’s nothing going on! Plus they are always a phenomenal waste of money that just deters cities from bidding. London 1948!

Now off to Pologne. Medium climbing day.

Very weird finish! All the main GC riders powered along at the front until literally 100m to go, sat up, looked around for the sprinters - nobody there! Young Italian Andrea Bagioli stole the win.

We’ve got another French regional race with a star-studded field, le Tour de l’Ain, over in the Jura Mountains by the Swiss border. Bernal, Froome, Thomas, Roglić, Dumoulin, Quintana...... https://www.tourdelain.com/ Sprint day today, big climbing days Saturday & Sunday. Should add that Stage 3, Sunday is a near-replica of a crucial TdF stage next month.

And because La Chine would always give its Douze points au Hong Kong, La Malaysie à L’Indonesie etc

Great news is that the very truncated World Athletics Continental Tour starts again next week. As you may remember - if you have very long memories - this is the 2nd level of World Athletics, but normally includes some very good meets like Hengelo, Berlin, Madrid etc. https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/calendar/2020 The GOLD level meets will all be live on YouTube. So first one is at Turku on Wednesday. And there will also be some Diamond League meets, starting in Monaco in one week https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/calendar/2020

Brazen display of knuckles like she’s all that, the shameless hussy!

Bah, Humbug. No mass dancing. No light shows. No allegorical representations of the Sun Goddess being born from the depths of the ocean. London 1948. The Austerity Olympics. Military band marches, plays some tunes. Athlete’s Parade. King declares Games open. Olympic flame lit. Everyone leaves the Stadium & queues for the bus home.

London Marathon will go ahead on October 4th - but elite runners only on a closed circuit course round Hyde Park in Central London.. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-8601035/London-Marathon-set-ahead-October-4-different-route-elite-runners.html Crucially, times will count for Tokyo quals.

Heading for a bunch sprint again - stay sensible! Phew, everyone on good behaviour.

Vlasov wins it, Richie Porte second, Martin third. Good race, gets us in the mood for the big races next month!