I know I know, if you follow the news (and particularly the sports news) you're probably sick to death of hearing about doping in cycling, but my take on the outcome of the Tour this year is probably the minority view.

The media, as a general rule, are crying "riders are still using drugs, the race has no credibility", etc etc.  The first part of this statement is clearly true (unless they've botched the lab tests, of course.)  But has the race lost credibility?

I believe the opposite is true.  If the rider testing regime was still as lax as it was say ten years ago, no-one would have been pulled from this race.  Rasmussen might/would have won the race and Vinokourov would still be hailed as a battling hero.  The race would clearly have been incredible if they had been allowed to get away with breaking the rules and had disadvantaged clean riders.

The inevitable result of an effective testing programme is that those who continue to break the rules will be caught and make the headlines, but at least it means that those remaining can feel more confident that they are on a level playing field.

As a final thought though - I do have a small reservation in my head regarding Vinokourov, primarily because I find it hard to believe that he could be so utterly stupid.  As I understand it, stage winners are automatically dope tested, along with a sizeable percentage of the rest of the field - so why on earth would you blood dope, take testosterone or whatever then go for a stage win, knowing fine well that you're going to get caught?!

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While I was on holiday in Australia I accidentally discovered one of the funniest comedy shows I've ever seen - Thank God You're Here!

The concept is simple but brutal - four victims are dressed up and take turns being inserted cold into situations (invariably being greeted with the eponymous phrase) through which they have to improvise for a few minutes which must seem like an eternity!  The acting varies between hilariously good and hilariously bad, but I don't think that being able to think on your feet is necessary to take part

Unfortunately the show isn't available on DVD over here yet, but it's well worth a watch if you can, erm, come by it…

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A few minutes ago the sad news came through that Ollie Bridewell, a young rider in the British Superbike Championship, was killed during an accident in practice today.  Weather conditions at Mallory Park are apparently very wet, as they are across most of the country, and practice was obviously called off for the rest of the day following the accident.

Ollie, 21, was new to the BSB series in 2006, having raced in the National Superstock championship in 2005 and the R6 Cup previous to that.

No doubt the paddock and many fans will be deeply saddened by this loss and my sympathies go to his family and friends. 

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Some people in my work building are currently moving office and packing their belongings into cardboard boxes.  It's not often that one finds a cardboard box humorous, but I had to grab a quick snap of these…

I know it's not big and it's not clever… but seriously, what were they thinking when they "came" up with that name??

Offers of alternative slogans are most welcome

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Quote of the day has to go to the UK military's spokesman in Basra:

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area"

It must be a slow news day… 

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The Department for Transport announced today that Arriva has won the franchise to operate the New Cross Country train network from November 2007.  Since I use this franchise to travel between Sheffield and Durham I have a special interest in their proposals.

There is no doubt that Virgin did a great job in introducing the new Voyager trains, which are a lot more pleasant to travel in than the old HST sets… as long as you travel off-peak.  The normal four or five car Voyager sets are far too small to cope with demand during peak hours.  Travelling from Sheffield to Durham via Leeds in the evening it is routine to have to stand until the train reaches Leeds, even if you have a seat reservation (you have no chance of barging your way to your seat!)  The situation is even worse travelling south from Sheffield to Birmingham.

Voyager in proposed new livery (from crosscountrytrains.co.uk)

As well as lengthening the Voyager sets, Arriva have undertaken to refurbish five HST sets to Voyager standard and reintroduce them on the route.  Since they have a vastly greater seating capacity they should make journeys somewhat more comfortable!  Also, they intend to reconfigure the Voyager interiors to increase seating and luggage space, though I'm not entirely sure how this will happen.  Since they say they will have at-seat catering, perhaps the extra seating will come from the current shop area.

HST in proposed new livery (from crosscountrytrains.co.uk)

Another interesting point is that Arriva say they will improve mobile phone reception on the Voyager fleet.  This has been a real problem - I know I can't get any signal on my phone most of the time.  I had assumed that this was due to the construction of the carriages so I don't know how they will improve it - if it involves fitting picocells to the carriages, will they charge for it??

No doubt it will be next year before any noticeable changes occur on the route.  I just hope that the service they provide (and the prices of unregulated fares) is somewhat better than their comical attempt at operating bus services in County Durham…

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