Issue 311 | June 28 2013
Leading out Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish speak exclusively to Sport about their push for Tour de France glory
They’re crashing the system.
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IN CINEMAS EVERYWHERE JULY 3
Contents Issue 311, June 28 2013 Radar 05 Pheasants and champagne... ... and all things, er, nice: we bring you a history of the Tour de France in some exquisite new artwork
06 Duckworth-Lewis Method Not the impossible to understand scoring system, but the band – fronted by Neil Hannon
09 Sister act Powerful new film charting the rise of the Williams sisters, from Compton to conquering Wimbledon oFeatures this coming week
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Chris Froome An exclusive chat with the man tasked with leading Team Sky in this year’s Tour de France, and favourite to win the Maillot Jaune
Cover and main image: David Sparshott. This page: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images, Bryn Lennon/Getty Images, Jean-Loup Gautreau/AFP/Getty Images
25 Tales from Le Tour The greatest cycle race in the world is 100 years old: we look back at of its more memorable moments
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32 Mark Cavendish The fastest man on two wheels on why his move to a new team has left him even hungrier for success
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32
34 Lions: the second Test Our preview of this weekend’s game – and a look back at some classics
40 Team Williams
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48
F1 legend Frank WIlliams on Ayrton Senna, the rise of Red Bull and a love of Margaret Thatcher
Extra Time 48 Kit Pretend you’re riding Le Tour with a new bike and a jersey selection
50 Gadgets We’ve gone on a budget this week: the best out there for under £100
54 Grooming Wimbledon is on. We’ve picked three grooming sets. God, we’re good | June 28 2013 | 03
Radar
p06 – Mirror, signal, manoeuvre: Overtaking at the British GP p08 – In his own words: Louis Smith’s silver lining p09 – Venus and Serena doc smashes its big-screen debut
Tour of Paradise T
o prepare for a race there is nothing better than a good pheasant, some champagne and a woman,” the 2013 pre-race favourite told Sport ahead of the 100th edition of the Tour de France. Alas, we jest. Those words were actually said by five-time winner in the 1950s and 60s, Frenchman (bien sûr) Jacques Anquetil. He’s one of many cyclists distinguished in a new set of montages created by artist James Straffon. Each work is themed around a line from Milton’s poem Paradise Lost. The print of Anquetil signing a proffered lady’s leg is saucily titled The Verdurous Wall of Paradise (immediate right). The Tour’s dark side isn’t ignored either, with Lance Armstrong centre stage in Of darkness do we dread? (top, right). More sunnily, Demy-Gods on Golden Seats features Tour great Eddy ’The Cannibal’ Merckx, with a subtle allusion to 2012 winner Bradley Wiggins also included (above). You can see them all in a new exhibition at London’s SNAP Galleries. Or, if you’re as liberal with your cash as Monsieur Anquetil is with his champagne (and pen), a limited number are available from £595 each. James Straffon: 100e, opens today until Saturday July 27. snapgalleries.com | June 28 2013 | 05
Radar
Divine CriCket
A
s Neil Hannon’s band The Duckworth-Lewis Method release a second album of their catchy, cricket-themed pop, we asked the Divine Comedy singer about five of his favourite cricketers.
“My sport addictions began when I left school. In around 1989, I had this wilderness period where nothing much was happening with my music and I had a lot of time on my hands – so Test cricket was absolutely ideal. My memories are mostly of Robin Smith rolling his eyes at what was going on around him. Often at Devon Malcolm.”
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“My favourite England player ever is Andrew Flintoff (below). He was such a breath of fresh air. He had this confidence which you didn’t see from all England players. I think that bred belief into the whole side. He didn’t quite fulfil his potential because of injuries, but he was just astonishing when he was on top form. He was a man of the people, too.”
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“I wrote a [hypothetical] commentator’s scorecard [for track Mystery Man] and went for Curtly Ambrose bowling myself out because, if he started bowling at me, I would run a mile. The stumps would just be there for him to pulverise. Curtly – and the other fast-bowlers the West Indies had – made them probably the most terrifying side in cricket history.”
3
“I absolutely worship the bowling of Shane Warne, but my favourite non-England player is probably Adam Gilchrist. He was amazing to watch and he has an astonishing record, which I googled before I got your call. He’s scored a hundred sixes in Test cricket, he’s taken over 300 catches and he’s easily the most successful keeper-come-batsman ever.”
4
“Shahid Afridi is a good player and a really exciting one, but the song Boom Boom Afridi came about because of my affinity for David Lloyd. He was the one who coined the phrase [Afridi’s nickname ‘Boom Boom’] and I kind of ripped-off all of his catchphrases for that one. We got in touch with him, too, and he was good enough to give us some Bumble-isms, which we’ve used in the song.”
5 The Duckworth-Lewis Method’s new album Sticky Wickets – featuring contributions from Stephen Fry, Henry Blofeld, Matt Berry, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and more – is available from Monday July 1
06 | June 28 2013 |
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William West/AFP/Getty Images
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dry
overtakes
T
his isn’t generally regarded as a golden era for Formula 1, yet in the broad currency of what often constitutes an exciting race – the number of overtakes – the 2012 British Grand Prix was the most enjoyable in the 26 years that the UK’s home GP has been consistently held at Silverstone. There were all of 48 overtakes in the race won by Mark Webber, aided by 43 total pit stops, which meant that drivers were often vying for position with their tyres in very different states of wear. It’s a vast improvement on the six total overtakes seen in the snoozefests of 2005 and 2006. Plenty of pit stops are expected in 2013, so we could even see this year crack the 50 mark. Although, honestly, we’d trade them all in for just one, old-school overtake from Nigel Mansell, bristling up the inside and into the race lead (before roaring into a gravel trap and out, naturally). Data from Clip the Apex: cliptheapex.com
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20 1 20 2 20 11 20 10 0 20 9 08 20 0 20 7 06 20 0 20 5 04 20 0 20 3 0 20 2 20 01 0 19 0 9 19 9 98 19 9 19 7 96 19 9 19 5 94 19 9 19 3 9 19 2 9 19 1 90 19 8 19 9 88 19 87
Formula one-up
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Radar
Silver lining S
ome athletes win Olympic gold and sink without a trace. And then there’s Louis Smith – the gymnast who lost gold on a mere technicality but won when it really mattered – on prime time, Saturday night TV. But there’s a lot more to Britain’s most successful gymnast than a trendy haircut and a freaky ability to balance on his hands for long periods of time. Raised by his mum and diagnosed with ADHD at the age of seven, Smith reveals in his book, Louis, why his hair once got him in more trouble at school than his mouth, how the Beijing Olympics changed his life and what went through his head in the minutes before a 50-second Olympic routine with the potential to make or break his career. Can silver be worth more than gold? In this case, it might be. Louis: My Story So Far, published by Orion is out on July 4, £16.99
“A SMART, SEXY,
HHHH ZOO
Iona Hodgson/Sports International
PROOF CAN BE A POWERFUL WEAPON
08 | June 28 2013 |
SISTER ACT T
wo black girls from Compton probably weren’t ever supposed to play tennis, let alone be really good at it,” says Serena Williams at the start of Venus and Serena – a film documenting the lives of two of sport’s most successful siblings. It follows the sisters throughout a 2011 season that held more lows than highs, with Serena rushed to hospital with a blood clot in her lungs and Venus struggling with injury before being diagnosed with autoimmune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome. However there are also plenty of flashbacks to their early days, when father/coach Richard hassled nearby country clubs for their used tennis balls, filled a shopping trolley with them and gathered his girls for their daily training sessions on a decrepit court littered with discarded needles and broken glass. “I’d written a plan before they were born; 78 pages long,” he reveals on film. “The plan was for both of them to be number one in the world.” Serena’s on-court outbursts at the US Open (the infamous ball-shoving threat of 2009 and the “ugly inside” accusation of 2011) probably didn’t feature in her father’s scheme, but Serena finds an inventive way of excusing herself from blame, attributing her actions to her alter-ego ‘Megan’. Venus and Serena is in selected cinemas from today and is available on DVD from July 1
SINISTER THRILLER”ZOO
HHHH NUTS
OUT NOW ON ™
DVD & BLU-RAY
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Radar Editor’s letter
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Living up to the hype The first Lions Test had us all gripped – there’s nothing out of date about this tour
W Publisher Simon Caney @simoncaney
What an absolutely thrilling spectacle it was, too. The Lions tour is sometimes seen as an anachronism, a product of a bygone age when sport was played for the fun of it, not the money. Over the page, former England player David Flatman writes eloquently about just what passion means in the modern era (and on the fear of the red card), but this opening Lions Test had it all or me. It was brilliant. In truth, I expected the Lions to blast out of the traps quicker than they did. But some blistering tries, contested decisions, plenty of needle and a knife-edge finish was all anyone could ask for. Well, apart from Kurtley Beale’s little slip... The Lions may well hark back to a different time, but it doesn’t mean it’s less relevant in today’s game. A run-of-the-mill summer England tour to Australia might excite existing rugby fans, but it’s preaching to the converted. A Lions tour, however, somehow transcends the sport (a little like the Ryder Cup in golf). Even non-rugby
fans sit up to take notice, and find themselves shouting at the TV at decisions they don’t necessarily understand, but that they care about a great deal. That would be my only criticism – and it’s not of the Lions, but of rugby generally. I’ve played the game (very badly, a long time ago), but these days I barely feel like I understand the rules any more. Sometimes I’m pretty certain the players don’t, either. But then, when the Lions are playing, what the hell. Late-night golf watchers last weekend will have seen Bubba Watson throw away a tournament he looked certain to win. He hit two bad shots on the 70th hole at the Travelers Championship, one of which went in the water, and blamed his caddie Ted Scott both times. Well, Watson swings the club and ought to take responsibility. If Scott was to blame, then does he also take the credit for the miracle shot Watson played to win last year’s Masters? Contrast Watson’s petulant, sarcastic behaviour with that of Rafa Nadal after his first-day exit at Wimbledon. He signed autographs, refused to blame his injury and gave all the credit to his victor, Steve Darcis. A touch of class.
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ell that was worth waiting for. A few people may have questioned some of the quality on show, and it’s just a teensy bit possible that Australia should have won the first Test. But, well, they didn’t.
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Flats on Friday
David Lyttleton
Radar Opinion
Lawless tour soothes saddle sores
C
an I first apologise to you all. I either apologise for having bunked off the last couple of weeks, or indeed for coming back at all. I had the small matter of a charity bike ride to contend with and, now that all 982 miles have been successfully pedalled, I can try to act normal again. Well, as normal as a man can act while weeping into his coffee and twitching as images of the agony that went before flash across a scarred mind. Be it physical or psychological, the last week has been about recovery, because my saddle area is still in a lot of trouble. So much trouble, in fact, that I had to make some last-minute adjustments to my British and Irish Lions first Test viewing set-up. Yes, the house was emptied of all other beings (except the dog – he stays) and yes, fresh coffee and crumpets were prepared for kick-off, but I could barely sit down. In a stroke of genius, I dug out Mrs F’s old semi-circular breast feeding arm-support cushion and rigged it up as an unlikely shock absorber. I felt like an urban Ray Mears. And, my goodness, what a game. It had everything: niggle in the form of head stamping, brutally officious refereeing to which the players visibly had to adjust, scintillating talent and, ultimately, some missed kicks. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat (which had a lot to do with chafing), but at no point did the situation feel comfortable and, with citings, injuries and comments on match officials, the twists just keep coming.
12 | June 28 2013 |
I was actually surprised at how little argy-bargy there was in that first Test, considering how much was at stake, but that really reflects the modern game; players just don’t want to get banned and miss out. The unspoken glory of the red card is now gone from our game. It’s now all about not being a liability. Nonetheless, after James Horwill was cleared of stamping deliberately on Alun Wyn Jones’ head in the third minute – a wound that required stitches – I can see a few lads looking to air their grievances tomorrow. And, let’s face it, a bit of knuckle is so good to watch. Actually, the best rugby I ever watch and the games to which I look forward the most are the State of Origin Rugby League (yes, I said Rugby League) clashes between Queensland and New South Wales. If you’ve never watched Origin, YouTube it and enjoy. Basically, most laws don’t apply when it’s state against state, mate against mate. The standard of actual rugby is astonishing, but its brutality is what invariably sticks in the mind. Which got me thinking, as it seems to be impossible to get banned during this Lions series, then why not make it official and cut the lads loose? In this day and age, one must never be seen to condone anything but health and safety. But how good would a slightly more lawless version of a Lions tour be to watch? It’d be like the old days – like ’74 – and that might take my mind off my poor backside. @davidflatman
It’s like this… Bill Borrows
N
o apologies if you’re reading this and Andy Murray is no longer involved at Wimbledon – not from me, anyway. This is not about Murray. This is about British tennis and its embarrassing inability, whether through incompetence or wilful inaction, to find anyone good enough to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon since 1936. Same story every June. This year (and at the time of writing) it just happens to be Murray – will he be the one to end 77 years of hurt? He might well claim the title, and if not this year then next, but he’ll be doing it for himself – not British tennis. The problem with ‘British tennis’, if such a thing even exists, is that it is not hurting. To hurt, it would have to care about winning. In this country, tennis is less a sport than a recreational pursuit for wealthy, middle-class people, chiefly in the south-east of England. People like Tim Henman and his mummy and daddy. Not necessarily people like Andy Murray – hence his lukewarm reception by the crowd at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (“The sublimest thing this country has to offer,” according to Boris Johnson – which tells you all you need to know). Murray is ‘not one of us’, you see. That is to say, he is one of us, but not one of them. Neither was Fred Perry, the last man from this country to win a singles title in SW19. Perry was born in Stockport, the son of a trade union official. While relaxing in the bath after the first of his three titles in 1934, he overheard committee member Commander GW Hillyard tell his defeated Australian opponent Jack Crawford: “Today the best man lost.” When Perry returned to the dressing room, he found his honorary All England Club members tie draped over the back of his chair. “Nobody said: ‘Congratulations’,” he told his biographer almost 50 years later. “I deeply resented not being accepted by officialdom at home. I was from the north country rather than old-school-tie country. I always had the feeling I was tolerated, but not really wanted. I had forced my way in.” And that’s why I desperately want Murray to win. Not just because I’ve interviewed him and found him to be charming, intelligent and possessed of a desert-dry wit, but because he will be another one who forced his way in and, choking on their Waitrose sandwiches and watered-down Pimm’s, they will have to acknowledge him. And that will hurt. @billborrows
Plank of the Week Tony Adams (‘The Big City’) So Tony Adams thinks Wayne Rooney would struggle in the capital because “London is a different animal and it takes a different type of player”. The only difference between Manchester and London is that Manchester has two teams that win trophies.
Frozen in time
14 | June 28 2013 |
Last week’s Royal Ascot was very much one for the ladies. The Queen became the first reigning monarch to win the Ascot Gold Cup since its inception 207 years ago, and Lady Cecil gained an emotional win in the Ribblesdale Stakes for husband Sir Henry, who recently passed away. And then we have these two avid racegoers joining in the spirit of things: they’re probably going halves on a placepot, but who gets to hold the racecard is clearly still up for debate.
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Paul Gilham/Getty Images
To you, to me...
Chris Froome
Froome with a view Last year’s Tour de France runner-up talks exclusively to Sport about leading Team Sky and how he’s set his sights on making the Maillot Jaune his own Illustration by David Sparshott
E
verything is falling into place for Chris Froome. The man who was Team Sky’s
plan B as domestique to eventual winner Sir Bradley Wiggins in last year’s Tour will tomorrow begin his own assault on winning the 100th edition of cycling’s toughest and most prestigious stage race as his team’s undisputed number one rider. Not only that, but he will do so as the favourite to be standing on the podium wearing the Yellow Jersey when the race finishes on the Champs Elysee in three weeks’ time. And all without the will-they-won’t-they sideshow of the battle for team supremacy with the reigning champion – absent with the most convenient of injuries. If Wiggins – the man for whom Froome loyally buried himself in the mountains last year – is an instantly-recognisable, heart-on-sleeve maverick, Froome is something of a cypher, quietly riding himself into the sort of form that has seen him win four out of the five races he has entered this season. That’s the Tour of Oman, Criterium International, Tour de Romandie and, at the beginning of this month, the Criterium du Dauphine. The only man to have beaten him, in fact, is Giro D’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali – at the Tirreno-Adriatico in March, when the Italian crossed the line 23 seconds ahead of the Brit. When we speak to Froome, he is “a little bit knackered, but doing fine, thanks” a few days after his Dauphine win, having spent the day doing his Tour homework – reconnaissance on Stages 16 (a mountainous 168km from Vaison-la-Romanie
to Gap) and 17 (a 32km time trial from Embrun to Chorges). Given his most recent win, and his performances so far this season, we suggest he is coming into his prime at just the right time. “Definitely,” he agrees. “The Dauphine is a hugely important race in its own right, but to me it was just another tester for the TdF – and the most important test so far this season, being only three weeks out from the Tour.” Does he see himself as favourite for the Tour, having finished 58 seconds ahead of teammate Ritchie Porte (Froome’s first lieutenant, domestique and favourite to join him on the podium in Paris) in the week-long stage race? “I don’t like to think of myself as the favourite,” he explains. “A lot of people have said that I am now because I’ve won the races building up to the Tour and I’ve beaten most of my big contenders each time, but it’s certainly not a position in which I like to think of myself. And not a position I relish going into the TdF. I’d like to be kept on my toes, and I’m very mindful of the fact that I am going to have to fight for every second. They’re not going to come easy.”
Staying out of trouble Froome has been publicly vocal about his desire to tackle the Tour as Sky’s main man since January, and – if all goes well – of targeting the race “for the next six to seven years”. Despite all that, the 28-year-old insists: “I do see myself as the underdog. I’ve never won a Grand Tour before. It’s something I’d like to take on this year but, as it stands, I’ve not won one.”
“Last year I was in an extremely privileged position – to be at the head of the race without having to deal with the pressure” 18 | June 28 2013 |
Where, then, will the race be won and lost? “I wouldn’t say there’s one area. Take Corsica, where we start off – the first three stages. The race won’t be won there, but it can definitely be lost, just because of the nature of the first week of the Tour. It’s very nervous and very stressful in the peloton. There’s typically a lot of crashes on the windy, narrow roads of Corsica, so it’s only going to add to that. It’s going to be mainly about staying out of trouble in those first few days. “But once we reach the mountains and the race settles down, naturally it is going to be decided on those mountain passes. Having said that, there are still two individual time trials of 30-odd kilometres [Stage 11, between Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel, and the aforementioned Stage 17] where any of those pure climbers are going to have to hold their own.” Froome – an all-rounder who also happens to be a strong climber – has already proven he can hold his own in that particular discipline, bagging an Olympic bronze last August and coming second in both the long time trials in last year’s Tour. The winner of those two stages was, unsurprisingly, Wiggins. Froome finished three minutes and 21 seconds behind his compatriot in the General Classification, but spent much of the race closer to him than anyone. It was, we suggest, a dry run for his role as team leader this year – does he see it that way? “Totally. One hundred per cent. Last year I was in an extremely privileged position to be right at the head of the race in second position, right there with Bradley in the mountains and actually with him on the finish line in the mountain stages. “So I was at the front of the race, but I wasn’t having to deal with the new pressures [of leading the peloton] and the added pressures of being the [team] leader, the face of the team, going every day to press conferences and getting to the hotel an hour after the rest of your teammates, getting to dinner later, >
Chris Froome getting to bed later – there’s so much that comes with it when you’re in that leadership position. So I think last year for me was a learning experience – being at the front of the race, but not being thrown in at the deep end and having all that added pressure. So I’d like to think I can take away a lot from just watching Brad and having the opportunity in the early races this year building up to the Tour to try it out for myself.” Team Sky general manager Sir Dave Brailsford believes Froome has learned quickly and “grown not only as a rider but also, importantly, as a leader” in the intervening year. Does Froome feel like he has developed his own style of leadership? “Yeah, I’d say I’m quite an open, approachable guy. I love it when there’s a great feeling in the team and all my teammates are motivated when we’re going for the races – and when you step off the bus you’re all itching to get started and take the race on. “And I feel this year the guys do have a lot of confidence in me, in riding for me, protecting me in those early-season races. And I feel a really big responsibility to go for the wins to repay them for all the work that they’ve been doing for me.”
British Froomedog who I am is British. And last year, having the home Olympics in the UK and being able to medal in the time trial there was a very, very proud moment for me.”
Leading by example Froome is, thanks to the gold medal-winning Wiggins’ absence, the Brit with the most realistic shot at the Maillot Jaune this year. Given the way they have been – accurately or not – played off against each other in the media for the position of team leader (something Froome has referred to as a “pain in the neck”), is it a relief that a knee injury has ruled Wiggins out? “It is disappointing that Brad isn’t doing the Tour this year,” he says. “I have a lot of respect for him – he’s last year’s winner, he has a huge engine and he could contribute a massive amount to me targeting the Yellow Jersey this year. But it really is such a grueling event, and if you’re not right on top of your game there’s no point in even thinking about trying to come to the start line. “From the media perspective, it does take a bit of pressure off me that the question is not going to be continually asked, probably all the way through the race: ‘Who’s the leader?’ Which has been the case with probably every race that I’ve gone to this year, despite the fact that the team and myself have been saying: ‘This is the plan, 100 per cent.’” In the time since our interview, Wiggins has publicly questioned whether he will ride the Tour again. In his absence, Froome had already in effect taken the place of cycling’s Modfather as patron of the peloton. >
“It’s disappointing Brad isn’t doing the Tour. He could have contributed a massive amount”
Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
That Froome is in a position to go for the title at all makes him nothing short of a phenomenon, given where he has come from. Born in Kenya to British parents, he was, he says, always on his bike. “It was my transport; my way of exploring and getting to see more of the outdoors.” Only later, when he went to school in South Africa, did he come to road cycling. Despite Froome’s softly-spoken demeanor, he did not make the journey from the suburbs of Nairobi to Tour favourite without a ruthless streak. The story that perhaps best reflects his single-minded determination is his getting to the World Championships in Salzburg in 2006. Kenya – under whose flag he raced at the time – declined to send a team, so Froome surreptitiously used the Kenya Cycling Federation’s email account to submit his own entry, organised and funded his own travel and turned up with his bike literally on his back. He even made his own national jersey. “That’s true. I asked them about the national championships, when they were and if I could come and race it to try and get the national title. And the guy sort of laughed and said: ‘We don’t have a national championships. But if you want to be national champion, just make the jersey and wear it.’ So I did.” Froome wore it for just one outing, crashing into a race official within the first 100m of the U23 time trial in his first race in Europe. So, having gone to such lengths to race for Kenya, does he feel deep down that he’s a British rider now? “Definitely, 100 per cent. I had a very British upbringing in the sense that I come from a British family. I definitely don’t feel Kenyan. I think a lot of
HO N OU RIN G CYCLIN G’S GRE ATEST COM PETITIO N...
20 | June 28 2013 |
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Chris Froome Hot 100: Froome’s rivals roome speculates there will be “seven or so” main contenders challenging him for overall victory in the 100th Tour de France. So, who are they? “Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez, [2011 winner] Cadel Evans, [2012 Young Rider Jersey winner] Tejay van Garderen and Nairo Quintana are all capable of strong rides,” he says. Is there anyone among them who stands out? “Contador is someone I’ll never disregard. He’s won enough Grand Tours to know what he’s doing. He, I would say, is my main rival.” Contador (below) is, in fact, one of five riders to have won all three Grand Tours, though he was stripped of his 2010 TdF and 2011 Giro d’Italia titles after testing positive for clenbuterol – a stimulant that increases breathing capacity and boosts the flow of oxygen in the bloodstream. The Spaniard is returning to the Tour after missing last year through suspension. Does Contador have a particular (natural) quality Froome wishes he had? “He has this incredible turn of speed in the mountains. His acceleration. He can do it over and over and over again on one mountain pass. I feel that’s how he’s different to me. I don’t feel like I can attack like that in the mountains. But if I had to pick one thing, it’s his tenacity. Even when the chips are down, he won’t give up a race until it’s over. “Until I’m over that last finish line, I don’t think I’ll feel comfortable in holding the leader’s jersey with him still in the race.”
Sport points out that cycling is at a very important crossroads (again) right now. Does he, as le patron, feel he should be sticking his neck above the parapet and setting the tone? “I do feel the sport’s definitely gone through a lot recently, especially with the revelations from Lance last year. It’s… I feel a statement needs to be made. Riders do need to be more vocal about where the sport is at the moment. It’s in a much better place than it was, compared with the Lance Armstrong era, and I definitely feel a responsibility as one of the riders getting the results at the moment. “I definitely do feel that it’s an opportunity for me to show people that the sport has changed and we’re no longer going to be deceiving fans or sponsors.” Did his heart sink when he saw Vini Fantini teammates Danilo Di Luca and Mauro Santambrogio had tested positive for blood-boosting substance EPO at the Giro d’Italia? “It’s incredibly frustrating – it’s just not accepted. But in a way it’s comforting to see the reaction from the peloton: to see the anger. It’s not going to be accepted any more. But it shows the testing works – these two guys, who are obviously stuck in the old-school regime, have been picked up and aren’t going to be part of it any longer.” What about those who question his and Team Sky’s dominance this season as a result? “It’s something that saddens me. We’ve worked bloody hard for our results, but I understand 100 per cent why people do question our performances, given the history of the sport. They’ve been let down so many times before, but it’s up to us now to show that the sport has turned around and that we are doing it properly.” And, in his own head, does he question the legitimacy of the performances of other riders
when he sees them burying themselves day after day on the Grand Tours? “I’ve been fortunate enough this year not to see that from any other riders,” says Froome. “As a neo-pro in 2008, when I did the Tour, I had that feeling – certainly. And now I know why: because there were things happening at that point. But I don’t get that feeling in the peloton anymore. I feel like I’m there or thereabouts with the best guys. So for me that’s evidence enough that people are doing it right.” Froome is obviously happy to lead when it comes to his team and tackling some of cycling’s more sensitive issues. But does his voice of authority extend to his fiancée, Michelle Cound, whose various Twitter outbursts during last year’s race incited a war of words with Wiggins’ camp? “It doesn’t bother me,” he says. “She has her own opinions and she can voice them as much as she wants. Twitter’s a free world for everyone. I mean, her opinions aren’t necessarily mine. But she’s my biggest supporter. She sees all the hard work I put in. So he hasn’t said: ‘Whatever happens, please please don’t tweet anything this year,’ then? “No, not at all,” Froome insists. “I’m pretty relaxed in that regard, and people have to take her comments as her comments – and not mine.” He might be perceived as something of a cypher, but Froome is undoubtedly his own man; a leader and diplomat with – when it’s required – a ruthless streak. He doesn’t give much away, which makes him difficult to read and even more difficult to beat. But perhaps this year’s Tour will enable him to at last reveal who he really is.
Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images, Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
F
Graham Willgoss @grahamwillgoss You can follow Team Sky via Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit www.TeamSky.com
...WITH TH E TOU R D E FR AN CE CO LLECTI ON
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Tour Paul de O’Connell France
Tales from Le Tour
Maurice Garin took the title and held his lead all the way to Paris, winning a grand total of 6,125 Francs – enough to buy a petrol station, where he worked for the rest of his life after retiring.
With the 100th Tour de France finally here, cycling journalist and author Lionel Birnie provides an insight into some of the tales that knit together to form the rich tapestry of the greatest – and toughest – bike race in the world
1904
Illustrations by David Sparshott
1902
Over a boozy lunch in Paris one December afternoon, the cycling correspondent of struggling sports paper L’Auto-Vélo convinced his boss Henri Desgrange of his idea to boost their flagging circulation: a road race around France. Desgrange took some persuading (and a few more glasses of red) but reluctantly gave the go ahead by the time the bill came. Et voilà – the Tour de France was born.
1903
On July 1, 59 riders set off from the Au Réveil-Matin cafe on the outskirts of Paris to embark upon the inaugural Tour. The cafe still stands, but there are no souvenirs – they’ve all been pinched. The race covered 2,428km over six stages, so riders were often on the road for more than 17 hours at a time; the last man to finish the first stage had been on the road for 10 hours short of two days. Italian-born
After just two editions, the Tour was almost halted in its tracks when Desgrange became disgusted by the cheating and skulduggery he’d seen. Riders were accused of scattering nails behind them, taking the train and holding on to motorbikes. Garin ‘won’ again but organisers later disqualified the first four overall finishers, leaving lucky Henri Cornet as the winner of the second Tour.
1910
The Tour made its first visit to the lung-cripplingly high mountains it has since become known for. Octave Lapize, the eventual winner, led the race into the Pyrenees – but often on foot, >
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Tour de France
Paul O’Connell fury – aiming punches and kicks at Bartali. After being threatened with a knife by one particularly feisty Frenchman, Bartali threw in the towel and invited his fellow Italians to follow. They did, taking solace in the fact that after all that, it was a Swiss rider, Ferdi Kübler, who won.
1964
his legs refusing to turn the pedals any longer. As he struggled up the Col d’Aubisque, every limb and organ in his body screaming, he spied the organisers in one of the following cars and aimed a few strained words in their direction: “Vous êtes les assassins!”
1913
Pre-race favourite Eugène Christophe took a tumble on the descent of the Aubisque, breaking the forks on his bike. He carried it to a blacksmiths, where he started repair work. An expert mechanic, Christophe started filing and hammering metal tubing to repair the forks – the Tour’s strict rules barring outside help meaning he had to do it alone. It took Cristophe three hours, costing him any chance of winning the race. And, just to rub more salt into his already weeping wounds, the race organisers penalised him three minutes more for allowing a sevenyear-old boy to blow the bellows for him.
Maurice Garin: won the 1903 Tour, but was stripped of the 1904 title for receiving illegal help from a race official
Famed for an epic shoulderto-shoulder battle between two stubborn Frenchmen: Jacques Anquetil was the impassive, aloof holder of four Tour titles; Raymond Poulidor the wholehearted son of the soil whose approach was in stark contrast to his calm, calculated opponent. As the pair began to climb up the Puy de Dôme volcano, Anquetil held a 56-second lead on Poulidor. They attacked the merciless slope side by side, leaning into one another (as pictured below), neither man giving an inch. Locked in painful combat for 10km on leg-busting gradients, it wasn’t until the finish was in sight that Poulidor escaped, managing to cut 42 seconds from Anquetil’s lead. It wasn’t quite enough. Anquetil went on to secure his fifth Tour victory, beating Poulidor by 55 seconds – then the narrowest Tour victory there had been.
1967
Tom Simpson was the biggest fish in a small British pool. Having not won a major race for two years, he went into the Tour determined to
make an impact – targeting three key stages. That included the 13th, over Mont Ventoux. He fell ill on stage 10, suffering diarrhoea and stomach pains, but still finished in 16th place. On the morning of Stage 13, the temperature was nauseatingly high, but Simpson clung on to the lead group until, with the race closing in on the summit of Ventoux, he dropped back, zig-zagging across the road. Around one kilometre from the summit, Simpson fell off his bike. Despite the team mechanic imploring him to stop, Simpson clambered back on. He rode on another 500 agonising yards before falling again, destined never to get back up. Heart failure brought on by heat exhaustion was the initial diagnosis, but a post-mortem found amphetamines and alcohol in his blood – a discovery that led to the first drug tests being introduced to the Tour in 1968.
1969
Eddy Merckx announced his arrival in incredible style. Already a world champion, the Belgian had resisted temptation to ride the Tour sooner. Aged 25, Merckx made mincemeat of some of the world’s best riders, winning by 17 minutes and becoming the first rider in the Tour’s history to win the holy trinity of jerseys in the same event – Yellow (overall leader), Green (points) and Polka Dots (King of the Mountains). The Cannibal, as Merckx became known, won a further four Tours. >
1948
Gino Bartali of Italy had won the Tour in 1938. Now 34, he won again. His triumph coming at a time when Italy was gripped by a massive general strike called by followers of the Communist Party after their leader, Palmiro Togliatti, was shot. A full-scale revolt was on the cards until Bartali’s sensational win coincided with Togliatti waking from his coma. Upon hearing the news from Paris, Togliatti called for calm, the strike was called off and Italy united in celebrating their cycling hero. Cycling: stops wars. Sort of.
1950
In 1949, winner Fausto Coppi and his compatriot Gino Bartali had dominated. The Italian domination looked set to continue in 1950 but, after Bartali clashed with Frenchman Jean Robic on Stage 11, French spectators unleashed
T H E U LT I M AT E I N PERFO R M A N CE E YE WE A R I N N OVAT I O N
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Tour Paul de O’Connell France
1974
The Tour visited Britain for the first time with the second stage of the race held on the glamoroussounding Plympton bypass, near Plymouth. The circuit stage was hardly inspiring. Very few people actually turned up, leading The Daily Mirror to headline its report: “Can 40 million Frenchmen be wrong?” Riders were left disgruntled, too, after British Immigration held them up on their journey back to France. Unsurprisingly, it was more than 20 years before the British experiment was repeated.
1975
Eddy Merckx was aiming for a record sixth win, and started, wearing the Yellow Jersey for eight days. But on the finishing climb of Stage 14, a French spectator stepped out from the crowd and punched Merckx in the stomach. The blow left him winded and unable to catch the leaders, reducing his overall lead over France’s Bernard Thévenet to less than a minute. Just over a week later, Merckx’s reign came to an end as Thévenet crossed the finish line in Paris three minutes ahead of him.
1978
On his Tour debut, Ireland’s Sean Kelly sealed his first Tour stage win. Another debutant – Bernard Hinault – triumphed overall, helped by the disqualification of Belgian Michel Pollentier, who’d won the Alpe d’Huez stage to take the Yellow Jersey. Afterwards, he tried to cheat the urine test at dope control using what some describe as a bulb of fresh urine concealed in his shorts. Others recall a pear-shaped synthetic bladder (better known as a condom) that was filled with clean urine and connected to a tube under his armpit. Either way, he was sent packing – with his tube between his legs, presumably.
1983
With Hinault (by now a four-time Tour winner) out injured, the Tour was up for grabs. Frenchman Pascal Simon took the lead and looked set for the win until he crashed, cracking his collarbone. Simon soldiered on for almost a week before the pain became too much and he quit, allowing 22-year-old Laurent Fignon (known as Le Prof, thanks partly to his specs) riding in his first Tour, to become its youngest winner in 50 years.
1984
Scotland’s Robert Millar won a stage in the Pyrenees (as he had done the year before) and became the first (and so far only) British rider to win the
King of the Mountains title. The malnourishedlooking Scot was always something of an enigma, and so it proved after his retirement – when he disappeared. Rumours surfaced that Millar had undergone a sex change, but it was (almost) certainly a HE who emerged to assist the Scotland team at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester a few years later.
1986
The year one of the great battles in Tour history took place – between two teammates. Five-time winner Hinault had promised to help teammate Greg LeMond in his bid to win in 1986, having benefited from his help to win the previous year. But instead, when it got serious on Stage 12, Hinault attacked, leaving LeMond shocked. Hinault needed to put the American to the test, he said, if his victory was to be seen as valid. Hinault attacked again on the following stage, but LeMond fought back to win it. LeMond was in yellow as the Alpe d’Huez stage began, but Hinault attacked early. LeMond went with him, and the duo left the rest of the Tour in their wake. They rode the final 90km side by side and crossed the finish line with hands joint in celebration. Ultimately, LeMond became the first English-speaker to win the Tour, while Hinault finished second and retired to his farm in Brittany.
1987
LeMond was missing, having been accidentally shot by his brother-in-law while hunting turkeys, leaving him needing two hours of surgery to save his life. In the race, Ireland’s Stephen Roche added the Yellow Jersey to his Giro d’Italia victory the previous month and became only the fifth rider in history to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year. Britain’s ANCHalfords team took part – the last British team to ride before Sky’s arrival in 2010.
Tom Simpson memorial: the plinth on Mont Ventoux erected in memory of the British rider is a pilgrimage for cycling fans
1989
The race had been a see-saw battle between LeMond – with lead pellets still festering in his body – and pony-tailed Parisian Laurent Fignon. The latter went into the final day time trial between Versailles and the Champs-Élysées with a lead of 50 seconds – an advantage many felt was too big for LeMond to make up. “I was convinced I could not lose,” Fignon recalled in 2010. “I knew it should take the American about 50km to regain more than a minute on me, not the 24.5km between Versailles and the Champs-Elysées. I couldn’t see how it could happen.” Fignon hadn’t accounted for LeMond’s innovative use of triathlon-style handlebars, though, which gave him an aerodynamic advantage. LeMond took 58 seconds out of him, winning the Tour by just eight seconds. “You never stop grieving over an event like that” sobbed Fignon. >
HO N OU RIN G CYCLIN G’S GRE ATEST COM PETITIO N WITH TH E TOU R D E FR AN CE CO LLECTI ON
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Tour de France
1993
In the middle of the Miguel Indurain reign (the Spaniard won the third of five consecutive Tours in 1993) a man who would also one day dominate the race emerged. He was a 21-year-old Texan named Lance Armstrong, who on July 11 became the youngest rider to win a stage of the Tour.
1994
The Tour returned to Britain 20 years after its first disappointing visit. The race dropped in for the fourth and fifth stages just days after Chris Boardman – riding in his first Tour won the prologue time trial in Lille. The day after returning to France, Britain’s Sean Yates got into a break and took the Yellow Jersey.
1995
Tragedy and the Tour are never far apart and in 1995 they collided again. On the descent of the Portet d’Aspet on stage 15, 1992 Olympic champ Fabio Casartelli was in a 50 mph crash, hitting his head against a cement railing. The young Italian did not survive the journey to hospital. Out of respect, the following day’s stage was nullified and the remaining Motorola teammates allowed to come to the front of the peloton and cross the finish line together to honour their fallen teammate.
Paul O’Connell
1998
The year the Tour became the Tour du Dopage. A team car belonging to Festina –one of the top teams – was stopped by customs officers on its way to the Grand Départ in Dublin. Inside, they found a monstrous haul of EPO (which stimulates the production of red blood cells and therefore increases the efficiency with which a rider can carry oxygen around their body) among other doping products. The Festina team was kicked out of the race, but police raids on other teams continued throughout the Tour. Riders staged protests to vent their anger at these interventions by the authorities and at one stage, it looked as though the race might not reach Paris. By the time Marco Pantani won the title, less than half the field remained and the Tour’s reputation was in tatters.
1999
Having recovered from testicular cancer, Lance Armstrong was back on his bike. He won the prologue and seemingly gave the Tour its Hollywood comeback story, beating the second-placed rider by seven minutes, 37 seconds. It later emerged he had tested positive for a corticosteroid after the prologue but avoided sanction after officials accepted a back-dated doctor’s note and his excuse that he had used a cream to treat a saddle sore. We now know the painful truth.
King of the Mountains: Robert Millar (above) won the Polka Dot Jersey in 1984; Eddie Merckx (below) won the big three palmares in 1969, but had to recover from a punch from a spectator in 1975
2005
After claiming his seventh consecutive Tour and announcing his retirement, Armstrong was invited to speak on the podium in Paris. He said: “To the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and sceptics, I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles... There are no secrets – this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it.” As it turned out, there were plenty of secrets.
2009
Mark Cavendish won six stages and Bradley Wiggins finished fourth – equaling the best performance by a British rider since Robert Millar (above) in 1984. The race was also notable for Lance Armstrong’s comeback after three summers of retirement; he finished third in a race won by his Astana team-mate, Alberto Contador.
2010
Contador ‘won’ his third Tour but was later stripped of that title because he tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol (something he claimed he’d unwittingly ingested through some dodgy meat). Runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg assumed the title in the least satisfactory circumstances.
2012
Bradley Wiggins made history in a race dominated by Team Sky. After taking the Yellow Jersey eight days in, he held it all the way to Paris.
2013
In 99 editions, the Tour de France has visited every département in the country bar one: Corsica. So it’s fitting that the island hosts the Grand Départ of the 100th race. Mark Cavendish will be eyeing up the opening stage, in Bastia, where he could take the Yellow Jersey for the first time.
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After years of training and racing, newly-retired Sir Chris has teamed up with Evans Cycles to make this a summer on the bike like no other: • Access to competitions & prizes money can’t buy • Exclusive deals on your summer riding kit • The best summer rides around the UK Be part of it. Visit evanscycles.com/summer
Mark Cavendish
Back in business He was part of a history-making team at last year’s Tour de France, but this year Mark Cavendish is riding for a new team with a new aim. And he couldn’t be happier about that... Illustration by David Sparshott
M
ark Cavendish can’t wait to get this year’s Tour de France started. The Manxman
– whose preparation for the Tour included his winning the National Road Race Championship in Glasgow last Sunday – might say the same thing every time the start line of the biggest bike race in the world comes into view, but this year the fire in his belly burns fiercer than ever. To understand why, cast a glance back to 2012, when Cavendish played his part in a momentous occasion for British cycling. “It was incredible to be part of a team that was going for the Yellow Jersey, with a British rider and sponsor and to actually do it,” he says proudly when Sport meets him at the London offices of his management company. But he knows – and we know – that’s only half the story. In the 2010 and 2011 Tours, while riding for HTC-Highroad, Cavendish racked up five stage wins in each, finishing second and first respectively in the points classification. Last year, as a Team Sky rider, he won three stages and finished fourth in the race for the Green Jersey. “It was a different year for me. Was it frustrating? Not at all. I knew if we were going for the Yellow Jersey there’d be stages we’d have to sacrifice. The only frustrating part – and it’s nothing to do with the riders, Bradley [Wiggins], the management or sponsors – was to do with one sports director: Sean Yates.” Yates is no longer with Team Sky, having retired last October for health reasons, but the decisions the team’s lead sports director made during the Tour have clearly left their mark. “There were stages that wouldn’t affect the fatigue of the riders or the outcome of the Yellow Jersey – like the day before the rest day and the day before the team time trial – when he said we couldn’t go for the sprint,” recalls Cavendish. “It took Bradley to say otherwise on the second-last stage [discounting the customary finish
on the Champs-Élysées], which I won. So that was the only frustrating thing. Apart from that, I knew the situation before we went in - if I’d wanted a team fully built around me, I wouldn’t have gone to Sky in the first place. I wanted to just go and dominate with this British team. I think everyone wanted that except Sean Yates, you know?”
Fitting in The Manx Missile’s departure from Sky, when he signed for Belgium team Omega Pharma-Quick Step in October, surprised few people, then. But he doesn’t align any particular emotion with his exit, simply saying: “There was no looking back at what team I’d just left, only looking forward to what I was going into – and that was building something that was going to be successful.” Cavendish’s passion for his new team is evident when he describes his reasons for choosing them – when he presumably could have taken his pick of who to sign for. “They’re the most historical team in pro-cycling right now. In its current guise, the team is 10 years old, but it was going for many years before that. They’re one of the teams that, as a young rider, you dream of riding for – especially if you want to be a classics rider. It’s the team that’s had the majority of big stars in cycling over the past 20 years. “And, while I specialise in winning Grand Tour stages, they were the most successful team in every other area of cycling except the Grand Tours, so there was a big slot there for me to fill without any conflict of interest, you know?”
A new start Cavendish does, however, admit to being anxious about the language barrier between himself and his new teammates: “All the teams I’ve been in – except for T-Mobile, which was a German team the first year
“I don’t want to win 11 more stages of the Tour. I want to win 50 more. But if I’m good enough only to win five more, then that’s it”
I was there – have been English speaking. So I thought it was going to be a massive culture shock. And some things are different, but I’m so happy there and so relaxed. It did feel like a completely new start, though – not even Bernie [Eisel] was with me.” Eisel played a key role in the lead-out trains that have brought Cavendish so many stage wins throughout his career. So one of Cavendish’s most crucial tasks since leaving Sky has been to build a train that can be successful even without his trusted wingman. “I’ve had to educate them a little bit,” he admits of his new teammates. “But they really want to listen – it’s incredible. They really want to absorb what I have to say. The Belgians are fond of sprinters and they really want to be part of a famous train. So it wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. The biggest factor of building a train is commitment, and I have more than 100 per cent commitment from the riders. So that’s the biggest hurdle easily overcome. Then it’s just a case of practising, you know?” Cavendish’s success at the Giro d’Italia in May, when he won five stages of a brutal race to become only the fifth rider in Grand Tour history to bring home the points jersey in all three marquee events, suggests the practice is paying off. The sprinters’ field will be deeper at the Tour, but he’s convinced the team is strong enough to deliver him more stage wins to add to his tally of 23 and move him closer to Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 – not that he’s bothered about the numbers, apparently. “The record is something the papers like to write about, but it’s not something I’m focused on. There shouldn’t be a target that, once you’ve reached it, you relax. Ideally, I don’t want to win 11 more stages of the Tour. I want to win 50 more stages of the Tour. But if I’m good enough only to win five more, then that’s it – you know? I don’t want to go for a target, reach it and then there’s nothing left. I want to keep progressing. There should be no limit to what you can do, because that’s when you start to go backwards.” He might be right. Then again, if there’s one man who could win races going backwards, it’s probably Mark Cavendish. Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Follow Mark Cavendish on Twitter @MarkCavendish | June 28 2013 | 33
ON THE VERGE OF GRE IT'S ONE TEST WIN DOWN, ONE TO GO FOR THE BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS DOWN IN AUSTRALIA. AFTER THE DRAMA OF LAST WEEKEND, WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE TASK FACING WARREN GATLAND'S MEN TOMORROW IN MELBOURNE George North’s try. Kurtley Beale’s slip. Leigh Halfpenny’s magic boot. Christian Leali’ifano’s 50-second debut. Whatever the stand-out moment for you, there’s no denying that last Saturday’s first Test showdown was memorable. And, most importantly for Warren Gatland and his men in red, it’s job half done with a 1-0 lead. Now it’s on to Melbourne, where the Lions have the chance to kill off the Wallabies, and the home side need a win to get themselves back on track. They pulled off the unthinkable way back in 2001, and that was after a 29-13 first Test defeat. Can they do the same again? 34 | June 28 2013 |
AUSTRALIA
If the Wallabies are going to turn things around, they’re going to have to do so with a different side to the one that took the field last week, thanks to injuries to Digby Ioane, Berrick Barnes and replacement Pat McCabe. A lot will depend on coach Robbie Deans’ choice at fly half, but Kurtley Beale and Izzy Folau will be the danger men in the backline whether at 10, wing or 15. Expect a more open game from the home side as well, with Leali’ifano’s return in the centre allowing a bit of pressure to be taken off the fly half. Australia know their gameplan was right last week, and if they hadn’t left 14 points out on the field, they could have won the first Test fairly comfortably. Deans’ main job this week is to instil that belief in his players and make them believe the series is still there to play for. He knows that if his team can win this one, they could quite easily repeat the feat next week. The biggest worry is the penalties, because a tighter level of control around the breakdown could seriously cost them, but James Horwill (pantomime boo for the man on the right) has somehow been cleared to play again, and his leadership will be essential. The Lions may have won the first Test, but don’t write off the Aussies.
Saturday AustrAliA v British And irish lions EtihAd stAdium, mElBournE | sky sports 1 11.05Am And
British & Irish Lions
MAKE OR BREAK
LIONS
For the Lions, it’s a case of covering the injured men and getting out there to do the job again. Warren Gatland will be under no illusions after last week’s escape, and he knows a rise in intensity is needed. The loss of Paul O’Connell is huge, but Geoff Parling is an able, if different, replacement. His lineout leadership is immense, and expect more varied throws this week to release the midfield. Last week’s safe front ball became too easy for the Aussies to defend, and the Lions need to mix it up. Outside that, the wingers showed the difference they can make last week, and the return of Tommy Bowe to full fitness adds a new dimension in both attack and defence. Other than George North’s flash of brilliance, the Lions were sorely lacking creativity, partly because they failed to draw in the runners up front. Alex Cuthbert’s try was good, yes, but Gatland will know that it mainly came because the Wallabies had Michael Hooper at 12 – the Lions won’t get such an easy ride this week. Up front, meanwhile, the new-look front three will be under pressure after the lack of impact off the bench last week. The pressure is also very much on the home side, but they are more than capable of replying. Expect another absolute belter.
1997 SOUTH AFRICA 15-18 LIONS
2001 AUSTRALIA 35-14 LIONS
2005 NEW ZEALAND 48-18 LIONS
2009 SOUTH AFRICA 28-25 LIONS
Stunned the week before, South Africa came out flying in Durban and notched three first half tries. Atrocious Springbok kicking on the conversions and subsequent penalty attempts, however, allowed the Welshman in the Lions’ 15 shirt to keep the tourists in contention (hang on, this sounds familiar). Neil Jenkins’ metronomic boot kept the Lions’ side of the scoreboard ticking over, and with the scores level at 15-15 late on Jeremy Guscott popped up to land a drop goal that secured a series win against the reigning world champions.
Not so much a classic back and forth encounter, this one, but the sheer quality of the New Zealand performance makes it a classic for all the right rugby reasons. Shorn of their three best players (Brian O’Driscoll, Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio) through injury, the tourists took an early lead but lost all momentum when Tana Umaga scored after 18 minutes, and from there, the All Blacks never looked back. If you want to witness total rugby perfection, study Dan Carter’s brilliant 33-point performance in this match. Absolutely outstanding.
“I still don’t understand how we lost that Test,” Scott Quinnell said recently of this game. “We battered Australia for three halves of rugby across the first and second Tests, and then in the second half in Melbourne we tried to open things up and allowed Joe Roff to nick a try off an interception.” That interception – off Jonny Wilkinson’s pass – sparked an Aussie revival that saw 15 unanswered points scored in 10 minutes, and the hosts never looked back as they went on to secure a series victory the week after. Class of 2013, you have been warned.
Leading 19-8 after an hour, the Lions let Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie in for late tries before Stephen Jones’ boot drew the sides level at 25-25. The physicality was immense, with both sides “looking more like a scene from ER as opposed to a rugby team”, according to Conor O’Shea, but it was the final move that saw the most drama. Ronan O’Gara launched an up and under from his own 22 and misjudged the chase, conceding a penalty on the halfway line. Morne Steyn stepped up, kept his footing (just saying) and broke the Lions’ hearts.
| 35
Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images, Cameron Spencer/Getty Images, David Rogers /Allsport, Nick Wilson/Allsport, Alex Livesey/Getty Images, Dean Treml/Getty Images
EATNESS
DON'T EXPECT AN EASY RIDE FOR THE LIONS TOMORROW – THE SECOND TEST HAS A TENDENCY TO PRODUCE A CLASSIC
British & Irish Lions
tommy bowe
shirts were everywhere’
‘I’m chuffed to be fit again’ With series victory in sight, the winger writes from inside a happy Lions camp
W
hen I first got injured, I was told it was likely to be a six-to-eight-week layoff, so I’m pretty chuffed.
To be able to take part in training in the last week, and get myself to the stage where I’m available to play a part in the Test series, is great. That’s as good as I can do at the minute. It’s been massively frustrating coming on tour and getting the nickname ‘Food Bill’, as I was saying last week. To get my hand on the ball, take part in training and not just feel like a spare part on the sidelines is really good. Last Saturday was a great day. The lads who took part had a tough physical battle and they were exhausted after, but the guys who were watching it were drained as well – almost more so! It didn’t do much for the blood pressure to come down to that last-minute kick, and the guys involved four years ago were thinking it was going to be a case of déjà vu with another last-minute kick depriving us. Thankfully, it went our way this time. The tries we scored were excellent, too. Both were great finishes, and as a Lions supporter it was great to see and to get the win. Obviously, as an injured winger, it was tough to see the wingers going so well – but now I’m fit I can hopefully make a difference in the series. The fans were unbelievable on Saturday, too. It has been relatively quiet so far up until the first Test, but it was
36 | June 28 2013 |
unbelievable from the moment we got to Brisbane. It was as if every flight coming over to Australia was filled with Lions fans. Every bar, everywhere in town was full of red shirts. The Aussies made a huge effort to make sure they weren’t out-sung, but the red shirts were everywhere, so hopefully Melbourne will be the same this weekend. It’s been unbelievable the amount of new faces and guys who have come in to cover injuries and so on, but it just shows how tough professional rugby is these days. We’ve a big squad here now, but to lose people like Paul O’Connell – who is such a leader both on and off the pitch – is a massive blow to the team. Hopefully he’ll stay out here, and add a huge amount. We had Tom Court join us this week and he sang his welcome song earlier – I can’t even remember what he sang now that I think about it. We seem to have a new arrival every week, so there’s been a lot of songs! This weekend is huge, and we know the job is only half done. We’ve got a few injury problems, but everyone is fully focused. It’s been 16 years since we last won a Lions series, and we’re keeping in mind that 12 years ago, we won the first one and lost the next two. We’re fully aware of the challenge, and this match is going to be a massive one. @TommyBowe14
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My lions diary
‘The Aussies made a huge effort, but the red
2 TEAMS. 30 PLAYERS.
ONE ODD BALL ROAR FOR THE LIONS THIS SATURDAY!
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The rise and fall of Williams We speak to Sir Frank Williams, the principal of Williams F1, ahead of his team’s 600th Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend
I
love Maggie. She had a lot of bottle,” says Sir Frank Williams towards the end of our interview, referring to the slightly disconcerting portrait of Margaret Thatcher that hangs on the wall behind his desk. It’s a few days after her death, and the newspaper obituaries arranged neatly at the side of his office make it clear that the divisive former PM is a source of inspiration for the Williams F1 team principal. Love or loathe her, Thatcher is probably the archetypal ’self-made’ woman in the collective British consciousness, and there are obvious parallels with Sir Frank. The 71-year-old built up the empire that bears his name from unlikely beginnings. Williams refers to his nascent crew as a group of “dirty lunatics with dirty fingers” in writer Maurice Hamilton’s excellent history of the team, and the tales of impoverishment of those early years are like echoes from an entirely different sport. “We started with one car, one spare engine and five people,” Williams tells us, talking from across his large desk in his spacious, wood-panelled office at Williams HQ, Thatcher looming overhead. “In 1969, I had one car, one driver – his wife, bless her, she did the tea and the sandwiches – three mechanics, one truck driver, one spare engine and we finished eighth in the World Championship.” It could never happen now, he explains, because the sport has changed. “It’s just much more professional, but in fact you have to work just as hard. What is different is the business. The sport has attracted a lot of very clever people.” Somehow the team scraped through those early years. Sir Frank took used tyres from the Goodyear lot once Ferrari were finished with them because he couldn’t afford new ones, shared lifts to the circuit with journalists to save on petrol and made business calls from a public call box when the phone line at the factory was cut off. Their financial fortunes have changed in Sir Frank’s 599 F1 races under the Williams F1 moniker. “I’m confident I won’t feel the cold hand of the bailiff,” says Williams, but we put it to him that his team are once again the small fish in the modern F1 pond. “We don’t think we are impoverished,” he insists. “Certainly Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari have more dosh, but the important thing is to have endless brainpower. So, if you have someone like Adrian Newey, for instance, the gates of heaven open! I’m exaggerating, but he is exceptionally gifted, especially with all his experience.” Coveted aerodynamicist Newey spent six years at Williams, working on the cars that brought them the World Championship in 1992 and 1993, before moving on to McLaren and now Red Bull,
40 | June 28 2013 |
where he has helped the Milton Keynes-based team win three consecutive titles. “People just can’t win races as long as Adrian Newey is knocking about,” jokes Sir Frank. “It is not quite as simple as that, but he’s the man to be beat. There’s only one ‘him’ sadly, and one has to be patient...” We ask Sir Frank whether what seems an incredibly complex sport actually comes down to something as simple as throwing as much money as you can at Newey and waiting for the titles to roll in. And, to our surprise, he answers frankly: “To some extent, but only a limited extent. There will be another man like Adrian, or two or three, coming along. And money will be of some importance, but so will environment.”
“In 1969, I had one car, one driver – his wife, bless her, she did the tea and sandwiches – one spare engine and we finished eighth”
Highs and lows Newey’s departure is clearly a source of regret for Williams. One of many lows – unavoidable in a career as long as his, in a sport as dangerous as F1. Sir Frank has always been determined to carry on, though – even after the deaths of his friend Piers Courage (pictured, left) at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, and Ayrton Senna at Imola.
Frank Williams Changing times
Aside from Thatcher, the only portrait in his spacious office is a pencil illustration of the Brazilian driver. “The worst things that ever happened are, of course, the deaths of Piers Courage [who suffered fatal injuries after he crashed during the Dutch Grand Prix] in 1970 and then Ayrton in 1994,” he says, and his delicate voice becomes even softer as he does so. “They are major catastrophic events and it’s hard work getting around them – structurally, financially and, of course, emotionally. But life goes on, as they say – easy words, but it is the case. One has got to keep one’s head down and not get involved emotionally, and fight to come back.” Williams speaks so highly of Senna (pictured, right) that you forget they were together only for a matter of months. He names the Brazilian as the finest driver he’s ever worked with: “As quick as anyone we’ve seen, and terribly clever. If he hadn’t been killed, he’d have probably been a billionaire by now. Immensely clever in what he set out to do, and he had a gift for making money.” In the horrible aftermath, there was intense scrutiny on the Williams team, and a manslaughter trial in an Italian courtroom that dragged on for years. He doesn’t dwell on the low points though – he ends his brief foray into dark reminisces on a cheery note. “Beyond that, it’s been a very enjoyable experience.”
despair or think that it’s not fair.” We ask Sir Frank whether the team can ever again challenge at the pinnacle of the sport. “Well I suppose the question is, ‘Can we be better?’ Can we run up there with Red Bull and Ferrari? And the answer is that it’s certainly possible, but it won’t happen tomorrow. We have to rebuild ourselves a little more, with more depth. Most definitely we have the scale and the equipment. We need to fill a few places and we’ll be alright.” There are changes alongside the rebuilding process: a new engine supplier (Mercedes) from 2014, and an increased role for Claire Williams, Sir Frank’s 36-year-old daughter, who has been appointed deputy team principal from this season. There is a sense that his time at the helm is coming to an end. His body, confined to a wheelchair since a car accident in 1986, no longer copes so well with the rigours of travelling to every race. However he still possesses the same sense of humour and the same tenacity that allowed him to build up a team from nothing to challenge and win against the odds. “Once you’ve been at the top, it’s hard to accept that you’re quite a long way from being at the top again,” he reflects. “But you have to grow up and deal with it. Having been there before makes me even more hungry to get there again and reassert myself.” If that’s going to happen, the team will need to follow their founder’s example. Williams F1 can rise again, but it will take tenacity, good fortune, and yes, “a lot of bottle”.
“The worst things that ever happened are, of course, the deaths of Piers Courage in 1970 and then Ayrton in 1994”
Amit Katwala @amitkatwala Travel the Williams way this summer with the official Williams F1 luggage range by partnered brand Dom Reilly, available from www.domreilly.com | 41
Allsport Hulton/Archive, Mark Thompson/Getty Images, Robert Cianflone/Getty Images, Mike Hewitt/Allsport
“There is a bit of a cycle of ups and downs,” says Sir Frank, who has had to endure rather more of the latter since Newey’s departure in 1998, often cruelly juxtaposed to the highs. Take last year’s unexpected victory for Pastor Maldonado (pictured, below) in Spain – the team’s first in 132 races. Celebrations were cut short almost immediately by a dramatic fire that gutted the Williams garage and saw the winning driver carrying his cousin to safety through the flames. The ’phoenix from the flames’ angle was almost too tempting to resist, and at the time it seemed possible that the team would use that victory as a foundation towards reclaiming the successes of old. Instead, they have suffered their worst ever start to a Formula 1 season. Seven races in, and Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas are yet to score a point between them. “I’ve been used to endless disappointment all my life,” says Sir Frank, smiling. “There’s about three glamorous days in a team principal’s career – rarely more, unless obviously you’re called Christian Horner.” Although he admits that the team are “a disaster area sometimes”, Sir Frank remains hopeful. “It’s a very competitive business and the the differences are actually very small,” he says, echoing the familiar cry of losing team principals. “Maybe one car might be riotously quick, like the Red Bull, but there’s no need to
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7 Days OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD
JUN 28-JUL 4 HIGHLIGHTS » Athletics: Sainsbury's IPC Grand Prix Final » p46 » Greyhound Racing: William Hill Greyhound Derby » p46 » Athletics: IAAF Diamond League Birmingham » p46 » Hockey: Investec Hockey World League final »p47 » Boxing: Gennadiy Golovkin v Matthew Macklin » p47
SUNDAY | FORMULA 1 | BRItISH GRAnD PRIx | SILveRStOne | BBC One AnD Sky SPORtS F1 1PM
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Come out swinging “I would go up against any driver. Any time, any
good decision: as his home Grand Prix beckons,
wing after clipping Vettel's car in Malaysia), even at
place,” said Lewis Hamilton in a recent interview
he is the only British driver with a realistic shout of
this relatively early stage of the season.
with F1 Racing magazine. Sadly, for a sport in dire
getting on the podium. The race could be pivotal in
need of excitement, he wasn't offering to throw
terms of the world championship, too, with Vettel's
the Young Driver Test. Mercedes are banned from
down his gloves and square up to one of his fellow
long overdue win in Canada giving him a 36-point
taking part after conducting a secret test with Pirelli,
drivers. He was instead answering a question about
lead over Alonso in the championship.
later deemed to be against FIA regulations, and
whether he would be willing to go up against Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel as a teammate. Six months into his stint at Mercedes is probably a
The Spaniard kept up the pressure with second place in Montreal, but he believes a 75-point margin will be insurmountable – and so needs to continue to
The next significant event Silverstone will host is
could therefore find themselves falling further behind the front two. This weekend could mark the last chance of British
bit soon for Hamilton (pictured) to be contemplating
do so. Another pointless race could be fatal to
excitement in this season's championship, then.
his next career move, but it seems his last one was a
Alonso's chances (he retired with a damaged front
Unless Hamilton starts swinging punches, of course.
44 | June 28 2013 |
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7 Days Saturday Athletics | sAinsbury’s GrAnd Prix, iPc GrAnd Prix FinAl | AlexAnder stAdium, birminGhAm | chAnnel 4 4.20Pm
Saturday GreyhOund rAcinG | WilliAm hill GreyhOund derby |WimbledOn s
“What happened to ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’?” London 2012 gold medallist at the T44 100 metres, 20-year-old Jonnie Peacock tells us why it's all-change for 2013 You had ankle surgery post-Paralympics. How’s your fitness now? “My ankle has had such an impact on the past two or three years that to have it cleared-up finally is a huge relief. The downside is that I wasn’t able to have a good winter, so we’re now trying to put a year’s training into four months. It’s not easy.” You’ve also got a new blade postLondon 2012. How did that come about? “It’s a new blade, but it’s not a huge deal – it’s not some new robotic thing! The only difference is that it’s aligned for me. I’d had the last one for two years and I’d got a lot stronger in those years, so it was about time Leon Neal/AFP/GettyImages, Jamie McDonald/Getty Images, Ian MacNicol/AFP/Getty Images, Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images, Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
for a change.” And you’ve got a new coach as well. Why the change there? Why has everything changed? “What happened to ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? That was because my coach Dan Pfaff moved back to the US. I had a chat with Dan about who could coach me, and I’m with Steve Fudge now. We’re doing some new things and it’s been great.” The USA’s Richard Browne, silver medallist at London 2012, has said he’d like to knock you off your pedestal. Is there some edge there? “There is a rivalry. He talks the talk, but he’s a good guy and we definitely don’t hate each other. I respect him, he is in form and it’s going to be harder for me, because it’ll be a struggle to get back to where I was.” Oscar Pistorius has been such an ambassador for Paralympic athletes. Do you worry that what’s happening with him has rocked the whole sport? “I think what 2012 did for the Paralympics was show that there’s more than just that. It gave us so many more faces. There’s great rivalries coming up and there’s big names like David Weir, Hannah Cockroft and Alan Oliveira, who’s probably going to be the face of Rio 2016, and I’ll be having a great rivalry with him over 100m.” Jonnie will join some of the world’s best Paralympic stars at the Sainsbury’s IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final. Visit www.britishathletics.org.uk
46 | June 28 2013 |
Sunday Athletics | sAinsbury’s GrAnd Prix | iAAF diAmOnd leAGue | AlexAnd
STADIUM | SKY SPORTS 3 7PM
SATURDAY BOxING | GENNADIY GOLOvKIN v MATTHEW MACKLIN | MGM GRAND AT FOxWOODS RESORT, CONNECTICUT | SKY SPORTS 1 1AM
A dog's life
There's a record-breaking prize of £150,000 – that's an awful lot of bones – up for grabs to the winner of this weekend's William Hill Greyhound Derby. After a month of high-octane canine action that began with 153 greyhounds, we are down to the final six, and it could pay to side with the Irish. They have a very strong hand (paw?) with Fraser Black's Droopys Jet and Liam Dowling's Ballymac Vic the outstanding dogs of the competition
Macklin meets a monster
thus far. They are up against Sidaz Jack, who aims to land Charlie Lister OBE a magnificent seventh
British-Irish tough guy Matt Macklin takes on
Derby victory, while Screen Critic (owned by
more than just a champion as he makes his
former British and Irish Lion Mike Burton and
third attempt at a world title belt in the USA
trained by Kevin Hutton), Paul Young's Airlie
this weekend. For whatever alphabet titles are
Impact and Martin White's Bittles Bar complete
worth these days, Kazakhstan's Gennadiy
the field.
Golovkin holds the WBA's middleweight
The betting suggests Droopys Jet will take the beating after rampaging through the event, winning his last four races by an aggregate of 22
strap. However's he's also the reigning champ of boxing's 'who needs him?' club. Golovkin has an extensive amateur
lengths, and posting the fastest time on show of
background, a rock-solid jaw and 23
28.22 seconds in the quarter finals. The twist to
knockouts in 26 pro fights (all wins), which
the story is that Droopys Jet's part-owner
explains why boxing's big names have thus far
Paschal Taggart is trying to buy Wimbledon
steered clear of him. He doesn't possess the
Stadium. The former Irish Greyhound Board
explosive speed-power of a Manny Pacquiao,
chairman wants to turn the track – built in the
but there's a thudding, concussive, brutal
1930s, it has staged the Greyhound Derby since
force behind almost every punch he throws.
1986 after White City closed – into a modern sporting arena.
Macklin (pictured), the same age as Golovkin at 31, boasts a 29-4 pro record (20 knockouts) and is strong, gutsy and can bang to the body. However, he's not often called elusive. Unless he can expose an as-yet unseen chink in Golovkin's armour, the
DER STADIUM, BIRMINGHAM | BBC TWO 2PM
SUNDAY HOCKEY | INvESTEC HOCKEY WORLD LEAGUE SEMI FINAL | UNIvERSITY OF WESTMINSTER, CHISWICK | SKY SPORTS 4 3.15PM
Kazakh's heavy artillery could well prove too much for Macklin to handle.
Sticking it to the world's best The biggest women's hockey tournament in
Sunday best
the world this year reaches its climax this weekend with the final on Sunday (the semi finals are on Saturday, Sky Sports 4, 5pm). The tournament has pitted eight of the world's top teams against each other to compete for a place in the 2014 World Cup and progress to the World League Finals in Argentina at the end of year. England were drawn in Pool B with Australia, South Africa and Spain – avoiding world champs Argentina, who head up Pool A.
While Peacock is taking part in Saturday's IPC
England beat South Africa 4-1 but a tight draw
Athletics Grand Prix Final – the final meeting of a
with Australia followed. An Olympic-sized
seven-event series that will see 140 athletes
turnout here could inspire them to the final.
descend on Birmingham – Sunday's action is not to be missed either, with a host of Olympic stars taking over the track. The presence of Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford, Christine Ohuruogu and Robbie Grabarz is sure to buoy the home crowd. Meanwhile, Carmelita Jeter, the second-fastest woman of all time, joins fellow American and Olympic pole vault champ Jenn Suhr and former world 100m champion Kim Collins (from the West Indian two-island state of Saint Kitts and Nevis) in adding talent from afar.
Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 47
ExTra TimE Making the most of your time and money
P50 Huawei ascend Y300: tastier than the burger at your local late-night takeaway
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Le Coq Sportif TdF 2013 Yellow Jersey
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Le Coq Sportif TdF 2013 Green Jersey
The points jersey that Cav should be pulling over his head features, as do the others, three pockets across the back, a rubberised waistband to ensure it stays tight and in position and an extra-long zip down the chest. £59.99 | evanscycles.com
Le Coq Sportif TdF 2013 Polka Dot Jersey
Be the King of the Mountains in the pattern decided by the first sponsor of the Polka Dot Jersey, Poulain Chocolate, whose chocolate bars were covered in a similarly-coloured wrapper. Coq logo as standard. £59.99 | evanscycles.com
Le Coq Sportif TdF 2013 White Jersey
The jersey for the best young riders among you has elongated sleeves to encapsulate the biceps, as well as the same stitched-down collar as its counterparts. Team-issue shorts should be black, since you ask. £59.99 | evanscycles.com
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There are TWO main priceless prize packages (each for a winner and friend) up for grabs. To enter, go to www.talksport.co.uk/competitions to play Fore At The Open. The lucky winners will attend The Open on Friday July 19 and receive: • Behind the ropes access to the players’ practice area, where you can see the players warm up and prepare for the day’s action
US PGA titles. This year’s US Open winner, Justin Rose, will also be many people’s idea of the Champion, while other British and Irish hopes will rest with the likes of Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter.
www.TAlkSPOrT.CO.uk/COMPETITIONS ENTEr BEfOrE July 7 fOr yOur CHANCE TO wIN
• Behind the scenes tour of the BBC media compound, and watch as the action is beamed to the world • A tour of the press centre and press conference facilities • Access to the 18th green grandstand • VIP pavilion passes, including complementary food and drinks • Travel and accommodation This is a genuine money-can’t-buy experience as you get to watch the very best golfers in the world at extremely close quarters. Ernie Els is defending Champion (and he’s the Muirfield champion too, having won when The Open was last here in 2002) but (as ever) there will be stiff competition. Tiger Woods is desperate to win a 15th Major Championship, while Rory McIlroy wants to add to his existing US Open and
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Gadgets
suMMEr sAVErs
Kitting yourself out for the summer holidays need not be expensive, as evidenced by our pick of the best gadgets you can buy for £100 or less
Huawei Ascend Y300
Like the chicken burger at your local late-night takeaway, this smartphone is worryingly cheap. Although it will probably prove a lot more satisfying than the Shalamar Chicken Combo, since it comes with a 1GHz processor, 4-inch screen and even a 5.1-megapixel camera. Delicious. £69.95 on PAYG| carphonewarehouse.co.uk
Nothing bears the brunt of travelling quite like headphones: caught in a taxi door; thrown hastily into a bag when you realise you’re at the wrong terminal; cranked up full blast to drown out a screaming baby. The Jabra VOX have tangle-free reinforced cables to withstand your woeful disorganisation. £80 | amazon.co.uk 50 | June 28 2013 |
Cambridge Audio Minx Go
Its name might sound like a call to action for a particularly obscure ThunderCat, but there’s nothing cartoonish about this wireless speaker. It boasts a whopping 18 hours of battery life – which is probably about 10 times as much as your phone if you’re using it to listen to music. So more than enough, then. £99.95 | cambridgeaudio.com
olloClip
Take a professional range of lenses to the beach without looking like a paparazzo this summer, with this clever lens kit for iPhone 4, 4S and 5. The easy three-in-one kit clips easily on to your phone, with wide-angle, macro and fisheye lenses included for panoramic, detailed and, er, aquatic snaps. £69.95 | store.apple.com/uk
Griffin survivor iPhone Case Standard advice if you drop your phone in the swimming pool is to stick it in a bag of rice and cross your fingers, which seems like a waste of both rice and time. Prevent all that hassle with this waterproof (to three metres) and shockproof case from Griffin. Then make yourself a nice curry to use up that rice. £45 | griffintechnology.com
Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
Sport promotion
Jabra VOX Earphones
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hat’s exactly what Jana Peterson here has been subjected to, after a fashion, what with the modelturned-promotions manager currently stepping out with retired Cronulla Sharks National Rugby League player John Williams, who last year hung up his boots at the ripe old age of 27. She still qualifies, however, for a place on WAG Nation (and a place on this page), an Australian reality series that follows the lives of wives and girlfriends of Australian sportsmen. Before hitting those heady reality TV heights, Peterson won the title of Australian Swimwear Calendar Model of the Year in 2005. More recently, she was the subject of further casual objectification as one of eight finalists for Miss Universe Australia in 2008. And now she has to put up with you ogling her. You ruddy shark.
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Shark attack
Extra time Jana Peterson
Apix Syndication
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Grooming
FinAl SET
Sport is a big fan of five-setters at Wimbledon. Here’s three sets to match anything SW19 has to offer. Oh I say...
For the silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche & Fandango
Body aching all the time? Send shivers down your spine with this new range designed to “put the simplicity back into skincare”. Each bottle comes in at 100ml, so you can take them on the plane when you want to escape from reality. From left to right, then: Sh shampoo, with detoxing shea butter and black quinoa; Cd conditioner, with strengthening keravis protein; Bw body wash with Brazilian papya (all three £12.50 each); Sc shave cream (£15) enriched with guava extract; Fs face scrub (£17) with exfoliating prickly pear extract to remove grime and residue and Hy hydrator with added vitamin E (£19). Galileo figaro – magnifico. johnlewis.com
The real thing The Real Shaving Company
No, not the sugary brown stuff you mix with a generous measure of Jack; instead we bring you a three-step shaving range that starts with an exfoliating Face Scrub (£4.99 for 100ml), follows it up with a Traditional Shave Cream (£3.99 for 150ml) – a double-concentrated, rich lather that lifts bristles – and finishes with SPF15 Anti-ageing Moisturiser (£4.99 for 100ml) to help maintain healthy skin. Available nationwide 54 | June 28 2013 |
The shampoo and conditioner VO5 ExtremeStyle
“As guys, our hair is different and we need a shampoo to work hard,” says V05. Solidarity, brothers, for they have unleashed a range of shampoos and conditioners that will remove heavy styling products, thicken hair and leave you flake-free. That includes the [THICKEN up], [CLEAN up: 2in1], [CLEAN up] and [GUNK go] you see before you, each doing exactly what it says on the 250ml bottle. £2.99 each | tesco.com Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand