Of Monsters And Men: My Head Is An Animal

Artist:    Of Monsters And Men
Album:     My Head Is An Animal
Format:    spotify
Rating:    I'll make sure I miss them at T In The Park

The vocals on this sound like a Celtic Florence, from the Machine, who in turn at times vaguely sounds like Siouxsie Sioux from the Banshees. While the latter were highly original and entertaining, the same can’t be said of Of Monsters and Men, or Florence for that matter. I don’t know if Florence was the first to come out with this vocal sound, but why it seems to be copied too frequently is beyond me, as in actuality it isn’t that good.

As for the actual music of IFAM, it could too easily blend into a newly painted magnolia wall.

Tour De France Preview

This is the 100^th edition of the race, and like last year it could well see two Sky riders on the podium. Unlike last year one of them won’t be Bradley Wiggins, as he’s injured, thereby saving Sky team leadership issues. His teammate, Chris Froome (CF), is the clear bookies favourite, and in Ritchie Porte (RP), they have a rider more than capable of making the top 3. CF is rated by a lot of pundits as the best climber in the race, and he can Time Trial (TT) with the best. Sky have shown this year, that they are, by a margin, the best stage race team going. It’s just not the assembled team of riders, everything from support staff, nutrition, and recovery are looked at to the nth degree, analysed and changed if required. In the last two years, Sky have re-written the rule book, with everyone now playing catch-up. Taking all these aspects into consideration it is hard to see past CF, barring the first week crashes which always puts one of the General Classification (GC) rider out of contention.

This pair have won five stages races this year, including the prestigious Paris – Nice and Dauphine, the latter used by Sky as a final dry-run for the big event.

The main challenge for the Sky duo, will come from Alberto Contador (Bertie). He’s won Le Tour twice, but since a doping ban last year, has shown a clear drop in form from the old days. He may still be able to attack in mountains, but he can no longer sustain it, making it easier for rivals to catch him up. His TT skills, based on this year’s Dauphine, have clearly diminished, for whatever reason. His Saxo Bank team, though they pinched Rogers from Sky in the off season, are nowhere near as strong, and he’ll struggle for helpers in the mountains, who will be required to put CF/RP under pressure. Top 5 is a distinct possibility, with the bottom step of the podium being likely.

The other main challenge will also come from another Spaniard, the pure climber Joaquim Rodriguez. Based on last year’s Giro & Vuelta, if he’s in a position to win, he will manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Le Tour is much bigger than these other two Grand Tours, and I predict top 5 for him. His team, Katusha, though strong very in the mountains, will struggle protecting him in the first week on the flat, and can see him being the one who crashes out in the first week, or loses enough time to be put out of contention.

While Sky no longer have leadership issues, BMC do. Tejay Van Garderen was 5^th last year, getting the better of 2011 tour winner Cadel Evans (Toady). The latter was 3^rd at this year’s Giro which he won’t have fully recovered from. I think his best days are behind him, and reckon BMC should make TGV their main man. Saying that he is still developing, and the mountains will find him out. The smart thing to do, would be  for BMC to play the long game, try and take the pressure off him, and see if he can repeat last year’s result. Top 10 for both of them, top 5 a possibility for TVG.

As for the others, Ryder Hesjedal is flattering to deceive, and will be lucky if he gets top 10, if he makes it to Paris. Jurgen Van Den Broeck will diesel himself to a top 10, but his team Lotto will split between him and Andre Griepel for the sprints, and as Sky showed last year, in this day and age you can’t focus on two objectives.

Alejandro Valverde suffers from the Roberto Heras virus, in that he really struggles on the Tour climbs, but goes like the clappers 6 weeks later in his home Tour on steeper, harder terrain. A stage win, at best, for the unrepentant doper.

As for the home nation, Rolland can’t Time Trail for toffee, and I initially had him down for top 10 for him, and a good chance for either the Ventoux or d’Huez stages. The BUT is he’s got a cloud currently hanging over him due to blood values which need explained. His team should ensure he doesn’t start unless he can properly give an explanation for said values, but if not, I feel the pressure will be too great for him to deal with and he’ll drop off the radar. Thibout Pinot, after a top 10 last year, needs to see if he can repeat, though the expectation and pressure on him will be much greater this time round. Voeckler will again no doubt bag a stage or two, and the same could apply to Fedrigo. As for the rest it will be to get in as many breaks as possible and hope against hope to come up with a stage win, or heaven forbid, yellow for a short spell.

The green points competition could well be done and dusted quite quickly. Last year’s winner Sagan will pick up points all over the shop, and I expect him to repeat with 2 – 3 stage wins. Mark Cavendish (Cav), unarguably the fastest sprinter, will have a full team behind him, rather than being a bottle carrier as he was last year. I can easily see him getting 4 – 5 stages, but Sagan will pick up points when the stages go uphill, when Cav will get dropped from the main peleton. Andre Greipel may have the best lead out train with his Lotto team, and while last year was a big breakthrough for him, with Cav not relegated to second priorities, he’ll ‘only’ pick up 1 – 2 stages this year.

As for King Of The Mountains category (KOM) your guess is as good as mine. It’s a pale imitation of the competition it used to be.

If I were a betting person I’d go for a top three of

1.   Froome

      2.   Porte
      3.   Bertie

Tour De France Route Analysis

This is the 100^th edition of the world’s largest annual sporting event. The route has been back-loaded by race owners ASO, with a far more mountainous route than last year, the highlight being touted as the double ascent of the iconic Alpe d’Huez on stage 18.

Well before that, this Saturday, 29^th June, sees the race start with a first ever visit to Corscia. The opening flat stage will see the sprinters to the fore, and one will take the yellow jersey, but there will be no more pickings for them until the mainland as the island is hilly and it is this terrain the race will go over on the next two stages.

On return to the mainland there is a short Team Time Trial which may alter the overall position depending on who is in yellow at this point. Three stages for the fast men are followed by the first summit finish in the Pyrenees at Ax 3 Domaines. It is here the general classification (GC) will really start to take shape for the first time. At this stage last year Team Sky leader Bradley Wiggins took the lead and held it all the way to Paris. My concern is that though Wiggo is injured this year, Sky have riders more than capable of winning the Tour, and the same will occur this year with last year’s runner up Chris Froome (CF), also of team Sky. They have shown this year they are clearly the best stage race team on the planet, and their effective tactics could well throttle the race for overall.

The second Pyrenean stage will not affect the overall as the GC contenders will not waste energy here when it will be required for the final week.

The Individual Time Trial (ITT) on stage 11 will further cement the overall positions with the TT experts taking time on the climbers. 

Possibly the stage with the most influence on the race will be Stage 15 to the Giant of Provence, Mount Ventoux. It is a horror of a climb, the last few kilometres on a moon like surface, with the sun beating down, no shelter, and if the Mistral blows, havoc could ensue. At the end of this stage I predict the GC will have a look, very similar to what it will be in Paris, especially the podium places.

My concern is that by this stage Sky will have strangled the race so much, that the others will start defending their positions for podium or top 10, and will not risk attacking and losing all. Why such defending goes on, will be covered in a subsequent post.

A mountain ITT will just solidify the GC, while leaves us with the much talked about Alpe’s for the final hurdle. There is always interest in how each stage develops, and I foresee this being the focus of the final stages in the mountains. The much talked about the double ascent of Alpe d’Huez I fear is just that. Though it is a mountain with the highest rated category, HC, it won’t cause any of GC contenders to attack earlier than they would have if another HC climb had been used.  It will be used in the day’s breakaway for those teams looking to gain as much publicity as possible for their sponsors.

The next stage has two HC climbs. But these are too early in the day to have any real effect for the leaders, and powder will be kept dry for the next stage final summit finish to Semnoz which I sense will be a procession by this point.

This leaves the final stage on the Champs-Elysees, which for the first time ever, will be held in the evening, rather than mid afternoon.

 Clearly ASO had to come up with something a bit special for the 100^th edition of the race, and in the start in Corsica, and the final stage in the evening they have. I do believe though that they have back-loaded the race too much, especially considering how dominant a team Sky have been this year, which will be detrimental to producing an exciting race, especially in the second half.

I do hope I’m wrong as there as few sports as exciting as Le Tour when it goes down to the wire.

 

 

Brits At Wimbledon

Wimbledon Analysis

So Laura Robson saves GB the embarrassment of only having one player in the second round at Wimbledon. Her doubling of the total shouldn’t hide the fact that the governing body, The Lawn Tennis Associated (LTA) has failed to adequately develop the sport over several decades.

Each year we get a short piece on BBC News, and a longer, in-depth discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live, saying how the LTA are getting kids involved and developing existing talent, except it’s the same discussion year after year, and we see no change.

Remember Andy Murray did not come out of the LTA system. His mother was an excellent coach, and when he had reached the required level, he left the UK to progress. Prior to Murray we had Henman, and there a was brief overlap. Are we going to get the same with one, or possibly two players waiting to step into Murray’s shoes once he retires? We really need new young talent to come through before then to improve the overall standard.

It’s not as if there’s a lack of funds in the UK for Tennis, Wimbledon and the end of season champion’s trophy at the O2 in London see to that. Though names and faces may change over the years, the LTA must ultimately take responsibility for not progressing the sport to the level it should be at in the UK.

Bushell vs Djokovic

 

Television Sports Reporting

Station:    BBC

As always at this time of year in the UK, we had BBC news doing a small piece with one of the main player’s pre Wimbledon. This year they attempted humour with Mike Bushell, the intrepid, slightly over-weight, quasi bumbling sports reporter, going to ‘play’ World No 1 and multi slam winner Novac Djokovic. We saw Bushell on the same court as Djokovic, with the latter returning the ball so the former at a good chance to keep the 'rally' going, all interspersed with a bland interview. What got me was the background music used as Bushell went to the 'game' was Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. This piece of music is readily associated with the darker side of the spirit world, and associated with, wrongly, The Omen. On hearing it I’ve always thought of Satan/Devil images. What the BBC were saying about either Djokovic or Bushell using this is beyond me.

The piece of music has been used extensively in movies/adverts over the years, notably in decades gone by to promote Old Spice after shave. I use the term loosely as the product was cheap and rank. As a youngster I always found the juxtaposition of a muscled, six-packed man, easily surfing monster waves with devil music to be a strange mix. It was however an object lesson in successful advertising, so it didn’t stop me buying said product for my Dad one Christmas.

He of course had to dutifully apply some on the big day. Only a couple of drops would be required for everyone to know one of the presents he’d got. It no doubt ruined his Xmas lunch as well. Opening his mouth would only have caused the odour of the Spice to waft into it, dulling his taste buds, and killing in an instant any chance he had of enjoying his tasty, juicy, moist turkey drumstick, with all the trimmings, on his over-laden fork.

Clearly the Bushell piece could not be termed ‘The mark of a MAN’.

Jake Bugg: Jake Bugg

Music Review

Arist:        Jake Bugg
Album:        Jake Bugg
Format:       spotify
Rating:       Didn't even get half-way through

Review: This is going for £30 on vinyl at Fopp. I feel it's Oasis/Dylan laden grooves will be on the shelf for rather a long time.