Bike Porn and stacking it on the Telegraph

Giovanni Visconti took Stage 15 in dramatic style, in fact in a style reminiscent of Pantini himself, riding at the front taking the Telegraph in his stride then suffering to the max on the Col du Galibier. Nibali retains pink after some shadow boxing with other GC contenders on the final climb. My heart felt commiserations goes out to Domenico Pozzovivo, the diminutive climber from AG2R - he had felt the full force of the curse of my betting strategy - yes I bet on him for this stage, and he promptly stacked it on the Telegraph and could only get back on to the main peloton nursing cuts and bruises.

Great finish though, in absolutely atrocious weather conditions and I'm still hopeful for Cavendish for the points jersey although there have been rumours on twitter about him not finishing the race. Come on Cav, without Wiggo I need someone to cheer in Brescia!

Anyway the CCCP were out in not so full force, Happy Moorey went solo later on, while the Yellow Jerkey and Chesh sent off on a 50 miler through Lichfield and beyond. We took in some of the biggest hills around here, but because Chesh can get a bit competitive, and I've been known to, it turned into a bit of an ass kicking competition in parts. Quads were burning like hell by the time I got home, but it turned out to be a great ride, toughest and hottest of the year so far. BTW I highly recommend Mammoth cycle shop at Milford for coffee and carrot cake at £2 - good coffee at that. Can anyone beat that?

While I was waiting for Chesh I was bored and decided to do an impromptu photo shoot of my trusty steed - sexy little number called Sharon, shown below.