A Hole In The Clouds

Sunday. A day of rest. A day of sport. Test cricket at its very best. The Olympics at its very best. The women's road race was incredible to watch, with Lizzie Armistead so agonisingly close to contention in the final mix. It was sickening to watch the leader, Annemiek van Vleuten, crash on the final descent, bringing back memories of my own recent wipe-out. It was such a relief to finally hear that she was okay. Just as with the men's race, where two of the three leading riders crashed out on the same final descent, there can be no clearer evidence of what it means to these riders to get an Olympic medal. Those who knew they couldn't get gold in a sprint were prepared to risk everything on that downhill section. I love to see risk takers get rewarded in cycling, but it wasn't to be. Lots of broken bones but nothing too serious. It could have been a whole lot worse.