Grandest

Arrived in Leeds on the 7.35 from Hull and I cannot even begin to contemplate if the place has ever been busier at half eight on a Saturday morning. After a bit of mooching around and general observing stuff I realised that the best bet of actually seeing stuff and getting some photos was to head up amongst the team buses and the bike area. Unsurprisingly there was just a little bit of a bottleneck around the Team Sky bus although no riders actually appeared, fortunately there was only a short wait around the Omega Pharma Quick-Step one until Mark Cavendish popped out and then pootled on down the road to sign in. There was a Mexican-type wave of cheering rippling on down the hill as he passed and people realised who it was.

I then quite fortuitously just happened to be leaning on a pretty crowd-free barrier when Dave Brailsford appeared and sat right in front of me in his car with the window down and, considering what he's done the past two years and what he's trying to achieve this year, seemed completely relaxed about the whole thing as he chatted to a few fans and posed for photos.

He wanted Cav to win today because, and I quote, "It's what everyone wants isn't it. It'd be good for everyone wouldn't it". Not watched the highlights yet, but I know that wasn't to be the case...

Only one tune will do today - classic.