Tour de France, ITV 4, Eurosport
AS a viewer you would never wish for a competitor to be injured, but this crash-fest Tour de France has been a television spectacular.
The crowds are back at the side of the road in an amphitheatre which covers almost 3,500km of French countryside.
This has brought passion and culture, but also danger. A spectator whose stupidity brought down half the peloton has been arrested by police and the race organisers have been criticised for claims the course is dangerous.
Among many feats of bravery, one of the most impressive was Welsh contender Geraint Thomas cycling for 140km after he dislocated his shoulder in a fall.
Thomas, the champion in 2018, looked out of the race after a crash, sitting dazed on the tarmac. But a doctor managed to pop the shoulder back in and he completed the stage and continues in the three-week race.
Spanish rider Marc Soler rode to the finish of the first stage after breaking bones in both forearms in a fall. He was carried along by adrenalin and wasn’t aware of the fractures until after the finish.
You have to be tough to be a professional cyclist.
But in the great ones, strength is combined with emotion and it flowed for Mark Cavendish on Tuesday in the most specular sporting comeback since Tiger Woods won the Masters in 2019.
The Manx Missile is one of the greatest sprinters of all time but has been stuck on 30 tour stage wins (four short of the all-time record) since 2016 and at 36 it looked like his time was up. He was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus in 2017, suffered multiple bad crashes, had a fall out with his team owner and last year revealed he had struggled with depression.
He wasn’t even expected to ride the tour again and was a last-minute call up to replace Ireland’s injured Sam Bennett.
Clouded in emotion after his victory, Cavendish could barely speak to reporters but his actions spoke for him. His courage and never give in attitude brought him a glorious triumph and were a timely example to us all.
Is it any wonder that television executives give over entire channels to top class live sport when the drama and emotion is of this magnitude.
This summer televised sport is particularly special with coronavirus restrictions beginning to be lifted and spectators returning. The broadcast number of hours is incredible.
BBC and ITV have changed their schedules to accommodate the Euros and, as ever, the BBC will give an entire channel to Wimbledon.
And look at what’s ahead in international sport in the next couple of months.
Rory McIlroy is on home soil to compete in the Irish Open this weekend with Shane Lowry finally getting to defend his Open title later this month. September brings the postponed Ryder Cup.
In July and August, we get the delayed Olympic Games and the three tests of the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.
But keep an eye on France as it celebrates the return of Le Tour to its magnificent countryside and another possible emotional victory.
Chris Froome feared never walking properly again after a horror crash into a wall in 2019. His form is terrible and almost everyone has given up on him but the four-time winner preservers despite humiliating results over the last two years.
Could he sneak a stage win in the final two weeks?
Equally unlikely, but could France have their first winner in 36 years with Julian Alaphilippe?
Could the miracle of sport produce another impossible day of emotion?
ITV 4 have live daily coverage of the race and an excellent one-hour nightly highlights show.
