Another summer – another drugs scandal in the Tour de France – this time Floyd Landis, the eventual winner, is under suspicion of taking drugs. How else to explain his moribund performance in Stage 16 followed by an astonishing solo dash uphill in Stage 17. It’s sad stuff and it marks another etape in the slow decline of the Tour as a major sporting event. We were on our way to Dollar last Sunday and met a local cycle club all dressed like bumble bees in lycra – I immediately got one of those urges just to get into the middle of the peloton and fly far, far away – exchange my alb for the Benesto padded cycling shorts. I tried to explain to Alison that it must be a bit like flying in the middle of a big flock of birds but it was too late.