We can have a whole new Tour thread when that rolls under the Dom Tower in Utrecht.

Wiggins' hour record attempt on Sunday evening. Everyone apart from Alex Dowsett is confident he'll break the record, going over 55km seems to be the real challenge. There's a really good preview in the last Telegraph podcast: http://thecyclingpodcast.com/podcast/the-bradley-wiggins-hour-record-preview-show I haven't seen any insightful mainstream coverage of it. The ITV interviewer asked him 'Are there any sprint stages of the Tour that you'll have in mind whilst you're going round?' Which got a pretty blunt response.

Criterium du Dauphine starts on Sunday as well. Of the top four contenders for the Tour, only Froome and Nibali are entering. Though there are a few other top ten contenders (Talansky, TvG, Rodriguez, Valverde and Bardet), so it should be well contested. Stage five to Pra Loup is exactly the same as stage 17 in the Tour, which seems pretty boring. ITV4 have live coverage every day for those who don't have Eurosport.

Anyone planning on going to watch the Tour? My thinly-veiled's mum is going for the two Belgium days. I'm pretty jealous, but also realise that pavé is at its most exciting when it's pissing it down, which won't make for pleasant watching from the side of the road.