Life In Liege: "Schloogs, frites, great beer, mussels, and schloogs!" All that Bobke has on his mind in the city of Liege ("schloogs" remains an unknown entity).

Yellow In Paris: "I think Cadel is still the man to beat. No doubt Wiggins will be strong, but I think he'll have one bad day and when that happens the house will fall down."

The Real Deal: "What a lot of people don't understand is that the riders will endure more agony in one day than most people will in a lifetime!"

What To Pack: "I buy a duffel bag and fill it with toss-away t-shirts and some board shorts, plus a a couple of nice shirts for dinner so I don't look like a complete tramp. The key is to pack lite. I've given up trying to ride during the race so I leave the cycling kit at home and that makes things much easier."

The TV Gig: "I mean it's a blast to be at the Tour, but it's not all easy-breezy like some people think. Unlike baseball or football, when you're doing the play by play the riders are going the whole time. My hope is that I can convey what the riders are going through without drowning the audience in useless information. It's easy to be the Tour expert at the water cooler at work just by saying that Cavendish doesn't have a lead-out train, but on TV we try to have some balance - you have to know what to say and when."

Ryder As Team Leader: "It was great that Ryder won the Giro, but expecting him to be the lead rider in the Tour is asking an awful lot. Not many guys have been able to pull that off...I mean, you have Indurain and Pantani and I like Ryder, but he's nowhere near that level."

The Green Jersey: "The problem for Cavendish is that the Olympics are just one week after the Tour. Mark sets a high bar for himself, but dragging himself over the the mountains to get to Paris might be a bit much given that guys like Boonen are sitting out the Tour and 100% focused on London. For some guys the three weeks in France is just right to be there for the Olympics. Mark is never short on surprising us, but I say he'll do the first 2/3's of the Tour then pull out to get ready for the Olympics."