GOOD TIMES AND BAD

 

Watching Le Tour on TV has been my happy refuge this past month. A place offering respite from the world outside.

Inspirational stories from Le Tour captured by the media on their sports pages contrasted vividly with front page headlines of unprecedented climate change disasters including devastating flooding and loss of life in Europe, unbearable heat and raging fires in North America and the threat of Covid. 

The saying: 'keep calm and carry on' is beginning to wear thin.

Here’s a random selection of the good, the bad and the ugly, in no particular order.

Le Tour organisers say they intend to reduce their  carbon footprint.

Cavendish equals Merckx record stage wins in Tour…Mark Cavendish sprinted to his 4^th stage this year – for a total 34 stage victories at the Tour de France to equal Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's all-time record.

 

Deforestation and climate change are altering the Amazon rainforest's ability to soak up carbon, according to a new study.

Significant parts of the world's largest tropical forest have started to emit more CO2 than they absorb.

Pogacar dealt a demoralizing blow on the first day of the Tour in the Alps on Saturday, when cycling’s precocious star claimed the yellow jersey with seeming ease in stark contrast to his rivals who found this 8th stage a gruelling test.

Former race leader since day two, Mathieu van der Poel finished more than 20 minutes off the pace when he faded fast midway through the brutal stage.

The following week a double stage victory in the Pyrenees gave Pogacar an unassailable lead.

Boris Johnson’s plan to lift all of England’s Covid-19 restrictions on July 19 is “unscientific and unethical” and could result in vaccine-evasive variants, international experts have warned.

 

Van Aert wins monster Ventoux stage, proving not only is he a feared sprinter but he can climb too, and time trial.

Evidence his victory in the penultimate TT stage followed the next day with a sprint victory in the final stage on the Champs Elysees.

 

 Climate scientists have warned the world is already experiencing extreme heat events that were only predicted to occur on a much warmer planet. The extraordinary heat that engulfed the north west of Canada and the US last week broke temperature records by several degrees, with temperatures settling above 40C for days and reaching 49.6C in the village of Lytton, Canada.

 

 

Former Tour winner Geraint Thomas dislocated his shoulder in a mass pile up on stage three. The doctor popped his shoulder back and the hard man carried on.

 

At least 160 people died in Germany and 31 in Belgium, and hundreds more are missing in the “historic” flooding.

Emergency workers are still hunting for survivors, while others begin the enormous task of clearing debris, in the hope of preventing further damage.

But people have been warned that danger remains imminent, with dykes along one river from Belgium to the Netherlands at risk of collapse, and officials in Germany telling people: "No all-clear!"

Large parts of a dam near Cologne in the North Rhine-Westphalia region have broken away and there is "enormous pressure" on the structure because of the high water level, posing "an acute risk" the dam could rupture. More people are being evacuated from the area today.

 

 

 

Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel pulled out of the Tour de France on Sunday after his spectacular star turn in the overall lead came to a shuddering halt in the Alps.

Van der Poel's withdrawal came on the same day 2020 runner-up Primoz Roglic decided he'd suffered after last Monday's crash and an embarrassing meltdown on Saturday, when he finished 35min off the pace.

Van der Poel, a Tour rookie, spent six days in the yellow jersey, but now heads to Tokyo and Mount Fuji, where he will go for Olympic gold in his preferred mountain biking discipline.

 

Southern water pumps raw sewage.

Harmful water pollution that can affect human health and wildlife shows "no signs" of slowing, campaigners say.

Environment Agency (EA) figures suggest the number of incidents rose by almost a quarter in the year to March 2021 compared with the previous year.

River Action UK said reductions in enforcement meant polluters continued to put "filth" into waterways.

An EA spokesman said it took strong action against those who break environmental regulations.

However, agency resources to monitor the agriculture sector have been in decline for a number of years.

 

 

Final stage winner Wout Van Aert, who also won the giant Ventoux stage and the penultimate stage tt, has been called the next Eddy Merckx.

“Merckx won the Tour five times,” said Van Aert. I am just a really little cyclist compared to Eddy.”

 

 

NASA says the Moon will be going into a wobble phase 12 years from now, resulting in higher tides and flooding here on planet earth.