Father's Day

So I didn't get to sleep in this morning, but C spoilt me with chocolates and shortbread, and the kids had made cards at school; it felt really good to have my role in the family acknowledged.

I watched the rugby and then braaied last night with a bunch of mates that I've known most of my life; in most cases since school days. It was great to catch up with them; our lives are all different but also so similar. I am lucky to have this big circle of friends, but sadly I don't get to see enough of them. It's all to easy to let a busy schedule with work and kids get in the way of what's really important in life. I think that the size of a person's circle of friends says more about his character than any other measure of success, so I need to do more to maintain contact.

Dauphiné Libéré

Russian Yuriy Trofimov of the Bouygues Telecom team managed to get away from his breakaway companions on the Col de Joux-Plane, and then held off a last gasp dash for the line to take Satge 5 ahead of Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde. 3rd place was enough for Valverde to retain his yellow jersey, but it was good to see Cadel Evans riding so well in the lead up to the Tour de France. Of the 3 guys that stood on the podium in Paris last July, Cadel is the only one that will be at the start this year, and so therefore must be one of the favourites.

Dane Chris Anker Sørensen of CSC took a superb victory by more than a minute in Stage 6 on Saturday. However, the real action of the day was further down the field, where Alejandro Valverde successfully countered moves by both Levi Leipheimer and Cadel Evans, as they attacked time and again to try and drop the Spaniard. By the line Levi had gained a couple of seconds, but it wasn't enough, and Valverde holds a 39 second lead over Cadel Evans going into today's final stage, with Levi at 1:24. It's looking good for Valverde to take overall victory.

Thanks for reading.