Coverage

The Sag Wagon podcasts, which I've been listening to every day, are basically coverage of SBS's coverage of the Tour de France. As someone who cannot be arsed staying up to watch the Tour, but would still like to be informed every time a commentator mixes a metaphor or a farmer makes a giant sculpture out of cow poo, I appreciate this.

But not everyone has the time, inclination or ability to listen to a podcast. So for those people...

Podcast 11 was a return to form for the Sag Wagon team following a workman like Podcast 10. Host Sam Pang (stranger in a strange land ie knows nothing about cycling) and Dave Culbert (don't call him a former Olympian) opened with a solid gambit about the tour starting tomorrow in the mountains, as opposed to a week and a half ago when, to the untrained eye, the tour appeared to start. This provided the fuel and the theme for the rest of the podcast.

Agenda
We saw a relaxed attitude to the agenda in Episode 11. As Sophie Smith (actually knows something and isn't afraid to show it) delivered the News the conversation naturally diverted to Podium Watch, Where did Tony Martin Finish and Aussie Watch. This worked well for them, and we may hear more of this in the future.

Names
This episode was really all about consolidating already established names, including Greipel as the Baby Gorilla and the original Thor Hushovd, God of Thunder. Sophie Smith did not gain any new names and remains solid as the Lois Lane of Cycling, Agent 86 and the Jana Wendt of Cycling.

Did Sophie Smith go to Sleep?
This is the question I am always asking. The way I heard it, no. Although she did take a little Googling break to look up the definition of a viscount, she was, to my ear, conscious throughout the podcast. This was good to hear after a disappointing Episode 10 where she faded after delivering the News and probably nodded off.

So, that's my take on the coverage of the coverage. So I bet reading this is almost like being at the Tour, yes?