Giro d'Italia Stage 14 Cervere - Bardonnechia

I may have mentioned that yesterday's stage may not have been ideal for the sprinters. I may have said that Cavendish had a challenge if he was to claim his 4th stage of this Giro. But then after the stage the Manx Missile himself said:

"Today was a bit of a bonus but I'm so tired and I don't know how I'm going to get into the mountains. I had to go 350m out after that hard day and I'm on my knees. I didn't want to go for the sprint for today but the call came from the team so I had to go for it. Once again the team did brilliantly and I had to finish it for them."

So there you have it, Cavendish struggled over the hills and won the stage in the red jersey which he reclaimed yesterday. Considering only 87 finished on the same time and 57 of the 187 left finished 16'32" after Cavendish it really was a day that for Cav his Omega Pharma-Quickstep who sat around him to nurse him over the hills did a sterling job.

It was also the day that saw the departure of two Grand Tour Champions, both Tour de France Champion Bradley Wiggins and defending Giro Champion Ryder Hesjedal didn't take the start. Both have been under the weather (probably literally as it has been poor this Giro) and have withdrawn on medical advice. The French national champion who had finished second to Cavendish yesterday had announced that he was quitting last night, probably so he can give his best to the tour whose colours he has been wearing this year.

All those retirements don't affect the GC much as Wiggins had dropped to 13th yesterday and Hesjedal was a lot worse. But it means that for Sky Rigoberto Uran who is in third 2'04" will look for another chance to attack like he did on Tuesday.

Today might be just such a chance, though of course now he is the marked rider in Sky and there is no alternative.

But there isn't very much flat land in the stage. The first climb is a long haul, but only a category 2 up to Sestriere. It is 16.25km climbing a total of 617 metres of altitude. It has a sharp descent but Nabili and Evans will have a harder time shifting Uran off their wheel thah they had with Wiggins. However there will be a selection by the time they get to Sestriere, one thing I can predict is that Cavendish will not even by then be in with a chance of adding to his stage wins.

The final climb though is where the GC could still be shaken up today. In only 7.25km they climb 646 metres in altitude. There is a severe 14% section near the foot of the climb, but there isn't really much forgiving territory as they head up to the arrivo of today. The last km if nobody has been successful in making a move those far ramps up even more. Uran is going to be going after time, Nibali will probably also want a bigger cushion over Evans. As for the Australian he hasn't really launched an attack on his own yet in the Giro, at some point he may have to, but will it be today.

Outside the top three you can't rule out Robert Gesink or Michele Scarponi who are 8 and 9 seconds further back than Uran. Any of the top five could still win this tour and it all depends on where and when they attack and who, if anyone can match them. With so many tough mountains still to come this race is not over and  today and tomorrow are two tough days back to back. What happens today may well affect somebody in tomorrow's stage.

Let's get it started #RyderCup

Well the announcement of the Foursomes for the first season Foursomes and there are some interesting pairings not just among the teams but who they are playing against.

First up is the Northern Irish pair of World Number 1 Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, but the opposition throws up an interesting name. Along with Jim Furyk who is making his 8th start, Rory will face the man who beat him to 2012 FedEx Cup for winning the Tour Championship last weekend, Brandt Snedeker.

Second up for the Europeans is their established and successful pairing for Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia against Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley one of the four American rookies. Mickelson is playing in his 9th Ryder Cup but only twice in those previous eight have the USA won.

The third match pits Lee Westwood the European veteran in his 8th Ryder Cup and Italian Franceso Molinari against Jason Dufner, another rookie, and Zach Johnson. Dufner had been leading at the half way stage of The Masters before dropping to a tie for 24th, before going on to win his first PGA tournament in his 164th event. But came 4th in the US Open this year.

The final match sees Tiger Woods and Steve Strickler take on the English pair of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter.

The Europeans can field world number 1 in match 1, 3 (Donald in match 2), 4 (Westwood in match 3) and 5 (Rose in match 4). Although the Americans play the world number 2 in the last match of the morning, there second ranked player the World number 7 Bubba Watson is rested for the first session as is Webb Simpson the World number 8. But as Rory himself said today for this weekend he is not world number one but just one of twelve men in a team, rankings count for nothing.

From 1 PM tomorrow on Radio 5 live I will be listening to my radio. In the meantime in the words of the Black Eye Peas, "Let's Get it Started"

Samuel Ryder and his cup

Chicago has its Bulls. Chicago has its Cubs and White Sox. Chicago has its Bears. And Chicago has its Blackhawks. But for this weekend all eyes, from around the world will not be on any of those sporting Colossi, but on the 640 acres of the Medinah Country Club just to the west of the city's O'Hare airport.

The reason of course is the biennial contest between the best golfers in the Europe and those of the USA in the Ryder Cup. But who was Ryder and what is his cup?

It all started in 1926 with an rather innocuous announcement in The Times:

"Mr. S. Ryder, of St. Albans, has presented a trophy for annual competition between teams of British and American professionals. The first match for the trophy is to take place at Wentworth on June 4 and 5."

Although the 19 inch high solid gold trophy bears a hallmark for 1927 and was only first presented the following year in Worcester, Massachusetts. He also agreed to pay each of the winning players £5.

Samuel Ryder

Mr S. Ryder was Samuel Ryder born in 1858 in Walton-le-Dale just to the South of Preston, Lancashire on the south bank of the River Ribble. The eldest son of Samuel Ryder Snr. who was a florist, nursery man and seed seller. Samuel however trained as a teacher at Owens College, which is now part of Manchester University, but due to ill health failed the graduate. But illness may well have led to golfs greatest team event.

He instead of teaching worked for a shipping company in Manchester, then for his father's business, before falling out with his father and moving south to St. Albans to join a rival seed merchant. But in the 1890s he combined the two jobs to make his fortune. He started to sell packets of seeds by post for a penny each, far cheaper than the competition. Posting them on Friday so they arrived in time for Saturday afternoon when working men had the afternoon off.

He was elected as a Liberal to St Albans Town Council in 1903 a role he filled for the next 13 years, including as mayor in 1905. But although he had played cricket in his youth he had not taken an active role in sport for much of his adult life, until in 1908 further illness led to a friend suggesting he take up golf. He took to it keenly earning a single figure handicap and making large donation to the Verulam Golf Club.

That first tournament announced in The Times was a rather informal affair, possibly because his cup wasn't ready to be presented. But in 1929 at Moortown for the first home match Ryder took delight in presenting the Cup to Britain's Captain George Duncan. He was only to see one more home tie in 1933 before passing away in 1936.

But what of his trophy?

It cost £250 to be made and is 17 inches (43 cm) high and nine inches (23 cm) from handle to handle. It is made of solid gold and bears a 1927 hallmark. It weighs 4 pounds (1.8kg). The player on top is the likeness of Abe Mitchell who Ryder paid £1,000 peer annum to be his personal coach as well as being one of the top British players of the 20s and 30s, however appendicitis prevented him taking part in the inaugural 1927 event, he did play in 1929, '31 and '33.

It left with the British team on the Aquitania  from Southampton for that first Ryder Cup match in 1927.

That year there were four foursome matches (where teams of two play alternate shots) on the first day followed by 8 singles matches on the following day, with all the matches being over 36 holes. That was the format of the Ryder Cup matches until 1961.

In 1961 the matches were cut to 18 holes and there where eight foursomes (four each in the morning and afternoon) on the first day and 16 singles matches (eight in the morning and afternoon).

In 1963 the introduction of fourballs (teams of two each with their own ball) was introduced, now there were two sets of 4 foursomes on day 1, two sets of 4 fourballs on day 2 and 2 sets of eight singles matches on day 3. From 1973 the foursomes and fourballs were intermingled rather than all on one day. In 1977 for one match only there was only one set of each of the pairs matches but 10 consecutive singles matches. But the second sets of both pairs formats returned in 1979, with 6 morning and 6 afternoon singles matches (though a player could only be used once).

From 1981 the format we recognise was settled on. With the four foursomes and fourballs on each of the first two days followed by 12 consecutive singles matches on the final day.