Thomas Voeckler is my new cycling hero. He looks about 16 years old, has a funny honking^1^ style, and manages to get dropped on just about every climb of the mountain stages. But he still — somehow — manages to drag himself back through the peleton with very little support from his team, and is still just hanging on to the yellow jersey after 9 days. Every kilometre looks like torture for him, but when he gets on the podium he has such a sweet smile. I don't think for a moment that it's possible, but if he won the Tour this year it would make me very happy.

On a completely different topic, I noticed yet another PowerBook with a 'modesty patch' on it in the coverage of the Tour today. I don't know why (especially on commercial TV), but the Apple logos on PowerBooks always seem to get covered up, while equivalent Dell or IBM logos don't. Is this the Microsoft mafia at work? Today's example was partially covered by an ITV2 sticker, though the stalk of the Apple peeked cheekily over the top. On other programmes I've seen the cover-ups performed by Post-It notes, pixelation and even digital editing to make it look like a blank titanium shell (Six Feet Under). To those Producers/Directors, I say, "You're not fooling anyone, pal. We can see it's an Apple a mile off."

^1^ Honking: cycling term for standing up out of the pedals. Also the noise I make when performing this action up a steep hill, just before I give up and walk.