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Archives for July 2010

What looks like a dull story reveals Britain's attitude to sport

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Matt Slater | 12:01 UK time, Wednesday, 28 July 2010

As dull but worthy stories go it is hard to top a tale about the merger of two non-departmental public bodies.

But trust me, Monday's announcement that and are to become a single agency (they hate the word quango) is less boring and more important than it sounds.

Before I explain why, however, I should probably tell you what they do.

Sport England funds grassroots projects and is responsible for boosting participation in sport and protecting the country's playing fields.

UK Sport bankrolls . It is all about elite activity and sits at the top of British sport's participation pyramid.

Clearly, there is some crossover in what they do but the two areas of expertise and responsibility are pretty separate.

Between them, they spend about £200m of public money a year at the moment, with much of this coming from the .

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Lance still centre of attention

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Matt Slater | 20:01 UK time, Tuesday, 27 July 2010

He was never going to go quietly, was he?

Despite being 40 minutes off the pace and reduced to "" status, Lance Armstrong's leaving of the Tour de France was in keeping with his 17-year relationship with the world's greatest bike race.

When Tour officials noticed Armstrong's Team RadioShack were wearing unauthorised jerseys for Sunday's final stage, .

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Rivalries spice up interest ahead of Silverstone

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Matt Slater | 07:00 UK time, Thursday, 8 July 2010

Question: when is a team-mate not really a mate at all?

Answer: when he is the only bloke on the grid you can really be compared against.

That is why F1 team-mates are more like two cats in a bag than a couple of pals in a garage.

It is also why thousands of fans will flock to this weekend to see McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton race Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. And each other. Especially each other.

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Good news for England future

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Matt Slater | 18:06 UK time, Monday, 5 July 2010

An embarrassing climbdown? A victory for common sense? Or a calendar mix-up now resolved?

Whatever. The news that England will be sending a strong squad to the is undeniably a good thing. It is also an indication that maybe, just maybe, we might have learned something from events in South Africa.

Confirmation of this encouraging development will come later this week when England U19 coach announces a squad that should be close to full strength.

The former manager is losing his three best players (Blackburn's , Everton's and of Arsenal) to Stuart Pearce's U21s but he will not be too despondent, given the threat of widespread unavailability from his Premier League contingent.

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Mark Cavendish - the Manx mystery

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Matt Slater | 17:11 UK time, Thursday, 1 July 2010

As I was heading out of the office last week to interview , I asked the boss what kind of thing he wanted.

"Erm, you know, , green jersey, Lance, Wiggins...oh, and why he is such a head case."

So there you have it. Just 25, only four years into his professional career and Cavendish already has the kind of reputation it normally takes a lifetime of boorish behaviour to acquire.

The rider is not one to wait around for that, though, he has been on a mission in the bad boy stakes of late. , a public slap-on-the-wrist for a and a , it has been quite a year already.

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