Sport is cruel

There can be few better examples of the cruelty of sport than Daniel Martin’s crash in the final corner of the 2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Having made what appeared to be the decisive move of the race by riding away from an elite leading group on the Cote de Saint Nicolas, the defending champion slipped from his bike in the final corner and watched helplessly as those he had appeared to vanquish just moments earlier swept past.

Simon Gerrans claimed a second Monument Classic victory by being in the right place at the right time, having fastened onto Fabian Cancellara’s wheel in the final metres of Milan-San Remo two years earlier, while Martin, who with strength and daring had left the Australian in his wake just moments earlier, scrabbled on the ground.

There is little reward for naked endeavour in professional sport, not much granted to the competitor who relies solely on courage and desire. Spirit counts for nought. Them’s the breaks. Sport can deliver the highest of highs to competitor and spectator alike (step forward, Niki Terpstra), and a crushing reminder that life, on occasion, is a b…