Donkey damage

A crash inside the final three kilometres of yesterday's stage to Blackpool caused several riders to hit the deck, and also caused a split in the bunch. It turns out that it was not the wet conditions but another type of muck which was to blame. "There was this brown stuff on the road which caused it," said one rider who was involved, Paul Healion. One of his DFL team-mates was a little more descriptive. "It was sh*t from the donkeys," he said, referring to the trademark animal rides in this holiday destination.