The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Mon. June 29

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TOPSHOT - UAE Team Emirates - XRG team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fith and final stage of the Men's Tour of Switzerland (Tour de Suisse) cycling race, 150.7 km starting and finishing in Villars-sur-Ollon on June 21, 2026. (Photo by Harold Cunningham / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

Another day, another missed Hoddle. Well, you’ve come to expect it from me by now, haven’t you? Why do you think I hire someone to write this column? Because there’s no way I can be trusted with it myself.

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It’s been overshadowed by the World Cup, but there’s another major sporting event that’s starting this week. The Tour de France starts this Friday, July 4, in Barcelona but will will wind its way through the mountains and valleys of France for three weeks. It’s the most important and most prestigious bicycle race in the world

I’m hardly an expert on the Tour, but I do feel like I have a history with it. When our children were babies, my partner and I would take turns, bleary-eyed, holding our sleeping newborns and watching the Tour, occasionally falling asleep on the couch. The Tour — back then it was (eek) Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis — served as the backdrop for early parenthood, and for that reason it’s earned a spot on my watch list ever since. I won’t watch every stage, or even religiously, but I do tend to tune in when I can, and watch the stage highlights.

These days the Tour is dominated by Tadej Pogacar, a prolific Slovenian who has won four of the past six Tours and is expected to win again this year. That’s okay. If nothing else, the Tour will provide a nice change of pace from the relentless soccer of the World Cup. I’m looking forward to it.

Song of the Day: “Tour de France” (Kraftwerk)

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