Respect goes both ways, Cav
Professional cyclists love a good celebration and we've seen plenty over the years, with 'rocking the baby' always a favourite.

However, Mark Cavendish's latest celebration was less about unbridled joy than sending a two-fingered message to his critics.

'Cav', who has dominated the sprint stages of the Tour de France in recent years, had been a long way off his best form early in the season and whispers that the Manx flyer would struggle in the Grand Tours were growing.

However, Cavendish said his struggles had been a tactical ploy to ensure he was at his best for Le Tour and warned the critics not to dismiss his chances of winning another green jersey in Paris.

Given Cavendish's very public rebuttal of media criticism after his victory, The Circus can't wait to see what happens when his HTC-Columbia teammate, Andre Greipel, takes a big-stage win.

Disrespect doesn't even begin to describe Cavendish's attitude towards the German speed machine, well known to Aussie cycling aficionados after his heroics in recent Herald Sun Tours.

Monty's not in a party mood
From one UK grump to another, we head to Spain where irascible Scot Colin Montgomerie has hurled the dummy from the cot after a disastrous end to his opening round at the Spanish Open.

The 18th hole is bordered by the hospitality tent village and Montgomerie was disturbed by thumping beats as he attempted to end his round on a good note.

But clearly bangin' trance isn't the big Scot's thing and he needed three attempts to hole out, prompting a foul-mouth tirade at the tournament director.

While the 'party hole' concept has long been a success at the TPC championship in Scottsdale, Arizona, it has been far less popular at other events.

Most notably, one drunken reveller's crude sledge to Robert Allenby at the 2008 Australian Open about the death of his mother prompted the local hero to bypass his home championship for the first time in 20 years.

Needless to say, Open organiser quickly reconsidered the on-course entertainment options offered to punters.

Due diligence goes a step too far
Having seen our share of bungled draft picks in worldwide sport, The Circus understands that professional teams need to do their research before calling out a name on draft day.

Hell, there are only so many Richard Lounder stories that any sports fan can cop and the tragic death of Len Bias, just two days after the Boston Celtics picked him at No.2 in the 1986 NBA Draft, is a story that no one wants to see repeated.

However, the NFL's Miami Dolphins have been forced to apologise after asking a potential draftee if his mother was a prosititute.

Exactly how the Dolphins expected Dez Bryant to happily join their franchise after that line of questioning remains a complete and utter mystery.

The numbers game
120 – women Tiger Woods reportedly confessed to sleeping with during more than five years of marriage to wife Elin Nordegren
1 – neighbourly conquest that Tiger "forgot" to tell his wife about
21 – age of said neighbour, Raychel Coudriet, when she was inducted into Tiger's own personal hall of shame
121 –total number of notches on Tiger's belt. Does this mean that 120 was OK with Elin, but 121 was crossing the line?

Quote of the day
"I understand that at the moment I'm racing to be in my best form for the Tour de France and the world championships. If I wanted to get shit small wins, I'd race shit small races."
- Memo to cycling race directors around the world: if it's not a blue ribbon event, don't expect Mark Cavendish to show up.

Headline we'd like to read
Greipel wins Tour stage; brains Cav with seat post


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