The start of an era...

... and it's one without Andy in the peloton, but he says he'll still be around: he's not dead, you know, and he said in the post-conference interview that although he can't be a pro-rider, he still knows a massive amount about cycling, tactics etc.

*suppresses unworthy thought that if he's no longer cycling, he might actually be more accessible than he was before*

So he might be a coach, he might start the Schleck School of Cycling, he might be Frankie's soigneur, we might see him in the team car at races, he might be commentating - he does speak at least four and a half languages,  you know - and you can bet that the sponsors will still be interested in him, he'll be drawing crowds wherever he goes for years to come.

So it's not all gloom and doom, although of course we are all sad for him, he was visibly upset at the press conference, but what a man, eh? To stand up there in front of a million flash guns, with a wobble in his voice, and to bravely tell us all that he's retiring due to the knee - and a thousand curses on that stupid spectator (not the pink shirt bloke, although curses on him anyway, and on all spectators who impede the race) who knocked Sky's Garcia to the ground, which caused the fall involving Our Andy, as well as Simon Gerrans and a couple of others. They all got up and carried on, but as we know, Andy's knee was permanently damaged by that crash, so if that was you, it was YOUR fault. May you get punctures every single time you leave the house.

A lot of riders would have just issued a bulletin, but I really admire Andy for standing there in public and saying it.

He commented that the ligaments in his knee had recovered well, but not the cartilage: he said "there is hardly any cartilage left under my knee" and that there was a risk of permanent damage if he continued trying to train. "I've done everything..." he said, and you could hear the desperation and frustration in his voice.

I'm not medically trained, I don't know if cartilage can re-grow, or whether it can be surgically replaced, so there is still a chance (in my mind, at least!) that he might return - but it sounds as though, for now at least, he has accepted that this is the end of his pro-rider career.

I shall watch with interest to see what happens.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Luxembourg:

The phone rings.
TinkerJil: "I'll get it, don't get up, love,"
(she answers the phone)
Andy: "Who is it?"
TinkerJil: "It's Jensie, he says now that you are both retired, he has a suggestion....."