The consequence was that Armstrong rapidly reeled in the quartet from a chasing group 100 metres behind and got back in control. "But I could find a solution."Part of the Texan's way out was to let his rivals concentrate on eliminating each other after T-Mobile's initial drive on the Pailheres had left their leader, Jan Ullrich, out in front alongside the Italian contender Ivan Basso, of the CSC squad, and two other riders.But instead of collaborating to try and leave the American behind, the two riders slowed and eyeballed each other from opposite sides of the road. It almost went without saying that in the process Armstrong doubled his overall lead over the second-placed Mickael Rasmussen to nearly two minutes. "It's true I was a bit isolated, and that made it a very tactical stage and a difficult day," Armstrong admitted afterwards. I was told he had been in bed all week with flu but he said nothing about it at the weigh-in on Friday I believe the real reason is that his bottle went.

We had a conversation but he said he didn't feel mentally right." Even Williams' trainer, Jim McDonnell, admitted he had no idea anything was wrong until his fighter informed him he was withdrawing. Now he may have no option because Warren, his promoter and manager, says he will not use him again "I am disgusted with him." he said It was a totally unacceptable situation. But subsequently he suffered a systematic pounding by Vitali Klitschko and promised that if he did not beat Skelton he would retire. Like Amir, Williams is a Muslim ­ he converted from his Christian faith some five years ago ­ but there has been no suggestion that he suffered any distraction because of recent events. A likeable though complex character, he is known in the trade as someone who has never really got his head round the sport, although he did get his act together for the demolition of Mike Tyson. His father Shah's Union Jack waistcoat became one of the familiar sights of Athens and Amir's family background has already laid impressively solid foundations for his future outside the ring Now his next few performances must do the same inside it.

ITV's new pundit Barry McGuigan, who has transferred from Sky ­ the BBC's John Rawling will be joining as ringside commentator when Amir boxes again in September ­ described it as the perfect professional debut. Amir is a good Muslim in every sense, committed to his religion but proud of his British roots. He says he was appalled by the London bombings, and that for a time his concentration for last night's fight was disturbed. But he hoped that by stepping into the ring he could demonstrate to other youngsters of his faith, indeed "all the kids in Britain that there are better things to do with your life than getting into trouble and mixing with bad people". No headguard, no vest and as usual no inhibitions in a blistering performance.

Southpaw Bailey, beaten three times in seven fights but never before stopped, was floored twice, the first time in 20 seconds, and suffered such a sustained blitz from the dancing, jabbing Amir that his corner tossed in the towel. This was ignored by referee Bill Edwards, who finally stepped in after 1min 49sec when Bailey was stunned by another sharp right hand. It takes a special girl to take on the boys in the great all-aged mid-season showpiece, and, notwithstanding Eswarah's authoritative success at Epsom last month, this workout was a make-or-break trial. Should its sources dry up, the water in Farmoor reservoir is expected to last for only 90 days.The winter was unusually dry, global warming being widely blamed for the crisis, which will only get worse Warnings and restrictions are becoming more strident. But tracing the course of our water supplies from the rain cloud to the tap - or sprinkler, or hosepipe - raises two big questions. Who is using all the water? And why is so much of it being lost before it even gets to the customer?Last week it was revealed that water authorities around the country are allowing 3,600 million litres a day to leak away through their broken pipes. The situation is so bad that the Environment Agency has forbidden water companies from building any more reservoirs until the pipes are fixed.