Despite the mistral I've enjoyed a good day’s bike riding up and down a couple of cols out of Ghisoni in central Corsica. On the way back I stopped in Corte the old capital and whilst in the Tabac noticed a copy of today’s Times of London. Couldn’t resist – it was the picture on the front page of Tom Whipple at base camp for the 60th anniversary of the first ascent.

Lots of excellent coverage inside of what was without doubt a monumental achievement by Hillary and Tenzing – up there with the moon landing for me – and executed with exquisite timing to mark the coming to the throne of Elizabeth II, our monarch.

So, what’s all this not what it used to be malarkey? The mountain hasn’t got any smaller and as far as I know it’s not yet been linked to the ‘Trois Vallees’. Earlier today I read an interview with Ueli Steck. If you don’t know Ueli he is in my humble opinion probably the best mountaineer the planet has ever seen. In 2008 he climbed the north face of the Eiger in 2 hours 47 mins. A truly incredible thing but even more so when you discover that he did it solo – no partner, no one to hold a rope.

The interview with Ueli I read today is shocking – yes it’s one side of a story but shocking nonetheless. I won’t bleat on, you can read it here and make your own judgement. Meanwhile I’m sticking to Corsica col bagging -there's 150 of them - until I’m no longer able to propel me and my bike uphill. I might consider a BMW RS 1200 when that time comes as they appear to be the weapon of choice with the many motorcyclists presently enjoying the open roads here.

If you are kicking your heels while waiting for Le Tour to come by in June why not take an early morning motorboat from Bonifacio to the Îles Lavezzi. Cruise through the narrow harbour past deep rocky inlets and into the magical Grotte du Sdragonatu and a nearby cave where the movie Guns of Navarone was filmed.

It takes about an hour to get to Lavezzi and the limestone and granite rock formations are so mind-blowing that it’s fun to pick out shapes along the archipelago including a sunken ship, Winnie-the-Pooh, a rhino, a dragon and a coypu!

Look out for the memorial to honour 700 soldiers who lost their lives in a ship on its way to the Crimean War. They crossed between Sardinia and Corsica because it was considered a quicker route; but the message is… don’t cut corners!

On the islands, giant granite rocks look like Henry Moore’s sculptures – all smoothed by centuries of erosion. There are lovely beaches so you can laze about or wander looking at the blanket of wild flowers including a rare species of yellow horned poppy and white sea daffodil.

There are no cafes so take a picnic.

On your return you can cruise past Cavallo Island and the Pointe de Sperone passing villas including one owned by Caroline of Monaco (on one of the islands few golf courses). Look up at mighty Bonifacio, hanging on the rock’s edge and before you know it you’ll be back in the port, exhilarated by a unique journey past geological wonders of limestone strata created over millions of years.

Lesley Bellew 
@lesleybellew

It is turning into a bit of a saga reminiscent methinks of formula one and team orders. Will he won't he lead the Sky team at the Tour next month and to add spice, one of the WAGs is chipping in regularly via Twitter, the other has maintained a dignified silence from her perch - oh Cath Wiggins please start tweeting again!

Anyway all has become clear this morning with just over 51 days to the Grand Depart. Dave Brailsford has obviously been at the white board over night and has told Cycling Weekly, "Let's just reiterate our plan....the plan has always been the plan and we are sticking to it". Good, well that's cleared that up then.

So this does pose an intriguing question, one formulated by my other half to be fair. Will Bradley be the 'Defending Champion' if he's not defending the Tour? 

I suspect we won't really know what the plan is because it's very likely to be fluid. What a geat position for Dave to be in who, unlike the rest of us, Cycling Weekly say, remains calm.