I see the Tour of (some of) Britain is about to begin..
gs3
Posts: 249
Surely this is a breach of the trade descriptions act or something! :shock:
I've never noticed before but has the Tour of Britain ever actually had stages in all the British countries?
And before anyone shoots me down, this is a genuine question as it's only just recently that I've started to pay attention to the road racing scene and watched most of the Grand Tours!
I've never noticed before but has the Tour of Britain ever actually had stages in all the British countries?
And before anyone shoots me down, this is a genuine question as it's only just recently that I've started to pay attention to the road racing scene and watched most of the Grand Tours!
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A few complain about this every year and the answer is the same each time.
The ToB, much like the TdF, goes to where the money is, and where logistics dictate it is possible to get to (although in the case of the transfer from Glastonbury to King's Lynn it seems to have been overlooked this year)
So if it goes to Wales it often skips Scotland. The only staples of recent years seem to be Stoke, Blackpool/Liverpool and London.
Love from your local Pro Race-r0 -
Yup - its not got a title sponsor so it has to go to wherever people will pay for the stages - so if the relevant development agencies stump up the cash - then it will probably go there.
Plus the length of the tour is dictated by the UCI so it cant get round the entire country in the week or so that it has.
Even the tour de France skips huge chunks of the country in its 3 week journey.0 -
Has anyone an archive of old Milk Race routes so we may compare and contrast?0
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Where the bloody hell is the TOB going then GS3 ?
FFS - even the Giro started in Holland this year !
I'm not sure the Milk Race covered more areas than the TOB does ? I seem to remember a lot of stages round England but cant recall too many Scottish ones ? And that was different as they had a title sponsor so werent at the beck and call of the development agencies.
I know the last Pru Tour went to England Scotland and Wales cos I was part of it.0 -
Rick Chasey
I assume you are talking about The Tour de France and I am aware that it started in the Netherlands but the majority of the race was actually in France hence the name.
cougie
The ToB should surely encompass all of the member countries of 'Britain' to actually use that name since Britain isn't actually a country!! This is purely an observation, nothing more.
The Giro may have started in Holland but again, the majority of the stages were in the title country.
Thanks for the info on the Milk Race though and congrats on participating in the Pro Tour - anyone who competes in this type of race and completes it (I'm assuming you did
) gets my respect.
NapoleonD
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Jeez I wasn't riding it ! Just working on it. Transfers weren't too bad really apart from the finale - they finished in Blackpool and then had next days final stage around a very very wet Edinburgh.0
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gs3 wrote:Surely this is a breach of the trade descriptions act or something! :shock:
I've never noticed before but has the Tour of Britain ever actually had stages in all the British countries?
And before anyone shoots me down, this is a genuine question as it's only just recently that I've started to pay attention to the road racing scene and watched most of the Grand Tours!
The stereotypical Scottish chip on the shoulder response to being left out. 2005-2009 there's a stage in Scotland, but miss it out in 2010 and it's boo hoo hoo, English bias, it's 'not Britain'. And all that BS.
Well I live in Wales. A country of hills and potentially interesting courses. The ToB is coming here for the first time since 2004.
What do you make of that Jock?
You're not so hard done by, so stop playing the victim. Scots like you really make it hard for the others.Twitter: @RichN950 -
gs3 wrote:cougie
...but at least it is still in the named country of origin!!Even the tour de France skips huge chunks of the country in its 3 week journey
Where, exactly, do you think England is?
Last time I checked, it was in Britain. Hence, the Tour of Britain....is in Britain. Just as the Tour of France is largely in France. Perhaps you're upset that it doesn't visit all of Britain, but neither does the Tour of France visit every constituent part of France.
If you hate it so much, try to get your council to bid. But at the end of the day, there's 10 English people to every Scot, so why should it spend any more then 9% of its time in Scotland? This isn't even counting the Welsh...
For the record, the ToB passes through my home town (sprint) and then the next day goes by less then 15 minutes (by bike) away up a monster hill. Why do we have so much? Because our councils and clubs are massively bankrolling it. Everything from guest trial riders to street entertainment on the day the race comes through. The ToB isn't institutionally anti-Scottish; but if Scottish government cba to put the money into it why should they get it? I climb faster then you.0 -
RichN95 wrote:gs3 wrote:Surely this is a breach of the trade descriptions act or something! :shock:
I've never noticed before but has the Tour of Britain ever actually had stages in all the British countries?
And before anyone shoots me down, this is a genuine question as it's only just recently that I've started to pay attention to the road racing scene and watched most of the Grand Tours!
The stereotypical Scottish chip on the shoulder response to being left out. 2005-2009 there's a stage in Scotland, but miss it out in 2010 and it's boo hoo hoo, English bias, it's 'not Britain'. And all that BS.
Well I live in Wales. A country of hills and potentially interesting courses. The ToB is coming here for the first time since 2004.
What do you make of that Jock?
You're not so hard done by, so stop playing the victim. Scots like you really make it hard for the others.
This is why I left Scotland at 16 and never went back, too many chips on Scottish shoulders. 0 -
Guys! (and maybe girls - I haven't checked!)
This was not meant to be a 'chip on the shoulder' discussion and it was never intended to be. It is not a moan nor a question of being upset.
RichN95
I was not aware that the ToB had been in Scotland the last few years and if you had actually read my initial post
you would realise this.And before anyone shoots me down, this is a genuine question as it's only just recently that I've started to pay attention to the road racing scene and watched most of the Grand Tours!
What I think I have managed to prove (in a completely accidental manner) is that the 'chip' is not on MY shoulder. This is not an anti-'anyone' question - purely an observation. And as far as the name calling goes - grow up or at least be original!! You don't know me, you never will, so please do not judge - it only shows a level of maturity I would expect to find in a primary school playground.
For the record I am pro-Scottish however I am also very pro-British and my original question had nothing to do with individual nationality. I am not a victim nor am I pretending to be one. I am happy for you that the race is coming to Wales for the first time in 6 years as I did not know this either.
Do you perhaps think that these little chunks of shared knowledge are possibly the reason I posted the question in the first place?
To continue - I never mentioned the obviously inherent politics of the ToB and was completely unaware that it may be up to councils to 'apply' for the race to be in their locality.
Any other genuine information sharing - as opposed to childish name calling - would be very much appreciated.0 -
From memory the Milk Race covered more of the country but was a longer race and was one of the top pro am races with the likes of the Peace Race. However, that was a different era - there are now lots of countries struggling to get a national tour into a schedule with limited time so we are lucky to be getting an 8 day race. I believe there are several traditional cycling countries that don't manage this and Holland and Belgium have to effectively share a race of equal standing to the ToB in the form of the Eneco. Very few areas are prepared to put up the costs associated with having the ToB visit them. There are some parts of the British Isles that never get a visit:- Northern Ireland despite having some excellent cycling territory, the Isle of Man which has produced our most successful road cyclist in decades. In fact, I'm surprised the IoM doesn't try to get a stage as it has a history of providing fully closed roads for sporting events including a whole week of cycling in the recent past and has excellent cycling terrain. The reason it is always so keen to close its roads is it has such a benefit to their tourism.0
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Well it's not coming down my road. I live in Britian. Call this a tour of Britian?! pah!0
