TOB Stage3 Spoiler

inkyfingers

The stage today looks like it could be a good one.

For all its faults the ToB does seem to be getting better each year both in the quality of the parcours and in terms of the riders taking part and more importantly the riders taking it seriously.

derbygrimpeur

andy_wrx wrote:

No, Gun Hill isn't hard.

Like you, personally I quite like it - it's short and never very steep, has several bits where it ramps-up and then eases-off again so you can recover and then hit the next one.

It's hyped bigtime by the Tob and by the ITV4 commentary team - you would think it equal to Alpe d'Huez :roll:

Let's face it though - whilst for the domestic teams it's a big thing, for the Pro teams the ToB is a chipper...

to be honest, if they didn't hype it up what's left. "Today's stage is what would be considered a flat, sprinters stage on Le Tour..." It's hardly going to build that excitement in the viewers.

It does annoy me though that with the hilly riches that the Peak District offers, they can't find better hills to incorporate in the route. Although I guess part of that may be due to road closures/quality of roads etc. Sending the Pro Peloton up Winnats Pass would be good viewing.

You can tell how easy the climbs were from the fact Cav was at the front of the peloton on all of them and looked very comfortable where I was watching.

If you're interested, here are my photos from yesterday (Ramshorn and Commonside)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30750251@N ... 662179478/

Tom BB

Gunn Hill is a piece of wee wee......Iast year Richie Porte, G, Wiggo etc were in a break that was going clear on this stage (seems like the same happened again this year?) They were all in the big ring going up it. Definitely doesn't get anywhere near 25%

rebs

In Cavs book we mentions a time here broke down and cried trying to get him that hill. So was funny when Cav made a point of gunning up the hill it on this stage. Think I saw his twitter mention something about this?

inkyfingers

andyp wrote:

The KoM points table tells you the quality of the race.

The KOM competition in most races (other than the grand tours) is rarely a who's who of cycling superstars. You can't blame the smaller teams for targeting it, it's great TV and podium time for the smaller sponsors who aren't likely to have any chance in the overall or stage finishes against some of the top euro pros.

andyp

I meant the inclusion of one Mark Cavendish at 9th place. He's not exactly renowed for his climbing skills.

derbygrimpeur

andyp wrote:

I meant the inclusion of one Mark Cavendish at 9th place. He's not exactly renowed for his climbing skills.

He tweeted last night

King of the Mountains points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's on the 'crying' climb I mentioned yesterday. I'm keeping this results sheet #GCRider

Tom Butcher

Unusual place to put a finish - right on a bend - and a shame they visit the Peak but don't climb any real hills - apart from that I'm enjoying the race.

nickwill

Gunn Hill is one of the easier climbs in the Peak. As I recall it was the last climb on the original Polka Dot and never registered as hard. They can't incorporate tough hills into the TOB because a really split peleton would mess up the rolling road closures.
It's a shame because some of the climbs in the Lakes, North Pennines and Dales would make for great viewing and really give the climbers something to get their teeth into.

andy_wrx

Nickwill wrote:

They can't incorporate tough hills into the TOB because a really split peloton would mess up the rolling road closures.

Exactly !

Although seems to be getting more serious - yesterday must have been 40+ police motorbikes whereas last time I saw it a few years ago it just had perhaps a dozen from NEG

(I bet it's a great laugh for the motorbike coppers, a week away expenses paid, with colleagues from other forces to compare bikes and kit with, let alone beers in the bar...)

But still, it's not closed roads and in the countryside there are lots of minor sideroads for traffic to emerge from, in towns so many sidestreets

Interesting to see the helicopter shots on TV last night from Stoke : seemed to be quite a few people walking along the pavement and looking round as though wondering what was going on, not spectators just general public who didn't know that there was some bike race was in town
- if that's the case in a host town like Stoke where they've had it for 3 years in a row and the council must have spent tens of thousands on publicity...

derbygrimpeur

The rolling road closure wasn't working too well either. On commonside traffic was coming through ahead of the final few riders & Broom wagon. The traffic was backed up on Commonside and these riders were having to work their way past vans/lorries and the lovely fumes they were kicking out

oldwelshman

andyp wrote:

I meant the inclusion of one Mark Cavendish at 9th place. He's not exactly renowed for his climbing skills.

I take it you could out climb him ? Cav can get up the hills if he needs to or wants to. As a sprinter in GT events why would he want to try to compete with more natural climbers and dampen his sprint capacity?
In this race dont forget he is a protour pro not domestic pro and he could probably outclimb 99.9% of those no trouble.

skylla

Nickwill wrote:

...
They can't incorporate tough hills into the TOB because a really split peloton would mess up the rolling road closures.
It's a shame because some of the climbs in the Lakes, North Pennines and Dales would make for great viewing and really give the climbers something to get their teeth into.

Good point re. split peletons and rolling road closures. I still think it would make for great viewing and tv footage if they tackle some of the hills up north (highlands that is). In the history of the ToB (or TdB as someone called it once) has there ever been a stage that visited the Bealach nB, Quaich or Cairngorms? Or possibly Wrynose, Hardknott or the Struggle in the Lakes?

andyp

oldwelshman wrote:

I take it you could out climb him ? Cav can get up the hills if he needs to or wants to. As a sprinter in GT events why would he want to try to compete with more natural climbers and dampen his sprint capacity?
In this race dont forget he is a protour pro not domestic pro and he could probably outclimb 99.9% of those no trouble.

Are only allowed to comment on riders if we can beat them? What a ridiculous comment, especially on an internet forum dedicated to pro cycling.

The point under discussion was whether the ToB is, under Cavendish's own definition, a "sh*tty little race". My point, for the hard of understanding, is that any race which features him in the top ten of the King of the Mountains classification, probably qualifies.

Dorset_Boy

Doesn't the route depend in some part on whether the local authorities want the race there - I expect they have to cough up for the race to start / finish in their area / town. Not all LAs believe that money is best spent on cycling.

rick_chasey

Your home Tour is never that sh!tty, even if everyone else thinks it's dogsh!t.

Dutch riders still talk about their (occasional) Eneco Tour win.


We certainly don't.

inkyfingers

Dorset Boy wrote:

Doesn't the route depend in some part on whether the local authorities want the race there - I expect they have to cough up for the race to start / finish in their area / town. Not all LAs believe that money is best spent on cycling.

Exactly, this dictates most of the route. Plus they have to try and avoid certain roads that would cause too much chaos if they were closed. People also have to be able to get to the route without the roads being full of parked cars, this rules out using some of the tougher climbs as they are too far from towns, too narrow and there is nowhere to park.

verylonglegs

andyp wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

I take it you could out climb him ? Cav can get up the hills if he needs to or wants to. As a sprinter in GT events why would he want to try to compete with more natural climbers and dampen his sprint capacity?
In this race dont forget he is a protour pro not domestic pro and he could probably outclimb 99.9% of those no trouble.

Are only allowed to comment on riders if we can beat them? What a ridiculous comment, especially on an internet forum dedicated to pro cycling.

The point under discussion was whether the ToB is, under Cavendish's own definition, a "sh*tty little race". My point, for the hard of understanding, is that any race which features him in the top ten of the King of the Mountains classification, probably qualifies.

It tells you how little real climbing there is on the route, nothing about the 'quality' of the race.

skylla

Rick Chasey wrote:

Your home Tour is never that sh!tty, even if everyone else thinks it's dogsh!t.

Dutch riders still talk about their (occasional) Eneco Tour win.


We certainly don't.

What? We dutch won the Eneco tour?

roypsb

Very poor camera footage of the finish for both stages thus far, in my opinion. And the associated commentary not much better.

inkyfingers

The finish yesterday really is a bit weird, basically if you got on the front at the right time you have basically won as it's almost impossible to overtake safely in the last 50 metres. I know it's been used before but in previous stages EBH and Greg Henderson had basiclaly already won by the time they got int to bends. Not aking anything away from lars Boom though, think his superior bike handling skills showed through.

rick_chasey

skylla wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Your home Tour is never that sh!tty, even if everyone else thinks it's dogsh!t.

Dutch riders still talk about their (occasional) Eneco Tour win.


We certainly don't.

What? We dutch won the Eneco tour?

Max van Heeswijk won an Eneco stage in Holland and another in Belgium in I think '05.

skylla

Rick Chasey wrote:

skylla wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Your home Tour is never that sh!tty, even if everyone else thinks it's dogsh!t.

Dutch riders still talk about their (occasional) Eneco Tour win.


We certainly don't.

What? We dutch won the Eneco tour?

Max van Heeswijk won an Eneco stage in Holland and another in Belgium in I think '05.

Yeah, man! Those were the days - roll on the years Boom dominating the ToB

alan_a

skylla wrote:

has there ever been a stage that visited the Bealach nB, Quaich or Cairngorms?

Sadly I fear these will never feature because the transfer to the following day's stage in Northern England would be too far.

mroli

Also, presumably there is no money in those areas to "pay" for the tour to come and visit them.

alan_a

Event Scotland pay for 1 Scottish stage each year, so all they would have to is switch from Glasgow / Edinburgh / Borders to a Highland area.