***Spoiler*** Tour of Britain Stage 4

Richmond Racer

Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis

Profile and route here:

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/files/do ... 13_St4.pdf


GC - top 20:

1 11 Sir Bradley Wiggins Sky Procycling GBR19800428 SKY 11h 25' 54'' 11h 25' 54''
2 16 Ian Stannard Sky Procycling GBR19870525 SKY 11h 26' 31'' 0' 37'' at 0' 37''
3 61 Martin Elmiger IAM Cycling SUI19780923 IAM 11h 26' 41'' 0' 47'' at 0' 47''
4 182 Jack Bauer Garmin Sharp NZL19850407 GRS 11h 26' 49'' 0' 55'' at 0' 55''
5 93 Alex Dowsett Movistar GBR19881003 MOV 11h 26' 51'' 0' 57'' at 0' 57''
6 15 David Lopez Garcia Sky Procycling ESP19810513 SKY 11h 27' 11'' 1' 17'' at 1' 17''
7 42 Michal Golas Omega Pharma Quick-Step POL19840429 OPQ 11h 27' 12'' 1' 18'' at 1' 18''
8 135 Sergio Pardilla MTN Qhubeka ESP19840116 MTN 11h 27' 12'' 1' 18'' st
9 131 Gerald Ciolek MTN Qhubeka GER19860919 MTN 11h 27' 15'' 1' 21'' at 1' 21''
10 5 Alex Wetterhall Team NetApp Endura SWE19860412 TNE 11h 27' 15'' 1' 21'' st
11 121 Simon Yates** Great Britain GBR19920807 GBR 11h 27' 17'' 1' 23'' at 1' 23''
12 76 Marco Coledan Bardiani Valvole CSF Inox ITA19880822 BAR 11h 27' 20'' 1' 26'' at 1' 26''
13 46 Julien Vermote Omega Pharma Quick-Step BEL19890726 OPQ 11h 27' 20'' 1' 26'' st
14 152 Marcin Bialoblocki Team UK Youth POL19830902 UKY 11h 27' 24'' 1' 30'' at 1' 30''
15 86 Evaldas Siskevicius Sojasun LTU19881230 SOJ 11h 27' 25'' 1' 31'' at 1' 31''
16 94 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil Movistar ESP19850608 MOV 11h 27' 27'' 1' 33'' at 1' 33''
17 181 Daniel Martin Garmin Sharp IRL19860820 GRS 11h 27' 32'' 1' 38'' at 1' 38''
18 71 Sacha Modolo Bardiani Valvole CSF Inox ITA19870619 BAR 11h 27' 33'' 1' 39'' at 1' 39''
19 45 Martin Velits Omega Pharma Quick-Step SVK19850221 OPQ 11h 27' 35'' 1' 41'' at 1' 41''
20 65 Sebastien Reichenbach IAM Cycling SUI19890528 IAM 11h 27' 38'' 1' 44''

frenchfighter

At last a hill in a significant place. I hope the GC gets shaken up good and proper today so that it resembles the GC of a balanced stage race rather than a whos who of a 10 mile TT.

Anyone know whether the climb is a killer or can they cruise over it?

above_the_cows

Let's see if I can actually watch this today. What's the weather doing over in Wales? Are we expecting any rain? I know it's Wales and all but...

thistle_

I think the last climb is long rather than steep.

Richmond Racer

Above The Cows wrote:

Let's see if I can actually watch this today. What's the weather doing over in Wales? Are we expecting any rain? I know it's Wales and all but...

Forecast not too bad today. Maybe even a bit of sun. Could be short sharp showers though.

Weather front coming in from Atlantic that spells more unpleasantness for the riders tomorrow though

tailwindhome

frenchfighter wrote:

At last a hill in a significant place. I hope the GC gets shaken up good and proper today so that it resembles the GC of a balanced stage race rather than a whos who of a 10 mile TT.

Anyone know whether the climb is a killer or can they cruise over it?

Disappointing that Dowsett couldn't make more of a race of it.

graeme_s-2

I've been to watch the Stoke stage the last 2 years. Last year was particularly good fun as I went with a colleague who also cycles and we took our bikes. Started at Trentham and watched the roll out, then cycled up to the KOM climb near Oakamoor, then cycled into Stoke for the finish, and back to Trentham to pick up the car.

On the way into Stoke we made a slight mistake and rode past a marshal who was directing traffic but completely ignored us. We then realised we were riding on the barriered off roads and the number of spectator's were starting to increase. A couple of people yelled "Come on Wiggo!" and before we knew it we were cycling up the hill towards the finish with everyone banging on the boards. We were very British about the whole thing and looked suitably embarrassed. As we approached the finish line a marshall waved us through the gap in the barrier that all team vehicles use. We locked our bikes up and the race came in about 5 minutes behind us!

Haven't bothered going this year, as taking the day off work to watch only the roll out in Stoke doesn't really seem worth the trip, and that will be the closest the race comes this year unfortunately.

tailwindhome

Alex Dowsett ‏@alexdowsett 2h
Getting deathstares off my teammates ahead of another potentially wet day. @jjrojillas keeps giving me weather updates from his Spanish casa

graeme_s-2

TailWindHome wrote:

Alex Dowsett ‏@alexdowsett 2h
Getting deathstares off my teammates ahead of another potentially wet day. @jjrojillas keeps giving me weather updates from his Spanish casa

I'm sure I heard Cavendish describe a conversation with Basso he had during last year's ToB after a couple of days of terrible weather. I don't think Basso could quite believe that anyone actually cycled in a country with weather like that.

clanton

Basso never done the Giro then? Has had some pretty dire weather over the years.......

above_the_cows

Graeme_S wrote:

I don't think Basso could quite believe that anyone actually cycled in a country with weather like that.

Basso should come to the Netherlands. We see the UK's rain and we add WIND! Anyway I've just dried out after yesterday's soaking so hopefully I can watch without feeling chilly.

Is anyone going to post a picture of a Welsh Mountain Pony and some cheese, or will said person get told off?


(Resisting making my one Welsh cheese joke...)

above_the_cows

clanton wrote:

Basso never done the Giro then? Has had some pretty dire weather over the years.......

Ah yes but that is off set by the infinitely better food.

Richmond Racer

Above The Cows wrote:

Graeme_S wrote:

I don't think Basso could quite believe that anyone actually cycled in a country with weather like that.

Basso should come to the Netherlands. We see the UK's rain and we add WIND! Anyway I've just dried out after yesterday's soaking so hopefully I can watch without feeling chilly.

Is anyone going to post a picture of a Welsh Mountain Pony and some cheese, or will said person get told off?


(Resisting making my one Welsh cheese joke...)

A pony picture would be good. Perhaps also a pic of a Llanberis steam train?

mike6

We have seen a few stages over the last three or four years, never less than exciting. Crowds in the most obscure places. Imagine how big the crowds would have been so far this year if the weather had been even a little kinder.
Looking forward to a good, hard, well contested race, but still hope for a British winner. That way the upwards profile and acceptance of cycling and road closures in Britain will keep moving in the right direction. One more rider, one less car.

above_the_cows

This is almost as good as Frenchie's Camargue horse.



And here is the latest member of Cavendish's lead-out train. Ivor.

RichN95.

Above The Cows wrote:

(Resisting making my one Welsh cheese joke...)

You can make jokes about Welsh cheese if you like, but do it Caerphilly


(That was the joke wasn't it)

TimB34

Sorry, no cheese info, but the final climb up Pen y pass kicks off next to the Pen y Gwryd Hotel, which was used as the base for planning and training for the successful 1953 Everest expedition.

The final descent into Llanberis is down the Llanberis pass, one of the spiritual homes of British rock-climbing. There's one potentially nasty corner over a little bridge just before the Cromlech boulders (I think - I've never actually ridden a bike round there!) but anyone over the top first should be in with a good shout for the stage win.

sbbefc

Been raining all morning. The climbs arent all that, would have been harder if it was reversed.

inseine

TailWindHome wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

At last a hill in a significant place. I hope the GC gets shaken up good and proper today so that it resembles the GC of a balanced stage race rather than a whos who of a 10 mile TT.

Anyone know whether the climb is a killer or can they cruise over it?

Disappointing that Dowsett couldn't make more of a race of it.

He's targetting the worlds even more than Wiggins, or should I say, he's not bothered about the ToB, especially since he's going to pull out before the end. Possibly ultra coutious on the twisty bits and he didn't even reccy the course.

RichN95.

inseine wrote:

He's targetting the worlds even more than Wiggins, or should I say, he's not bothered about the ToB, especially since he's going to pull out before the end. Possibly ultra coutious on the twisty bits and he didn't even reccy the course.

I'm sure he would have been very keen to do a good performance. But he was ill, so he couldn't.

Daz555

inseine wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

At last a hill in a significant place. I hope the GC gets shaken up good and proper today so that it resembles the GC of a balanced stage race rather than a whos who of a 10 mile TT.

Anyone know whether the climb is a killer or can they cruise over it?

Disappointing that Dowsett couldn't make more of a race of it.

He's targetting the worlds even more than Wiggins, or should I say, he's not bothered about the ToB, especially since he's going to pull out before the end. Possibly ultra coutious on the twisty bits and he didn't even reccy the course.

Pulling out for the TTT I assume?

ad_snow

Daz555 wrote:

inseine wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

At last a hill in a significant place. I hope the GC gets shaken up good and proper today so that it resembles the GC of a balanced stage race rather than a whos who of a 10 mile TT.

Anyone know whether the climb is a killer or can they cruise over it?

Disappointing that Dowsett couldn't make more of a race of it.

He's targetting the worlds even more than Wiggins, or should I say, he's not bothered about the ToB, especially since he's going to pull out before the end. Possibly ultra coutious on the twisty bits and he didn't even reccy the course.

Pulling out for the TTT I assume?

Yep. Reported on the Worlds thread that he has been given permission to drop out and get over to Florence in time for the TTT on Sat.

RichN95.

I see Monday's combativity winner, Madrazo, is in the break again. That boy must really love British cheese.

ddraver

I used to live very near here so writing this should have been easier that it was

The Snowdonian mountains are a range of ancient island arc volcanoes (think Pacific Rim, Japan, Fiji etc). These are formed where one plate is subducted (slides beneath) another plate at a compressional plate margin. This particular plate margin occurred during the Ordovician and resulted in the Caledonian Orogeny (you all remember about orogenies from the TdF don't you) which brought England and Wales together with Scotland (and created most of the Scottish Mountain ranges. This also resulted in the closure of the Iapetus Ocean as Baltica and Avalonia formed a single landmass with Laurentia. Given that this occurred so long ago (400Ma), erosion has unroofed some of the oldest rocks in the world in Scotland and Anglesea (commonly Schists and Gneisses which can only form at great depth)

Most of the rocks are tuffs (ash falls that have been turned into rocks) or rhyolites ("extrusive granites", quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase feldspar as opposed to olivine and pyroxene which are sourced almost straight from the mantle). Rhyolites and granites can only form when the olivine and pyroxene rich rocks have already formed (Hawiian or icelandic lava is fill of these). As a magma chamber cools different minerals will form at different temperatures. Olivine and Pyroxene solidify first and quartz and feldspar later. In our case, this process occurred as the magma rose through the earth's crust (through 2 tectonic plates). This creates very viscous lava resulting in very explosive eruptions (Mt Vesuvius, Mt St Helens being good examples)

The island arc results in some unique juxtapositions of rocks as volcanoes were formed in a the middle of an ocean. As these volcanoes formed (seamounts) they were separated from the continental land surface and so from any sediment from rivers. These created perfect conditions for Carbonate/limestone deposition (coral atols). On the top of Snowdon it is relatively easy to find fossils from an ancient sea floor which have been uplifted and are now a top a mountain range (explain that Creationist!)

Finally, some of the most interesting evidence of the most recent ice age can be found in Snowdonia. Many of the mountain topography is a direct result of large scale glaciation. The North Face of Snowdon for example (one I'm sure the helicopters will show us several times) is a classic case of a "corrie" or "cwm" which is formed by a large glacier sitting in between to valley sides (which creates the steep ridges). The Irish Sea is also interpreted to have been created by a major ice stream.

Enjoy the stage.

andyp

Can we please stop talking about the Worlds TTT on Saturday? It's on Sunday, the 22nd.

RideOnTime

Rain, rain, rain. Wales.

How else would it be so green and soggy?

It's been raining in my soul a bit radars. Cycle love to you all.

I do like Matt Stephens glasses. Not the most handsome but strikes me a nice friendly chap.

blazing_saddles

The Sun is out in South Wales.

Pross

I suspect they'll be behind schedule today, looks like being a headwind slog all day. I'm surprised Llanberis Pass is only a 3rd cat climb when you see some of the other 'climb' with the same ratings. It's by no means a long or particularly steep climb but thought it would be a 2nd cat in the context of this race. Shame they are in North Wales and haven't managed a 1st cat climb on the route, even the Surrey stage has one! Would have been good if they could have diverted to take them over the Bwlch y Groes :twisted: or at least over Horseshoe Pass.

alan_a

Pross wrote:

I suspect they'll be behind schedule today, looks like being a headwind slog all day. I'm surprised Llanberis Pass is only a 3rd cat climb when you see some of the other 'climb' with the same ratings. It's by no means a long or particularly steep climb but thought it would be a 2nd cat in the context of this race. Shame they are in North Wales and haven't managed a 1st cat climb on the route, even the Surrey stage has one! Would have been good if they could have diverted to take them over the Bwlch y Groes :twisted: or at least over Horseshoe Pass.

Only properly looked at the route this morning, very surprised Horseshoe Pass wasn't included. I'd love to see them race up the old road for a MTF. It would be a perfect location with lots of parking etc.

Richmond Racer

TimB34 wrote:

Sorry, no cheese info, but the final climb up Pen y pass kicks off next to the Pen y Gwryd Hotel, which was used as the base for planning and training for the successful 1953 Everest expedition.

The final descent into Llanberis is down the Llanberis pass, one of the spiritual homes of British rock-climbing. There's one potentially nasty corner over a little bridge just before the Cromlech boulders (I think - I've never actually ridden a bike round there!) but anyone over the top first should be in with a good shout for the stage win.

^^ want to ride this. A lot.

RideOnTime

Richmond Racer wrote:

TimB34 wrote:

Sorry, no cheese info, but the final climb up Pen y pass kicks off next to the Pen y Gwryd Hotel, which was used as the base for planning and training for the successful 1953 Everest expedition.

The final descent into Llanberis is down the Llanberis pass, one of the spiritual homes of British rock-climbing. There's one potentially nasty corner over a little bridge just before the Cromlech boulders (I think - I've never actually ridden a bike round there!) but anyone over the top first should be in with a good shout for the stage win.

^^ want to ride this. A lot.

lovely colours.