Tour of Britain 2014 Route

Richmond Racer

^and as per journos passing on explanations from Mick Bennett and Sweetspot at he unveiling in London last night:

- terms of the new 5 year contract Sweetspot have with BC mean that over the 5 year period, BC want as much of Britain as possible to be reached by the race
- however under UCI rules HC races - which ToB now is - cannot involve transfers between stages of no more than 90 mins. This rules out certain amounts of criss-crossing long distances across the country
- Scotland has the Commies this year, Yorkshire pls Cambs and Essex get the Tour, the East of England the Women's Tour. This years ToB takes in some parts of the country not part of any of those
- The route is likely to be very geographically diverse from year to year - and Scotland and the eastern side of the country are likely to get their turn next year
- there's also the important factor of towns and cities having to want to bid to be a start or finish town. Only some are interested. Makes route design even more like a very challenging jigsaw puzzle.


Oh and Yorkshire gets the new ASO 3-day race next year. The north of England seems well served by top-level bike racing for the foreseeable future....

Pross

Do people in France, Italy and Spain moan when their national tours don't come close enough to their home or is it a British thing?

Mad_Malx

I'm very excited.

Lots of enthusiasm in my local rag:

March 31 2014, 11:45PM
Will they be bringing their own drugs? -?

March 31 2014, 9:31PM
More traffic misery

Richmond Racer

Pross wrote:

Do people in France, Italy and Spain moan when their national tours don't come close enough to their home or is it a British thing?

I think there were some moans from over on the west of France about the Tour ignoring the whole region this year? Maybe someone like Special Guest Star can confirm?'

But moaning does seem to be a national pastime here

greasedscotsman

Pross wrote:

MTF on a The Tumble as demanded by Blazing and myself. Should be epic, I assume the road will be closed for hours beforehand. It's a big year for cycling in the metropolis of Abergavenny

Looks like another trip to the Metropolis then. This and the nationals!

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

MTF on a The Tumble as demanded by Blazing and myself. Should be epic, I assume the road will be closed for hours beforehand. It's a big year for cycling in the metropolis of Abergavenny

Yay!
I had been asleep to this and have just had the phone call from our club treasurer.
About time, too.
A sneak attack on the summit from the lesser known approach is on the cards.

elbowloh

From the Guardian report:

"and a climb of the formidable Ditchling Beacon ascent near Brighton."

Look, i'm no moutain goat, but formidable?

andy_s_t

I'm happy to see the route come through Cheltenham, plenty of climbs around here and should mean being able to nip out from work for a few hours to see them.

dish_dash

thejimmymethod wrote:

Finish in Hemel should prove interesting, pretty sure we are the nation's mini roundabout capital.

Lol, they could be sent around every bit of the magic roundabout...

Day 6 is going to be on my local riding roads so happy. Will probably take the day off and go watch them flash by.

ridgerider

Comes past my house on the Saturday...and I am away doing La Ronde Picarde.

What have I done in my past to deserve that!

mroli

elbowloh wrote:

From the Guardian report:

"and a climb of the formidable Ditchling Beacon ascent near Brighton."

Look, i'm no moutain goat, but formidable?

Having ridden it 12 times on bikes ranging from a BMX, to a Boris Bike to a Recumbent - yes, its pretty formidable.

Its not alpine of course - but it is a decent climb and a lot harder than (for example) Box Hill. I think it gets a bad press....

roypsb

Stage 7, Camberley - excellent, just down the road from me

curium

elbowloh wrote:

From the Guardian report:

"and a climb of the formidable Ditchling Beacon ascent near Brighton."

Look, i'm no moutain goat, but formidable?

Exactly. Happens all the time. Don't forget the porkers that typically make up a London to Brighton ride though.

It is not a formidable climb but I expect it will be ridden at a formidable pace.

gsvbagpuss

Mad_Malx wrote:

I'm very excited.

Lots of enthusiasm in my local rag:

March 31 2014, 11:45PM
Will they be bringing their own drugs? -?

March 31 2014, 9:31PM
More traffic misery

Sad isn't it. How long before "Does Cavendish even pay road tax?"

Der Kaiser

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I guess that they are avoiding Scotland because of the Commonwealth Games.

From the ToB Website

"Logistically it is not allowed to cover quite so much ground. You will notice this year for example that Scotland, Yorkshire (who have plenty on their plate this summer anyway!) and the East Coast of England do not feature but the flip side of that is you can be pretty sure those areas will take centre stage in either 2015 or 2016."

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/news/956 ... zrWcPldUrU

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

essexian

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, (edit...it wasn't Jiggers Bank but the next road along...sorry) I like the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

RideOnTime

essexian wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, they did use Jiggers Bank a few years back: I was there seeing the pro's make it look like a flat road witha nice tailwind. I agree the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

I thought Stage 4 started in Stoke

rickyrider

mroli wrote:

Bath to Hemel will go past my Mum's front door - couple of Chilterny bits to make it interesting at the back end - possibly Whiteleaf? Or Chinnor Hill?.

Found this - Chinnor Hill and Kop Hill apparently. Shame Whiteleaf didn't make it, but these two should still provude some fun http://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/tour-of ... sis.html/7

Living in Wendover this is my local stomping ground and I can't wait...

mroli

Ooo - chinnor hill. Not the one I'd have taken it up - but there is a big left hander on Chinnor Hill - that will be PRIME viewing position....

Pross

Can't quite work out what the Tumble stage does, it looks like it goes over Pengenffordd (a draggy climb of 3 miles at 4%)

http://www.strava.com/segments/724852 then it's into Abergavenny and off to what looks like Raglan and Usk but can't work out what it does from there.

Think I'll go to the Bristol stage too, finish up on Clifton Downs so presumably up Bridge Valley Road to test the legs before the finish (at least that's what the last Bristol finish did from memory).

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

Can't quite work out what the Tumble stage does, it looks like it goes over Pengenffordd (a draggy climb of 3 miles at 4%)

http://www.strava.com/segments/724852 then it's into Abergavenny and off to what looks like Raglan and Usk but can't work out what it does from there.

Think I'll go to the Bristol stage too, finish up on Clifton Downs so presumably up Bridge Valley Road to test the legs before the finish (at least that's what the last Bristol finish did from memory).

Little Mill and back on the main road, probably. Llanfoist past the golf course?

Der Kaiser

essexian wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, (edit...it wasn't Jiggers Bank but the next road along...sorry) I like the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

Would cattle grids be allowed en route?

Pross

Der Kaiser wrote:

essexian wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, (edit...it wasn't Jiggers Bank but the next road along...sorry) I like the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

Would cattle grids be allowed en route?

Yep, there's one half way up The Tumble (and I suspect quite a few on previous Dartmoor stages)

Pross

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Little Mill and back on the main road, probably. Llanfoist past the golf course?

I assume so but the route map seems to dog leg about more than it should for that route.

cougie

Der Kaiser wrote:

essexian wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, (edit...it wasn't Jiggers Bank but the next road along...sorry) I like the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

Would cattle grids be allowed en route?

Whats up with cattlegrids ?

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Little Mill and back on the main road, probably. Llanfoist past the golf course?

I assume so but the route map seems to dog leg about more than it should for that route.

Yes it does. Assuming it is Raglan, it could well be back to Chainbridge, Nantyderry and onto the main road....

all show no go

Finishes in Brizzle on one day and starts in Bath a couple days later. About time too! Loops around Bath before heading out of town via Bradford-On-Avon etc.. All very pretty, if straightforward a stage, but a long one. Already offered up my volunteering services.....

Der Kaiser

cougie wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

essexian wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

Stoke not included this year? Shock horror!

I personally would love a stage in Shropshire. Maybe start in Newport through to Telford. Then to Ironbridge up Jiggers Bank through to Wenlock and across Wenlock Edge to Stretton and up the Burway, Long Mynd, Stiperstones.

But that would require the local councils getting behind it which would require (i) Effort (ii) Money.

I am a little disappointed in there not being a Stoke stage this year living in Stafford as I do, but then they have been here every year since bikes were invented.... I suppose its about time they gave somewhere else a go.

As to a Shropshire stage, (edit...it wasn't Jiggers Bank but the next road along...sorry) I like the route you suggest would be great but why not end on a climb up the private road up to the top of Brown Clee Hill: now that would be a hill top finish (although difficult to get the go ahead I would think!)

Would cattle grids be allowed en route?

Whats up with cattlegrids ?

Just in case that Fat Pat and his cronies had some sort of prohibition on them being part of the course that nice Uncle Brian hadn't got round to reversing.

There are quite a few on hills in Shropshire.