Tour of Britain 2014
Comments
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Our plan is on the Exmouth - Exeter route, to go and watch them climb Haytor, then cycle back into Exeter to watch the finish, there should be plent yof time and we'll get to see the best climb of the route and the finish.0
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Sorry about the misinformation on Fish Hill - I've only visited that area a couple of times and misread the route map.
Ditchling Beacon should be a good climb for an attack if the bunch is still together at that point, and if I were Rob I think I'd choose that as a viewing point rather than the finish.0 -
andy_wrx wrote:Will it actually have any difficult hills ?
The problem is that it's a rolling-road closure event, and they've only got a limited number of motorbikes, so they can't have a field which fractures-up into multiple breaks with decent time gaps between them because they just can't keep the roads closed for long enough so they're forced to pick a relatively bland route which keeps the field together.
It'll be different in Swansea because it's essentially a closed-off circuit at the finish, so someone can break away at the end, but for the other stages, for the sake of the telly, a break will be allowed to go up the road but it'll only be two or three minutes and it'll be pulled-in again by the finish.
Bit pointless having a closed off circuit in Swansea, the closest the race gets to there is about 50 miles away!0 -
EnnBee wrote:TheFog wrote:Nice to see the benefit of the HC status of the race with a number of new teams entering the Tour of Britain;
Unofficial
Cannondale
Katusha
UHC
These teams won't be in this year's race, I'm told.
Which will be a shame if Cannondale aren't returning after 2 years attending.
Hope it doesn't result in the terrible teams of the Ride London.0 -
Teams confirmed - http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/news/101 ... -tU84BdVps - no Cannondale as predicted.
The reason why RideLondon didn't get a great field this year is because of its calendar position. It comes in between two WorldTour races, a lot of teams want to ride Utah/USA Pro because of the American market, and ultimately it's a long way to go for a one-day race. FDJ.fr said it was too much of a problem for them to do, even with the increased HC status and having the defending champion.
ToB list looks good. Some interesting names being mentioned, too. Looks like Brad won't be the only former winner taking part.0 -
See the French have chosen not to make the long journey. :roll:
Not even a French national team. :?: 0 -
Fairly standard practice for the French. They rarely go to HC stage races outside France/ASO. None in Denmark, none in USA Pro, none in California, just AG2R in Burgos & Trentino, only Cofidis in Austria & TurkeySpecialGuestStar wrote:See the French have chosen not to make the long journey. :roll: Not even a French national team. :?:Twitter: @RichN950 -
RichN95 wrote:
Fairly standard practice for the French. They rarely go to HC stage races outside France/ASO. None in Denmark, none in USA Pro, none in California, just AG2R in Burgos & Trentino, only Cofidis in Austria & TurkeySpecialGuestStar wrote:See the French have chosen not to make the long journey. :roll: Not even a French national team. :?:
Actually under the rules there couldn't be another national team - can't see why FdJ couldn't send a espoirs team with new signings or Bretagne - it is local and they must appreciate the level of support after the Tour0 -
All of the stage maps and GPX files seem to be on the website now if you are planning on going to watch.0
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mfin wrote:Some of the stages taking in different areas than last few editions, are there any stage profiles or lists of key climbs?
Perhaps it would actually be good if people who know the routes could bullet out the key climbs they know of on each stage with some %ages and lengths. That might help people who want to go see it who aren't local to any of the stages? Naming hills with not much info doesn't help much.
Hey, with your friendly atitude I am surprised people aren't falling over themselves to help you out with info.
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mfin wrote:Some of the stages taking in different areas than last few editions, are there any stage profiles or lists of key climbs?
Perhaps it would actually be good if people who know the routes could bullet out the key climbs they know of on each stage with some %ages and lengths. That might help people who want to go see it who aren't local to any of the stages? Naming hills with not much info doesn't help much.
Which isn't actually true (and if you 'do the math' actually doesn't even work out possible). In reality it is 4.8km and climbs 395m so an average gradient of 8.2% if you take the start of the climb as being the turn onto the road that leads up the climb. The start and end are flatter though so the central section of 3km is probably closer to 10%. Steepest parts are just after the 2nd hairpin where it is probably around 15%.0 -
EnnBee wrote:Teams confirmed - http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/news/101 ... -tU84BdVps - no Cannondale as predicted.
The reason why RideLondon didn't get a great field this year is because of its calendar position. It comes in between two WorldTour races, a lot of teams want to ride Utah/USA Pro because of the American market, and ultimately it's a long way to go for a one-day race. FDJ.fr said it was too much of a problem for them to do, even with the increased HC status and having the defending champion.
ToB list looks good. Some interesting names being mentioned, too. Looks like Brad won't be the only former winner taking part.
I doubt Contador will be involved though Roche has confirmed he's riding. Not sure who BMC will bring but Evans and Gilbert are both at the Vuelta.
Still a shame to see teams who have competed in ToB in recent years not return - Orica, Trek, Europcar, Cannondale and even Katusha and Ag2r who competed years ago.
Still, should be a good field.0 -
Looks like a decent route to me. Also it is passing within half a mile of my house, just to upset a certain person, so I can see the start, a short steep hill in Malvern, and also the finish in Bristol. Whats not to like. Cycle racing, Its finaly hit the mainstream in Britain. I know some of the cycling snobs wont like the fact but hey, more racing on the TV can only be a good thing.0
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Live coverage on ITV [probably 4] sounds intriguing0
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Think it was live last year wasn't it? Or was that only on Eurosport :?0
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I'm just annoyed that people are becoming interested in something that I liked first and which gave me an air of exclusivity and superiority. People then have the temerity to write on a public forum of all places that the thing I liked but now they do is going to happen near them and that that makes them happy.
It would be better for all concerned if we returned to the old days where cycling in Britain was regarded as an irrelevance and cyclists were seen as eccentrics who were lucky to be allowed on a roads but world probably get run over anyway.
Sheesh. :roll:0 -
Pross wrote:Think it was live last year wasn't it? Or was that only on Eurosport :?
Been live on ITV4 since 2012, Eurosport first showed it live in 2013.TheFog wrote:Still a shame to see teams who have competed in ToB in recent years not return - Orica, Trek, Europcar, Cannondale and even Katusha and Ag2r who competed years ago.
Orica are focusing on the WTTC, which is their reason for skipping.
Katusha listed the ToB in their programme at the start of the year, so not sure why they're not coming.
Europcar were dire in 2011, which didn't go down with their UK division.0 -
Just a heads up for anyone planning to watch Tuesday's finish on Le Tumble.
The climb itself will be closed from 4am, on the day, until after 6pm.
So, to access from that way, folks only have the pleasure of pedaling (or walking) up."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:Just a heads up for anyone planning to watch Tuesday's finish on Le Tumble.
The climb itself will be closed from 4am, on the day, until after 6pm.
So, to access from that way, folks only have the pleasure of pedaling (or walking) up.
Or parking in one of the secret car parks - still a walk or ride but a flat one
I'll be up there probably on the final part of the steep section after the cattle grid. It should be well split up by then and hopefully the winning move will go somewhere in that section.0 -
Hopefully this will be renamed 'Tour of England' next year after the vote on the 18th of Sept.0
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Glasgowbhoy wrote:Hopefully this will be renamed 'Tour of England' next year after the vote on the 18th of Sept.
Why? It's had a stage in Wales virtually every year and two last year and this year. Besides, we'll still be Britain - just a better version 0 -
Pross wrote:Glasgowbhoy wrote:Hopefully this will be renamed 'Tour of England' next year after the vote on the 18th of Sept.
Why? It's had a stage in Wales virtually every year and two last year and this year. Besides, we'll still be Britain - just a better version
Better for us anyway
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Glasgowbhoy wrote:Pross wrote:Glasgowbhoy wrote:Hopefully this will be renamed 'Tour of England' next year after the vote on the 18th of Sept.
Why? It's had a stage in Wales virtually every year and two last year and this year. Besides, we'll still be Britain - just a better version
Better for us anyway
I'm not sure the "No" campaign have made enough of the Scots losing the ability to moan about the ToB route after a "Yes" vote 0 -
Teams announced
http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/files/do ... erList.pdf
Omega and NetApp strong and should be a few Kittel vs Cav days.0 -
Pretty good line up from the WT teams bothering to show :roll:
How many days proper racing has Cav had this year? I suspect he will be a bit rusty but Kittel also very likely to be on the wind down anyway.0 -
They've only sprinted against each other twice all season. In Harrogate, when Cavendish crashed and at Vattefall where neither made the podium.mulletmaster wrote:Pretty good line up from the WT teams bothering to show :roll:
How many days proper racing has Cav had this year? I suspect he will be a bit rusty but Kittel also very likely to be on the wind down anyway.Twitter: @RichN950 -
RichN95 wrote:
They've only sprinted against each other twice all season. In Harrogate, when Cavendish crashed and at Vattefall where neither made the podium.mulletmaster wrote:Pretty good line up from the WT teams bothering to show :roll:
How many days proper racing has Cav had this year? I suspect he will be a bit rusty but Kittel also very likely to be on the wind down anyway.
Genuine question, has he had any wins against other top sprinters since last year’s Tour ?0 -
Cavendish?inseine wrote:Genuine question, has he had any wins against other top sprinters since last year’s Tour ?
Second & Third in his wins this year are:
Demare & Coquard
Petacchi & Sagan
Viviani & Bos
Chicchi & Bonifazio
Richeze & Renshaw
Degenkolb & Hofland
Degenkolb & Sagan
Lobato & Sagan
Daniel & Jans
Sanz & Manzin
So no Greipel or Bouhanni, but he's not lost to them either - he's not been in a single race with Bouhanni and not been in a race with Greipel where they were both in the top ten.
Riders who have won sprint stages where Cavendish was top three are: Viviani (twice) and Nicola RuffoniTwitter: @RichN950
