MartinGT said:I have looked on the webby and it only shows a few teams ... When will a list of riders be up and if now, where can I find em?
Cheers?
Jamsque said:Yeah, the ToB isn't an upstart like Cali that claims to be bigger than it is. It's a small race, sitting in a fairly inconspicuous part of the calendar, and it does exactly what it is supposed to do: lets some of the smaller British squads get a good showing and provide some entertaining racing for the British public.
I haven't looked at the route for this year, but I'm hoping they've at least made an effort to put some difficult stages in this year. In the past I think the race has really suffered from a lack of climbing, although given Britain's geography the race organisers have a tough task.
Libertine Seguros said:Jamsque - the Black Mountain is pretty decent, but as you say, too far away from the finish.
luckyboy said:A bit off-topic, but do British Continental rank teams (Motorpoint, Rapha Condor) ever race in Europe? I only ever hear of them or see them on Eurosport in UK/Premier Calendar races.
Dekker_Tifosi said:I would like to add, before ACF does, I also think the ENECO Tour is pretty worthlessand not better than britain or TDU
Did you watch the wilunga stage this year? The crowds were amazing. It was alpe d'huez esque!Dekker_Tifosi said:The TDU and the Tour of Britain are equally worthless ACF.
At least. I think I don't speak for myself when I say most people couldn't care less about TDU
ruswilks said:From what I remember, the problem with the route selection comes from the fact each stage is sponsored/organised to an extent by the local Regional Development Agency, who effectively buy a stage. Hence having two stages in Devon/Somerset, two in East Anglia etc whilst nothing in the North East, Scotland, and the central southern area of England (Midlands, home countries, Beds, Wilts, Hampshire etc). Again, the profiles are dictated by them, the RDAs want to showcase the towns and cities in their area, which leads to boring profiles.
British Cycling/ToB organisers need to find a way of mixing up the route within the existing organisational system, or find a new funding program which isn't so dependent on local authorities. There are also issues with road closures in the UK, the police just don't like doing it, so I imagine that plays a part in route selection - even the National TT Championship last year was run on open roads!
ruswilks said:From what I remember, the problem with the route selection comes from the fact each stage is sponsored/organised to an extent by the local Regional Development Agency, who effectively buy a stage. Hence having two stages in Devon/Somerset, two in East Anglia etc whilst nothing in the North East, Scotland, and the central southern area of England (Midlands, home countries, Beds, Wilts, Hampshire etc). Again, the profiles are dictated by them, the RDAs want to showcase the towns and cities in their area, which leads to boring profiles.
British Cycling/ToB organisers need to find a way of mixing up the route within the existing organisational system, or find a new funding program which isn't so dependent on local authorities. There are also issues with road closures in the UK, the police just don't like doing it, so I imagine that plays a part in route selection - even the National TT Championship last year was run on open roads!
auscyclefan94 said:Did you watch the wilunga stage this year? The crowds were amazing. It was alpe d'huez esque!
1. Has a better field!
2. Don't deprive my attempt of a dig at britain's attenpt of trying to create a quality race.
auscyclefan94 said:WE are going to see some of the big mtn passes of the world with a high quality field in the tour of britainia!
This race is no match for the tdu especially with having guys like Armstrong, Evans and Valverde in there.
Dekker_Tifosi said:The TDU and the Tour of Britain are equally worthless ACF.
At least. I think I don't speak for myself when I say most people couldn't care less about TDU
auscyclefan94 said:2. Don't deprive my attempt of a dig at britain's attenpt of trying to create a quality race.
The Hitch said:Nah, the TDU is much better than the tour of britain. The points system for races, which the UCI created does make a difference. They give the tour down under 100 points, same as the Paris Nice, Tour of Romandie, Pais Vasco etc. Since cycling relies a lot on tradition, and since it takes place earlier in the year, the TDU wont ever be as good as those races, but the points system certainatly raises its profile.
In Tennis Wimbledon used to be the most important grand slam, way better than the others. But for a while now the point system in tennis has given equal points to all the grand slams. Now they are seen as pretty much of the same importance. A gs is a gs, doesnt matter which one. If the gov body keeps saying that races are equal, they will keep moving closer to eachother in importance.
As for the tour of britain, that is not currently an important race. Britain, or at least england, is a country quite hostile to road cycling. For the race to improve, Britain would need some "darling of the public" to compete and raise the interest of the sport. It seems that it would need to be gc contender fighting for the yellow jersey. However perhaps Cav, if he wins the green jersey, the world championships and most importantly, the 2012 olympics. Those would be 3 seperate cav road cycling stories that would make the back/ front pages of the newspapers, and they would make him one of britains best known faces. Then, Britian would take road cycling more seriously, and take the steps needed to make it a bigger race.
luckyboy said:A bit off-topic, but do British Continental rank teams (Motorpoint, Rapha Condor) ever race in Europe? I only ever hear of them or see them on Eurosport in UK/Premier Calendar races.