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Tour of Britain 2011- 11th-18th September

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Reverend_T_Preedy

Feb 12, 2010
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The Tour of Britian starts this week (Sunday). Similar format of previous years with sprint stages, lumpy stages, long transfers and 6 man teams making it very hard to control. They have also added an ITT this year on the last day.

The stages are as follows:

Stage 1 (Sunday 11th)- Peebles to Dumfries (170km)
Stage 2 (Monday 12th)- Kendal to Blackpool (130km)
Stage 3 (Tuesday 13th)- Stoke to Stoke (150km)
Stage 4 (Wednesday 14th)- Welshpool to Caerphilly (180km)
Stage 5 (Thursday 15th)- Exeter to Exmouth (180km)
Stage 6 (Friday 16th)- Taunton to Wells (150km)
Stage 7 (Saturday 17th)- Bury St Edmunds to Sandringham (200km)
Stage 8a (Sunday 18th-am)- ITT- Central London (10km)
Stage 8b (Sunday 18th-pm)- Central London (80km)

Stages 1, 2, 7 and 8b are certain sprint stages. The Stoke on Trent stage is where a defining break went last year and is up and down all day.

Expect stage 4 to be the big day for GC as the climb of caerphilly mountain comes just 5km from the end of the stage.

Stage 5 will be so hard to defend as it's constantly up and down, however, there's a largely flat run into the finish.

Whoever is in contention when the race hits London will have a 10km ITT to contend with to decide the winner followed by the criterium circuit (back on their Westminster route again this year.

The route details can be found at http://www.tourofbritain.com/_ns_race/default.asp

The race probably has it's strongest line up yet.

Sprinters at the race include:
Thor Hushovd
Mark Cavendish
Ben Swift
Theo Bos
Michael Mathews
Robert Forster

Favourites for GC will probably be:
Geraint Thomas
Alex Dowsett
David Millar
Lars Boom
Linus Gerdeman
Jens Voigt
Rory Sutherland
Matt Brammeier

Ousiders for the win could be Jack Bauer (Endura), Pete Kennaugh (Sky), Dan Fleeman (Raleigh), Ian Bibby (Motorpoint), Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) and anyone from Europcar or Vaconsoleil.

Full startlist will be confirmed today but what they have so far is at http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjE5OTU= plus the HTC team of Mark Cavendish, Lars Bak, Matt Brammeier, Bernhard Eisel, Alex Rasmussen, Mark Renshaw
 
R

Reverend_T_Preedy

Feb 12, 2010
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The problem/great thing about the TOB is it's almost impossibel to predict who will win (EBH a couple of years ago the exception). The way te race is set up with the route, team size and time bonus' anyone could win really.

I could have listed 20 riders in with a chance of winning and even then someone else could win it.

With it being so close to the Worlds I would expect those competing to be on form so it'll be interesting to see what happens.
 
Sum_of_Marc

Sum_of_Marc

May 15, 2009
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Looking forward to this. Going to the Stoke and London stages, and hopefully we will see some good racing.

Swiss Tony said:
Are ITV4 covering the event again this year? cant see any conformation on the TOB site
Click to expand...

Yep. 7-8, every day.
 
Tank Engine

Tank Engine

Jul 16, 2011
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To win in the ToB, you need to be an all rounder and be able/have the luck to get into the right break(s), i.e. a lot of riders have a chance of winning this. Anyway, my man is probably as good a choice as anyone and I've been waiting a while to write this. Geraint ftw.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
There are full route details, with profiles and gps routes on teamskyfans

http://teamskyfans.com/tob.html

there is a slight difference in stage lengths as we include the neutral zone each day.

At the moment, I think this is the only place you can find profiles. (cant be bothered to link to each gps individually, someone else can do that, ive done enough work today)
 
Tank Engine

Tank Engine

Jul 16, 2011
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TeamSkyFans said:
There are full route details, with profiles and gps routes on teamskyfans

http://teamskyfans.com/tob.html

there is a slight difference in stage lengths as we include the neutral zone each day.

At the moment, I think this is the only place you can find profiles. (cant be bothered to link to each gps individually, someone else can do that, ive done enough work today)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Strange that the Scottish stage and the one skirting the lake district don't look to be that selective. I guess the middle stages will be crucial (looking forward to the Brecon Beacons and Cheddar). The East Anglian stage might be tough if there are cross winds (where did they find the KoM prime there?)
 
F

Fergoose

Aug 19, 2011
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Thanks for posting this, I might pop along for stage 1 and get faintly star struck seeing Hushovd, Cavendish & Voigt.

Tank Engine said:
Strange that the Scottish stage and the one skirting the lake district don't look to be that selective.
Click to expand...

Hard to think of many steep tarmac roads in the Scottish Borders actually despite it being a bit of a mountain bike Mecca (but yeah, near Dumfries I'm sure they could have pulled one out the bag). If they were tackling the Devil's Beef Tub northbound it might have been interesting depending on the wind direction. But really, molehills compared to what some of these guys are used to.
 
K

King Of The Wolds

May 19, 2011
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523
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I wouldn't rule out a bunch sprint on any stage, looking at the profiles, even the Welsh and Peak District stages.

That said, with teams of only 6 and some lumps on most stages, there's plenty of scope for breakaways also.

I think there's going to be some fun racing and I'd go for the overall winner to come from a day when the break stays away.
 
M

Mellow Velo

Mar 11, 2009
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The TOB is like an old boy's club. It's actually the Tour of the Usual Places; hardly Britain.
They had the option of a pretty tough Welsh stage but choose the skirt around the climbs route.
Just like the TDF, money talks.
 
Andy99

Andy99

Jul 30, 2009
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Mellow Velo said:
The TOB is like an old boy's club. It's actually the Tour of the Usual Places; hardly Britain.
They had the option of a pretty tough Welsh stage but choose the skirt around route.
Just like the TDF, money talks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, kind of a shame that the race relies on funding from host towns/councils etc. There is so much potential terrain that is missed out.

Still, at least it seems to be making the event sustainable, even in these lean times..
 
Dancing On The Pedals

Dancing On The Pedals

Aug 31, 2011
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Am thinking of going to the London stages - most easily accessible for me. Any suggestions from those who have been before on the best place to watch? The finish line, or as the ToB website says, the turn by the Tower, as the Peloton will have to slow right down?
Any help much appreciated!
 
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