Tour of Britain 2011- 11th-18th September

[Chris L]

Shall be out on Stage 3 in Stoke...looking forward to it.

For London vantage points, I found a brilliant spot a few years ago at the bottom of Lambeth Hill just as the race comes out of Blackfriars underpass. It was utterly deserted and footbridge nearby means you can hop over to watch both sides. Only downside is the pace is quite high!
http://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=Lamb...=ihYwtHrYygohxDvg5Y5NGg&cbp=11,219.02,,0,7.16

ToB is getting stronger line ups each year. Always provides a few surprises due to the small team sizes. Watching Johnny Hoogerland attack for KoM points day after day last year was pretty good entertainment, as was Sky stuffing up the race. Oops.

Its definitely a warm up race for the Worlds, or else you wouldn't be seeing Cav there.

 

[Moncoutie]

Up at my sisters now near Peebles, will watch the 1st stage & planning to follow the race south & catch the stages at Blackpool & Stoke. Looking forward to it!

 

[Anonymous]

Also interesting when you look at the last three years and the riders that have come to everyones attention in the ToB.

last year, Hoogerland (Mountains jersey)
2009, De Ghent (Points and Mountains jerseys)
2008, Boasson Hagen (3 stages and Sprints competition)

Yes, they had all had wins prior to the ToB, but for a lot of fans, certainly british ones, this was the first time they had really seen them show their class.

That also kinda kicks the weak field argument into touch.

Be interesting to see who this years breakout star is.

 

[RedheadDane]

No big guns?

HTC - Cavendish and Bak

He's a big gun? I guess he is... just never thought about him as such. Rather as the guy who spends an insane amount of time pulling the peloton or maybe in a break...

---

It's sad it's prolly not live. No matter how small or big or whatever it is.

 

[Euskaltel!]

I'll be at the Welsh stage, gonna cycle from Abergavenny to Brecon before heading up the King of the Mountains.. (basically a big boring A road...). Anyone else gonna be there?

 

[Sum_of_Marc]

In terms of London viewing points, I always find Crits more fun when walking around the circuit, seeing the race from various different viewpoints. I want to be in the Start/Westminster area for the TT, but for the RR, to wander up and down the route - get plenty of chances to see them, 8 laps in both directions.

Im not sure where in Stoke I want to go though - not much point being on the finish line, because if its the same finish as in the past, you really dont get to see much, they just appear round the turn and cross the line.

 

[El Pistolero]

No big guns?

HTC - Cavendish and Bak
Endura (conti) - Bauer
Leopard - Voigt and Gerdemman
Topsport - Cornu
Rabobank - Boom and Bos
Vacon - de Gent\
Sky - Thomas, Swift
Europcar - Chartreau
Garmin - Hushovd, Dean
Utd Healthcare - Forster, Van Poppel

Youve got the world champion, green jersey winner from the Tour as well as numerous major stage winners.

Better team lineups that some races.

As for the season warm down, its certainly not a holiday like California etc and theres certainly not all the partying etc. In fact, its a surprise to a lot of riders how tough it is. Not often Haussler quits a race knackered.

It is certainly a better race than ATOC.

Bak is not a big gun, hardly ever wins. He's a domestique pur sang. Cav only rides ToB because of a disappointing Vuelta. Who the hell is Bauer? Cornu is not a big gun. Hushovd is only riding this because he wasn't allowed to ride the Vuelta. All of the other names I didn't mention are sub top at best.

 

[Midnightfright]

Also interesting when you look at the last three years and the riders that have come to everyones attention in the ToB.

last year, Hoogerland (Mountains jersey)
2009, De Ghent (Points and Mountains jerseys)
2008, Boasson Hagen (3 stages and Sprints competition)

Yes, they had all had wins prior to the ToB, but for a lot of fans, certainly british ones, this was the first time they had really seen them show their class.

That also kinda kicks the weak field argument into touch.

Be interesting to see who this years breakout star is.

Maybe that Cavendish chap will be able to prove himself.

 

[Tuarts]

Of course its a weak field, the fact you can name a handful of individuals and get defensive about it and acf's trolling just proves so. What do people expect though? Not that it's necessarily a bad thing either. Not every race has to descend into a ****ing contest and every race has its own uniqueness.

Just because you think a team from League One is playing great football doesn't mean you think they're comparable to Barcelona.

 

[Animal]

Another edition of the Tour de Bore.

Race comes nowhere near centres of population where there might be an audience for fear of peeving the Great BritishBrattish Motorist.

Break gets away in stage one, teams can't be ar$ed to chase because they don't give a shi-ite about this race. Break gets five minutes, and the winner is some random who lucked out and was in that break.

Huge yawns all round.

 

[Andy99]

Another edition of the Tour de Bore.

Race comes nowhere near centres of population where there might be an audience for fear of peeving the Great BritishBrattish Motorist.

Break gets away in stage one, teams can't be ar$ed to chase because they don't give a shi-ite about this race. Break gets five minutes, and the winner is some random who lucked out and was in that break.

Huge yawns all round.

Huge yawns. Says a tester.

How was the A1 this morning?

 

[Midnightfright]

Of course its a weak field, the fact you can name a handful of individuals and get defensive about it and acf's trolling just proves so. What do people expect though? Not that it's necessarily a bad thing either. Not every race has to descend into a ****ing contest and every race has its own uniqueness.

Just because you think a team from League One is playing great football doesn't mean you think they're comparable to Barcelona.

Excatly well put.

 

[osborn99]

Looked at Mondays forecast, 35 mph winds, think that's the average so could be higher.

High winds mean water from the Irish sea will get on the roads where they finish in Blackpool. Don't be surprised if it's cancelled.

 

[Kazistuta]

Of course its a weak field, the fact you can name a handful of individuals and get defensive about it and acf's trolling just proves so. What do people expect though? Not that it's necessarily a bad thing either. Not every race has to descend into a ****ing contest and every race has its own uniqueness.

Just because you think a team from League One is playing great football doesn't mean you think they're comparable to Barcelona.

Was about to write something myself, but this sums up my thoughts exactly.
I never understood why people have to get so defensive of their national races. The highlighted part is the key words, no need to compare.

 

[Anonymous]

Another edition of the Tour de Bore.

Race comes nowhere near centres of population where there might be an audience for fear of peeving the Great BritishBrattish Motorist.

Break gets away in stage one, teams can't be ar$ed to chase because they don't give a shi-ite about this race. Break gets five minutes, and the winner is some random who lucked out and was in that break.

Huge yawns all round.

its been a fair few years since a breakaway decided the winner of this race. Pederson in 2006 if i remember correctly.

The reason it goes to certain cities is because certain local authorities are more enthusiastic about cycling, and some of them (exeter, and I think stoke) are cycling demonstration cities that receive extra funding from central government to improve cycling facilities and promote cycling. For instance the Devon stage from Exeter to Exmouth is being run to celebrate the finishing of the cycle route between the two towns, so that the public will be able to watch the start in exeter, and then ride the 13k cycle route to exmouth where they can see the finish.

The other reason it doesnt do major city centres is because the Tob is the sister event of the Tour series. A 12 round spring criterium series that takes place in CITY CENTRES (and they shut down sections of the city centres from lunchtime to late evening to allow for the racing). So the cities have their cycling, the more rural areas get the tour of britain.

Sorry, but your post is wildly innacurate.

im not a huge fan of the tour of britain, i think it skirts some great climbs and amazing countryside rather than going up the damn things, and im not sure about the final day time trial, although i appreciate that from an organisers point of view its a great spectacle for the public and opens the opportunity to do support events etc.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Been checking those wind speeds for the next couple of days.
Tomorrow it's up around the 35mph mark, (55kph) so not quite as rough as anticipated early in the week.
SW direction, so possible crosswind, but not from the tail.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Just found out that there will be daily highlights of this in Australia.

 

[Sum_of_Marc]

Race comes nowhere near centres of population where there might be an audience for fear of peeving the Great BritishBrattish Motorist.

Yeh, its odd how they dont go to London at all isnt it? Oh, wait ...

its been a fair few years since a breakaway decided the winner of this race. Pederson in 2006 if i remember correctly.

Well technically last year was decided by the Stoke stage, with some riders gaining a good 10 minutes. Of course, the battle was then played out between those riders on other stages, so not exactly a formality.

 

[TeoSheva]

when the stage will finish?

 

[JRanton]

Foul weather according to twitter and even worse at the finish line.

God of Thunder FTW

 

[Moondance]

Also interesting when you look at the last three years and the riders that have come to everyones attention in the ToB.

last year, Hoogerland (Mountains jersey)
2009, De Ghent (Points and Mountains jerseys)
2008, Boasson Hagen (3 stages and Sprints competition)

Yes, they had all had wins prior to the ToB, but for a lot of fans, certainly british ones, this was the first time they had really seen them show their class.

That also kinda kicks the weak field argument into touch.

Be interesting to see who this years breakout star is.

2009 Vuelta & Giro di Lombardia, anyone?

 

[Animal]

Huge yawns. Says a tester.

How was the A1 this morning?

Rolleyes yourself ar$ehole.

I imagine the A1 was boring.

 

[3wheeler]

Theres Been a Crash.. !!

http://twitter.com/#!/tourofbritain

 

[ferryman]

Theres Been a Crash.. !!

How do you know?

Edit - just saw the link.

Cheers

 

[ferryman]

Voigt has abandoned