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Tour of Britain 5-12 September 2021

Mostly I'll be looking out for the stunning landscapes and sights in this race. It's a beautiful route, starting in the east of Cornwall, passing through the Dartmoor National Park, the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Snowdonia, the Lake District and the North Pennines, Edinburgh and over the Cairn o'Mount.

ToB_national_map_2021.jpg


In profiles:


2:
ToB_S2_profile_final.jpg


Team time trial on stage 3:
ToB_S3_profile_final.jpg


4:
ToB_S4_profile_final.jpg


5:
ToB_S5_profile_final.jpg


6:


7:


8:
ToB_S8_profile_final.jpg


Van Aert and Alaphilippe will go head to head and prepare for the Worlds - and Ineos will try to show off in their "home Tour". Other participents are for instance Dan Martin, Marc Soler, Tobias Foss, Mikkel Honoré, Ben Tulett and Giro stage winner Mauro Schmid.
Mark Cavendish is there for the sprints.
Startlist:

More specific profiles to come, but please feel free to add some if you want to.
 
Stage 1 has a hill of 650 metres at 6.6% ending at 2.9k to go, then (as per the official site) ending with 700 metres at 4%, but with a short section up to 13% early on.

Stage 2 features the first major climb of the race, Rundlestone, at about 50 kilometres from the line.

rundelstone-tor-tavistock.png


The Stage 3 TT is mostly flattish, but ends with some climbing.

vRGuiAw.png


Stage 4, the queen stage, has the climb to Bwlch Llyn Bach (good luck pronouncing that one, commentators) early on...

CaderS.gif


...then takes on the easy side of Eidda's Well in its second half...

FfynnonEiddaW.gif


...then ends with two climbs in Llandudno, first the Marine Drive, which is the initial 4.4 kilometres of the profile below...

the-great-orme-llandudno.png


...before finishing atop the Great Orme, a 1.9 kilometre climb that averages 9.8% as per the official site, but with the first 900 metres at 14.1%. It seems to get pretty irregular after that, sadly I have no profile...

Stage 5 is much easier, but still features some (brilliantly-named, as usual with this race) decent climbs. I don't have a profile for any of those, but I do have one for the uncategorised (and arguably harder) climbing ahead of the Bottom-of-the-Oven, which is the first 9 kilometres of the profile below.

CatAndFiddleSE.gif


Stage 6 has some longer climbs ahead of a punchy finale. The Hartside Pass is the longest climb of the day...

HartsideW.gif


...but not the hardest. This is Killhope Cross, just after it...

KillhopeW.gif


...which in turn backs into Burtree Fell, the final 2.9k of the profile below.

AllendaleS.gif


The finale features three hills, the final of which is the finish. We start with Busty Bank (I swear I haven't made up the name)...

fzoL494.png


...followed by the easier Pennyfine Road...

pennyfine-road-sunniside.png


...then finishing at the Angel of the North, with the final 2.2 kilometres at 3.1%. The road flattens towards the finish.

Stage 7 is the most straightforward of the lot, no profiles here.

Stage 8 features one last hard climb, Cairn o'Mount, but it's too early to do anything.

CairnOMountS.gif


There's some interesting things to do with both Edinburgh and Aberdeen as finish locations, but both stages will be flat sprints. The upside is that it forces aggressive racing on Stage 6.
 
Great Orme from memory has a rather flat part a bit after the houses are over and then a ramp up to the end after the old copper mine.

One thing to keep in mind is that it can get very windy at the top, but I think there is some shelter from the tramway embankment, so probably riders won't get blown off the road.
 
Stage 1 has a hill of 650 metres at 6.6% ending at 2.9k to go, then (as per the official site) ending with 700 metres at 4%, but with a short section up to 13% early on.

Stage 2 features the first major climb of the race, Rundlestone, at about 50 kilometres from the line.

rundelstone-tor-tavistock.png


The Stage 3 TT is mostly flattish, but ends with some climbing.

vRGuiAw.png


Stage 4, the queen stage, has the climb to Bwlch Llyn Bach (good luck pronouncing that one, commentators) early on...

CaderS.gif


...then takes on the easy side of Eidda's Well in its second half...

FfynnonEiddaW.gif


...then ends with two climbs in Llandudno, first the Marine Drive, which is the initial 4.4 kilometres of the profile below...

the-great-orme-llandudno.png


...before finishing atop the Great Orme, a 1.9 kilometre climb that averages 9.8% as per the official site, but with the first 900 metres at 14.1%. It seems to get pretty irregular after that, sadly I have no profile...

Stage 5 is much easier, but still features some (brilliantly-named, as usual with this race) decent climbs. I don't have a profile for any of those, but I do have one for the uncategorised (and arguably harder) climbing ahead of the Bottom-of-the-Oven, which is the first 9 kilometres of the profile below.

CatAndFiddleSE.gif


Stage 6 has some longer climbs ahead of a punchy finale. The Hartside Pass is the longest climb of the day...

HartsideW.gif


...but not the hardest. This is Killhope Cross, just after it...

KillhopeW.gif


...which in turn backs into Burtree Fell, the final 2.9k of the profile below.

AllendaleS.gif


The finale features three hills, the final of which is the finish. We start with Busty Bank (I swear I haven't made up the name)...

fzoL494.png


...followed by the easier Pennyfine Road...

pennyfine-road-sunniside.png


...then finishing at the Angel of the North, with the final 2.2 kilometres at 3.1%. The road flattens towards the finish.

Stage 7 is the most straightforward of the lot, no profiles here.

Stage 8 features one last hard climb, Cairn o'Mount, but it's too early to do anything.

CairnOMountS.gif


There's some interesting things to do with both Edinburgh and Aberdeen as finish locations, but both stages will be flat sprints. The upside is that it forces aggressive racing on Stage 6.

Thank you so much Devil, there's nothing left for me to do.
 
Unusually for this time of year the Tour of Britain will be ridden in mostly glorious, warm, dry weather according to the experts.
We are told there is going to be a sudden mini-heatwave, resulting in temperatures in the mid to late 20's.
Should be great.
 

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