Velothon Wales

[VO2 Max]

Unfortunately the race itself is just an after thought to justify the big closed-road sportive raking in cash from the mamils. So it needs to be in a reasonably sized city that can accommodate 10k fee paying customers. And large parts of the finale are routed on the bypasses rather than the interesting roads so there's less inconvenience to residents when they're shut all day for the 'slightly slower' riders. Almost all their website, and all the press coverage, is about the sportive.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Dion Smith is incredibly consistent. He's finished top 30 in almost every race (GC + stages) he's done since September 2014!

I'm a fan.

 

[TMP402]

Unfortunately the race itself is just an after thought to justify the big closed-road sportive raking in cash from the mamils. So it needs to be in a reasonably sized city that can accommodate 10k fee paying customers. And large parts of the finale are routed on the bypasses rather than the interesting roads so there's less inconvenience to residents when they're shut all day for the 'slightly slower' riders. Almost all their website, and all the press coverage, is about the sportive.

Well now I understand it. I still don't get why Team Sky aren't there for a rare British race though. This should/might as well be a 1.2 race if no top teams ever attend, only ONE are even going to show up from the second division, and there's about as much publicity as for the Velothon My Street.

 

[kwikki]

Velothon is primarily a sportive for 18000 riders paying £65 each, on closed roads. I'd never heard of it until recently when I met a young (22) rider on the commute and chatted as we rode. He told me he was training for a race he was doing that weekend. Turns out it was the sportive he was doing but he insisted it was a race. I suppose with the potential for about £1.2 million in entry fees it really is about the sportive, rather than the pro race.