Tag: Tour of Britain

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Strong Brit Line-up for Sky ToB

ToB Sky SquadTeam Sky have announced their line up for the Tour of Britain (September 11-18) with Welshman Geraint Thomas leading the squad. The 25-year-old Olympic Gold Medallist takes his place after a blistering display at the Tour de France that saw him resplendent in the young rider’s white jersey from Stage One to Seven and with a total of three top-ten finishes. Thomas will be joined by his fellow Le Tour team-mate Ben Swift – a Tour of Britain stage-winner for Team Katusha back in 2009 – and fellow Brits Peter Kennaugh and Alex Dowsett, the latter having just taken his first pro win at the Tour du Poitou. The six-man squad is completed by the Australian duo of Michael Rogers (a double Tour of Britain top-ten finisher) and Mathew Hayman, a member of the 2010 Tour of Britain squad. Thomas’s inclusion marks his sixth ToB edition; he has finished sixth and 12th in the last two years.

 

ToB race director Mick Bennett has commented on the squad: “The announcement of such a strong Team Sky line-up clearly sends a message that the team is serious about winning the Tour of Britain. In Geraint, Ben, Alex and Peter they have four of the finest British cyclists currently racing, all of whom are more than capable of winning The Tour of Britain.”

 

 

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London ITT Announced

Tour of BritainSweetSpot Group, the organisers of The Tour of Britain (September 11-18) have announced that the final day’s racing in London will be a split-stage with the morning’s action featuring an Individual Time Trial, the first for six years. The 10k ITT will, like the afternoon’s closing circuit, start and end at Whitehall. Although a final line up of riders is some way off from being announced, it goes without saying that the inclusion of the Stage 8a ITT will clearly give the likes of Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) and SKY duo Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas a chance to become the first British winner since the event was rebooted in 2004.

 

Commenting on the announcement of the split-stage Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett says, “We are very excited about the route for the 2011 Tour of Britain, particularly with the inclusion of the final day time trial in the very heart of London.”

 

The confirmed stages now stand as:
Stage 1 (September 11) Peebles – Dumfries
Stage 2 (September 12) Kendal – Blackpool
Stage 3 (September 13) Stoke-on-Trent Circuit
Stage 4 (September 14) Welshpool – Caerphilly
Stage 5 (September 15) Exeter – Exmouth
Stage 6 (September 16) Taunton – Wells
Stage 7 (September 17) Bury St Edmunds – Sandringham

Stage 8a (September 18) London Individual Time Trial

Stage 8b (September 18) London Circuit

 

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Tour of Britain set for Whitehall Finish

The Tour of Britain – our biggest professional cycle race and largest free-to-spectate sporting event – is set for another triumphant London finish this year, following the success of the 2008 and 2009 events that took in the same final day loop incorporating Victoria Embankment and finishing in Whitehall.

 

The 2010 finish was hosted by Newham Council when the Pope’s visit prevented the use of central London locations, but with his Holiness safely back in the Vatican, Mayor of London (and renowned caped cycling crusader) Boris Johnson was free to comment, “The Tour of Britain is a fantastic event and I am thrilled to be able to support it.  I would urge Londoners and visitors to turn out and cheer on the cyclists as they whizz past some of the capital’s iconic landmarks…”

 

With the World Championships in Copenhagen just a week after The Tour of Britain, the event can be considered something of a dress rehearsal with the world’s greatest sprinters going toe-to-toe, and if all that excitement weren’t enough there is also an opportunity for the great unwashed public (yes, you!) to take to the saddle and ride the course in advance in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride London. Details will be available soon at www.tourride.co.uk

 

Tour of Britain takes place September 11-18