Tour of Britain 2017

Looking foward to todays stage monday. Should be tasty.Shame Cav is probably out of the podium after his horror day yesterday.Always nice to see some beautiful UK scenary on the Tour of Britain

My goodness, but how inept the presenters are. They make Paul Sherwen sound erudite.

Where is this beautiful scenery of which you speak? Flat dull landscapes in a sea of grey is all I have seen so far.

The race commissars are very strict - Boasson Hagen 'relegated' after finished first in the sprint finish, and the Stage 2 race win awarded to Viviani who also takes top GC honours... for the time being : )

Stage 3 is still in progress as i write this, it looks wet and breezy out there!

General Classification after Stage 2
ITA  1  VIVIANI, Elia (SKY)                              9:50:35
AUS  2  EWAN, Caleb (ORICA - SCOTT)                         +  4
NOR  3  BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA)              +  7
POL  4  DOMAGALSKI, Karol (ONE PRO CYCLING)                 +  8
SUI  5  DILLIER, Silvan (BMC RACING)                        +  9
POL  6  GRADEK, Kamil (ONE PRO CYCLING)                  
COL  7  GAVIRIA RENDON, Fernando (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)      + 10
NED  8  BOOM, Lars (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)                       + 12
NOR  9  KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA ALPECIN)               + 14
CZE  10 ŠTYBAR, Zdenek (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)  

Thanks Debs for your latest update.Really appreciate the effort you put in.

Looking foward to watching the highlights after work tonight and of cause the Vuelta  Time trail which Froome has got to be the favourite.Got a good feeling about Froome winning his first Vuelta - Hope so it will be very historic for UK cycling.As for the Tour of Britain have'nt a clue who will in it

Still 5 stages to go, anything can happen, and it probably will.

Stage 4: Mansfield to Newark-On-Trent tomorrow, lets hope it's not raining!  : )

Stage 3 Results
AUS  1  EWAN, Caleb (ORICA - SCOTT)                      4:04:05
NOR  2  BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA)           
NOR  3  KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA ALPECIN)            
AUS  4  JONES, Brenton (JLT CONDOR)                      
DEN  5  SCHMIDT, Mads Würtz (KATUSHA ALPECIN)            
ITA  6  PASQUALON, Andrea (WANTY - GROUPE GOBERT)        
ITA  7  VIVIANI, Elia (SKY)                              
BEL  8  GILBERT, Philippe (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)          
ITA  9  BENNATI, Daniele (MOVISTAR)                      
BEL  10 MAES, Nikolas (LOTTO SOUDAL)                     
GER  11 MARTIN, Tony (KATUSHA ALPECIN)                   
NED  12 VAN BAARLE, Dylan (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)            
CZE  13 ŠTYBAR, Zdenek (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)             
ESP  14 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (MOVISTAR)              
SUI  15 KÜNG, Stefan (BMC RACING)                        
NED  16 GROENEWEGEN, Dylan (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)            
NZL  17 SMITH, Dion (WANTY - GROUPE GOBERT)              
NED  18 GERTS, Floris (BMC RACING)                       
IRL  19 TEGGART, Matthew (AN POST CHAIN REACTION)        
COL  20 GAVIRIA RENDON, Fernando (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)   

General Classification after Stage 3
AUS  1  EWAN, Caleb (ORICA - SCOTT)                      13:54:34
ITA  2  VIVIANI, Elia (SKY)                                  +  6
NOR  3  BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA)               +  7
POL  4  DOMAGALSKI, Karol (ONE PRO CYCLING)                  + 14
SUI  5  DILLIER, Silvan (BMC RACING)                         + 15
POL  6  GRADEK, Kamil (ONE PRO CYCLING)                  
NOR  7  KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA ALPECIN)                + 16
COL  8  GAVIRIA RENDON, Fernando (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)   
NED  9  BOOM, Lars (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)                        + 18
CZE  10 ŠTYBAR, Zdenek (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)                 + 20

shuggy posted:

The coverage of the Tour of Britain on ITV4 is definitely a let down, it is lacklustre ,downbeat and leaves the viewer reaching for the off switch. Although the event came through my area (Scottish Borders) on Sunday, I enjoyed watching the Vuelta coverage far more than the ToB.

There is nothing wrong with the scenery in our very beautiful, green, lush country, and the Scottish Borders is a great area in which to cycle. We just cannot match the scenic grandeur of the high mountains of Spain.

Regarding the exuberance of the race fans, I haven't seen anything on the Vuelta, Giro or TdF which matched the exuberance of the British fans on the Cote de Buttertubs or Cote de Holme Moss when the Tour started in Yorkshire a few years ago. I was there, and was astounded at the support for the event.

It would seem that the world tours get the slick articulate commentators with an entertaining and polished professional panache of providing cycle race coverage and local interest information. I agree the ToB coverage is a bit limp in comparison. 

IMO the ToB is also blighted with wet or miserable overcast weather, it don't just look gloomy but probably prevents many peoples from venturing  out to spectate.  We could do with some British autumn sunshine : )

I haven't analysed the remaining Tour stages but i hope we get some hilly courses to give the climbers a chance. seems to be a sprinter eccentric Tour so far in.

Spoiler Alert: just watching Stage 4 in progress live on ITV4 - two competitors; James Lowsley Williams (Bike-Channel Canyon) and Bryan Lewis (Cylance Pro Cycling) have just been disqualified and thrown out of the Tour for cycling on a pavement [how very jolly British!] although there was no apparent danger - no spectators or pedestrians for miles! 

Debs

Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.com/n...#pPQv4Kd1KfYIWrq2.99

Thursdays Stage 5 was a 16 km individual time trial.

Good to see Geraint Thomas is well on the mend from his TdF injury : )

Stage 5 Results
NED  1  BOOM, Lars (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)                 19:02
BEL  2  CAMPENAERTS, Victor (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)        +    6
BLR  3  KIRYIENKA, Vasil (SKY)                        +    7
SUI  4  KÜNG, Stefan (BMC RACING)                     +    8
NED  5  VAN EMDEN, Jos (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)             +   11
GER  6  MARTIN, Tony (KATUSHA ALPECIN)                +   12
POL  7  KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (SKY)                     +   17
GBR  8  THOMAS, Geraint (SKY)                         
GBR  9  DOWSETT, Alex (MOVISTAR)                      +   21
AUS  10 DURBRIDGE, Luke (ORICA - SCOTT)               
IRL  11 MULLEN, Ryan (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)              +   25
SLO  12 ROGLIČ, Primož (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)             
GBR  13 DOULL, Owain (SKY)                            +   26
GBR  14 TANFIELD, Harry (BIKE CHANNEL CANYON)         
AUS  15 HEPBURN, Michael (ORICA - SCOTT)              +   29
NOR  16 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA)        +   30
POL  17 BIALOBLOCKI, Marcin (CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE)   +   32
NED  18 VAN BAARLE, Dylan (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)         +   40
USA  19 ROSSKOPF, Joseph (BMC RACING)                 +   41
DEN  20 SCHMIDT, Mads Würtz (KATUSHA ALPECIN)         
ESP  21 CASTROVIEJO, Jonathan (MOVISTAR)              
GER  22 POLITT, Nils (KATUSHA ALPECIN)                +   43
ESP  23 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (MOVISTAR)           +   46
GBR  24 GULLEN, James (JLT CONDOR)                    +   48
GBR  25 GEOGHEGAN HART, Tao (SKY)                     
SLO  26 TRATNIK, Jan (CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE)          +   49
NZL  27 BEVIN, Patrick (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)            +   52
BEL  28 DE PLUS, Laurens (QUICK - STEP FLOORS)        +   53
SUI  29 DILLIER, Silvan (BMC RACING)                  +   57
GER  30 KLUGE, Roger (ORICA - SCOTT)                  + 1:00

General Classification after Stage 5
NED  1  BOOM, Lars (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)            17:57:25
BEL  2  CAMPENAERTS, Victor (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)       +  8
BLR  3  KIRYIENKA, Vasil (SKY)                       +  9
SUI  4  KÜNG, Stefan (BMC RACING)                    + 10
NED  5  VAN EMDEN, Jos (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)            + 13
GER  6  MARTIN, Tony (KATUSHA ALPECIN)               + 14
POL  7  KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (SKY)                    + 19
NOR  8  BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA)   
GBR  9  THOMAS, Geraint (SKY)                    
GBR  10 DOWSETT, Alex (MOVISTAR)                     + 23
IRL  11 MULLEN, Ryan (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)             + 27
SLO  12 ROGLIČ, Primož (LOTTO NL - JUMBO)        
GBR  13 DOULL, Owain (SKY)                           + 28
AUS  14 HEPBURN, Michael (ORICA - SCOTT)             + 31
NED  15 VAN BAARLE, Dylan (CANNONDALE DRAPAC)        + 42
USA  16 ROSSKOPF, Joseph (BMC RACING)                + 43
DEN  17 SCHMIDT, Mads Würtz (KATUSHA ALPECIN)    
ESP  18 CASTROVIEJO, Jonathan (MOVISTAR)         
GER  19 POLITT, Nils (KATUSHA ALPECIN)               + 45
ESP  20 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (MOVISTAR)          + 48

3 Stages to go:

Stage 6, Friday September 8, Newmarket – Aldeburgh,  183km
Stage 7, Saturday September 9, Hemel Hempstead – Cheltenham, 186km
Stage 8, Sunday September 10, Worcester – Cardiff, 180km

Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.com/n...#kvUjATDIJbVBMio3.99

Well it's over now and was rather disappointing, probably not helped by running concurrently with a truly wonderful Vuelta.  All the potential was there with a good entry of some big names but they really didn't show up. Mark Cavendish, Geraint Jones, and Dan Martin were largely anonymous apart from G in the time trial - were they all recovering from injury?  I don't understand how people like Philippe Gilbert and Tony Martin can win stages on the TdF  yet only show brief ineffectual flashes on the ToB.

What really killed it for me was the course - KOM surely stands for King of the Molehills. There were way too many flat stages and no real hills at all. When a trundle over the Cotswolds is the most challenging stage there is something seriously amiss. Britain has many potential routes (bring back the Col de Buttertubs!)  and I can't think why most of it was staged on the most boring possible territory for a bike race. I like to watch a good sprint but not every day. I've been watching the TOB for a few years and it has got better every year until now. The crowds are excellent and the big teams are there with some big names but I think this year was a step back - or is it just me being unfair having watched it alongside the Vuelta?

The final results after Stage 8:

Tour of Britain 2017, stage eight: Worcester to Cardiff (180.2km)

1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, in 4-19-00
2. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
4. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
5. Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT-Condor
6. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty Groupe-Gobert
7. Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing
8. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
9. Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
10. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, all same time

Final overall classification

1. Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo, in 30-56-24
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, at 8s
3. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing, at 10s
4. Victor Campenaerts (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 13s
5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 18s
6. Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st
7. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 24s
8. Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 25s
9. Owan Doull (GBr) Team Sky, at 33s
10. Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac, at 38s

Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.com/n...#LKfP257OY1Mtiyjt.99