Barrow-in-Furness – Whinlatter Pass

The Tour of Britain hosted its first summit finish in 2013, on Haytor in Dartmoor, to great success. Subsequently it’s had more, such as The Tumble in 2014, and Haytor again in 2016. Last year’s route was criticised for being overly sprinter friendly, so finishing atop Whinlatter (the other side to yesterday’s team time trial) will be warmly received. It’s not the toughest Cumbrian climb and every amateur who has ridden the Fred Whitton Challenge sportive will tell you that it’s a mere bump in the road compared with the likes of Honister and Hardknott. Still, it’s sure to be one of the more selective points of the course, with the 3km climb averaging 7 per cent. Riders will get a good chance to recce it too – it’ll be the second time they have climbed it that day, having done so around the halfway mark of the near169km stage.

DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY

Andy Hawes: “The first KOM is Hawkshead Hill 45km in and we’ve got four, rather than the usual three, given we’re going up Whinlatter twice. We’ve got a flat run in to the final climb of Whinlatter and anyone who’s got a final shot of GC will be giving it a good go here.

“I don’t think the race suffered without a summit finish last year. I remember being at the finish of stage one in Kelso, watching the likes of Viviani and other top sprinters [Kristoff, Ewan, Groenewegen – ed] and it could have been any of the Grand Tours. The route reflected the teams that entered. They might have a look at the route this year and send a climbingorientated group.”