A thrill-a-minute Tour which is impossible to call
Britain’s very own stage race continues to thrive and picking the winner this year is as treacherous as ever, writes Tom Cary
Britain’s flagship cycling race has gone from strength to strength since its rebirth in its modern guise in 2004. In distance as well as reputation, it has grown out of all recognition.
It has increased from five days to eight, taken on new sponsors – this year OVO Energy steps in to the title role, as it has for the Women’s Tour – attracted ever larger crowds, while the quality of field has improved commensurately, to the extent that the race now represents an increasingly attractive alternative to La Vuelta in terms of a tune-up for the World Championships later in September.
Many riders will tell you, in fact, that they prefer it to Spain’s grand tour, being shorter and sharper but just as intense. These are not just empty words. In 2014 Michal Kwiatkowski and Sir Bradley Wiggins finished second and third respectively at the Tour of Britain. Both men made a point of remarking after that year’s Tour how brutal the racing had been.
“Six or seven years ago there were 130 and 140-kilometre stages,” Wiggins said. “This year we’ve had 200, 225 kilometres, and then there’s the way we’ve raced. Most people say it’s the hardest race they’ve done all year. It’s certainly lived up to expectation.”
Kwiatkowski was of the same opinion. “Every day it was tough,” he said. “I think actually every stage was like the classics – it was up and down, and the racing was full gas to the end. With the long stages, it will give me extra energy and better condition for the Worlds.” Two weeks later Kwiatkowksi won the road race and Wiggins the time trial in Ponferrada, Spain.
Hardly a surprise, then, to see that the Pole is back in the field this year, using the race once again as a tune-up for the worlds which take place in Bergen, Norway in a couple of weeks’ time. The big question, as we look ahead to this year’s race, which begins in Edinburgh on Sunday and concludes in Cardiff one week later, is what sort of a race we are going to get and what sort of rider might win it.
The Tour of Britain is always a notoriously difficult race to call. Six-rider teams make it hard for any one team to control the bunch, the roads are heavy, and the race’s position on the calendar – after the Tour de France, overlapping with the Vuelta, and two weeks before the Worlds – means riders are often building up their form or desperately clinging on to it. And that is before you even get on to the great British weather.
Looking at the route this year it would appear organisers Sweetspot have set the stage for a battle royal between the sprinters and the classics-style riders who are good against the clock.
From the stage profiles, it looks as if as many as seven of the eight days could end in a bunch sprint. And with bonus seconds on the line, and more for the intermediate sprints, if one sprinter dominates he could well claim the overall prize.
If, however, one sprinter does not dominate, or if that sprinter is a horrible time trialist, or if the stages do not prove to be quite as straightforward as they appear on paper (and when has the Tour of Britain ever been predictable?), then it could be that a rider who can put 30sec into everyone on next Thursday’s individual time trial to Clacton-on-sea will be celebrating in Cardiff. Or someone who can escape up the road on the penultimate stage to Cheltenham, a day that features nearly 2,500m of climbing.
It will be fascinating to see what sort of a race we get. And from a British perspective, what sort of a challenge we can expect from our home-grown riders.
Two in particular, Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data and Geraint Thomas of Team Sky, will be under the greatest scrutiny. Both, at their best, have the ability to win this race. Both are recovering from long-term injuries suffered at this summer’s Tour de France.
Cavendish, the 2011 world champion, believed he had what it took to win, both here and at the
Worlds in Bergen. When the Tour of Britain route came out earlier this year the Manxman was said to be licking his lips at the lack of climbs and all those flat finishes. That, however, was before he broke his shoulder at the Tour. His form now is unknown and he has admitted that he is unlikely to be able to challenge next week, and will probably not go to Bergen.
Thomas, who will be riding the Tour of Britain for the first time since 2011, is also recovering from an injury; the broken collarbone which put paid to his Tour de France hopes this summer just when it looked as if he might challenge for a podium.
The Welshman’s form this year when he has been fit, though, has been brilliant, and particularly in time trials. Thomas was second only to Tom Dumoulin in the Giro d’italia ITT, and that was after being taken out in the police motorbike incident which eventually saw him retire from the race. At the Tour de France, meanwhile, Thomas became the first Welshman ever to claim yellow jersey, and only the eighth Briton, with his victory in the opening-day time trial.
With the race ending in Thomas’ home town of Cardiff, and with a team time trial, possibly an individual time trial and then the road race coming up in Bergen later this month, his motivation will surely be sky high.
The truth is there are any number of riders who could challenge. If it does go to a time-trial specialist, Essex is Alex Dowsett country. Tony Martin of Katusha-alepcin has been known to win the race against the clock. Sky’s Kwiatkowski and Stefan Kung of BMC are fine time trialists.
It all depends on what kind of a race we get. The Tour of Britain may be an increasingly coveted title, but it has never got any easier to call.
Organisers have set the stage for a battle royal between sprinters and classics-style riders