Tour of Britain starts this Sunday
Britain’s premier cycling event, the Tour of Britain, kicks off this weekend, with the prologue held around the Crystal Palace, South London, circuit. Now in its 4th year, the race is bigger and better than before, and will run South to North for the first time.
Starting in London, the six stage race will pass through the South East, Somerset, West Midlands, Yorkshire, the Northwest and finish in Scotland. Visit the website www.tourofbritain.co.uk for the latest information.
Stage information
T-Mobile will field three British riders at Tour of Britain
The T-Mobile Team is bringing a strong roster to the forthcoming Tour of Britain, including Mark Cavendish, Roger Hammond and Ian Stannard. Cavendish has twice ridden the Tour of Britain, making the podium on numerous occasions and winning the points jersey without ever landing the stage win on his ‘home turf’. Yellow yersey wearer Linus Gerdemann will be making his debut on British soil, racing here for the first time.
Talking about his chances in the race, Cavendish said: “The profiles at this year’s race are tougher than other years and with the smaller teams it will make for a more attacking style of racing which maybe won’t suit the bunch sprints but we’ll have to see how it goes. The (wisdom teeth) operation is affecting me a bit but it’s always special to come back and ride your home Tour. It gives you extra motivation and extra confidence and hopefully I can do something.”
Barloworld want success in Tour of Britain
On paper at least, the UK is Team Barloworld’s home nation as the team is register in Britain. Brit Geraint Thomas will be hoping for some good form and luck to being him some good results, and he’ll be joined by fellow brit Ben Swift. Barloworld will be pinning their hopes for glory on Robbie Hunter however – The South African is on form and focused after his stage victory in the Tour de France and after recently extending his contract with Team Barloworld for another year.
Vuelta a Espana
The 62nd Tour of Spain has reached the end of its first week. Daniele Bennati opened the books winning the first stage. Oscar Freire won the first of his two stage wins in the opening week on the second stage. Reigning World Champion Paolo Bettini laid down the gauntlet on stage three, just holding off Freire.
Stage four hit the climbs and it’s here that the race got going proper. Vladimir Efimkin battled hard on his own on the 12.6km Lagos de Covadonga climb, finishing a minute ahead of the main general classification riders, taking the leaders jersey in the process.
Oscar Freire won his second stage on the fifth day, on a slightly less hilly stage than the previous day. Efimkin remained in the jersey thanks to some stern work by his Caisse d’Epargne team.
Thursday’s stage six saw Oscar Freire make it a hat rick in the bunch sprint into Logrono. Freire said after the stage: “I knew it was going to be difficult because there were sprinters like Petacchi and Boonen who stayed quiet yesterday. I knew it was going to be a hard sprint, especially because of the wind coming from behind that was better for them. In the end, I reached the final metres with strength, and I took it all again.”
Gerolsteiner quits cycling
The German mineral water company has announced its decision to terminate sponsorship of the cycling team. The doping scandals during the Tour de France made my of the sponsors backing the teams apprehensive about their future inclusion in the sport, but Gerolsteiner are quick to point out that the doping incidents are not the reason for this decision.
Another drug scandal rocks T-Mobile
It’s been reported that Italian Lorenzo Bernucci has been sacked by the T-Mobile team for failing a drugs test recently.
