Tour of Britain 2023 *Spoilers*

[Alex321]

Had a cracking day out! Went to Tewksbury for the start…wish we’d got there sooner as we didn’t get a great spot for the team sign on but did for the actual start! Then headed to just west of Cirencester to see them go by. Live racing is always so flipping exciting!

I'll be watching them through our village tomorrow, then cycling over to Caerphilly, to catch them on the two laps of Caerphilly mountain.

Might struggle to find a spot there, I'll only get there about an hour ahead of the race.

They rode today over some of the roads I used on my day out in Gloucestershire last year - including Crawley hill out of Uley. I suspect my Strava position will have gone down by nearly 100 on that

 

[Alex321]

They rode today over some of the roads I used on my day out in Gloucestershire last year - including Crawley hill out of Uley. I suspect my Strava position will have gone down by nearly 100 on that

Just went and had a look, and on the steep part of that hill, 22 out of the top 25 times were set today - and one of the other tree was Andrew Feather

Look at the full climb, and the first 27 times were set today.

 

[Jameshow]

Just went and had a look, and on the steep part of that hill, 22 out of the top 25 times were set today - and one of the other tree was Andrew Feather

Look at the full climb, and the first 27 times were set today.

Same for devils staircase Feather and then Ed Laverick.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

RTA blocked the route. Stage paused.

 

[GuyBoden]

WVA should win this race overall, there are not enough hills for Pidcock. In my amateur opinion.

Enjoyable race, apart from the stoppage, but, as the majority had predicted, WVA won the overall GC. Jumbo have too strong a team. Ineos will be pleased that they at least got a stage win.

 

[Chislenko]

Stevie Williams won't be listening to instructions in the future!

 

[Alex321]

I'll be watching them through our village tomorrow, then cycling over to Caerphilly, to catch them on the two laps of Caerphilly mountain.

Might struggle to find a spot there, I'll only get there about an hour ahead of the race.

Surprisingly, still plenty of space when I got there, though it did get very crowded later. I had a good spot, about 50 yards down from the KOM point, and could have touched the riders as they came past.

Rodriguez leading the first time up the climb

And the next few. I video'd the 2nd time, which you can't attach here.

 

[ColinJ]

The post-sprint stages were much more interesting!

I think the race showed that time bonuses are a good thing. Ok, WVA defended his 3 seconds well but one puncture during that defence could have destroyed his chances.

 

[Jameshow]

I shows UK pro cycling needs a radical shake up. Decisions need to be made and funded a government level and not asking cash strapped councils pay as they have other funding necessities. Routes should be decided in location and what makes a good race, not who pays for a it.

Just my thoughts!

 

[Alex321]

I shows UK pro cycling needs a radical shake up. Decisions need to be made and funded a government level and not asking cash strapped councils pay as they have other funding necessities. Routes should be decided in location and what makes a good race, not who pays for a it.

Just my thoughts!

All the big stage races are that way. Towns pay significant sums to have a stage finish in the Tour De France (according to blogs I have seen, it is about $120,000) and a smaller amount to host a start, and I believe it is similar in the other Grand Tours, and most of the smaller tours.

It is largely up to the organisers then to find routes between the start and finish which will make the race challenging, and apart from the final two stages, they really didn't do that this year.

 

[nickyboy]

All the big stage races are that way. Towns pay significant sums to have a stage finish in the Tour De France (according to blogs I have seen, it is about $120,000) and a smaller amount to host a start, and I believe it is similar in the other Grand Tours, and most of the smaller tours.

It is largely up to the organisers then to find routes between the start and finish which will make the race challenging, and apart from the final two stages, they really didn't do that this year.

It'll be interesting to get the viewing numbers as that's what attracts advertisers and sponsors. I can't help but think that it will be lower; purely anecdotally the cyclists I ride with haven't watched as it has been, in the main, unexciting riding. A real pity as the weather this year was excellent and showed the country off at its best.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm not sure we will continue to see the ToB in its current structure in future years

 

[Dogtrousers]

It'll be interesting to get the viewing numbers as that's what attracts advertisers and sponsors. I can't help but think that it will be lower; purely anecdotally the cyclists I ride with haven't watched as it has been, in the main, unexciting riding. A real pity as the weather this year was excellent and showed the country off at its best.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm not sure we will continue to see the ToB in its current structure in future years

And it has clashed with the Vuelta. Does it normally do this? I can't remember.

Anyway I only have so much concentration I can give to following racing so I've confined myself to reading this thread this year. I think that was enough.

 

[Adam4868]

Possibly did the best they could.

View: https://twitter.com/petercossins/status/1700842653921808761?t=mH3aaQylgY8D-BAzux2lhw&s=19

 

[Dogtrousers]

There's an article on the BBC here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/66768967
Tour of Britain: Staging elite cycling in the UK 'definitely' harder than ever
Putting on cycling road races in the UK is "most definitely" the hardest it has ever been according to an organiser of Britain's showpiece events - with top riders also concerned.

 

[Alex321]

And it has clashed with the Vuelta. Does it normally do this? I can't remember.

Anyway I only have so much concentration I can give to following racing so I've confined myself to reading this thread this year. I think that was enough.

Yes, it clashed with the Vuelta last year as well. It didn't the year before, but that was because schedules for many races including the Vuelta were changed during the first year back after COVID.