Tour of Britain, Stage 5

 

Stage 5, Southeast, Rochester to Canterbury

Saturday,September 2 | www.tourofbritain.com

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INTERVIEWS

 

Kristian House:

"Today was really disappointing. I think it all kind of started at the beginning of the race (neutralised zone) when there was a problem and we were stopped for 20 minutes or so. This seemed to annoy a lot of the riders and when we got out of the neutralised section, none of the riders seemed to want to race and at some point I heard there was going to be a protest with 2k to go. That didn't happen but during the stage Quickstep and T-Mobile said that nobody was to attack but I was being told by manager we need to attack."

 

"When we did attack, we get abused by the guys who didn't want to race. At one point I attacked through Dover after being told over the radio that the race was back on and when I got brought back by all the guys who didn't want to race, one of the T-Mobile riders put me in the gutter. So it was difficult as a rider because I was stuck between my manager who was telling me I had to race because the organisation were telling them we need to race, and then by this unwritten code from the big boys like Boonen and Quickstep who didn't want to race."

 

It wasn't unsafe. There were a few problems but they can happen at any race and I can understand also the organisation are trying their hardest to get this right. It's disappointing especially for me because this was my home stage and I really wanted to race. This is the day I have been looking forward to for the last eight weeks. And then you look at who won it, Quickstep, the guys who said we're not racing. I spoke to Tom Boonen at one point and he said, "today no racing and at the end of the stage we have no result and no podium. And you look at who wins today, its ridiculous!"

 

Its never going to be easy racing here and the organisation is doing their best. At the end of the day, many of the riders just don't want to race and if they find an excuse, they are going to take it and for me that is what they did today. There were a lot of riders today who did want to race and wouldn't do it because they didn't want to challenge those who didn't want to race. Boonen is a big guy in cycling and very well respected. But when a big team like that says they don't want to race, a lot of people are afraid to challenge it."

 

"I think there were four or five guys who attacked first and they just bring you back and verbally abuse you. It gets to a point where you don't want to race and after it happened to me, I went and sat at the back."

 

British Cycling also spoke to GB manager Rod Ellingworth who didn't to say too much, but did point out that his boys came here to race and today, were prevented from doing so. He said the team's young lads, who idolise a lot of the top pro riders, certainly came out of the race with a different point of view of these riders.