World Class Field for Tour of Britain
Story posted August 28
Tour of Britain Website: www.tourofbritain.com
The three jersey winners at last years race, Mark Cavendish, Romain Feillu and Ben Swift. All but Cavendish are on the start sheet for this years race. The four time Tour de France stage winner is going to race in the US instead.
Team Changes
Welsh rider Rhys Lloyd comes into the Rapha Condor – Recycling.co.uk line-up to replace Ben Greenwood who unfortunately broke his leg during the Tour of Ireland, and Tour of Italy stage winner Gabriele Bosisio will now ride for LPR Brakes – Ballan. Chris Sutton replaces Maaskant in the Garmin team whilst Alex Higham comes in for Tony Gibb, who we believe has broken his arm.
Original Story
The provisional list of riders for this years Tour of Britain has been released and what a list of riders it is! Although changes by teams can be made up to 48 hours before the start, there are certainly some major stars in the line up for a race that will kick off in the centre of London in the shadow of iconic landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye to name but two.
The 2008 race will cover eight stages from London on the Sunday (September 7) to Liverpool on Sunday 14th September. Add together a great field in a race that takes in many of Britain’s major cities including London, Glasgow and Liverpool as well as the odd castle here and there and the recipe is for a classic event.
The Tour will see the top British teams and riders take on the best from around the world. Double Tour of Britain Stage winner Roger Hammond and double Olympic Gold medallist Bradley Wiggins are two British riders racing for the mighty Columbia team which is said to also have Tour de France Yellow and Green jersey wearer Kim Kirchen in ther line up. A clash with a stage race in the USA is said to be the reason Mark Cavendish is not riding in Britain.
Cav's no show is a shame for the British race as the event would no doubt have seen some terrific battles between him and some of the race's other top sprinters such as LPR Brakes rider Alessandro Petacchi. The Italian star though will still have plenty of competition with names such as Tour de France stage winner Robbie Hunter, Baden Cooke, Fred Rodriguez and Julian Dean.
Throw in a few from the British teams such as the Downing brothers Dean and Russell, Rob Hayles and Ben Swift and the sprint finishes will be great spectacle to end the stages with. The stages however may not end in sprint finishes because with small teams, controlling the race will not be as easy as it is in events like the Tour de France.
Small breaks may escape the clutches of the peloton as they have in previous years and there are many riders in this event who could get away to make a challenge for the overall. Riders such as Italian star Danilo di Luca are preparing for the World Road Championships in his home country and is one of the few Grand Tour winners in the race.
Romain Feillu and Nicolas Vogondy of the Agritubel team made names for themselves in this years Tour de France and will be riders to look out for at the star and on the road as will Barloworld’s Steve Cummings who has won two races in Italy this year already and rode a great time trial in the Olympic Games. Steve is sure to be a dark horse for the overall backed up by Olympic Gold medallist Geraint Thomas and former King of the Mountains in the Tour de France Mauricio Soler.
The riders will get plenty of support on the side of the road as they travel around Britain at speed.
David Millar is one of the stars in the Garmin squad along with Magnus Backstedt and given the opportunity to escape, they too may well set up an overall victory challenge in a group for their team. There is certainly some firepower in the race and none more than perhaps Stuart O’Grady of CSC - Saxo Bank who was one of the star riders in the Danish team during the Tour de France. O’Grady has ridden British national stage races before as well as Good Friday and will have Tour of Britain stage winner Matt Goss to fill him in on the race as well as home grown talent, the Isle of Man’s Jonny Bellis.
The home teams of Plowman Craven, Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk and Pinarello will all be keen to get themselves some time on TV to give their sponsors value for money in the big British event. Chris Newton has tasted success in stage races in the past and may be one of their key men as will Kristian House who has been one of the teams work horses during the year and that may pay dividends on the roads of Britain.
In the Plowman team, Simon Richardson is perhaps the rider to look out for in breaks as he has been in plenty this year and knows the drill in the Tour of Britain. Two British riders in an Irish team will be looking to show themselves against the other British riders after they have both tasted success in stage races abroad in 2008. The riders being Daniel Lloyd, and Daniel Fleeman of the AnPost team of Sean Kelly.
One of the strongest teams simply because the riders are sure to be hungry for success is South Australia.com-AIS. The team has both of the talented Meyer brothers, Cameron and Travis as well as Simon Clarke who has plenty of podiums to his name in Italy.
Last year the South Australian team was managed by Neil Stephens -- this year his brother Brian is managing the team.
Rock and Roll
And finally, adding some Rock and Roll style to the race will be the glamour team of Rock Racing. They have a team of infamous stars who will be using the race to give their sponsors some publicity in Britain before their dynamic Team Owner Michael Ball, (CEO & Creative Director of Rock & Republic) will be on hand to launch an exclusive line of Rock Racing apparel and sports gear available only at Harrods.
The star-studded elite team, includes top sprinter "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez; Victor Hugo Peña; Tyler Hamilton; Santiago Botero; Oscar Sevilla and US National Criterium Champion Rahsaan Bahati.
To commemorate the team’s first ever race in the UK, Rock Racing is creating both a “London Rocks” Team Kit as well as a unique Rock Racing Tour of Britain Team Kit that the riders will wear during the seven-stage race. In addition, a limited edition Harrods Team Kit has been designed specifically for the London store in their signature green and gold colours, and a brand new line of Rock Racing “London Rocks” sports apparel for men, women and children will also be available. All Rock Racing gear and apparel will be sold exclusively at Harrods, starting September 5.
As part of the event, Rock Racing is offering one fan the chance to purchase a custom Fuji SL 1s bicycle, an exact replica of the bicycles used by the Rock Racing squad during Tour of Britain.
Hour long highlights show on ITV4 each evening
Viewers will be able to enjoy nightly highlights of The Tour of Britain for the first time ever in 2008, as ITV4 screens all the action from this year’s race. An ITV scheduling change has meant that the highlights programme will now be aired from 8pm – 9pm each evening, an hour later than originally announced.
The change will allow spectators who have been out watching the race live, an extra hour to get home and look out for themselves in the crowd as they re-watch all the action on ITV4. Ned Boulting will present the show, while Hugh Porter MBE and Anthony McCrossan will provide commentary on all the action, with special guests joining them on in the commentary box on several of the stages.
PROVISIONAL LINE UP
Agritubel
1. Feillu, Romain FRA
2. Berges, Emilian FRA
3. Caethoven, Steven BEL
4. Coutouly, Cedric FRA
5. Lequatre, Geoffroy FRA
6. Vogondy, Nicolas FRA
Team Columbia
11. Kim Kirchen Lux
12. Edvald Boason Hagen
13. Hammond, Roger GBR
14. Greg Henderson
15. Reynes, Vicente ESP
16. Wiggins, Bradley GBR
Great Britain
21. Hayles, Rob GBR
22. McEvoy, Jonathan GBR
23. Stannard, Ian GBR
24. Southam, Tom GBR
25. Swift, Ben GBR
26. Tennant, Andrew GBR
Palmeiras Resort - Tavira
31. Garrido, Martin ARG
32. Blanco, David ESP
33. Gomis, Juan ESP
34. Marque, Alejandro ESP
35. Sneeboer, Paul NED
36. Swift-Metcalfe, Tomas GBR
Pinarello RT - Canditv
41. Downing, Russell GBR
42. Elliott, Malcolm GBR
43. Johansson, Fredrik SWE
44. Murray, Tom GBR
45. Roche, Andrew IRL
46. Williams, Peter GBR
Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk
51. Newton, Chris GBR
52. Appleby, Dale GBR
53. Downing, Dean GBR
54. Lloyd, Rhys GBR
55. House, Kristian GBR
56. Partridge, Rob GBR
Barloworld
61. Cummings, Steve GBR
62. Thomas, Geraint GBR
63. Cooke, Baden AUS
64. Hunter, Robbie RSA
65. Soler, Mauricio COL
66. Longo Borghini, Paolo ITA
Rock Racing
71. Hamilton, Tyler USA
72. Bahati, Rahsaan USA
73. Botero, Santiago COL
74. Pena, Victor Hugo COL
75. Rodriguez, Fred USA
76. Sevilla, Oscar ESP
Plowman Craven RT
81. Oliphant, Evan GBR
82. Barras, Tom GBR
83. Alex Higham GBR
84. Gaywood, Simon GBR
85. Millard, James GBR
86. Richardson, Simon GBR
Team Garmin-Chipotle-presented by H30
91. Millar, David GBR
92. Backstedt, Magnus SWE
93. Dean, Julian NZL
94. Martin, Dan IRL
95. Chris Sutton (Aus)
96. Lowe, Trent AUS
Topsport Vlaanderen
101. Goddaert, Kristof BEL
102. Koen Barbe BEL
103. Pauwels, Serge BEL
104. Vandewalle, Kristof BEL
105. Vanspeybrouck, Pieter BEL
106. Veuchelen, Frederik BEL
Team CSC - Saxo Bank
111. O'Grady, Stuart AUS
112. Goss, Matthew AUS
113. Bellis, Jonathan GBR
114. Lund, Anders DEN
115. McGee, Bradley AUS
116. Steensen, Andre DEN
AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-Sean KellyTeam
121. Lloyd, Daniel GBR
122. Cassidy, Mark IRL
123. De Schrooder, Benny BEL
124. Fleeman, Daniel GBR
125. Lisabeth, Kenny BEL
126. O'Brien, Paidi IRL
MTN Energade
131. George, David RSA
132. Evans, Kevin RSA
133. MacDonald, Neil RSA
134. Thomson, Jay RSA
135. Van Heerden, Juan RSA
136. Woolcock, Waylon RSA
LPR Brakes - Ballan
141. Petacchi, Alessandro ITA
142. Di Luca, Danilo ITA
143. Cucinotta, Claudio ITA
144. Gabriele Bosisio ITA
145. Giairo Ermeti ITA
146. Spezialetti, Alessandro ITA
South Australia.com-AIS
151. Clarke, Simon AUS
152. Dempster, Zakkari AUS
153. Meyer, Cameron AUS
154. Meyer, Travis AUS
155. Sulzberger, Wesley AUS
156. Walker, Johnnie AUS
THE STAGES
Stage 1. Sept 7 (Sun) London (53 miles, 10 laps)
Stage 2. Sept 8 (Mon) Milton Keynes to Newbury 90.4 miles
Stage 3. Sept 9 (Tue) Chard to Burnham-on-Sea, 115.5 miles
Stage 4. Sept 10 (Wed) Worcester – Stoke-on-Trent 97 miles
Stage 5. Sept 11 (Thu) Hull to Dalby Forest 102.4 miles
Stage 6. Sept 12 (Fri) Darlington to Newcastle 97 miles
Stage 7. Sept 13 (Sat) Glasgow to Drumlanrig 95 miles
Stage 8. Sept 14 (Sun) Blackpool to Liverpool 69 miles
RELATED LINKS
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