Tour of Britain

Last week, Cyclist No.1 Features Editor Fi Spotswood made it up through the horrendous weather to Peebles in Scotland for the start of the Tour of Britain. Despite the hurricane taking a firm hold over the Borders, deep crowds lined the main street cheering on some of the biggest names in cycling as they lined up to start the first stage, from Peebles to Dumfries. As expected, the atmosphere was electric, and as one by one the teams signed on, waving to the crowds, the cheers grew in volume. Eventually, Cav himself appeared, spending a while smiling and waving before being whisked off for various TV interviews. He was joined by other cycling glitterati, including Jens Voigt and Thor Hushovd resplendent in his World Champs rainbow jersey. The crowds also gave Ben Swift, Mark Renshaw and Geraint Thomas a particularly warm welcome, amongst others.

The riders lined up, stripped down to their shorts and short sleeved jerseys. Soon after the start, however, the rain capes came out and the peleton stuck firmly together, battling against the wind. Belying our tendency to be anti-bike in the UK, the route often looked amateurish compared with the wide roads and blue skies of France or Spain, and riders had to negotiate road obstacles like cattle grids, parked cars, bollards and traffic islands along their route. The combination of these obstacles and slippery rain-slick roads meant that Voigt and Cummings came a cropper fairly early on, leading to Voigt's withdrawal with an injured hand.

After the break of two was brought back in with 10km to go, the inevitable HTC train took over the lead from Rabobank and launched Cav into an only mildly contended sprint for his first stage win. Afterwards, between the sparkly smiles and praise for his team that we have come to expect, Cav noted how cold the riders became on the ride and how bizarre it was that he had recently pulled out of the Vuelta due to the excessive heat!

The second day of the Tour of Britain was cancelled due to the horrendous weather conditions in the Lakes, but the rest of the week, which brings the race further south and into more settled weather, looks to go ahead without a hitch. Check out the Tour of Britain website (http://www.tourofbritain.com/) for details of the route and about where you can watch the action. The highlights are on ITV4 each night between 7 and 8pm. We wish all the British riders the best of luck and Jens Voigt a speedy recovery.