# tour of britain route announced



## roadrash (5 Jun 2018)

tour of Britain route route has been announced this evening,can be found here for anyone interested..
http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/


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## DCLane (5 Jun 2018)

Stage 7 starts at the end of the road where I lived as a child. Unfortunately I'll be in Northern Ireland that day so can't engineer a visit to relatives on the same road.


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## roadrash (5 Jun 2018)

debating whether to go to stage 5 or stage 7.... hmm..... maybe both


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## Heltor Chasca (5 Jun 2018)

Thank you. Passes right past my door step. Exciting.


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## Slick (5 Jun 2018)

Maybe they should consider renaming it.


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## MiK1138 (5 Jun 2018)

Load of Shite, last time I looked Scotland was in Britain, we're that big lumpy bit at the top. can you imagine if they ever ran a Tour of Britain and excluded England


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## MiK1138 (5 Jun 2018)

Slick said:


> Maybe they should consider renaming it.


Tour of Brexit


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## fossyant (5 Jun 2018)

Nearest to me is Mansfield... pah.


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## Milkfloat (5 Jun 2018)

Am I being dumb? I cannot see the actual route, just a few town names per day.


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## T4tomo (5 Jun 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> Am I being dumb? I cannot see the actual route, just a few town names per day.


Yes. Might depend on what you are viewing in on, on an iPad there was a “click for stages” at bottom of screen. To take you to the route details


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## Adam4868 (5 Jun 2018)

View: https://twitter.com/TourofBritain/status/1004077636790947840?s=19


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## mcshroom (5 Jun 2018)

After missing out last year we get two this year!

I think I'll try and be on the slopes of Whinlatter for the end of stage 6 

If I'd been choosing the route, I think I would have taken them over Honister Pass first time round though, instead of the double ascent of Whinlatter.


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## themosquitoking (5 Jun 2018)

MiK1138 said:


> Load of Shite, last time I looked Scotland was in Britain, we're that big lumpy bit at the top. can you imagine if they ever ran a Tour of Britain and excluded England


Is that the bit that doesn't want to be part of Britain anymore?


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## Slick (5 Jun 2018)

themosquitoking said:


> Is that the bit that doesn't want to be part of Britain anymore?


No, did you not get the results down there?


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## themosquitoking (5 Jun 2018)

Slick said:


> No, did you not get the results down there?


Yeah but to us it was just like watching an episode of the Simpsons, naughty Bart is doing a thing but at the end of the episode everything is back the way it was.


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## Slick (5 Jun 2018)

themosquitoking said:


> Yeah but to us it was just like watching an episode of the Simpsons, naughty Bart is doing a thing but at the end of the episode everything is back the way it was.


Sorry, don't get the analogy. Is that one of your favourite programmes?


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## themosquitoking (5 Jun 2018)

Slick said:


> Sorry, don't get the analogy. Is that one of your favourite programmes?


Are you saying you've never watched an episode? Or that the only ones you have watched were based on Lisa maybe? Would you look down on me if i said that one of the most consistently brilliant tv shows of the last 30 years, which it is by the way, tell me one that has been going as long and is better, if you can, was my favourite tv show?


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## Adam4868 (5 Jun 2018)

themosquitoking said:


> Are you saying you've never watched an episode? Or that the only ones you have watched were based on Lisa maybe? Would you look down on me if i said that one of the most consistently brilliant tv shows of the last 30 years, which it is by the way, tell me one that has been going as long and is better, if you can, was my favourite tv show?


I like something with a bit more to it....South Park ?


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## Bollo (5 Jun 2018)

Adam4868 said:


> I like something with a bit more to it....South Park ?


Respect @Adam4868 ’s authoratah! 

ToB route. Meh. London or Brizzle for me, so Eurosport.


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## themosquitoking (6 Jun 2018)

Adam4868 said:


> I like something with a bit more to it....South Park ?


Archer and Rick and Morty are my current favourites.


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## Heltor Chasca (6 Jun 2018)

[QUOTE 5268270, member: 45"]This will be the second time they'll ride past my workplace (different jobs). May take the day off to paint a big penis on the tarmac up Cheddar Gorge.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking the gorge would be a top destination to watch. I’ll come and find you and your penis. See you in September.


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## MiK1138 (6 Jun 2018)

themosquitoking said:


> Is that the bit that doesn't want to be part of Britain anymore?


You need to change your newspaper mate, Britain is an island, no one is suggesting dynamiting the border


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## Crackle (6 Jun 2018)

I quite fancy heading to Whinlatter.


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## Milkfloat (6 Jun 2018)

I am spoilt this year - both the Ladies and Men's tours are coming to town.


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## Milkfloat (6 Jun 2018)




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## Kernow_T (6 Jun 2018)

Doesn't come within 2 hrs of where I am. Perhaps Cornwall is deemed not to have the 'infrastructure' (Motorway, running water, electricity, round wheels etc) for such an event


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## Bollo (6 Jun 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Is there a rule that says that bike races in Britain have to have incredibly annoying websites?


 They’re all like that. The Giro and TdF sites are both usually dreadful.


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## smutchin (6 Jun 2018)

Kernow_T said:


> Doesn't come within 2 hrs of where I am. Perhaps Cornwall is deemed not to have the 'infrastructure' (Motorway, running water, electricity, round wheels etc) for such an event



I'm fairly sure it has been to Cornwall in the past though. But I don't think it has been to Kent since it was the Milk Race and they certainly can't use the infrastructure excuse for that.

Yorkshire misses out this year too, as does East Anglia. It happens. It's a race of eight stages. Even with 21 stages the Tour de France usually misses out large parts of the country - Alsace this year, for example.

I would love it if the ToB did visit Scotland - the scenery would be a fantastic advert for cycling in Britain - but it would be a logistical nightmare so I get why they don't. It would be nice if Scotland had its own stage race along the lines of the TdY.

ETA: just checked and the last time it visited Kent was 2006, when a stage finished in Canterbury, the year before the Tour de France did the same. For some reason, I don't remember the ToB coming down here, even though I live just a few miles away from the finish line. It has visited Scotland many times over the years, the last time in 2015, but no further north than Glasgow/Edinburgh by the look of it. It seems I was mistaken in thinking it had visited Cornwall in the past - Exmouth is about as close as it has come.


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## Heltor Chasca (6 Jun 2018)

Stage 3 which comes past me is actually a really good route if anyone is interested in doing it.


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## Kernow_T (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> I'm fairly sure it has been to Cornwall in the past though. But I don't think it has been to Kent since it was the Milk Race and they certainly can't use the infrastructure excuse for that.
> 
> Yorkshire misses out this year too, as does East Anglia. It happens. It's a race of eight stages. Even with 21 stages the Tour de France usually misses out large parts of the country - Alsace this year, for example.
> 
> ...


Yes, regularly reaches Devon.
Exmouth may as well be Glasgow tbh (ok 8 hours closer)! The Tour of Britain (in one manifestation or another) has been going long enough to do all it can to come to Cornwall (especially given it's dramatic landscape and, probably unique, cycling challenge) but the same can be said of any other county it's never visited - ooo imagine a time trial on the Scillies!


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## mjr (6 Jun 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Hurrah. @Milkfloat you are a technical genius.
> 
> Why haven't they gone to East Anglia? What kind of tour of "Britain" is this?


We tend to get the Women's Tour. I think it's cheaper for our cut-crazy councils, plus timed better nearer the start of holiday season rather than the end.


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## Threevok (6 Jun 2018)

> "_This year we have worked hard to create an innovative and unpredictable route, with several surprises in store throughout the race,”_



Starting a stage at Carmarthen and finishing in Chavnewydd is going to bring many surprises (Cue "Duelling Banjos")


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## mcshroom (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> I'm fairly sure it has been to Cornwall in the past though. But I don't think it has been to Kent since it was the Milk Race and they certainly can't use the infrastructure excuse for that.
> 
> Yorkshire misses out this year too, as does East Anglia. It happens. It's a race of eight stages. Even with 21 stages the Tour de France usually misses out large parts of the country - Alsace this year, for example.
> 
> ...



Has it visited Yorkshire since the TdeY started? I'd got the impression they were avoiding the county now


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## smutchin (6 Jun 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Has it visited Yorkshire since the TdeY started? I'd got the impression they were avoiding the county now



Last time it visited Yorkshire appears to be 2010 when stage 1 was Rochdale to Blackpool. In 2009, stage 1 was Scunthorpe to York.

So the avoiding Yorkshire thing predates the TdY by several years. Most odd.


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## themosquitoking (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> Last time it visited Yorkshire appears to be 2010 when stage 1 was Rochdale to Blackpool. In 2009, stage 1 was Scunthorpe to York.
> 
> So the avoiding Yorkshire thing predates the TdY by several years. Most odd.


Not really, i went there once and now do the same.


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## mjr (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> Last time it visited Yorkshire appears to be 2010 when stage 1 was Rochdale to Blackpool. In 2009, stage 1 was Scunthorpe to York.
> 
> So the avoiding Yorkshire thing predates the TdY by several years. Most odd.


When did Yorkshire start bidding for the TdF Grand Depart? It was announced in December 2012, so they probably started approaching ASO at least in 2011. Councils, development bodies, tourist boards and so on actually bid for the Tours of Britain and Yorkshire's may have been unwilling to fund work on two bids at once - and I suspect ASO would have taken making two bids as evidence of hedging their bets, playing ASO off against Sweetspot and/or the TdF bid being half-hearted or second-hand.


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## smutchin (6 Jun 2018)

mjr said:


> Councils, development bodies, tourist boards and so on actually bid for the Tours of Britain and Yorkshire's may have been unwilling to fund work on two bids at once



Sounds plausible.

TdY is more lucrative than the ToB as well.


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## roadrash (6 Jun 2018)

Be interesting to see if Yorkshire get the giro stage/stages they are chasing


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> I would love it if the ToB did visit Scotland - the scenery would be a fantastic advert for cycling in Britain - but it would be a logistical nightmare.


How so?


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## smutchin (6 Jun 2018)

Pro Tour Punditry said:


> How so?



The best bits of Scotland (IME) are not the most accessible or have the widest roads.

Same problem as Cornwall, basically.


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> The best bits of Scotland (IME) are not the most accessible or have the widest roads.
> 
> Same problem as Cornwall, basically.


The stages are long enough to loop round the rural bits and come back to humanity...

It'll never happen tho.


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## brommers (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> Yorkshire misses out this year too


It has its own race anyway - so the locals are spoilt.


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> I'm fairly sure it has been to Cornwall in the past though. But I don't think it has been to Kent...
> 
> Yorkshire misses out this year too, as does East Anglia.
> 
> ...



Viewed as a region rather than a country.


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## brommers (6 Jun 2018)

The transition in-between stages looks odd - seems to be a lot of unnecessary travelling each evening.


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

brommers said:


> The transition in-between stages looks odd - seems to be a lot of unnecessary travelling each evening.


Aye but, it's Engerland so it's not a logistical nightmare...


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## Kernow_T (6 Jun 2018)

smutchin said:


> The best bits of Scotland (IME) are not the most accessible or have the widest roads.
> 
> Same problem as Cornwall, basically.


Access off trawler up slip on inner quay in 'em?


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

[QUOTE 5269150, member: 259"]Have you ever had to navigate your way round the one way system in Mansfield? [/QUOTE]
From what I hear about the road and rail infrastructure in Englandshire, any issues re remoteness in Scotland would have far less impact on logistics than any transfer between stages in Englandshire. But it's a mindset thing.


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## Pro Tour Punditry (6 Jun 2018)

[QUOTE 5269155, member: 259"]Honestly, I was just making a cheap point about Mansfield, not disagreeing with you.[/QUOTE]
I know, but I never miss an opportunity to point out stuff about how stuff that's obvious to me doesn't seem as obvious to Englandshire-dwellers


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## BrumJim (6 Jun 2018)

So, in the "getting close to Birmingham so as to draw some support, but not close enough to have to deal with a penniless council and grumpy car- obsessed locals who think shutting roads deprives them of their constitutional right" game, ToB had chosen Warwickshire. Not my favourite riding countryside (ooh, that'll upset a few of my neighbours) - pretty but not enough challenging hills. Will hopefully excite a friend of mine in Kenilworth. A new station, and now this! Almost on the map now!


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## mjr (6 Jun 2018)

[QUOTE 5269155, member: 259"]Honestly, I was just making a cheap point about Mansfield, not disagreeing with you.[/QUOTE]
Isn't Mansfield the town that welcomed the tour by banning cyclists from its town centre with a Pickles PSPO?


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## Crackle (7 Jun 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Hurrah. @Milkfloat you are a technical genius.
> 
> Why haven't they gone to East Anglia? What kind of tour of "Britain" is this?


Bill Bryson said East Anglia has too many people and not enough surnames.

He's become quite the curmudgeon in his latest book. I do wonder if he's on here. Anyway I digress.


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## T4tomo (7 Jun 2018)

There was obviously an Easterly wind blowing when they tossed the stage markers onto the giant map (I think they use the one the breakfast TV weather presenter fell off) to decide the route.

on a more serious note, don't counties or councils bid for stages, so maybe Cornwall and Scotland (north of G/E) aren't interested.


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## mjr (7 Jun 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Just for the record, I don't give a damn about East Angular.


Oh but we liked you until now


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## BrumJim (7 Jun 2018)

Cornwall would be an interesting one. No great climbs, but a lot of steep ups and downs. All a bit samey, though (waiting to be corrected on this). Yorkshire had the variety of flatter bits too, so could do a couple of stages.


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## Kernow_T (7 Jun 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Good point.
> 
> After a bit of googling ... Cornwall may be interested in future, as this link from Cornwall Live 14 Nov 2017 shows
> 
> ...


No doubt all manner of


BrumJim said:


> Cornwall would be an interesting one. No great climbs, but a lot of steep ups and downs. All a bit samey, though (waiting to be corrected on this). Yorkshire had the variety of flatter bits too, so could do a couple of stages.


There are certainly some real killer climbs - just none of the renowned 'bucket list' entries however opportunity to string 6 miles of climbing/descending ave. 10% in a 10mile stretch would add great excitement and that (probably unique) test would certainly add to the tour and probably promote real racing and plenty of attacking. There are certainly a few flat sections however I think you'd struggle to do 100 miles with less than 6500ft climbing. However there would be opportunity for a 'normal' stage and a TT I reckon.


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## biggs682 (11 Jun 2018)

We have booked our spot to watch the ladies ride by on Thursday might even go and catch them later in the day as well but will see 

We popped in to Rushden over the weekend and most of the town centre shops have a display or signs mentioning the tour which is good to see


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## rualexander (16 Aug 2018)

Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome and Wout Poels, confirmed for Team Sky Tour of Britain team.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/45206446


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## brommers (17 Aug 2018)

The start list gets stronger each year - increases in WT teams. The UCI needs to upgrade from 2HC to 2WT.


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