Hmm, I've just been reading some worrying reports on this year's event over on BikeRadar. Unfortunately, it sounds as though things haven't improved since I rode it a few years back...
Apparently there were several nasty accidents on that descent I warned about at Haigh Hall, multiple collisions with cars, kerbs, fellow cyclists...
I'm sure that most people had a good ride but I think encouraging several thousand very inexperienced riders out onto busy roads at the same time is always going to be risky. There's no excuse for including a tricky slippery fast descent on the route and not even posting marshals to warn riders about it!