tour of britain route announced

[mjr]

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.

 

[Threevok]

"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")

 

[mcshroom]

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.

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

 

[smutchin]

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.

 

[themosquitoking]

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.

 

[mjr]

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.

 

[smutchin]

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.

 

[roadrash]

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

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

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?

 

[smutchin]

How so?

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

Same problem as Cornwall, basically.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

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.

 

[brommers]

Yorkshire misses out this year too

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

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

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.


I would love it if the ToB did visit Scotland.

Viewed as a region rather than a country.

 

[brommers]

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

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

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...