A few years ago, the organisers of the Tour of Britain began subtly tailoring their event to position it as a key buildup race to the world road race championships and this year the philosophy appears to have paid off in spades, with Mark Cavendish and André Greipel among a group of top sprinters lining up on Sunday in Glasgow for the eight-day trek to London.
The world elite championship in Qatar is pancake flat and is later than usual – 16 October – in the hope that this will provide cooler weather for racing so Britain is just the first step for Cavendish after his success in Rio, where he won the silver medal in the omnium. Qatar also marks the third target in a multifaceted season where the Manxman aimed to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France for the first time as well as winning his first Olympic medal.
Joining Cavendish – now second only to Eddy Merckx in the list of all-time Tour stage winners – and last year’s dominant Tour sprinter Greipel, is the up-and-coming Australian Caleb Ewan, Dylan Groenewegen of Lotto-Jumbo, and Team Sky’s Elia Viviani, who took the omnium gold in Rio ahead of Cavendish, and is now a possible leader of the Italian team in Qatar along with Giacomo Nizzolo, who rides in this race for Trek-Segafredo.
As well as members of the national under-23 academy, the Great Britain team includes two possible wingmen for Cavendish in Qatar in Daniel McLay, who figured regularly in the top 10 of Tour stages and the national champion, Adam Blythe. Their trade teams – Fortuneo and Tinkoff respectively – are not down to race so space has been found for them in the national squad. Owain Doull of Team Wiggins is another man with his eye on Qatar, so, too, Ben Swift of Team Sky.
There are only two stages out of the nine where a mass finish looks guaranteed because this is one of the hilliest routes devised since the British Tour was relaunched in 2004. The sprint stages bookend the race, with a relatively benign opener south from Glasgow to Castle Douglas and a repeat of last year’s three-pronged circuit race in central London, where Viviani was awarded victory last year after a dramatic finish-line clash with Greipel.
Monday’s stage through the Lake District includes the climbs of Whinlatter and the Struggle before an uphill finish in Kendal – one for Swift or Viviani perhaps – while Tuesday has the Cat & Fiddle pass in the Peak District and Wednesday features 4,000m of climbing through Powys en route to Builth Wells. Thursday’s roads into Bath look more propitious, if far from flat, while Friday features what should be a decisive uphill finish on Dartmoor, on the Haytor climb where Simon Yates, a winner in the current Vuelta a España, triumphed when still an amateur in 2013.
The Haytor finish is followed the next morning by a 15km time trial in Bristol, where the same course on Clifton Down is used for a 90km circuit race, an innovative format that should draw a massive crowd, but where a climb from the Avon at 2km to go could eliminate the heavier fastmen.
The blend of time trialling and climbing means the overall title is hard to predict. On paper the mix is perfect for Steve Cummings, who has enjoyed a golden year with a second stage win in the Tour de France, but who concedes that he finds form hard to maintain in September. The Haytor finish will suit Daniel Martin of Etixx-Quick-Step, but the time trial stage will favour specialists such as Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, the Australian Rohan Dennis or the national champion, Alex Dowsett. Of the trio Dumoulin – winner of the mountain stage at Andorra-Arcalis in this year’s Tour – looks best able to cope with the climbs.
One time trial specialist who is unlikely to target the overall title is Sir Bradley Wiggins, set to make yet another farewell appearance in the British Tour 12 months after last year’s goodbye tour. Wiggins now plans to end his career at the Gent Six in November and if next week does prove to be his last professional road race a short time after the eighth Olympic medal of his career, that would be appropriate for a race that was relaunched in the wake of his first Olympic gold in Athens in 2004.
