The whir and hum of hundreds of wheels through each town brought a wind-tunnel tornado of excitement. The cheering crowds were deafening, the speed on the road brutal. I’ve taken part in various sponsored amateur rides and extreme sportives, but for a change of pace, I had the chance to get inside a world-class professional race - this summer’s Tour of Britain, and it’s a ride I’ll never forget.
I confess - I would never really be able to compete in a event such as this. To appreciate this level of cycling, sometimes you have to dismount and grab a different perspective. How? Ride right among the competitors in a support vehicle. And stage 5 was going to be spectacular, from Prudhoe, outside Newcastle, going west across the top of Hartside Fell in the Lake District.
Spectators of any professional road race will confirm that the thrill is just as much about the buildup, because once those riders appear, they all fly past in seconds. So even before the race began, I felt a love of cycling as powerful as any I’d witnessed. Schoolchildren in Prudhoe screamed and banged on the barrier as anyone went by – not only cyclists warming up, but race staff, police motorcyclists and … even me. Suddenly I pictured myself at the age of 10, and wished that I had seen similar race scenes in my own urban upbringing.
As the famous team buses of Sky, Movistar, Ettix-Quickstep, Tinkoff-Saxo and more pulled in, I felt every bit as excited as a 10-year-old. Then came the Team Wiggins vehicle, and Sir Bradley, zipping up his jersey and casually stepping out on to the road. One by one I spotted famous riders, including Mark Cavendish, André Greipel, Ben Swift, Mark Renshaw, Peter Kennaugh and Ed Clancy. Once the signing-in process and team photos were taken, the race was on. Could the crowds cheer even more? You bet.
Our vehicle sped off ahead of the race, and promptly got between the peloton and a small breakaway group and the team were in the mix with a rider who certainly stood out. Conor Dunne is almost 6ft 9in and had to have an extra-big Vitus bike frame built to accommodate his lengthy limbs.
The action was frenetic. The breakaway group were tearing up the tarmac at a blistering speed, hitting as much as 50km/h on the flat. What is it like to stay up with the peloton? “Savage. Feckin’ savage,” An Post’s Jack Wilson, told me later on, grinning, but certainly not joking.
The breakaway continued ahead for about three-quarters of the race, and at one point extended its lead to more than six minutes – indicated by chalkboard motorbike riders showing us and the rest of the field. The race commissaire kept us up-to-date on every moment of action over the car radio.
The route took us through some of Britain’s finest countryside – from Northumberland and the North Pennines, alongside Hadrian’s Wall, passing through historic towns including Hexham and Brampton, the pretty village of Greystoke (of Tarzan fame) and into the Lake District alongside Ullswater, before climbing to the race’s highest finish on Hartside. But aside from the countryside, what struck me most was the sheer electricity of the crowds waving and cheering along the way.
Equally impressive was the level of inventiveness on display. All along the route were decorated shirts and bikes, variously ridden by scarecrows, sheep and model figures set in comical poses, easily rivalling France’s Tour fans. Our driver, Kevin, who has driven many tours, and showed immense skill in speeding through the convoy and avoiding riders, said he had never seen such enthusiasm. It is a shame then that this week London turned down the offer to host a stage of next year’s Tour de France, which when it was hosted by Yorkshire in 2014, inspired this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.
In the last quarter of the race, the commissaire gradually announced the peloton was closing on the lead group, and we were instructed to speed ahead to the finish. On Hartside thousands had gathered, the majority of whom appeared to have cycled up themselves. The finish was thrilling, as Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen (who eventually won overall), was pipped at the post on the final brutal climb by Team Sky’s Wout Poels.
Another very promising young rider, Team Wiggins’s Owain Doull, won the Chain Reaction points jersey and came third overall. But there was another winner - the culture of British cycling. Seen from this perspective, it is in a very healthy state indeed.
• Peter rode in the support car arranged by An Post-Chain Reaction, the Flanders-based Irish team managed by Ireland’s 1988 Vuelta winner Sean Kelly
