Friday, March 29, 2024

Tour of Britain 2007 – Day 5: Stage 4, Rother Valley Country Park – Bradford

-

HomeDiariesTour of Britain 2007 - Day 5: Stage 4, Rother Valley Country...

Evan’s diary from the Tour of Britain 2007 from Rother Valley Country Park … Ever wondered why the continentals think that cycling in the UK is Mickey Mouse? — read-on!

– Reported by Evan Oliphant –

Jolly fun, I believe today, Evan?

“It was very active from the gun, attacks going all over the place, but nothing was sticking, at around 70 K there was a group of about 25 guys up the road and they had maybe 20 seconds; but they really weren’t going anywhere.

“Then, all of a sudden, the race was neutralised; it transpires that the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire had been on holiday when the permits were granted and the race route organised, so he didn’t know about it and demanded that the race be neutralised across his patch. They had us stopped beside the road for ten minutes and explained what was happening, then we rode for 33 K at 25 kph.

“At the end of the neutralisation they restarted the race and gave the group that had been away the 20 seconds they had before the race was stopped.

Rother Valley Country Park
Evan looking as fit as ever.

The continental managers must have loved that?

“Eric said that in any other country they would have just ignored it and carried-on racing, it could only happen here.”At the re-start, the group really gunned-it, Hamish Haynes from our squad was in the group and he was saying that the guys were really psyching themselves-up to go for it from the restart.

“He didn’t want to go in the break at the restart, because he knew what would happen and he’d be needed to work, but they told him he had to go with the group from the restart; he just sat-up immediately, though and came back to help.

“Just after the restart, two police motorbikes crashed, that was a distraction and CSC was at the front blocking, because they had Luke Roberts in the lead group.

“Within a couple of K, the gap was at a minute-plus. All of us, except Dan, plus Tinkoff, Rabo

bank and Chocolade Jacques went to the front and chased like hell, but the gap wouldn’t come-down, Nico (Mattan) couldn’t understand it and said that maybe they’d been helped by a car or motorbike.

“On the last climb, they were in sight and Daniel tried to bridge-across, but he didn’t make it, Eric (DS Vanderaerden) said that there was no point in trying to save himself anymore, as the race was up the road. Over the top we continued to chase hard, but didn’t really get any help.”

Rother Valley Country Park
Daniel Lloyd is having a great race, lying 15th overal at just over a minute.

Was Cavendish still there?

“That’s what we couldn’t understand, Cavendish and Hammond were both there, if they’d helped and got it back, then Cavendish would have won the sprint.

“Maybe they were wasted after the climb; Daniel was feeling-it after the climb and his failed attempt to get across. I was feeling it too, but I dug deep and hung on. Over the top, I did a lot of work on the run-in, along with our guy Burney Sulzberger and the yellow jersey, Trusov; but we didn’t get them back.

“The Spanish rider, Adrian Palomares Vilaplana: from Fuertaventura-Canarias took the stage and the jersey, he had two team mates with him in that group, so obviously that was a great help for him. I’m still 16th, but I’m at 1-08 now, Daniel has dropped-out of the top ten, he’s 15th now at 1-03, it’s disappointing, but it was a really unusual set of circumstances.”

Rother Valley Country Park
Adrian Palomares Vilaplana.

Is it still winnable?

“I think the Spanish guys will struggle to hold-on, there will be attacks from the gun tomorrow; we covered 51 K in the first hour today, and it will be like that again tomorrow.

“CSC will definitely go on the attack tomorrow, it’s a tough stage again and they have Luke Roberts in third position at eight seconds. Before the neutralisation today, a break had gone and we had Daniel in it but CSC had missed it.

“They went to the front and the computer went from 45 kph to 65 kph; we had been blocking for Daniel and were right at the front, so when they turned it on, we were right behind them, but it was chaos behind us.”

How’s that man McCallum?

“When it was neutralised, he was delighted, he said it was the first piece of good luck he’d had all week!”

If it’s not traffic worries, like 2006 then it’s the men with the scrambled eggs on their hats causing the problems, will tomorrow be hassle-free? You’ll find out first, right here on VeloVeritas!

Evan’s diary – Stage Four      Evan’s diary – Stage Six

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Giro d’Italia 2015 – Stage 21, Turin – Milan; Eeeel-yoh!

Well, as our amigo Dave is won't to say at this stage; "our creds are no good to us now." Just a curiosity on the windscreen; the Giro is won and lost, Contador confirmed as one of the all time great stage racers - he's won all three Grand Tours - one of only six men in history to do so, along with Nibali, Gimondi, Anquetil, Hinault and Merckx, and now stands fourth in the all time Grand Tour winners list. The route from Torino to Milano today was as bland as you could get but Radio Nostalgia was cool and our coffee stop was a cracker. The Milano circuit was similarly bland and it's one aspect where the Giro doesn't quite get it right but Iljo Keisse and Luke Durbridge delivered an exciting finale as you get.

Le Tour de France 2014 – Stage 19; Maubourguet Pays du Val d’Adour – Bergerac, 208 km. Navardauskas Solo

There's always drama when you work le Tour. We've followed Tour time trials for years; roll up at the start, tell the dude which rider you're following, they give you a windscreen sticker, marshall you into position at the appointed time and off you go. This year, however we were notified that we had to attend a meeting on Friday evening at the Permanence after the stage if we wished to follow a rider. Fair enough - but then they changed the venue a few hours before the meet was due.

Le Tour de France 2013 – Stage 20: Annecy > Annecy – Semnoz, 125km. The Bigs Battle It Out

Whilst we did muse over the possibility as we supped our McDonald's coffee this morning, I was unprepared for it actually happening. What I'm talking about is the setting of Alberto Contador's sun - both Quintana and Rodriguez distanced him on the very last climb of the 2013 Tour de France to Semnoz to elbow him off the podium.

Tour of Britain 2006 – Stage 1, Glasgow to Castle Douglas

The Tour of Britain 2006 kicked-off in Glasgow on Tuesday morning with a 101.1 mile haul from Glasgow to Castle Douglas. Last year Evan Oliphant (Recycling) grabbed an excellent second place on a stage behind Russian champion Sergei Ivanov (T-Mobile). This year he'll be talking to VeloVeritas every day after the stage, we caught-up with him before the stage whilst he was stocking-up on victuals for the stage and receiving a light massage.

At Random

Jack Bauer – Tour Talk with Garmin’s Kiwi Star

Forget stories of barbed wire fences; that’s not what did the damage to our favourite Tour rider, Jack Bauer’s face. We know what really happened on stage 19 but gave our word to Jack that we’d keep schtum – suffice to say that it was a sore one and not his fault.

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 16: Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon, 197 km.

As a colleague from another life used to say; ‘you should never drink on an empty head.’ A sentiment I can endorse as we sit in our hotel in Vielha, Spain. Having left Pau, there were no digs to be had in France near the stage finish – the Tour is a black hole which sucks up every hotel room within an hour’s drive and we had to cross the border after the finish at Bagnères-de-Luchon to get to our digs. QuickStep, Saxo, Movistar and Euskaltel all did the same thing and are here in Vielha, too.

Harrison Wood – Moving up to SEG Racing Academy for 2020

It’s not just any youngster who gets a ride with the Dutch SEG Racing Academy but ‘Brit’ Harrison Wood, who recently finished a solid top 10 in the Chrono des Nations, will be riding in SEG colours for 2020.

Silvan Dillier – Stepping up to the World Tour with BMC

We last spoke to up and coming 23 year-old Swiss star, Silvan Dillier back in the spring after his win in the Tour of Normandie; since then he’s been a busy man. There was stage win in the hotly contested Triptyque Ardennaise in Belgium, a win in Cham-Hagendorn in Switzerland and stage in the Fleche Ardennaise in Belgium. Then came a ride as a stagiaire with the BMC World Tour team – and an excellent win in Stage Two of the Tour of Alberta.