The final stage of the Tour of Britain has built up a fantastic reputation over the years, combining a superb location in the centre of London with an even better atmosphere.
Posted On: 23rd September, 2013
The final stage of the Tour of Britain has built up a fantastic reputation over the years, combining a superb location in the centre of London with an even better atmosphere.This year didn’t disappoint, with thousands of fans lining the eight kilometre circuit along the north bank of the Thames between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. Traditionally this has been a stage for the sprinters, but still the attacks came thick and fast from the beginning. Madison Genesis tried going with several moves but eventually four riders went clear with nobody from the team there.
Once the group was gone the focus for us changed and we saved as much energy as possible for the inevitable bunch sprint. With the aim of protecting the interests of their sprinters Cannondale and Omega Pharma Quickstep, started chasing the leaders. With two laps remaining of the 90km stage, the last of the leaders was reeled in. Dean and Andy hovered near the front of the bunch trying to steal a placing in the hectic sprint -not an easy task with quality and the calibre of the teams at this year’s Tour. Dean did manage a top-20 placing on the stage despite nursing a cold over the last few days.
"“That was an amazing last day : the crowds were fantastic and the atmosphere was brilliant. You could see there were a lot of tired legs out there today with the race being easily dominated by the sprinters teams. Dean tried to get up there but against the best sprinters in the world, it was going to be a difficult task. It has been a very difficult tour, with massive highs, watching Liam rise to the occasion and produce a fantastic ride to Haytor on Stage Six and the huge lows of losing our team leader to an injury sustained in two crashes on the opening stages. We have learned a lot as a team in our first Tour of Britain and look forward to putting those lessons into practise for 2014.” Team Manager - Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
Photos by Joolze Dymond