The final day of the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain saw the riders gathering in central London in the shadows of Big Ben for the second successive year. This time however the final day of the Tour would be split into 2 stages: an 8.8km
The final day of the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain saw the riders gathering in central London in the shadows of Big Ben for the second successive year. This time however the final day of the Tour would be split into 2 stages: an 8.8km Time Trial in the morning and an 88km circuit race in the afternoon. Both races used the same out and back circuit that followed the banks of the Thames, the time trial just 1 lap and the circuit race completing 10 laps.
The morning’s Time Trial went according to plan with Sir Bradley Wiggins demonstrating his prowess in the discipline by once again winning the event, however his margin was not big enough to take the leader’s jersey. Madison Genesis rider Tom Scully finished just 39 seconds behind the storming Brit, with Alex Peters ending the stage off the pace after a heavy crash on the final corner.
After a couple of hours rest the riders once again put the cycling clothes on, this time though it would be the last of the 2014 Tour of Britain. The traditional city centre criterium followed a very similar pattern to previous years - scintillating speed for the opening laps before the fatigue in the defending teams’ legs allowed a group to go clear.
Once again, Madison Genesis were represented in that breakaway group by Liam Holohan. The group worked furiously and cohesively with everyone very much aware that if they were caught then the teams of Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish would not allow anything other than their battle royale in the finishing straight. With just 1.5 laps remaining, disaster struck and Liam punctured - with the gap less than 30 seconds and no neutral service behind the break Liam was forced to wait for the team car behind the bunch and then chase frantically back into the safety of the bunch. On the final lap the sprinters prepared for a big bunch sprint that Marcel Kittel was just able to win in front of Mark Cavendish.
Team Manager - Roger Hammond
"I've been running out of superlatives for the team this week and today just adds to that problem. Once again the riders went out there and gave it their all, with our climber infiltrating the break on a flat stage none-the-less! It's been a great week for the team, the riders have worked really hard in what was definitely the hardest Tour of Britain to date. The team in the background have been brilliant, working tirelessly in support of the riders. Thanks too for all the cheers from the road side, the support was incredible."
