Is anyone venturing along to the Women's Tour Of Britain on Friday for the start in Oundle or the finish in Kettering? I'm going to join a few friends for a ride to the start and then a dash back to Kettering for the finish. It's a good excuse to take the day off work and get some miles in the legs. I have a feeling I'll come away feeling slower than ever though when I see the speeds the peloton are moving at.
Hadn't heard anything about it and unfortunately too far away.
I hadn't heard anything about it until this morning, which is shameful considering I work in the cycle industry 😳
I was lucky enough to be in the race convoy for the the Welwyn Garden City round last year, great day out, big crowds and whilst the stages are much shorter this tends to lend itself to livelier, more attacking racing.
Loved how chuffed the riders themselves were about the whole event and the way it was organised and promoted as well, the buzz when the TV chopper arrived overhead was palpable.
We may never have the most prestigious global Men's cycling event (that'll always be the TDF) but with the Women's tour Sweet Spot are putting in a serious investment towards creating an event that could established itself as the highlight of the Womens' calender.
Good on 'em i say.
That's shocking Mister P! To be fair I don't read roadie mags or websites and presumably it won't be on telly?
I think the "tour" gets underway today. Highlights on itv4 at 8.
First I've heard of it! Nothing on Road.cc either, what an utter load of shite, was on BC site recently and nothing there either (unless I missed it!!), you'd think they'd at least send out something in their emails newsletter!! Support for Women's cycling is an utter joke!
I only know its on now as I've followed their page on Facebook. Highlights on ITV4 at 7 pm tonight, and presumably every night while the tour is on...
I shall be watching tonight on itv4+1. listened to the interview this morning with Lizzie Armistead on radio 4. its suposed to be a harder course not hard enough for Lizzie, she said. Hope its good.
Edit http://thetour.co.uk/home.php
First I've heard of it! Nothing on Road.cc either, what an utter load of shite, was on BC site recently and nothing there either (unless I missed it!!),
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/20150615-Race-guide--2015-Aviva-Women-s-Tour-0
To be fair, that was only posted 2 days ago once the final start sheet was available.
road.cc seems to concentrate more on all the negative stories and helmet clickbait...
Highlights on ITV4 at 8pm, Marianne Vos is commentating. 🙂
thanks for the heads up, I had no idea it was on but will be watching the highlights
Lizzie Armistead in hospital after crashing into a photographer stood in the road right after the finish, idiot
[url= http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/17/lizzie-armitstead-collides-spectator-womens-tour ]Guardian Story[/url]
Looked awful. Let's hope she's ok.
Photographers always look too close to the line when there's a bunch trying to fit through at speed.
Very nasty crash. Hard to tell how it's caused, looks like she slightly loses control while no hands but probably because she's clocked the person she collides with and tries to get hands back and avoid but without time to do so...
That is where photographers always stand. She loses control.
She veers left into the photographers group (and race organiser apparently) as she puts her right hand back on the bars, from what I can see. Terrible accident, let's hope she is OK.
Blimey, that is really nasty.
Lizzie Armistead in hospital after crashing into a photographer stood in the road right after the finish, idiot
Bit harsh about a much loved Olympian who's done alot for the profile of women's cycling! Accidents happen and she would have been tired after a hard day's racing. Given that she's been taken to hospital in an ambulance after needing oxygen, I think a bit more sympathy might be in order!
Photographer being the idiot, rather than her presumably?
Photographer being the idiot, rather than her presumably?
Seriously?? Are y'all watching different videos from me or is it the "assumed liability" thing where if a cyclist is in collision with another party, it's automatically the other party's fault?
From the one I've watched, Armistead suddenly, and unexpectedly, swerved into the people - if there were no people there it looked like she'd have ploughed into the barriers instead.
Really struggling to find anyone you could conceivably label as an 'idiot' there unless it's the person riding non-handed on a fast moving bicycle and losing control, and as I said before, labelling her as an idiot seems a tad harsh under the circumstances?
EDIT: Just watched it again and I'm certain she would have hit the barriers if there hadn't been any soft, squishy humans stood there to soften the blow.
Given the second video came out later, it could be that yes, the "idiot" comment was aimed at the photographers. In the first video it's a little less obvious that she swerved so violently.
Looks to me like Armistead is touched by the rider in white coming past on her right, sending her to the left.
Why are there so many people the wrong side of the barriers?
First video - the overhead close one where you can't see the actual collision impact - you can see that she doesn't get touched by the other rider coming through, I think.
The head on view, my interpretation of it is that:
she comes through celebrating no hands,
then realises that the photographers are standing too far out for the size of group coming through (backed up by the organiser or whoever it is trying to herd them back in),
panics and gets hands back on bars as quickly as she can,
which causes her to swerve towards them and exarcerbates the situation...
On another note, the photographers look to be about 20m from the finish line, there's no way the peloton could safely have slowed down to avoid them considering where they were standing...
Could be wrong, but that's what I'm seeing! Whatever, it's nasty stuff, particularly as it causes a domino pile-up for the other riders as well...
I stand corrected theflatboy - she veers at the exact moment the other rider comes through.
But it's crazy anyway that the photographers are so close - surely they would have anticipated a group sprint. Bad day at the office for the dude in the blue shirt.
That looks really nasty. Whatever the whats and whys of it!
Just had a long exchange with the MD of the race organising company on Twitter. He says:
1. Photographers were in the right place
2. Blue shirt guy is the race director trying to keep the photographers in their area.
3. Lizzie lost control and veered into the photographers area.
4. Unfortunate accident.
Press reports strong sidewind.
Smashing tour of britain. Does it leave the south of England at all?
I thought that. But Yorkshire can't have everything I guess 🙂
That was a brutal crash, broken femur apparently. Fark!!
Nothing broken:
[url= https://twitter.com/L_ArmiTstead/status/611253707561410560 ]https://twitter.com/L_ArmiTstead/status/611253707561410560[/url]
Awesome, happy they got that wrong!
did you get over to watch in the end mrp ?
Yep, it was a good day out. I rode over to near Kettering to meet some people then out to Oundle for the start. Had a nosey at the team bikes for a bit then watched the start and the bunch coming through the town again. Then we had a gentle pedal back to Kettering to watch the finish. I bought two pints for just £6 which was like travelling back in time a few years. Then a pedal home to Northampton so all in about 70 miles on the bike.
Big crash apart it all seems to be pretty good, from the sofa anyway. They seem to constantly be on the gas and racing.
Im enjoying it on ITV4 in the evenings.
Boulting and Vos doing perfectly good work to camera and Jose Been is v knowledgeable about the competitors etc. Hugh Porter on the other hand....sheesh.
As for the racing, it seems a pity they havent had any properly hilly/mountain days where some of the stronger riders could put a stretch on. It all seems to come down to bonus seconds each stage which seems a bit of a contrivance to separate the lead riders.
We went up to the start to watch at Waltham Cross this morning. Kryton Jnr won the kids TT race, then was filmed for ITV, [i]then[/i] was asked into the "crowd" for the pre-race interview with Marianna Vos - he'll be the young chap standing next to her wearing a Sky top.
In addition, Marianna agreed to ride with our club to the finish, so I think you may see a clip of some rather conspicuois red jerseys with her on TV tonight before the start.