Tour of Britain 2009 all set
11.09.2009
The start of the 2009 Tour of Britain is less than twelve hours away with all the teams and riders gathering in Yorkshire and Humberside for the start of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race.
One hundred riders from nineteen different countries will take the start of The Tour in Scunthorpe on Saturday morning, led by reigning champion Geoffroy Lequatre of the Agritubel team.
Star names like Olympic Gold Medallist and recent fourth place finisher in the Tour de France Bradley Wiggins, triple Tour of Britain stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen and top Italian rider Filippo Pozzato are all due to start, in a highly competitive field.
Speaking at the pre-Tour of Britain Press Conference Russell Downing, Tour of Ireland champion and recently announced Team Sky rider reflected on his past few weeks.
“It’s been pretty good really! I’ve not done a great deal since then really. After the back of Ireland the forms really good, so who knows if I could get into the right move then maybe GC, but if not definitely a stage win.”
Downing was looking forward to Saturday’s Yorkshire and Humber stage which should see plenty of local support for the Sheffield rider, while he also admitted he’d be keen to take a victory to repay his CandiTV – Marshalls Pasta boss Phil Griffiths.
“Phil’s been amazing in the last two year’s, so obviously it’d be great to go out on a high and promote the sponsors, so it’d be a good reward for him. We’ll see how we go tomorrow and then we’ll take each day as it comes.”
Looking ahead to the sprints, Downing was optimistic, saying; “There’s no big organised thing like in Ireland where they were all sprinting for Mark (Cavendish), so I think the sprints will be a little different and obviously I’ll have a go in there and try and get the old man Malcolm (Elliott) doing his job properly and who knows, we’ll see!”
Also at the press conference was Rabobank Directeur Sportif Erik Dekker who emphasised the importance of The Tour.
“Obviously it’s a very important race, just before the World Championships so riders can use The Tour of Britain as good preparation.
“We are with five riders here, Joost Posthuma was sick and there was no time for a replacement, but nevertheless you only need one rider to win the race, so there are still a lot of chances.
“The race schedule looks really good, and I think it’s going to be a nice race, I don’t believe it’s going to be eight days of sprints! The last time I was here was ’99 and we won that stage race, so we have some good memories!”
Racing gets underway at 10.15 in Scunthorpe on Saturday morning, allowing many new great memories of The Tour of Britain to be formed, for spectators and riders alike.
And if you’re coming along to watch a stage of The Tour, remember to bring along any lose change you have for The Prostate Cancer Charity, who’ll be collecting at stage starts and finishes, with all the money going to a very good cause.
At stage starts and finishes you’ll also be able to buy the Official Race Programme, containing details of all the stages, teams and an interview with 2008 Tour of Britain winner Geoffroy Lequatre.
Next Saturday also sees the second Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride taking place on The Embankment in central London, as cyclists of all ages and abilities come together to ride the route of the final stage of The Tour of Britain to support the charity and help combat prostate cancer. There’s still time to sign up to take part, so go to www.unitebycycling.org.uk to find out more.
Finally don’t forget if you can’t make it along to see a stage in person, or if you just want to try and spot yourself on television, then tune in to the nightly highlights programme on ITV4. The times of the transmissions are as follows:
Saturday 12th September, 19.00 – 20.00
Sunday 13th September, 19.30 – 20.30
Monday 14th September, 19.00 – 20.00
Tuesday 15th September, 19.00 – 20.00
Wednesday 16th September, 20.00 – 21.00
Thursday 17th September, 22.30 – 23.30
Friday 18th September, 19.00 – 20.00
Saturday 19th September, 19.00 – 20.00
ITV4 can be found on channel 24 on Freeview, 117 on Freesat and Virgin Media and 120 on Sky Digital.
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“The race schedule looks really good, and I think it’s going to be a nice race, I don’t believe it’s going to be eight days of sprints! The last time I was here was ’99 and we won that stage race, so we have some good memories!”
Erik Dekker, Rabobank Directeur Sportif
