A look at our trip to the Tour de Yorkshire, May Bank holiday, 2018

So, we headed up to Yorkshire to watch some of this years Tour de Yorkshire. When we left here a loose plan was in my mind where we could watch the women and mens races on Friday, and the men on Saturday. We left Thursday morning and had made a plan to stop at Derby to meet up with @Keiran1786 for a drink and to break the journey. We arranged to meet at a pub on Ashbourne Road and was glad of catching up with a fellow #FantasyFives player. From there it was back on the road to Harrogate to stay with my cousin for a few days.

When we arrived, had a meal and started to really form a plan for watching stage 2, originally we thought of going to the finish at the Cow and Calf, the first mountain top finish in the 4 years of the Tour de Yorkshire. Then thought there would be masses of people there and limited possibilities of watching the racing up close, so he set off to Otley to watch the womens race go through and then head to Ilkley for the mens race, but the town and not the finish. This was because the team support would be based at the leisure centre and so all the riders would come back down the hill. There was limited parking at the top and with the organisation vehicles, TV trucks it wouldn’t be possible for all to be there.

We positioned ourselves on the course in Otley to watch the race come though, towards the end of the town, before a couple of bends, right and left, both were sweeping bends so wouldn’t result in any real slow down, but a nice position. We waited for the race to arrive, with the caravan and then the riders coming through.

The race had split into several groups by time they arrived at Otley, here are a couple of video clips of the race:

After the race had gone through, we had some time to spare so drove to Bolton Abbey, intending on having a walk around and a coffee before heading to Ilkley for the mens race. In order to park there, they wanted £10 so we decided against that as only planning on a quick stop anyway. We headed to Addingham and stopped there for a drink.

So you know where you are..

As we drove back to Ilkley, found on our right the cycle shop Wheelbase, so got parked near to the leisure centre for the race and walked back. They had the race showing on big screens and lots of activity around the shop and car-park, nothing took our fancy so we walked back to the town and found The Commute Yorkshire coffee shop, so decided to stop here for a coffee before walking back over the bridge to watch the arrival of the mens race.

The Commute Yorkshire cafe at Ilkley

We arrived at the bridge in time for the caravan to go past, and then moved to the corner of Denton Road to watch as the race took the corner.

After the race had gone through and riders started coming down the hill to return to the leisure centre, there were still riders how hadn’t hey tackled the climb and only now passing through to tackle the hill.

Team buses

We walked to the centre and onto the car park, just as Emils Leipins was entering the park! I said, quick, before he disappears! We headed past some of the other teams and found One Pro. Emils was training down on a static bike so went up, introduced myself and had a quick chat with him. The whole day had been full-on from the off and a hard day all round. We left him to his spin down after saying that hoped to get to the start at Richmond the following day.

We headed back to the car and made our way back to Harrogate.

Saturday dawned, and we got up and prepared some sandwiches, cheers Claire! And got some chairs down from the attic before heading up to Richmond for the start of stage 3. I expected it to be quite busy, why wouldn’t it be? The 2 previous days had been, but when we got there, it was packed! There were people everywhere. We got parked and headed towards where the team buses were, on the plan that could wish Emils luck for the day.

One Pro had already headed down to the sign on, so we started walking in the direction of the square. We got to the road leading to the square, and marshals had set up a one way system for spectators, down one side of street and up the other. Just as we got to the beginning of this, Emils was cycling back up from sign on, so called out and wished him luck, as well as apologising for not bringing a potato. We slowly moved down towards the square, and then headed past the start line to the park at bottom of the road, where the riders would head out for the days stage. We stayed here and caught the departure. This would be the last we saw of the actual race live.

The Tour de Yorkshire have an official artist, Lucy Pittaway (https://www.lucypittaway.co.uk/) who has a shop in Richmond, while we were there, it seemed rude not to pop in. Clearly, going in meant coming out with a print!

Lucy Pittaway Gallery, Richmond

We left Richmond and headed into the Dales, to complete a loop round to Harrogate in the evening. Heading to Grinton, Leyburn, Middleham and Masham. Here the town square was cordoned off for a festival around the Tour de Yorkshire. From here we crossed along some quaint lanes to Ramsgill and stopped by a small river for some food. From here it was back to Harrogate and a BBQ tea

Sunday was to be our day for heading back to Bristol. We planned a leisurely drive down, using motorways and making some detours through the Peak District and Heart of England. Sitting on a motorway for 4 or 5 hours is both monotonous and soul destroying. When got home on Sunday evening, saw a competition from One Pro Cycling to guess the mileage that had been completed by the teams DB11 during the 4 stages. The total was 768 miles and I put 742 and WON!! Now looking forward to a tour of the Aston Martin factory as my prize! (That will be another post, in due course)

All in all, a great weekend at an awesome race, over the 4 days 2.6 million people watched from the roadside, that’s 1187 for every mile of the race. How crazy is that!

An alternative preview of the Abu Dhabi tour 2018.

There are previews of races, and who you might want to watch and see win out there, I have no wish to tread on anyone’s toes with this. That is not the intention, it is simply my thoughts as to what I would like to see happen, of course, it is unlikely to pan out like this, but there is always hope. More of this later. After all, we have all watched a breakaway and willed them to stay away to the finish line, such as with Brandon McNulty at the recent Tour of Dubai.

Getting there

Although this is the third race in the Arabian Peninsular in as many weeks, many of the riders have not been involved in all three races. Those who took part in Dubai, but not Oman, having returned to their usual base or a training block in the intervening period. Some riders are based in Girona in Spain, and flew back. There are also several riders who train in Catalonia and are also going to the race. I so wish I was a fly on the flight from Barcelona to Abu Dhabi, possibly via Dubai, as team support have been there for the 3 weeks. That would happily fill my smartphone with thousands of selfies and pictures of riders.

Hotel

With the race being 5 stages, all in the emirate, transfers between stages to a new hotel each day are not necessary. The opportunity exists to remain in the same hotel, in familiar surroundings, for the entire race. This must be a real boon for the riders and teams something that rarely happens later on in the season. The other races in Middle East are the same in this respect, as is the Tour Down Under. A chance to get to talk with other riders from other teams without the pressure of being in a race over an extended period.

Race

So, to the race itself, there are 5 stages, first 3 have flat profiles, which should end in sprints. The fourth stage is an ITT and the stage 5 concludes on Jebel Mountain; not a dam as the other two races are here, but a proper mountain. The classifications in the race that are available are GC, Points, Youth and Teams. The stages are 189,154,133,11 and 199km in length during the week.

Those who know me will already know who I will be cheering on for all five stages, it wont come as a surprise to them that I will be shouting loudly for Sam Brand of Team Novo Nordisk and Toms Skujiņš from Trek. Sam as today is the first official pro race he has undertaken after being a stagiaire last year; and Toms because its Toms! I had no idea earlier this year that these two would be racing against each other so early in the season. I’m sort of really pleased but also thinking who do I want to win? As long as both enjoy the race, get through safely and have benefitted from the experience I will be happy. I think it will be a real learning curve for Sam.

Ideally for me would be to see Toms and Sam in the break every day(apart from Thursday, S2) as I have an appointment and may not be able to watch. My voicebox will be working overtime, I will be totally hoarse and might even get somewhere close to as big a smile as Toms always has, but probably not! Most people who play #FantasyFives and have looked at the startlist, will know what at least 60% of my team will be for the race, and with a bit of thought, could probably calculate the whole team!

On a slightly different slant, head over to Sams Twitter page and enter his competition to get your names designed and printed on #SamsShoes for the Commonwealth Games!

https://twitter.com/SamNBrand/status/961877992195665920

I hope you have enjoyed this totally “tongue in cheek” look at the race and enjoy watching it as it unfolds, I last thing:

Good luck both!

Vuelta revisited (of sorts) October 2017

Monday 16 October 2017

Today was our first chance to visit some of the places that stage 8 went through. We had seen the stage at Villena, so headed to Yucla, which was earlier in stage than where we saw. We looked around the town and the central square which contained a statue depicting various festivals with a man holding a gun!

We considered going up to the monastery but decided to move onto Jumilla. We stopped at had some lunch and then went to visit the Monastery to Santa Anna. Set on a hilltop overlooking the town. We stopped for fresh air at a rest site on the hill, which had a large stone bbq where you could prepare food fr a group of you while shading from the sun under the trees around the hillside.

Being a Monday, the Monastery and chapel were closed, so we headed back towards Alicant, stopping at a bodega to buy some red and white wine to see us through the week.

Distance travelled 141 miles driving, 1.9 miles walking

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Decided to head south to Lorca and the coast at Aguilas and return up the coast.

Lorca was a nice city, thou we didn’t stop in the centre as was lunchtime and very busy with traffic. The road to Aguilas was a dual carriageway as this is a main holiday destination. We got out and had a walk along the front, but it wasn’t the sort of place we enjoy and nor was there anywhere nice to stop and eat lunch.

We decided to move on and find a quiet spot to eat. We headed along the coast road and found a spot called Playa de la Cola. Presently, it is undeveloped but with a village at the end of the cove which appears to be under total redevelopment into holiday villas etc. After a rest and food, we continued along the coast road, which was the old road before they build the motorway. Very mountainous and twisty before eventually arriving at Cartagena and travelling back to Alicant

Distance travelled 245 miles, 0.8 walking

Wednesday 18 October 2017

All this week the Volvo Ocean Race has been based in Alicant before heading off around the world. We thought a restful day down in the City centre and viewing what was happening would be nice. We decided against the car as from previous experience know how difficult it it to get parked so took the bus down to the front. We got off and headed out past the marina, and the bars where in a past visit we had watched some of the games in the world cup. Had a look at some of the stands of sponsors and so on, took some pictures of the boats (as you do) and started to head back to the front.

One boat that hadn’t expected to see was either the “broomwagen” or the medical facility for the race.

While there I saw something that almost made me think the boating lot had there heads screwed on when I saw hiding in the corner a communications truck.

Either to return home or walk along to Santa Barbara castle, in all the times we have visited, have never been there. The skies became every dark and there was the rumble of thunder, we thought we would get caught in a downpour, but the front missed all the rain, however as we caught bus home could see that further out the rain had come and the run off was something to be seen. We planned to go to castle in the evening and get the sunset, but I think the driving over last couple days took it out of me and slumped in sofa and was still there as the sun set.

Distance on bus 5.3miles, 3.1 walking

Thursday 19 October 2017

Today we headed into North West Murcia to visit the start town of stage 10 from the Vuelta, Caravaca de la Cruz. Before the summer, had no idea that the town was one of the Perpetual Jubilee joining Santiago de la Compostela, Santo Toribio de Liebana, Rome and Jerusalem https://www.murciaturistica.es/en/caravaca_de_la_cruz/ On the way, we stopped at Mule and looked round and headed to a reservoir to have lunch, unfortunately, it was barred to the public to reach the dam,

so we continued on via small small roads and olive groves to Bullas where we found a most delightful waterfalls at Salto del Usero.

We stopped there for a while and had some food and a rest, time was getting on so he headed back to the motorway and decided that was better not to get to Caravaca, but stop at Cehegin for a coffee before heading back to Alicant.

Distance travelled 198 miles

Friday 20 October 2017

Today was a revisit to places we have been before and a few new ones. Heading to Benitatxell and Combre del Sol where stage 9 finished.

On the day of race, we had to walk up towards the summit, today was different and drove all the way to the top. Glad didn’t need to walk or cycle up it! At the summit, being completely exposed it was very windy, so we had a walk around and decided to have lunch at Cap de Sant Antoni, from here we could look over the point and towards Benitatxell in the distance.

After some sandwiches and a drink, we headed to Denia for coffee and a walk along the front, before driving up along the coast to Grau i Platja for a walk, coffee and so as to head back, hopefully to get back to Alicant at dusk to take pictures from Ste Barbara castle.

Tongue in cheek look at Latvia for World Road Race, Bergen 2017

Having commented on the efforts of @InsidePeleton96 and @JustProCycling for their previews of the World Championships in Bergen over the next week, I feel compelled to undertake a preview of the Latvian team, as promised! In a tongue-in-cheek way.

Teams are awarded places in the races based on rankings over the year in races that have been completed. This leads to a bias in favour of those countries who have the most successful riders, which by a process of predictability are those with more riders (I await to be shot down in flames)

In the Mens road race, this representation results in some teams having 9 riders and others down as few as 1. According to the UCI quota on their website, http://uci.ch/road/ucievents/2017-road-uci-road-world-championships/111129017/ Latvia have only 1 rider in the race. Whilst in their rider registration and accreditation, Latvia have 4.

I should query Brian Cookson about that, but he is busy in a dog-fight for the Presidential election, I know Trump won that one before anyone says! When I messaged Toms earlier this week, he did say he was done with racing so either the UCI are wrong or Toms is. If i was a betting man, I know who my money would be on!

In my totally, unbiased, opinion the Latvian Cycling Federation http://www.lrf.lv/ have totally failed to build on the ground swell of opinion for one of their riders who competed in the Vuelta this year. Toms Skujins (@Tomashuuns) spent the entire three weeks of the race smiling, if there had been a prize for that, he would have walked away with it hands down!

Given the accident that he suffered in the Tour of California, even to get back racing shows grit and determination. If you haven’t watched the crash, and want to, here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2OnYxaEtD4 and that incident was the very first time I think I noticed Toms. Though I may have followed him closely since.

Admittedly, on form from this year, http://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/Toms_Skujins it would be unlikely that Toms came away with the rainbow jersey. But that’s what nearly ever pundit/expert/fan/uninterested person said about Leicester City and the Premiership!

So, onto the race, it takes place around Bergen in Norway on September 24. Starting in Rong before heading south and then east to enter Bergen and complete 11 circuits of the city. I have no idea who will win! For that information I rely on Will and Mike, they are far better at it than me. I just hope all the races are enjoyable, exciting and unpredictable, not to unpredictable that it becomes a lottery.

Thanks for reading, and hope it brought a smile to your face. Now head over to Will and Mike’s twitter feeds for constructive analysis of the UCI World Road Championships, and dont forget to follow Toms if you aren’t already doing so.

Tour of Britain Stage 8, Cardiff

The day began every cloudy in Bristol with more rain and winds forecast for the day, with Cardiff not escaping the weather being only across the Severn Estuary. We decided that we would still go, but to take wet weather gear as one does in the UK, whatever the season!

Headed over the Second Severn Crossing and into Wales. The rain began, but only light drizzle. We got to Cardiff and my intention had been to use an open air car park that was close to the racing circuit. There were road closures. as you would expect on holding a road race in the city centre. This meant that there were queues to get near the race course, so a quick recalculation and headed back out from the north of city and headed to the west and the other side of the River Taff. Having parked the car, we headed to cross the river near the Principality Stadium, only to get caught up in some fun run thing, didn’t these runners KNOW there was an important road race taking place later? Or did they take advantage of the road closures?

Cardiff Castle and Castle Street closed as part of circuit.

With weather not that great, we headed for some food first and then a wander up to the race village, there was the usual stalls selling wares from the different sponsors.. only one that I was tempted with, maybe two. A new Skoda Superb and a Skoda race bike- neither had any realistic chance of finding their way back home later in the day!

So, we arrived in the technical area, and here on Museum Avenue, the team vehicles were beginning to line up on both sides of the road. This is always a great opportunity to have a nose and look round.

Team Lotto Jumbo

CannondaleDrapac

It was clear the difference in budgets of those teams from the World Tour and those from lower levels in the pecking order.

AnPost Chain Reaction

We decided to head towards the finishing line to watch the activities and prepare for the arrival of the race.. The closest that we could get was about 100m past the finish line, what a difference from the Tour de France in Harrogate where we we on the line. Here, it was cordoned off for hospitality on one side and media centre on the other. There is a huge open green space to the rear of the line that they could have happily put hospitality and knocked up some big screens in case any actually wanted to watch the race. But I’m not the organiser…

While we waited the weather did its best to disrupt the day, with a sudden heavy shower of rain. This lasted about 10 mins and within another 10 the sun was out, doing its best to dry the roads before the race arrived. Umbrellas up, and down. Race jackets for the riders out and then put away again.

The race was to cross the finishing line 3 times, with the second crossing being the last intermediate sprint of this years OVO Tour of Britain. Out on the course from the start in Worcester, the race had fractured, with the peleton in two complete separate groups. If the second group were more than 7.30 minutes down on entry to the course they would be stopped so as not to inhibit the race.

The first crossing of the line saw the escape cross a few seconds ahead of the peleton, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ6golvZ2Yw but by the sprint, on the second crossing it was all back together. Along with the bell to signify the race was entering the last lap of 7km for the entire race. The sprint was won by Michal Kwiatkowski of Team Sky.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA6VrUHXQVk

The team cars followed the riders around the streets of Cardiff for the last time.

 

The riders went back out onto the course, and the next time we saw them would be the finish. The big screen was showing the action as it happened out on the circuit. Edwald Bosen Hagan made a dash for it and powered away from the peleton with about 3km to go. It seemed a forlone hope, but as is the way with EBH he perservied. Under the Flamme Rouge with a slender margin, there were two 90 degree right hand bends to contend with before the finishing straight. Still ahead. The crowd began banging on the boards again, as he came down the straight, they were almost on him. He held them off for a well deserved win.

Finish of Stage 8, Tour of Britain 2017 in Cardiff

EBH crosses the finishing line with win for DimensionData, ahead of Ariel Richeze of QuickStepFloors and Alexander Kristoff of KatushaAlpecin in third

Had EBH not been penalised early in the race for a deviation in the sprint and lost his bonification seconds, he would have won the overall by 2 seconds, as it was the overall went to Lars Boom.

The rush was on to get in front of the stage to see the presentations of the winners. we weren’t quick enough! so headed back to the technical area. Here the teams were already washing down the bikes after the days racing in assorted weather. Some were more though than others, and while some were still cleaning, other teams were nearly all packed and ready to leave! We headed back to the carpark where the car was parked and began out journey home. Again in pouring rain. While travelling along the M4 we overtook and couple of team vehicles, thou with the weather, pictures through the windscreen were not practical so quickly opened side window but pictures werent great due to close proximity. Notice to traffic control, let us have the motorway to ourselves to get decent pictures of the vehicles on the move!

New season will require a new approach to Fantasy Fives

For the past season, our first in Fantasy Fives of cycling, the management took the approach that the team should be build around Celtic riders. This is for numerous reasons, not least the whole ethos of the team was a Celtic one.

With results being all important for placings within the fraternity it has become necessary to rethink a plan of attack for next season. As a result of deep and complex thoughts, it has been decided that we will keep our core base of Celtic riders, but will compliment them with other riders that will gain points for the Fantasy table. The decision was a complex one to reach, but I cant continue to allow Benni and Keiran free reign in the chasing down of the ever presents on the podium! The riders that we have used this year have all performed well in the tasks alloted to them by their race teams, this however, hasn’t reflected in the overall standings and therefore Fantasy points.

It is hoped that the bulk of the teams put out will be in line with the overall aims and aspirations of the team. The support, even ridicule (in good spirits) from some over selections for races has made the team even more determined to continue to compete.

We look forward to re-engaging with everyone in the new season.

Stage 10 of the Vuelta 2017

When I booked and planned this holiday, there had been no thoughts of seeing the race on Stage 10. In fact, the first time I had the idea was after meeting Toms on the rest day, when I casually said that it wasn’t that far to the start of the stage. I wasn’t shot down in flames! Just some quizzical looks. The thought remained just that. After a few drinks with evening meal, the subject was raised again, and, with the flow of alcohol continuing, a plan was hatched to get up and watch the stage.

The morning broke, with clouds and a chance in the forecast for rain, then thunderstorms. Undeterred, packed some lunch to do sightseeing in the area afterwards, we set off, thou did have an umbrella in the car, just in case! The trip to the start was due to take 1hr 34 mins according to Google, but after yesterdays calculations by them I was unsure. We set off and soon on the motorway there were support vehicles from some of the teams that had been staying further afield in Alacant, we pressed on. Then Bahrain Merida convoy appeared ahead, so we knew we must be in time to arrive at the start.

We arrived at Caravaca, got parked in a side street not far from the start village. Walked back to the area and got the camera out to take some pictures of the event..

The team buses, support vehicles were all parked along the open roadside, it was possible to get up close to the equipment and have a nose.

What other sport can you do that in? The camera was in overdrive as walked past the teams on both sides of the road. Heaven!

At some, riders were already warming up for the days stage, others were still on their respective team buses, while still others had already begun the task of signing on for the stage. Cannondale had their bikes leaning up against the bus. I counted and could only get to 8! I recounted and still only 8, so I started checking numbers, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98 and 99. Something was terribly amiss… then a staff member brought round another bike and all was then well, Toms bike had arrived!

The biggest cheer that occurred while we were at the sign on was for Alberto Contador. Despite the fact that by now the rain was quite heavy, he seemed totally relaxed and enjoying the occasion as he waved to the crowd, before heading to the start line.

When I say that all the team buses were accessible, their was 1 exception, you couldn’t get near the Team Sky bus, not that I really wanted to, as none of my favourites from the team were riding the Vuelta, having both been injured earlier in the season. I hear that 1, Geriant Thomas is down to return to racing at the Tour of Britain, but I digress and that is for another day.

We headed back to the main area, stopping at the village on the way, partly to shelter from the rain, which was now persistent, and partly to see what was on offer. The usual replica shirts were much in evidence, and the price variations were extreme.The opportunity to imitate the World Champion in Bora-Hansgrohe colours or Team Sky black are just a case in point.

The rain eased off and we headed not to the actual start, but the neutralised zone out of town. We waited for the event to begin, and the convoy of police motorbikes and cars began. The competitors were on their way! Followed by the support vehicles, buses, organisation vehicles and more police.

The race had begun! The weather was very wet, and was going to be a long day of rain.

We headed into the town hoping the weather would improve, in order to see the town properly and enjoy a couple of hours browsing the attractions. Alas, that wasn’t the case, so we had a coffee, allowed the traffic to subside and headed back to Alacant.

In conclusion, if you get the chance to visit a Grand Tour, JUMP AT IT, you wont regret it. These 3 stages that we have seen have been great, from mid stage on 8, the finish 1km on 9 and the start on 10. Which would I chose to be the best to see? The start for opportunity to walk around and view the bikes and riders at close quarters, the finish for an amazing atmosphere, and the mid stage to see the event in full flow and spaced out over several minutes. I was at the finish of the Tour in Harrogate, which now seems an age ago, these few days have quite probably surpassed that. Which I hadn’t thought would be possible. This is in so small part to the interaction that I have been able to enjoy with Toms Skujins. Even in the heat of the event and the bombshell over the future of the team, he has been more than happy to reply to messages, meet me and make the few days an experience that will stay with me for a very long time, Thank you Toms, I hope the future becomes secure, you deserve it for putting up with me hounding you!

Rest day at the Vuelta 2017

Well, the first rest day of the Vuelta is upon us, and richly deserved it is as well! After 9 hard stages a day of rest in Alicant province for the riders. If you are on holiday though, there are no such luxuries! A spot of sightseeing and then a rendevous at a hotel to met up with Toms Shijuns.

We headed in the direction of Callosa de Segura, which although being famous, was of little interest to us on this occasion. We then headed to Embalse de la Pedrera for a spot of lunch on the side of a reservoir, very impressive in this part of Spain as even with the heat it seemed full and no loss from evaporation! I await to be corrected! From here I messaged Toms to give an idea of our arrival time, Google said 45 min but when I started calculating the route that fell to 15. The mysteries of technology is what I put that down to!

We got to the hotel and made ourselves known to reception and Toms arrived. He gave me a bottle and race number from the Vuelta, chatted for a few minutes and a photo opportunity.

I thanked him again and we left, heading back to Alicant for an evening meal.

Stage 9 of the Vuelta 2017

Today was a day to see the finish of a stage. So got prepared and into the car to head up the motorway. Unlike yesterday, we didn’t see any vehicles from the Vuelta on route. Got off the motorway and utilised Google to get us to the finish! We could have simply followed the signs for the route the cyclists were taking within a short distance, as is was the same course. We got as near to the finish as we could, and parked up off course down a hill, I thought it was only a short distance, later I was to find it wasn’t!

We then walked up the climb that the riders would later tackle twice on the circuit, it was hard work walking so heaven only knows what it was like cycling. We found a spot at about the 1km point, as the road split from the circuit onto the finishing climb.

Having bagged our place for the conclusion of the stage, I headed up the last climb to see the finish.

Am glad we found a spot where we did, as it was steep walking up to the gantry. I stopped about 150m from the end and turned round and headed back down, taking a few photos of the view from that vantage point.

I got back to our viewpoint and began to prepare for the arrival of the caravan, all the while amateur riders were struggling up to the finish, kudos to them all, some managing easier than others but some were as young as teenagers. I would have got off and walked!

Next the police wanted the road sterile for when the race tackled the last section to the summit, and with much blowing of whistles, and more blowing, and occasional shouting the course began to clear and everyone was behind the barriers.

Given the distance from the finish when the riders would pass 1st time, various teams took advantage of the sterile space to park and prepare drinks for the riders for the last time.

All the while, the Guardia helicopter was flying past ensuring safety from an elevated position. Most of the police were armed with pistols although some had in addition sub machine guns. Whether this was an added precaution after the atrocity in Barcelona, I do not know.

There followed an almost deathly silence as the riders approached for the first time, then the banging on holdings signified the arrival of the breakaway. A cheer went and and much banging of the holdings that lined the entire climb. Once everyone had passed we were treated to what I think may have been the Columbian National Anthem, as the corner we had taken was almost 50% Columbian supporters, all in good voice, even if they did test the patience of the police at times, who handled everything that people could throw at them in a firm but friendly manner, my Spanish is atrocious, so hope thats how it was handled! Everyone settled down for the climax of the day and the conclusion of the first week of racing in this years Vuelta. Eventually after what seemed an age, the helicopter sounds came back to fill the air, the race was approaching!

The police outriders came round the corner and found they were in the wrong gear and the corner was tighter than they had thought, much gear changing and using the full width of the road ensued. The banging on the hoardings began in ernest as the first riders approached the hard hairpin onto the final climb. The first bunch rounded the corner and headed to the summit to contest the stage win and the bonus seconds, but I doubt if the additional seconds were playing on many minds as they looked at the last section up towards the finish. More likely, the thought that had just done an almost entire stage following the coast and they throw this at us! Thoughts may have turned to the original Tour de France and riders shouting “Assassin” at Degrange.

There followed various single and groups of riders hitting the hairpin, that some may have glanced at during the pass while completing the circuit.

Eventually another banging of the hoardings as came into view Thomas Skujinš shepherding fellow Cannondale rider  Joseph Dombrowski up to the finish. They would eventually finish 178 and 179 on the stage, down 24’04” behind the winner Froome for Sky.

After most had made the climb, the teams had the team transport down the hill, had riders struggling going up and others heading to the sanctuary of the team bus freewheeling down the hill that a short time before they had painstaking climbed.

Stage 8 of the Vuelta 2017

Today was the day of stage 8 of the Vuelta 2017. The plan was this morning to get to see the race pass through Villena, just prior to the food station and then head by car to try and see the finish.

Arrived in Villena in plenty of time, so had a drink in a small bar on outskirts of town, but still on the route. The police were ready to place barriers over the side roads to make the route sterile for the race. We then headed into the town to watch the caravan pass and managed as always to get some hats from Carrefour.

The caravan passed through and we headed back to where the car was parked to make a quick exit from the town after the broom wagon had gone past. The anticipation was increasing as could hear the helicopter overhead. The police shut the roads and whistled at anyone that tried to drive along the road. The helicopter went overhead again… Now the first cars and motorcycles of the convoy went through.

The position we had chosen to watch the race was just prior to the feed station, my thoughts being we didn’t want to fight to get any discarded musettes, but the speed would slow down slightly as the opportunity to get refreshments in the race was imminent. This proved to be the case as the breakaway, consisting of about 24 riders went through, clearly after some time in the break the chance to get food and drinks was high.

The anticipation continued to grow as 1 person asked if that was it… The break at this time had about 5 mins on the peloton so enough time to grab a drink of water without missing any of the action. Then the sight of more headlights on full raised the interest again. The peloton were coming through the town and would soon be with us!

I positioned myself ready to capture the action. Just further down the road the course narrowed as it winded its way to the feed zone and the climb at Biar.

The wind that there was, only slight was coming across the road so at right angles to the route. The peloton approaches with Sky doing their thing on the front and controlling the race. I set the camera rolling again to catch the action and used zoom to get a better picture, as I was on the curb watching the activity. The peloton arrive, Froome in his red jersey with about 7 riders in front of him from Sky and the rest in close proximity following. Fabio Aru was resplendent in his Italian Tricolour jersey. I think Toms Skujinš was about 2/3rds the way back in the group.

As the peleton went past, clearly Sky were employing a hard pace, and Froome shouted out about getting out of the way as they raced past, all my thoughts about easing up for the food station had gone out of the window!

Once the race and broomwagon had past, within a few minutes the road was clear of spectators as those who lived in the houses close by returned to get out of the heat and hopefully sit down to watch the final stages of the race on TV, but who knows… The road cleared and we headed back to get on the motorway to head to the finish…

All went well until we arrived on the CV837 from Petrer to the finish at Cati. The road as about 10km, we started to drive and gain altitude all the while. Passing cyclists heading up the mountain to see the conclusion of the stage. About 8km from the top and thus the climax of the days racing, the road was closed by the police. They said that the road was closed and there was no parking any further up the hill. We had to make a choice, try and get parked somewhere near there and walk up in the heat; or accept defeat and be destined not to see the conclusion ourselves. With an 8km walk there uphill, and a 8km walk down afterwards, we chose the latter and headed back to Petrer.

Given that we could rush back to Alicant and hope to see the conclusion on TV or take a more leisurely pace home, we headed slowly back home and stopped off at a most beautiful castle, originally of Islamic construction it has been adapted and modified through the ages.

Sanctuary of St Maria Magdalena

As some of you may know, I am due to meet up with Thoms from Cannondale, as the 5000th follower for him on Twitter I am looking forward to getting a present from him for the feat. He is well worth the follow @Tomashuuns

The Spanish police may have prevented me from meeting him today, and can understand the security and logistics of the decision, but I will manage to get to the finish tomorrow at Benitatxell

to be continued….