Tour
of Britain 2007 Diary
9th - 15th September, 2007
by Evan Oliphant
Day 7, the last day, and Frenchman
Romain Feillu (Agritubel) won the Tour of Britain today in Glasgow,
and it was by the smallest margin in the history of the race - less
than half a second! Evan ended up as first British rider overall -
an absolutely fantastic result. Click on the Day 7 link below to read
the story.
Day 1 : Day 2
: Day 3 : Day 4 : Day
5 : Day 6 : Day 7
Day 1 - Sunday 9th September,
2007
After making such a good job of his diary for Pez
in the Tour of Ireland, DFL professional Evan Oliphant will be giving
VeloResults the low-down on his home Tour,
which started in London today and finishes in Glasgow on Saturday.
We caught-up with Evan, in the DFL team car, stuck
in traffic, listening to the chart show [at max volume] on Radio One,
here’s what he had to say, (I think!)
Evan, the Scottish Road Champion, is enjoying
the Tour of Britain
VeloResults: How
did it go? Evan: "Cavendish won with 2.27, the Russian
Nikolai Trusov from Tinkoff was second at one second; best British
rider was Geraint Thomas four seconds down for 4th; best from our
squad was Dan Lloyd at nine seconds in 26th and I was 48th at 12 seconds.
James McCallum pulled his wheel at the start, lost 55 seconds and
was last!
"It was quite a tricky circuit, you didn’t
need to brake but you had to come off the tri-bars at a couple of
places because it was twisting and bumpy. At least one guy managed
to crash, I saw him chucking his bike and crash hat down at the finish.
"I warmed-up around the circuit for a
couple of laps, but also warmed-up on the turbo; I got some tips from
Jason!"
Were you on the low-pro? "Yes,
it’s the first time I’ve ridden it since the Scottish
10 champs and that was weeks ago. That doesn’t help; if I rode
it more I then would go better on it. I had a rear disc in too, it’s
a good bike, but like I say, I could do with more practice on it."
Cavendish – a surprise?
"Yeah, I would have expected it if the circuit was pan-flat,
but there’s a hill near the finish, he was fastest to that point
too, so he’s King of the Mountains as well! I don’t think
he can win it overall though, there are some very nasty climbs on
Tuesday, that’s when the race will be decided, I think."
What do you think of prologues, in general?
"I think they’re a good thing, it stops things happening
like did in the Tour of Ireland, where a break goes up the road on
the first day and the race is effectively over for every one else.
Tomorrow, T-Mobile will obviously take control for Cavendish and the
result is still wide-open. The only thing about this prologue was
that we had a five hour drive each way to get to it, and that’s
not the best."
How’s the form? "Yeah,
I’m happy with it, I came out of the Tour of Ireland feeling
good and I’m looking forward to this."
Your goal for the race? "To
win a stage, but that won’t be easy; there are only a couple
of big teams here and that encourages every body to try and get-up
the road, it’s less controlled and harder. Plowman Craven is
going on the offensive early tomorrow, so I’m going to try and
get with them, Gordon McCauley says that I have to stick with him."
And the team goals? "We
didn’t have a team meet last night; we all knew we just had
to get round the two kilometres as fast as we could! But we’ll
have one tonight and I should imagine that we’re going to try
and get Daniel into a good GC placing, he’s going very well
just now."
Cycling Weekly wasn’t giving you
much chance. "No, I saw that, but it’s always
like that with the team and 'the Cycling', I think perhaps they have
an issue with Nick Collins [team owner]: they never say many good
things about us."
Here at VeloResults,
we have no issues with anyone, except Jimmy Leslie, of course! We’ll
be talking to Evan again tomorrow night - can he and Kiwi strongman
McCauley stay-away, all day?
Watch this space.
Back to top
Day 2 - Monday
10th September, 2007
Yesterday, Evan told us that he and Gordon McCauley
were going to jump-away from the gun and stay-away to the line.
Did it work-out like that, Evan?
"No, I was away early, Plowman Craven did go from the gun
but there were attacks going all over the place and everything got
hauled-back.
"The stage was Reading to Southampton,
140 kilometres with a couple of third cat climbs, but nothing serious.
At the team meet last night, (DS Eric Vanderaerden) said that they
(Cavendish’s T-Mobile squad) wouldn’t let a big group
go, they would let two or three guys go, because they would be able
to bring that back. Eric reckoned that it would unlikely that a big
break would be allowed to go, but we should keep our wits about us
and get Daniel Lloyd into it, if it did happen.
"Eventually a couple of guys were let
go and I could have gone with them, but I could see that Eric was
right and it was a suicide job. T-Mobile did bring it back together
and Cavendish won again, in a bunch sprint. Nico [Mattan]
jumped the string with 3k to go and got a good gap before they dragged
him back, we were lined-out when he went, so he must have good form."
A good day for Evan? "Yeah,
I didn’t dig deep and I avoided the crashes, it was a bit wild
on the run-in, a lot of guys came down. Robert Hunter was one of them.
James McCallum came in with Hunter, I think; James punctured with
10k to go – he pulled his wheel yesterday and now a puncture
today: he’s not having much luck."
A good day for DFL? "Yeah,
there was a main group of 57 and we got everyone in it; Daniel was
14th, so we can’t grumble."
Who’s impressing? "Cavendish;
he’s winning everything! It’ll be different tomorrow,
I think; the first half of the stage is flat but the second half,
there 70 kilometres-worth of had climbs."
Tour
de France Champs Elysee Stage Winner Dimitri Konyshev has it all explained
to him.
Last year, Boonen, in particular, was critical
of the organisation. "Yeah, the traffic situation.
It’s much better this year, the roads are very quiet, but maybe
even a little too small; the race route today was 140 k, but as the
crow flies it’s only about 60 k – the route twists and
turns so much on little roads, you hardly go 500 metres without a
change of direction.
"At one stage today, we were riding alongside
an unfenced field, full of horses and donkeys! The fact that we’re
not actually doing a lot of distance across the ground means that
the transfers a long too; we had one-and-a-half hours in the car,
before the stage yesterday, then the same again after the stage."
With the demise of Unibet, Discovery and
Gerolsteiner, is there a sense of panic about contracts, around?
"Not that I’ve noticed, I don’t think it makes
much difference to guys at this level; it’s more a ProTour team
problem."
How’s 2008 looking for you?
"I hope to catch-up with the team-owner, Nick Collins within
the next few days, ask me again at the finish!"
Back to top
Day
3- Tuesday 11th September, 2007
It was a good day for DFL in the Tour of Britain
on Tuesday, as Evan explains:
Hills today? "Yeah,
it was 169 k, Yeovil to Taunton, there were some steep ones in the
second half. It started getting lumpy at 82 k and the last climb was
at 30 k to go. A front group of 31 formed over the hills, from which
Trusov (Tinkov) took the stage and the jersey.
"Cavendish lost six minutes, but I expected
that. We were best team today, Daniel Lloyd, Daniel Fleeman, Burney
Salzburger (Australia) *check spelling* and myself all made the front
group. Apart from one GB guy, we were the only British guys at the
front.
"Dan's 8th on GC now, at 18 seconds and
I'm 16th at 23 seconds. There was a big crash at the finish, we were
doing about 40 mph, but no one seems too badly hurt, Dan Lloyd came
down, but he's not bad, he just hurt his finger. I had to stop, to
avoid it, but Burney was 4th and Dan Fleeman was 7th, I think I would
have been right up there too. It was a good day, though - even the
stage transfers weren't too long!"
Oleg Tinkov must be pretty happy with Trusov's
overall lead in the race.
No GC for "Cav" then?
"No, I saw him and Hammond, really hurting on the second
climb. It was a hard day, there were a lot of short, steep hills as
well as the K o M climbs; there was carnage, guys going out the back
all over the place. I was feeling good, though.
"Nico told me last night, not to go on
any early attacks, because the second half would be so tough, and
he was right. It's just a pity I got baulked in the crash, because
I think I was headed for top five."
Is Nico enjoying the English beer?
"He's on a red wine phase at the moment, that's what he's
been having with his evening meal, this week. (VeloResults
can endorse that this is unusual, Nico is a confirmed Carlsberg-man)."
What have the crowds been like?
"Good, a lot of screaming youngsters, and Plowman Craven
have been doing a good job, distributing caps, the kids beside the
road are all wearing them."
How's "Lucky Jim" McCallum doing?
"I think he was OK today, I didn't see him after the first
climb, but I think he was safe in a big group."
How's tomorrow looking? "There
are three first cat climbs, I think they are short, steep jobs. The
race is still very open, Trusov may be leading, but I'm not sure how
strong his team is - I don't think that they are capable of controlling
it. There's a fair distance from the climbs to the finish, so it might
well re-group before the finish tomorrow - I hope!"
VeloResults will be on
the phone to our boy, right after tomorrow's stage.
Back to top
Day
4- Wednesday 12th September, 2007
Stage three of the Tour of Britain, how is the
grass track boy from Wick doing?
What was the route like today, Evan?
"It was 152 k from Worcester to Wolverhampton, a group got
away early, there was no one in it within 11 minutes of the leader,
so it was left to go, Tinkoff kept it steady all day and didn’t
let it go too far. The only thing about Tinkoff doing all that work
is that I think they are starting to feel it, some of their guys were
going-off on the climbs and having to fight-hard to get back, and
there are still hard days to go.
"The Aussie, Matt Goss from CSC won it
from Freddy Bichot (Agritubel) and Roger Hammond (T-Mobile) was third,
but as far as GC, nothing really happened. I actually think that the
big hitters were thinking about stage 4, which has a big cat one climb
near the finish, there’s guaranteed to be a big shake-up there."
With Daniel 8th at only a few seconds,
a win must be possible for DFL? "He’s actually
7th now, at 18 seconds; Caethoven from Chocolade Jacques, who was
above him on GC, has dropped-out. I’m 15th on GC, but the gap
is only 23 seconds, we’re hoping to go on the attack tomorrow,
there are four of us at DFL within a minute of the lead, so we’re
in a good position."
Have T-Mobile and CSC, the ProTour squads
been impressing you? "Not T-Mobile, I don’t
think that they’ve sent their best squad, for example, they
completely missed the big break yesterday. The standard on the race
isn’t as high as it was last year, I’ve been close to
the front on a lot of the climbs; I couldn’t have done that
last year."
You mentioned you were drug tested the
other day? "Yes, they took a urine sample, I think
that on the random tests they just take urine, but if you win a stage,
then they take blood and it’s the ‘full-deal’ testing
procedure, checking for EPO and whatever else."
I was looking at a picture of you in the
race; you’re a skinny, boy! "Yes, this is
the lightest I’ve been, I’m at 65 kilos, when I was racing
as an amateur, back in my Velo Ecosse days, I was 68/69 kilos, but
I used to go up to 71 in the winter if I was out clubbing all the
time!"
How’s James McCallum doing?
"I said to him this morning to stick with Paul Manning, he
lives locally and I knew he’d go up the road; that’s exactly
what he did and he was sixth at the end. I don’t know what happened,
but James obviously didn’t go with him, I would have gone, but
I’m too far up the GC for them to let me go. I think he had
another bad day, he smashed a back wheel early, then he crashed in
the last k, apparently he was flying through the air!"
Do you want me to be at the bottom of
that big climb tomorrow, with your fixed [wheel]
bike? "Yeah, that would be good, but even without
that, we’ll be on the attack tomorrow."
We’re looking forward to hearing about that
on Thursday afternoon.
Back to top
Day 5- Thursday
13th September, 2007
Ever wondered, why the continentals think that
cycling in the UK is Mickey Mouse? – read-on!
Jolly fun, I believe today, Evan?
"It was very active from the gun, attacks going all over
the place, but nothing was sticking, at around 70 K there was a group
of about 25 guys up the road and they had maybe 20 seconds; but they
really weren’t going anywhere.
"Then, all of a sudden, the race was neutralised;
it transpires that the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire had been
on holiday when the permits were granted and the race route organised,
so he didn’t know about it and demanded that the race be neutralised
across his patch. They had us stopped beside the road for ten minutes
and explained what was
happening, then we rode for 33 K at 25 kph.
"At the end of the neutralisation they
restarted the race and gave the group that had been away the 20 seconds
they had before the race was stopped.
The continental managers must have loved
that? "Eric said that in any other country they
would have just ignored it and carried-on racing, it could only happen
here.
"At the re-start, the group really gunned-it,
Hamish Haynes from our squad was in the group and he was saying that
the guys were really psyching themselves-up to go for it from the
restart.
"He didn’t want to go in the break
at the restart, because he knew what would happen and he’d be
needed to work, but they told him he had to go with the group from
the restart; he just sat-up immediately, though and came back to help.
"Just after the restart, two police motorbikes
crashed, that was a
distraction and CSC was at the front blocking, because they had Luke
Roberts in the lead group.
"Within a couple of K, the gap was at
a minute-plus. All of us, except Dan, plus Tinkoff, Rabobank and Chocolade
Jacques went to the front and chased like hell, but the gap wouldn’t
come-down, Nico (Mattan) couldn’t understand it and said that
maybe they’d been helped by a car or motorbike.
"On the last climb, they were in sight
and Daniel tried to bridge-across, but he didn’t make it, Eric
(DS Vanderaerden) said that there was no point in trying to save himself
anymore, as the race was up the road. Over the top we continued to
chase hard, but didn’t really get any help."
Was Cavendish still there? "That’s
what we couldn’t understand, Cavendish and Hammond were both
there, if they’d helped and got it back, then Cavendish would
have won the sprint.
Daniel Lloyd is having a great race, lying
15th overal at just over a minute.
"Maybe they were wasted after the climb;
Daniel was feeling-it after the climb and his failed attempt to get
across. I was feeling it too, but I dug deep and hung on. Over the
top, I did a lot of work on the run-in, along with our guy Burney
Sulzberger and the yellow jersey, Trusov; but we didn’t get
them back.
"The Spanish rider, Adrian Palomares Vilaplana
[above] from Fuertaventura-Canarias took the stage and the
jersey, he had two team mates with him in that group, so obviously
that was a great help for him. I’m still 16th, but I’m
at 1-08 now, Daniel has dropped-out of the top ten, he’s 15th
now at 1-03, it’s disappointing, but it was a really unusual
set of circumstances."
Is it still winnable? "I
think the Spanish guys will struggle to hold-on, there will be attacks
from the gun tomorrow; we covered 51 K in the first hour today, and
it will be like that again tomorrow.
"CSC will definitely go on the attack
tomorrow, it’s a tough stage again and they have Luke Roberts
in third position at eight seconds. Before the neutralisation today,
a break had gone and we had Daniel in it but CSC had missed it.
"They went to the front and the computer
went from 45 kph to 65 kph; we had been blocking for Daniel and were
right at the front, so when they turned it on, we were right behind
them, but it was chaos behind us."
How’s that man McCallum?
"When it was neutralised, he was delighted, he said it was
the first piece of good luck he’d had all week!"
If it’s not traffic worries, like 2006 then
it’s the men with the scrambled eggs on their hats causing the
problems, will tomorrow be hassle-free? You’ll find out first,
right here on VeloResults!
Back to top
Day
6- Friday 14th September, 2007
Nico Mattan was in the DFL team car with Evan,
having his first taste of Kendal mint cake when I rang on Friday;
we’ll hear more wisdom from Nico later, but he did like the
mint cake.
Nico does love his beer. He DNF'd today, so
will likely be home enjoying a lovely cold Leffe Blonde as you read
this.
How was it today? "It
was a hard day, there was a cross wind from the start and a group
of eight or nine got away, there were three GC guys up there, but
in the end, they got caught and there were just two left out-front,
Cavendish and Alexander Serov (Tinkoff).
"Serov dropped Cav on a steep climb and
won on his own, Cav held-on for second. I think Cav was chasing points
today for one of the sprint jerseys. I don’t think that there
will be much change on GC, though. Palomares from Fuerteventura still
leads, but I think that maybe a few of his team mates will have slipped-down
the rankings – they worked very hard today, but they were shelled
on the steep climbs at the death. I was surprised at how strong they
were, but like I said, they paid for it."
How was your day? "I
tried to get away on the last climb, just to try and make some time,
I was with Trusov, but we were brought back. It was hard to get away,
after I went, Daniel jumped with a couple of CSC’s, but they
were caught too. I think this year has been harder than the other
years on the Tour of Britain, there are attacks all the time, there’s
no control; the Fuerteventura guys were riding at a hard tempo but
there were still attacks going everywhere. The team of the guy that
is second David Blanco (Duja –Tavira) were helping Fuerteventura,
so there are ten Spaniards riding."
How’s the team? "OK,
were all still in the race, except Nico, he climbed-off at the feed,
but he did a load of work for us before that, he was riding very strongly
in the cross winds, he has a flight to catch, early tomorrow. Daniel
wasn’t feeling as good as he has been, but I think that he and
I will have moved-up because of some of the Spanish guys getting dropped
on the hills."
How’s our boy, McCallum?
"I think he’s OK, I saw him at 20 K to go, but he’s
on another new bike, that’s the third bike he’s been on
in the race."
How have the hotels and food been?
"We’ve been in the same hotels as the race organisation,
so they’ve been good, and so has the food. Tonight will be about
the worst hotel we’ve been in, it’s a Holiday Inn, but
we were in an old castle, the other night.
"Nico has enjoyed the hotels and the food,
but he hates the race food; he’s always saying that we should
swap race food with other teams, so we all get a change. He’s
not had a recovery drink for seven years, he hates the stuff and says
it’s bad for your stomach – a good beer after the finish
is better for the digestion!"
Tomorrow? "I don’t
see the Spanish guys letting it go, they were strong today. I think
there will be a lot of attacks, though – it’s just the
way this race has been. I have good legs, so I have to show tomorrow,
even if it’s just to get into a break for a while; it’s
my home-stage, so I have to do something."
VeloResults will be
on Glasgow Green to cover the last stage and the Scottish criterium
championships which precede it – pity about Nico and that flight,
there are bars I’m sure he’d like, in the Briggait."
Back to top
Day
7- Saturday 15th September, 2007
VeloResults took the
road to Glasgow on Saturday morning - carefully avoiding the road
works on the Forth Bridge - to cover the Scottish criterium champs
and to meet our boy Evan at the finish of the Tour of Britain.
After we watched Paul Manning [above]
win on his own - an impressive victory, with Lars Bak and Salvatore
Commesso, two of the riders he gave the slip - we caught up with Evan
to get the chat.
Agritubel's park up at the People's Palace
How was it? "Today was
definitely the hardest day, with the cross winds; but we still did
the first 80 k in 1-40 (ouch!). I've finished as best British rider,
(16th @ 1-12) Daniel Lloyd got gapped, so I've jumped over him on
GC (Lloyd was 22nd @ 2-01)."
Who's won? "The French
guy, Feillu, from Agritubel, he grabbed a time bonus; that levelled
him with Vilaplana and then it was on count-back to prologue positions,
where Feillu was quicker."
Tour winner Romain Feillu
Who was doing the damage with the warp-speed?
"It wasn't really like that, it was just that there were
attacks going everywhere. I got in the first move of the day, it was
savage, but you have to try. Manning was in that move, too and he
won the stage out of that break at the death. He's really strong,
I was on his wheel yesterday and he just rode straight-up through
the cross wind, very impressive."
Daniel must be a bit disappointed, it was
looking good for him, earlier in the race. "Yeah,
he's pissed-off. Eric (DS, Vanderaerden) reckons that perhaps it wasn't
a good thing, us getting four riders in that move, the other day.
It meant we were all up there on GC and didn't get a lot of freedom
to move. If we'd only had one rider well placed, then it would have
been better for us. All of that said, it's been the hardest Tour of
Britain that I've ridden, The lack of big teams has meant that there's
no control, there have been attacks going constantly."
A surprise winner? "I
thought the two Spanish teams would hold it together, but Agritubel
know the score. They're not ProTour, but they are racing at that level
all the time, so they know what it's all about."
Salvatore explains to his mates why he didn't
win...
Not a bad result for our boy, then. There was
no need to ask Evan about James McCallum; there he was, leaning over
the fence on the other side of the road... "I didn't have
the head for it today, I climbed off at the feed. I tried a dig at
the start to try and get away, but it's been so fast, the race has
just been out of control. With lesser-known teams and less riders
per team, no one has been able to impose themselves on the race. I'm
a bit disappointed, but at the same time, happy to have got as far
as I did, with coming back from injury. It's also in my mind that
I have a round of the British criterium series tomorrow at Warwick,
and a lot of driving to do first."
Maybe not the way James wanted it to finish, but
a great learning experience for him.
VeloResults would like
to thank Evan for giving us so much of his time - and 'Nico stories'
- and congratulate him a good ride.
