Report & Results – Stage 7: Tour of Britain

Spanish rider Pablo Urtasun of Euskaltel – Euskadi won the seventh stage, Barnstaple to Dartmouth while Jonathan Tiernan-Locke of Endura Racing retained the leader’s Gold jersey.

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Stage 7: Barnstaple to Dartmouth 170 km (Saturday 15th)

REPORT

Break stays clear with Pablo Urtasun timing his sprint perfectly to claim victory in Dartmouth

The Basque rider (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was part of a strong 10-man breakaway which went clear after a very active opening half hour and with the likes of Ivan Basso, Marc De Maar, Marcin Bialoblocki, Jerome Coppel, Bernie Sulzberger (Raleigh GAC) and Sami Sanchez among their number, the break had the fire power to hold off the chasers.

On a route that was up and down all day and lined by hundreds of thousands of people, Jon Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) once again stamped his authority on the race with the Brit going clear as soon as the road reared up to distance his nearest rival, Australian Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEDGE) on Locke’s home roads in Devon.

Stunning scenery and tough climbs were always going to be the order of the day as the race headed south for Dartmouth on a bright Saturday morning. The penultimate stage got off to a frenetic start as the race left Barnstaple with early moves splitting the bunch into three groups en route to the first categorised climb of the day at South Hill.

Stage start was packed in Barnstaple.

At the first sprint, Leigh Howard was able to trim three seconds off Tiernan-Locke’s lead but after the race came back together, five riders eventually went clear before being joined by two other chase groups to form a group that quickly opened up a big gap on the peloton.

Back in the peloton it was Tiernan-Locke’s Endura Racing squad on the front in a bid to defend the IG Markets Gold leader’s jersey with help from NetApp and other teams who were hoping to bring it back together. Heading into the final 30km, the gap began to drop but with Endura Racing not interested in bringing the move all the way back – the 10 men held onto a useful advantage of a minute and a half heading into the final climbs.

Bernie Eisel leads the peloton through the Zero kilometre and the attacks started soon after…

Team Sky hit the front in the closing stages in a bid to close the gap further but to no avail. As soon as the road ramped upwards it was Tiernan-Locke who hit out and only a select number of riders were able to follow his wheel as the Tour of the Med winner again showed what he was capable of.

Post Race Reactions

Samuel Sanchez – Rouleur Combativity Award: “Today the stage was very, very hard and I am training for the Worlds so my job in this stage is for my team mate. He won the stage and I am very, very happy for him.”

“He is my friend, in another race he has worked for me and today I worked for him. The Tour is incredible. More people, beautiful mountains. I live in the north of Spain and it is very similar to England. Very similar.”

Pablo Urtasun – Stage Winner: “We spoke about halfway through the race that Sanchez would do everything possible to get a victory for me. So in the last 10km he did all the work possible and finally it paid off with a victory.”

Was he going for the KOM jersey or stage win today… “I came here with the intention of trying to win a stage. On the first day when I got all those points [on KOM] I wasn’t really aiming for it. It is much more important to win a stage. When I went over today in first position [at the KOM] I wasn’t really sprinting for it as Kristian [House] has got enough points and tomorrow I think my legs will be too tired to keep fighting for it.”

Who was the biggest threat for him today… “Marc de Maar was going well. But I had Sanchez with me and we were working really well. We worked together and although it was a bit of a difficult descent we pulled it off.”

Do you feel at home in the escape group? “As a guy like me who is not really a super climber or super sprinter, the only way I can try and win a race is to get into the breaks. I’ve been trying to do that a lot this year and have been in a lot of good positions and haven’t quite won. So today, finally getting towards the end of the season it all paid off. I am happy, it was a hard day.”

Was he worried it was going to be the same situation as the Tour de France earlier this year when the group chased him down… “It was obviously disappointing to be caught [in Tour de France] and when you’re in a break from a long way out there’s always a big, big chance of getting brought back by the peleton. Without trying you are never going to win. It didn’t work in The Tour [de France] but today it did but that’s cycling.”

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke  (Endura Racing) – IG General Classification “It was fantastic today. What we saw over the two main climbs in Dartmoor- the crowds up there. I was trying to look out for people I knew but you couldn’t, it was a wall of sound and people. It was amazing. I had goose-bumps riding up there, and just to be leading. Yeh, I won’t forget that.

On the final day tomorrow… “There is not enough time bonuses on the road, well technically there is, but I think Haas would have to  take them all and win the stage which I don’t think will happen so I can’t lose it that way. I just got to not lose time on the sprints so we’ll have to ride for the sprints and there will be other teams interested in that and I am not going to get dropped on the climbs. We showed we were up to it today and I am sure we’ll be up to it tomorrow.”

On his team mates… “They all raised their game today. Zak [Dempster] has been pretty instrumental all week. Especially when it’s been windy and he’s got a lot of experience but just with four today, four guys working, we showed we were capable.”

On the home crowd… “It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. I think I will ride the Worlds and then that’s my season done so I will reflect on it a bit then. When it’s over, then I will think about it.”

On his increased betting chances of winning the Worlds now… “That’s a bit ridiculous you know. I am pretty unproven there and you look at the Spanish team and any one of them could win it. You look at the guys coming off the Vuelta and I don’t even know my role in the team, I might be carrying bottles so that is a bit ridiculous. That’s nice but I wouldn’t read too much into that.”

Riding on home roads… “I knew what was coming up, where I could save the legs. And I said to the guys where they could recover or maybe put a bit more pressure on. We thought the break would ride the climbs a bit faster so we tried to reduce the advantage into them and I also knew where the top was and that the last two km were downhill and where I could ease off. It was amazing.”

Russell Downing working hard for his GC leader teammate.

On his nerves… “I think this usually happens to me, the more I get into a race the less I seem to sleep. I think I was confusing nerves yesterday with too many caffeine gels, I am not sure really. But I was more confident today and I knew I could do it.”

On the race split early on… “The two closest rivals were also on the back. It was only because they’d gone for the bonus sprint but I wasn’t too worried today.”

Team Sky Sports Director Servais Knaven: “The break did a very good job today to stay clear,” he said. “Luke (Rowe) tried to be in the move but it wasn’t easy to make it across. We wanted to be in there but just didn’t quite manage it. From there we hoped that it could be chased down but it didn’t come back. It came close to being caught and we tried hard on the front at that point to do something for Luke and Christian.”

“Luke did a good ride and finished behind the Tiernan-Locke group. Christian wasn’t feeling his best again and dropped a bit more time but he’s still there inside the top 10. We’ll be out again tomorrow looking to do something on the final day. It’s going to be another hard day.”

Leader going into the final day, Jon Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing 

The BIG Photo Album

More Photos ….

Rider from Garmin on the attack first on stage 7

 Vacansoleil team send a rider up the road on a course lined by people.

Sami Sanchez in his Gold shoes (as a former Olympic RR Champion) leads the initial move ahead of   Marc De Maar,  Ivan Basso,  Jerome Coppel and Pablo Urtasun

Bernie Sulzberger leads a chase group and a full gas effort, they joined the leaders.

Marcin Bialoblocki and a rider from An Post also chase down the break ahead.

Richard Lang tried to solo across to the leaders but was unable to make the junction on the tough roads.

The second group on the road behind the break with Rapha Condor seemingly very eager to bring it back to protect their Mountains jersey.

Mark McNally leads the chase from the third group on the road to get back to the Gold jersey group.

 Once the break was established, Endura Racing sent its rider to the front with Ian Bibby the one here forcing the pace.

With his team in control of the peloton, Jon Locke gets some food  to keep his energy levels up.

Special mention for young rider Joshua Edmondson who is doing a great ride in the Tour of Britain, lying in 16th place overall.

The water carrier, Paul Voss hands ‘worker’ Jonny McEvoy a bottle of SiS.

Marcin Bialoblocki and Marc De Maar lead the break

Sami Sanchez (right) and Ivan Basso study the route of the race

Stage Seven, Barnstaple to Dartmouth, 172.9km
1 Pablo Urtasun Euskaltel Euskadi 4h 20′ 31”
2 Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare st
3 Ivan Basso Liquigas – Cannondale st
4 Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel Euskadi at 0′ 2”
5 Leopold Koenig Team NetApp at 0′ 38”
6 Nathan Haas Garmin – Sharp at 0′ 46”
7 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh – GAC st
8 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing st
9 Bartosz Huzarski Team NetApp st
10 Damiano Caruso Liquigas – Cannondale st
11 Jacek Morajko Vacansoleil – DCM st
12 Josh Edmondson Great Britain st
13 David Lelay Saur Sojasun st
14 Pierre Cazaux Euskaltel Euskadi st
15 Jan Barta Team NetApp st
16 Jerome Coppel Saur Sojasun at 0′ 51”
17 David Clarke Node 4 – Giordana at 1′ 5”
18 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 – Giordana at 1′ 21”
19 Luke Rowe Sky Procycling at 1′ 23”
20 Paul Voss Endura Racing at 1′ 25”
21 Christopher Jones UnitedHealthcare st
22 Adrian Saez de Arregui Euskaltel Euskadi at 1′ 27”
23 Richard Lang Rapha Condor at 1′ 38”
24 Wouter Sybrandy IG – Sigma Sport st
25 Leigh Howard Orica – GreenEDGE st
26 Niels Wytinck An Post Sean Kelly st
27 Liam Holohan Raleigh – GAC st
28 Christian Knees Sky Procycling st
29 Pieter Ghyllebert An Post Sean Kelly st
30 Wesley Kreder Vacansoleil – DCM st
31 Simon Yates Great Britain st
32 Peter Williams Node 4 – Giordana st
33 Yannick Talabardon Saur Sojasun st
34 Christopher Jennings Rapha Condor st
35 Gediminas Bagdonas An Post Sean Kelly st
36 Evan Oliphant Raleigh – GAC at 2′ 19”
37 David McGowan UK Youth Cycling at 2′ 26”
38 Christofer Stevenson UK Youth Cycling at 2′ 45”
39 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare at 2′ 50”
40 Cesare Benedetti Team NetApp at 2′ 51”
41 Simon Richardson IG – Sigma Sport at 2′ 54”
42 Ricardo Garcia Euskaltel Euskadi at 2′ 57”
43 Mark McNally An Post Sean Kelly at 2′ 58”
44 Jacob Rathe Garmin – Sharp at 3′ 4”
45 Ronan Mclaughlin An Post Sean Kelly at 4′ 3”
46 Yanto Barker UK Youth Cycling st
47 Jonny Clarke UnitedHealthcare at 4′ 20”
48 Fabio Sabatini Liquigas – Cannondale at 6′ 12”
49 Robert Förster UnitedHealthcare st
50 Matthias Krizek Liquigas – Cannondale st
51 Mathew Cronshaw Node 4 – Giordana st
52 Tom Last IG – Sigma Sport st
53 Steele Von Hoff Garmin – Sharp st
54 Ben Grenda Rapha Condor st
55 Jack Bobridge Orica – GreenEDGE at 6′ 14”
56 Daniel Lloyd IG – Sigma Sport at 6′ 16”
57 Kristian House Rapha Condor at 6′ 22”
58 Alistair Slater Great Britain at 8′ 33”
59 Owain Doull Great Britain st
60 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling at 8′ 53”
61 Magnus Backstedt UK Youth Cycling st
62 Jeremy Hunt Sky Procycling st
63 Niklas Gustavsson UK Youth Cycling st
64 Peter Hawkins IG – Sigma Sport st
65 Daniel Schorn Team NetApp st
66 Bernhard Eisel Sky Procycling st
67 Michael Cuming Rapha Condor st
68 Russell Downing Endura Racing st
69 Graham Briggs Raleigh – GAC at 10′ 55”
70 Ian Bibby Endura Racing st
71 Lachlan Morton Garmin – Sharp at 11′ 19”
72 Jonathan McEvoy Endura Racing st
73 Barry Markus Vacansoleil – DCM at 13′ 8”
74 Sep Vanmarcke Garmin – Sharp st
75 Marco Benfatto Liquigas – Cannondale at 21′ 47”
76 Tom Moses Great Britain st
77 Aidis Kruopis Orica – GreenEDGE st
78 George Atkins Great Britain st
79 Michael Hepburn Orica – GreenEDGE st
80 Dan Craven IG – Sigma Sport at 21′ 57”

Rouleur Combativity Award: Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel – Euskadi

IG Gold Jersey, General Classification, after Stage Seven
1 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing 5h 38′ 14”
2 Nathan Haas Garmin – Sharp at 0′ 18”
3 Damiano Caruso Liquigas – Cannondale at 0′ 23”
4 Leigh Howard Orica – GreenEDGE at 1′ 2”
5 Christopher Jones UnitedHealthcare at 1′ 12”
6 Bartosz Huzarski Team NetApp at 2′ 1”
7 David Lelay Saur Sojasun st
8 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare at 2′ 23”
9 Christian Knees Sky Procycling at 2′ 26”
10 Jerome Coppel Saur Sojasun at 4′ 21”
11 Leopold Koenig Team NetApp at 4′ 52”
12 David Clarke Node 4 – Giordana at 4′ 54”
13 Paul Voss Endura Racing at 5′ 43”
14 Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel Euskadi at 5′ 53”
15 Pierre Cazaux Euskaltel Euskadi at 6′ 15”
16 Josh Edmondson Great Britain st
17 Jacek Morajko Vacansoleil – DCM at 6′ 20”
18 Luke Rowe Sky Procycling at 7′ 4”
19 Ivan Basso Liquigas – Cannondale at 7′ 11”
20 Yannick Talabardon Saur Sojasun at 7′ 37”
21 Yanto Barker UK Youth Cycling at 11′ 10”
22 Richard Lang Rapha Condor at 12′ 22”
23 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh – GAC at 12′ 58”
24 Jan Barta Team NetApp at 13′ 2”
25 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 – Giordana at 13′ 34”
26 Steele Von Hoff Garmin – Sharp at 13′ 39”
27 Wouter Sybrandy IG – Sigma Sport at 13′ 56”
28 Gediminas Bagdonas An Post Sean Kelly at 14′ 26”
29 Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare at 16′ 25”
30 Evan Oliphant Raleigh – GAC at 16′ 39”
31 Simon Richardson IG – Sigma Sport at 18′ 2”
32 Magnus Backstedt UK Youth Cycling at 18′ 20”
33 Liam Holohan Raleigh – GAC at 18′ 33”
34 Peter Williams Node 4 – Giordana at 19′ 25”
35 Russell Downing Endura Racing at 19′ 36”
36 Sep Vanmarcke Garmin – Sharp at 20′ 15”
37 Wesley Kreder Vacansoleil – DCM at 20′ 28”
38 David McGowan UK Youth Cycling at 20′ 32”
39 Daniel Schorn Team NetApp at 20′ 36”
40 Ben Grenda Rapha Condor at 20′ 44”
41 Adrian Saez de Arregui Euskaltel Euskadi at 21′ 3”
42 Mark McNally An Post Sean Kelly at 21′ 4”
43 Fabio Sabatini Liquigas – Cannondale at 21′ 25”
44 Niels Wytinck An Post Sean Kelly at 21′ 39”
45 Cesare Benedetti Team NetApp at 22′ 13”
46 Matthias Krizek Liquigas – Cannondale at 22′ 32”
47 Pieter Ghyllebert An Post Sean Kelly at 23′ 12”
48 Christofer Stevenson UK Youth Cycling at 24′ 57”
49 Ricardo Garcia Euskaltel Euskadi at 26′ 14”
50 Pablo Urtasun Euskaltel Euskadi at 27′ 41”
51 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling at 27′ 46”
52 Jacob Rathe Garmin – Sharp at 28′ 13”
53 Mathew Cronshaw Node 4 – Giordana at 30′ 15”
54 Jonny Clarke UnitedHealthcare at 31′ 19”
55 Simon Yates Great Britain at 31′ 27”
56 Jonathan McEvoy Endura Racing at 33′ 26”
57 Kristian House Rapha Condor at 35′ 19”
58 Alistair Slater Great Britain at 35′ 54”
59 Jeremy Hunt Sky Procycling at 37′ 9”
60 Robert Förster UnitedHealthcare at 37′ 38”
61 Daniel Lloyd IG – Sigma Sport at 39′ 28”
62 Dan Craven IG – Sigma Sport at 39′ 32”
63 Christopher Jennings Rapha Condor at 40′ 42”
64 Ian Bibby Endura Racing at 42′ 59”
65 Graham Briggs Raleigh – GAC at 43′ 28”
66 Peter Hawkins IG – Sigma Sport at 43′ 49”
67 Bernhard Eisel Sky Procycling at 44′ 11”
68 Ronan Mclaughlin An Post Sean Kelly at 46′ 16”
69 Niklas Gustavsson UK Youth Cycling at 49′ 3”
70 Tom Last IG – Sigma Sport at 49′ 18”
71 Barry Markus Vacansoleil – DCM at 49′ 37”
72 Owain Doull Great Britain at 51′ 9”
73 Aidis Kruopis Orica – GreenEDGE at 52′ 21”
74 Michael Cuming Rapha Condor at 53′ 5”
75 Lachlan Morton Garmin – Sharp at 53′ 39”
76 Tom Moses Great Britain at 1h 2′ 37”
77 Jack Bobridge Orica – GreenEDGE at 1h 3′ 51”
78 George Atkins Great Britain at 1h 6′ 1”
79 Marco Benfatto Liquigas – Cannondale at 1h 7′ 9”
80 Michael Hepburn Orica – GreenEDGE at 1h 18′ 45”

Chain Reaction Cycles Points Classification, after Stage Seven

1) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, 62pts
2) Leigh Howard, AUS, Orica GreenEDGE, 53pts
3) Nathan Haas, AUS, Garmin – Sharp, 51pts
4) Luke Rowe, GBR, Team Sky, 50pts
5) Mark Cavendish, GBR, Team Sky, 44pts

SKODA King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage Seven


1) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 86pts
2) Pablo Urtasun, SPA, Euskaltel – Euskadi, 67pts
3) Bernard Sulzberger, AUS, Team Raleigh – GAC, 49pts
4) Jonathan Tiernan Locke, GBR, Endura Racing, 35pts
5) Peter Williams, GBR, Node4 – Giordana Racing, 32pts

Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage Seven
1) Peter Williams, GBR, Node4 – Giordana Racing, 30pts
2) Marcin Bialoblocki, POL, Node4 – Giordana Racing, 23pts
3) Matt Cronshaw, GBR, Node4 – Giordana Racing, 13pts
4) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 11pts
5) Leigh Howard, AUS, Orica GreenEDGE, 10pts

Team General Classification, after Stage Seven
1) Saur Sojasun, FRA, 89:02:01
2) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, USA, + 2.45
3) Team NetApp, GER, + 5.59
4) Garmin – Sharp, USA, + 12.27
5) Endura Racing, GBR, + 14.45

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Related Links
— VeloUK.net Home Page for the Tour of Britain (Links to reports & features)
— The Tour of Britain Website

THE 2012 TOUR OF BRITAIN
Stage 1: Ipswich to Norfolk Showground – 199km (Sunday 9th)
Stage 2: Nottingham to Knowsley – 178 km (Monday 10th)
Stage 3: Jedburgh to Dumfries – 161 km(Tuesday 11th)
Stage 4: Carlisle to Blackpool – 156 km (Wednesday 12th)
Stage 5: The Stoke-on-Trent Stage 146 km (Thursday 13th)
Stage 6: Welshpool to Caerphilly – 190 km(Friday 14th)
Stage 7: Barnstaple to Dartmouth 170 km (Saturday 15th)
Stage 8: Reigate to Guildford 147 km(Sunday 16th)

 

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