Rider Chat: Tour of Britain Day 6

At the start of day 6 on the Tour of Britain, post time trial the day before, we spoke to Alex Dowsett, Ryan Mullen, James Gullen, Jacob Scott, Geraint Thomas and Scott Thwaites

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Rider Chat: Tour of Britain Day 6
At the start of day 6 on the Tour of Britain, post time trial the day before, we spoke to Alex Dowsett, Ryan Mullen, James Gullen, Jacob Scott, Geraint Thomas and Scott Thwaites

Alex Dowsett: – Asked about his time trial: “It was alright for me. Numbers were good and I don’t think I could have done a whole lot more on the day. To hear a lot of people cheering my name was amazing and it was a once in a career thing to be doing a race like that.”

“I just tried to take it all in and make the most of it. I definitely felt more pressure for it than I usually feel on a TT day but I tried to approach it like any other time trial and gave it everything”.

Scott Thwaites: Pictured on a road bike, the former Lincoln GP winner and a spring classics rider, explained why he wasn’t on a TT bike when photographed. “I punctured straight away pretty much and went to the road bike”.

“The problem was I was riding quite conservative because of the headwind at the end and I was going to try and ramp it up there. I’m not a time trialist and I was just riding to stay within the time limit.”

“But Durbo (Luke Durbridge) was flying. He set off a minute behind me and was on a good ride and he got close enough that they pulled my car out, to let him come through so when I punctured, I had no service. I had to wait for Durbo to come past, his car, then the commissiare car, and then finally my car got to me.”

“I think I was last by a long way at the first split. I did the last nine and half k back into a strong headwind on the road bike and I was already two and half minutes down. So it was a tough ride back in but these things happen”.

Asked about his season with Dimension Data, he says “It has been a good experience with the team this year. I have done some big races. It was nice to have the opportunity to ride with guys like Cav so it’s been good. I got the opportunity to ride the Tour which any cyclist wants to do in their career so I am happy to have had that opportunity”.

“I am on the long list now for the worlds and waiting to hear about that. That will be a tough race with the weather and the course. I’d like to give it a go and see what we can do there and then I probably only have one or two races for the team this year as its already been a long year.”
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Geraint Thomas (Best Brit) – The time trial was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t really expect to go quite so well. Today I’ll try and help Elia out for the sprint and take each day as it comes. The Saturday stage will be interesting. A lot can happen in this race so I’ll keep trying. I feel good. Each day I feel like I am getting better.”

Ryan Mullen talking about his time trial: “It was alright, I didn’t have a bad day but I didn’t have a good day either. It was a pretty average. It was respectable but I hoped for more on what was an unforgiving course with a 6k block headwind. I paced it alright but fell a little short of what I hoped I could do. Now I’m 11th on GC, I’ll try and sneak into the top 10 some how, sneak a second here and there. I feel alright so we’ll see how it goes.”


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James Gullen on the time trial: “I went into the race realistically despite others telling me I’ll get top three or what ever. You look at the field for that time trial and it was the world championships barring Tom Dumoulin and Froome. A top 15 and I would have been happy with that and top 10 would have been outstanding so I was disappointed afterwards but not a million miles off. It was new experience doing a time trial mid stage race so it’s been a learning curve”.

Asked the difference between the one at Clacton and the V718 (Hull) where he’s done a 16.59 on, James explained “there’s the fatigue from the days before and then on a fast course like the Hull one, aerodynamics is the main thing that comes into it. Yesterday, there were the corners, heavier roads too so power came into it more than the aero tech side. It was quite a hard course, not hilly just slow roads and the wind was the main thing. It felt like we were going up hill for the last five miles it was that slow”.

Jacob Scott (KoM leader): “So far so good” was how Jacob replied when how it felt in the jersey. “It will be nice to hold on to it today (he did). The aim was to get in a break on the first day and see how it goes.”

“I took some points early on (first KoM) and then there were a couple of guys who got away and took more points (second one) that made it difficult but with the third climb coming late on, others took the points so that stopped me having a big gap to the other guys. I was able to close up to the lead on the second day and was worried when Briggs went up the road on the third day but I took a point late on and that has proved quite vital so far.”

“I’ll just have to see how to goes in the break today as I think the road will get shut quickly so I’ll go from there. The aim is to keep the jersey.”

Asked about his race programme, he says “the last two months my racing has mostly been in Belgium, one day races that has put me in good condition and I have had a lot more freedom to race for myself for two months. We had one guy go to Quickstep as a stagiaire that left me a lot more freedom in races that suit me. So I’m happy enough with how it’s going but will be happier if I win this jersey on Sunday!”

Thanks to all the riders for their time and good luck to them on the next stage on Saturday

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