The Tour of Britain gets underway in Glasgow on Sunday and, as ever, an open eight days of racing are in prospect before the overall winner is crowned in London the following weekend.
At this point in the season, riders have varying levels of form and motivation, but the Tour of Britain is a race with something for everyone and its position in the build-up to the World Championships means that it attracts a quality field. Cyclingnews casts an eye over some of the riders who are likely to hit the headlines over the week-long race.
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin)
Having peaked at the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and then the Olympic Games, Tom Dumoulin begins the next phase of his season at the Tour of Britain. The Dutch time triallist will have one eye on the World Championships in October but the 15-kilometre test on stage 7a perfectly suits his characteristics, even if it is on the short side. In terms of the overall classification, much will depend on Dumoulin’s motivation. The roads and terrain at the Tour of Britain can be unforgiving and concentration is as much of a factor as form. Given the fact that Dumoulin is building up his condition after a short break, one can foresee him pinpointing the time trial and the summit finish to Haytor, with a more ‘day-by-day’ approach towards the rest of the race.
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous form: This is Dumoulin’s first appearance at the race.
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data)
Like Dumoulin, the Manxman will be using the Tour of Britain to hone his condition with the World Championships part of his later season ambitions. However, unlike the Giant-Alpecin rider, Cavendish will be under the microscope from the get-go, the glory of his Olympic silver medal pushed into the annals of history with expectancy and pressure to deliver at least one stage win on home roads. In his favour are a number of factors, not least his ability to flip from track to road so successfully this year. Add to that his impressive race craft in messy field sprints and he starts as the man to beat in the bunch kicks. The problem is that so many of the stages in the race contain relentlessly difficult terrain, and as a marked man, Cavendish and Dimension Data will be expected to work harder than most in order to set up opportunities.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2bB9ksE
No comments:
Post a Comment