Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Cycling Plus

Shared bike storage solutions can be fraught with irritation if you, your co-workers, housemates or partner misplace the key. That’s where Master Lock’s new padlock comes in as it has a biometric scanner that supports up to 10 people’s fingerprints, doing away with the need for a key. The Biometric padlock is recommended for outdoor general purpose use (sheds, gates and so on) and has a weather cover for protection. The shackle is made of boron alloy, for maximum resistance to sawing, and is 9mm thick and gives 51mm vertical clearance. The metal lock body is 56mm wide. The biometric scanner is backed up by a five-position directional code, which is activated by a ring of buttons around the fingerprint scanner, meaning trusted persons beyond the 10 fingerprint holders can…

MOUTH TO MUSCLE “Don’t ever put yourself in a position where you feel you might be bonking,” says metabolic expert Bob Murray. “Consume carbohydrates to maintain blood glucose levels. Do this regularly as consuming 250ml of sports drink takes around 15mins to be completely absorbed into the bloodstream and circulating throughout the body to be picked up by brain and muscle cells.” SWILL AND ENDURE “Our brain recognises sugar as soon as it enters the mouth, which is one reason why carb-rinsing is so effective,” Murray reveals. “Glucose receptors in our mouth link directly to the brain stem and whenever people are given carbs, certain areas of the brain light up immediately. It’s an anticipatory response that boosts performance and is a useful tactic if a rider has an upset…

£1960.10 Fast wheels get faster Swiss Side claims its new Hadron2 Ultimate 625 wheelset offers maximum aerodynamic performance with the widest operational range. That translates to being more usable over a broader range of terrain and conditions. Currently available direct from Swiss Side for 15 per cent less than quoted above, they come with tubeless tape and 12mm end caps installed, plus tubeless valves, valve extensions, quick-release end caps and skewers. Our test pair, including tape and end caps, weigh 777g front and 910g rear, totalling 1687g. The rims have a lifetime warranty against defects and measure 62.5mm deep, 30mm wide externally and 20mm internally. They’re built with 24 DT Swiss Aerolite II and Aerolite Comp II spokes on to DT Swiss 180 Dicut centrelock hubs with SINC ceramic bearings.…

£379.99 Good vibrations? Spank Industries has injected its unique Vibrocore foam into these shallow profile aluminium rims in order to damp vibrations. Previously used in handlebars with some success, does adding it to wheels aimed at gravel riding have the same result? Spank claims the 700c Flare 24 OC rims weigh 430g each, and they’re built in a three-cross pattern with 28 triple-butted J-bend spokes. They spin on Spank’s large-flange Hex Gravel hubs, which take six-bolt disc rotors and can be converted to quick release or 12mm thru-axle, or 15mm front thru-axle. QR and 12mm end caps are supplied, but they’re almost too easy to remove, which can allow the freehub body to drop off. The Hex Drive freehub has 102 teeth and six pawls, for an extremely rapid 3.5-degree…

£40; £55 SIZES XS TO XXL COLOUR Black Sundried is a British brand that’s focused on designing versatile, comfortable and ethical cycle clothing suitable for whatever type of riding you do (it also makes triathlon, running and gym kit). The Rouleur short-sleeve training jersey (£40) has been designed with performance and aerodynamics in mind and I found it came up a little small. Despite feeling snug across the chest and shoulders off the bike, it’s comfortable once riding. The under-arm mesh panels do a good job of increasing airflow. The laser-cut sleeve cuffs stay put as did the rear of the jersey with its dropped hem. The three pockets offer plenty of useful storage, but they’re a little tricky to access due to sitting quite high, and I certainly missed…

£50 SIZES M, L COLOUR Black; fluoro yellow Ultra-tight or square and baggy, finding a reasonably priced women’s gilet that fits well can be something of a challenge. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find the dhb Aeron packable gilet was a good length for my long torso, with a gripper on the bottom hem that actually worked. Just about forgiving enough on my hips and chest but without excess material flapping around my shoulders or upper back, it has a decent, albeit not relaxed, fit. The gilet prioritises visibility over all else, so loud fluorescent yellow and reflective elements made me feel seen and, importantly, safe. Breathability testing in the hottest few weeks of the year felt like I really put this gilet through its paces, but the…

£35 SIZES 6-14 COLOUR Black While we all enjoy and look forward to the warmth of the summer riding season it would be silly to expect a British summer that doesn’t feature frequent dreich, drizzly, rainy days so a wise cyclist will arm up with a good summer jacket. It’s a common cyclist’s bugbear that while jackets can protect you from the wet, they can also make you boil and sweat, so this ultra-light and affordable jacket from French company Decathlon and its in-house clothing brand Van Rysel is an absolute revelation. The super-fine polyurethane is waterproof to 3000mm and, crucially, extremely breathable so on damp, sweaty rides I stayed wonderfully dry and fresh, which was in no doubt aided by the two ventilation openings on the back. It works…

01 PLANT POWER Even a temporary switch to a vegan diet during the cycling season can have a positive impact on performance, according to trials carried out on a pro rider. Cameron Jeffers, a member of the Ribble Weldtite cycling team, made the change for one month to chart how it would affect his wellbeing and performance levels. As part of a Medichecks trial monitoring the changes to his body after embarking upon a vegan diet, Cameron found his iron levels increased from 29.6 ug/L to 53.1 ug/L over the month (low iron levels would be less than 15 ug/L while normal is 41-400 ug/L). The 24-year-old rider from Preston also improved his cholesterol levels during the experiment. “If you’re an endurance athlete, we know your body needs a lot…

Bike racing – the riding and latterly organising of – is in Mick Bennett’s blood. As the race director of the UK’s biggest bike race, the Tour of Britain, for coming up to 20 years, and now also the Women’s Tour and the Tour Series, Bennett lives and breathes the sport of cycling. So when the Covid-19 pandemic tore to shreds their plans for the 2020 season, and saw the cancellation of all the races in their stable, it left Bennett and his team with a big hole in their year. Not that an absence of races meant an absence of work – quite the opposite. “It was like having a limb cut off,” says Bennett about last September, as the scheduled date for the 2020 Tour of Britain passed…

We’re in Devon today, for the whole stage, just outside Plymouth in the ‘new town’ of Sherford, where work began in 2015 on the building of houses, which will number 5500 over the next 20 years. Straight away we’re into undulating terrain, up and over Totnes before a dash through the pretty town of Dartmouth. The first King of the Mountains (KOM) contest comes at Strete, shortly before the first sprint in Slapton Sands. “There’s a long, dead straight section of road for the sprint,” says Hawes, “bordered by sea and a lagoon. If current erosion continues this could be the last time we get to use this bit of road as Devon [council] have said that, should the sea take over, they won’t be repairing it.” From there we…

There are a few earlier possibilities for a bunch sprint finish, but today’s in Warrington is the only one we’d bet our house on. It'll also be an opportunity for the peloton to draw its collective breath after a ferocious first half that’s included mountains, a hilly team time trial and a summit finish. That’s not to say there won’t be any climbing. The action today begins in Alderley Park, a science and technology centre in Cheshire that until 2015 was home to AstraZeneca, who you might have heard a bit about recently. The route curves around on itself south, rounding Congleton before heading into the Peak District National Park. Here lies in wait a very hilly mid-section of the race, though nothing that should affect the likely scenario at…

A long, high stage to finish eight days of long, high stages. Leaving the pretty harbour town of Stonehaven, the biggest obstacle is tackled early on, in the shape of the Cairn o’Mount, an infamous Aberdeenshire climb that makes a formidable summit finish in an alternate universe. Cycling Plus paid it a visit back in the Big Ride feature of issue 371. Its summit is 140km from the finish so it’ll be more of an early-stage, easy-on-the-eye curio than anything pivotal to the overall shake-up on the General Classification (GC). The finale towards Aberdeen is rolling, then downhill into it, and it’s surely a day for the sprinters, but this is far from the old processional circuit in central London that used to close out the Tour of Britain for…

After a year without the Tour of Britain and the cancellation of all top-level racing in Britain, a lot of people have asked me whether it’s good to get back to these races. I’ve actually enjoyed the last year; for the past 21 years I’ve reported from the British Cycling Premier Calendar, Tour of Britain and the Tour Series, but the pandemic has allowed me to see the sport from a different side. I’ve been to club time trials, circuit and track races – races I’ve never had time to watch. When you’ve been doing a job for as long as I have, you spend a lot of time at races talking to the people you know well. At these smaller races I’ve been making new friends. I started VeloUK…

01 STICK LEGS TEG-L WOMEN’S JERSEY £49.95 This British-designed and Italian-made jersey has a performance fit, soft-touch Meryl yarn fabric, three rear pockets, soft-sleeve cuffs, a fourth security pocket and full-length front zipper. An extraordinary level of detail and great quality for the price. 02 BAR FLY 4 PRIME 7075 ALUMINIUM MOUNT £59.99 This 58g alloy bodied out-front mount comes with fittings for Garmin, Wahoo, Polar, Mio, Magellan, Cateye, Powertap and Bryton. On the underside you can fit lights or a camera, thanks to the included action mount; you can even attach a Di2 junction box too. 03 ENERVIT ISOTONIC GEL £2 PER 60ML This gel has 30 per cent maltodextrin for fast carbs absorption and each glutenfree 60ml sachet provides 20g of carbs, reinforced with thiamine, niacin and vitamin…

I’m obsessed with bikes. I write on a few subjects, including maths and classical music. I recently got a text asking me for some quick, brief words about Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The operas? A new area of algebraic geometry? Or, as I couldn’t help imagining, a Kickstarter concept bike? I replied: “Ingeniously constructed, but heavy going and simply too big – beginners should avoid”, which worked for all three. I recently gave a talk on Venn diagrams. But instead of elementary set theory, I went off about cycling in Hull. “Drypool Bridge is decorated with a diagram-inspired artwork celebrating the inventor, local man John Venn. It looks like a 1960s shower curtain. The last leg of the Trans Pennine Trail runs from right here to Hornsea. The full TPT stretches…

THREADED BB All four bikes here have threaded bottom brackets, also called BSA or BS Threaded. These are 1.37in x 24 TPI and have 68mm shell widths, with the BB screwing in. TUBELESS-READY The Boardman and Triban have rims that work with standard tyres but are also tubeless-ready, which means you can run them without inner tubes provided you use dedicated tubeless tyres, rim tape, valves and a tyre sealant. Tubeless tyres can be run at lower pressures and virtually eliminate pinch punctures. DISC BRAKES Disc brakes use a small rotor (disc) mounted to the hub. Calipers clamp the brake pads onto the rotor, and these systems can be mechanical – cable actuated – or hydraulic, for maximum power and control. THE RATINGS EXPLAINED EXCEPTIONAL A GENUINE CLASS LEADER VERY…

I’m a massive fan of SRAM’s AXS wireless transmissions and its recent Wide Range shake-up of accepted gear ratios. And with its carbon cranks and lighter rear derailleur, the mid-range Force group hits the performance and price sweet spot between SRAM’s premium Red and heavier Rival. But what do you need to go Wide Range wireless and why should you? SRAM has had an 11-speed 11-36 cassette for ages, but the 12-speed 10-36 cassette (£170) is relatively new. The extra sprocket makes a big difference reducing gaps between gears, helping to keep your pedalling smooth so you’re not left spinning or straining. In addition to Force (£320), you can get Red and Rival rear mechs to work with this cassette but the real gains of Wide Range come with the…

From £149.99 £239.99 Soothing vibes Redshift Sports’ Kitchen Sink handlebar is available as a ‘plain’ drop bar (£120) or with an additional Endurance Loop (£149.99), as pictured. This 44cm model, measured centre-to-centre between the hoods, is the narrowest available. Its 25-degree flared drops mean the bar ends are 55cm apart. At 474g, the 6061 T6 aluminium 44cm bar is around twice the weight of the bar I replaced, but then there are optional extras. Cruise Control Top Grips (£37, 98g), designed to create a broad, flat bulge behind the outer portion of the tops, are fitted before taping. Cruise Control Drop Grips (£37, 138g) cover the flat-bar ends, giving a wide hand rest for nontechnical riding. To wrap it all, Redshift’s 315cm Really Long Tape (£45) is over a metre…

£99.99 (bibs) £64.99 (jersey) Kit for bigger frames At 6ft 1in tall and a muscly 17.5 stone as a result of weightlifting, it’s fair to say I don’t have the build of the average cyclist. Having bought kit from a number of the big brands, even the XXL offerings clearly don’t account for riders my size. I had resigned myself to this until I found Yorkshire brand FLAB. Its Tor jersey is great-looking and extremely comfortable, and comes in 42-52in chest sizes. FLAB even does a Big and Tall range with a 54-58in size. The zip sits nicely under its flap on the neck and there was no irritation from the seams. The gripper on the hem does its job perfectly with no awkward rising up mid-ride, and the three…

SHIMANO RC3W SHOES £89 SIZES 36-42 COLOUR White The RC3W is Shimano’s new value-oriented women’s road cycling shoe, but you wouldn’t know it at first glance. A sleek appearance and quality materials suggest much more expensive footwear than £99, and the RC3 benefits from a tech trickle-down from Shimano’s range-topping models. The RC3Ws weigh 238g (each), which is impressive for the price and makes them a good choice for someone starting to ride further and faster on the bike. For context, this makes a pair approximately one mini Soreen heavier than the RC7s, which are my shoe of choice. A single Boa closure mechanism is a key feature, and not commonly found at this price. It looks great, but I wasn’t convinced of its effectiveness. It didn’t grip my foot…

£54.99 SIZES One size (50-57cm) COLOUR Matt grey/dark teal With a well-vented, unaggressive shape and colour combinations that go as well with cycling kit as casual wear, the Trella Urban helmet from Giro is undeniably stylish. Its simple straps aren’t adjustable under the ears, which makes for easy fitting, and testing it with my female friends it felt light and comfortable for all. The Roc Loc Sport dial mechanism at the rear is easy to use, ensuring a secure fit around the head, although for longer-haired riders it only allows low ponytails. There are two versions of this helmet available, with a more expensive £69.99 model featuring the multi-directional impact system (MIPS), which aims to protect the brain from rotational forces as well as linear ones. In both, the safety…

SPECIALIZED S-WORKS POWER WITH MIMIC SADDLE £255 SIZES 143MM, 155MM COLOURS Black The Power with MIMIC saddle comes in two widths: 143mm and the 155mm tested here, with the latter weighing just 170g. MIMIC tech uses different types of foam to match your soft tissues and minimise discomfort. Specialized’s Body Geometry design helps to keep blood flowing to sensitive areas and there’s a central groove to keep pressure off your most tender parts. Sitting upright it provides impressive comfort to the sit bones and is wide enough to offer comprehensive support while tapered wings reduce the chance of rubbing. Carbon structures and foam layering keep vibrations to a minimum, while still offering optimal rider-bike interaction and great power transfer, particularly on the climbs. In a more aggressive riding position, the…

12-WEEK TRAINING PLAN FOR SPORTIVE SUCCESS TRAINING TIPS TO BUILD FITNESS AND STAMINA EXPERT ADVICE THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR TECHNIQUE OFF-THE-BIKE ROUTINES TO BUILD CYCLING STRENGTH ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY www.buysubscriptions.com/RCMANUAL or call 03330 162 138 and quote ‘Road Cyclist’s Manual 2021 Print 1’ Lines are open 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-1pm Saturdays Overseas please call +44 (0) 1604 973 746 Subscribers to Cycling plus magazine receive FREE UK postage on this special edition *Prices including postage are: £9.99 for UK subscribers, £12.99 for Europe and £13.49 for the Rest of the World. UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call…

What I hope you’ve deduced by now – and you’ve had quite long enough! – is that I’m involved in research on healthy ageing at King’s College London. The human ageing process only begins to truly bite when you near 75, give or take a few years depending on your own individual physiology. Just wait until you get to 85, like me, because my rides are slowing exponentially now. Enough moaning. About eight years ago, when I was a mere 77 years old, I went through all the research procedures to determine how I shaped up for a cycling oldie. I was overdue another so last month it was time for a follow-up MOT. Here’s what we found. My VO2 max - this is the maximum amount of oxygen our…

Bicycles are tremendous things. On that we can, I hope, agree. The design, largely unchanged in well over a century, is ungainly and confusing (at least to me), but seems, miraculously, to work. The legs push down on the pedals. The cranks turn, and via some magical interaction with a series of cogs, the two wheels move along the road taking with them the human being sitting on a tiny little seat. I think that just about sums it up. So tremendous are they, that I decided to use one in order to move myself from my home in south east London to the television studio in Maidstone, which ITV was using as a remote base for its coverage of the Tour de France. This necessitated pumping my tyres, filling…

Andy Hawes got a taste for plotting a most unusual hilly team time trial in 2018, with the route from Cockermouth to the top of Whinlatter Pass in the Lake District (and won by LottoNL-Jumbo). And he’s at it again in Carmarthenshire. If anything, he’s upped the ante with this longer and more undulating team test through the glorious southern Wales county. The first 8.5km is a steady drag, before a steeper section to 10km. The next 10km will be very rapid indeed, with a descent leading into a flat 4km, then more climbing and another speedy section straight to the finish. “In any team time trial, judging your effort and keeping the team intact is vital, but because this is so undulating, they’re going to have to really keep…

Big elevation returns to the agenda with this cross-country route, taking in two great English hill ranges: the Lake District and Pennines. There’s none of the Lake District behemoths on the menu, more a case of its foothills as we make the journey from Carlisle to Penrith, through stunning Ullswater, one of its great lakes. The meaty climbs for the peloton to get stuck into come in the Pennines – three KOMs, one after another: Hartside, Killhope Cross and Burtree Fell. From that final KOM, another 82 kilometres remain until the finish, so the peloton will likely arrive to the final in Gateshead relatively unscathed. The final 3km is a gradual rise, so it may whittle off a few tired bodies, but a sprint finish is possible. Gateshead hosted a…

Just over a year ago, as the UK was coming up for air following the harshest period of lockdown of the whole pandemic, Boris Johnson stood up in Parliament and claimed that this, “should be a new golden age for cycling.” The ‘golden age’ bit and the endless possibilities of such a nirvana was pounced upon over many column inches but seasoned Johnson observers’ eyes will have settled on the dead-weight caveat of ‘should’. BBC political satire The Thick of It built a whole episode around a prime minister’s use of the word ‘should’ not having the certainty that you think it might: “What did he actually say?” asked the PM’s acid-tongued spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. “He said this is exactly the sort of thing we should be doing,” replied…

To the north is Hadrian’s Wall country, all rugged, sweeping green hills. To the south are the Pennines’ big valleys and brown humpback fells. In between, the scenic Tyne valley’s easy riverside routes. Sociable abbey-market-town Hexham’s in the middle of it all, a fine base for superb day rides of all types. ROUTE ONE WESTERN LOOP 61 MILES ALSTON’S PENNINES Scenic day of solid climbs, descents and levels. Up past racecourse and West Allendale to Black Hill (609m). From Nenthead (cafes) up and over Dowgang Hush (599m) and scenic downhill to Alston (cafes, shops). Valley views to Haltwhistle; back through Hadrian’s country, with final long freewheel. GET THE ROUTE: komoot.com/tour/398066513 ROUTE TWO SOUTHERN LOOP 44 MILES BLANCHLAND’S PENNINES Half-day of ridges, valleys, fells, ups, downs, and great views. Climb to…

“I didn’t eat anywhere near enough and it was like someone pressed an off-switch in my body. I became lightheaded and experienced tunnel vision; still pedalling but barely moving.” These are the words of committed recreational endurance athlete Martyn Brunt whose plummeting sugar, power and cognitive levels on a Lanzarote training ride ended with him in the frenzied state that all endurance sports people dread: the bonk. Otherwise known as hitting the wall, it’s characterised by a sudden and overwhelming fatigue because of an acute shortage of fuel. How could it happen to this well-prepared cyclist with a deep understanding of his body and conditioning? Brunt knew his wattage through his power meter, his beats per minute were leaping out of his handlebar-mounted unit, but his fuelling status was left…

The Expedition 68 is Auto-Trail’s first foray into the world of dedicated sports campers. With over 38 years of experience in designing and building motorhomes of all shapes and sizes, this is the only campervan it’s created specifically for cyclists to travel and transport their bikes and equipment. When considering a campervan for cycling you have three options – selfbuild, which involves buying your own chassis and building the rest yourself; employ a convertor to create the living area for you on your own chassis, or finally, buy a brand-new motorhome from a manufacturer. Not only have professionally built campervans explicitly for cyclists been historically difficult to find, they’ve also been excessively expensive. Times change, though, and Auto-Trail’s Expedition 68 is far more cost effective than converting a VW T5,…

£235.99 Lightweight, full-knit summer kicks Italian shoe brand DMT was the original innovator of the full-knit upper with its flagship KR1 – Tadej Pogačar wore the lace-up, Tour de France version to victory in last year’s race (see issue 382). The upper isn’t just a knitted, sock-like upper, rather it’s a complex mix of different weaves. Some are more open for high-heat areas and maximum breathability, while in other sections it’s all about support so the weave is closer, denser and much more elasticated, such as around the mouth of the upper and through the forefoot. The KR3 complements the knitted upper with a leather heel section, which is deeply padded and textured to hold your foot while pedalling. For protection against the elements, the upper has a polymer material…

£24 SIZE 200ml It’s pretty rare to come across a women-specific cycling chamois cream, so I was impressed to see that this product features a “pH balanced formula” that should help avoid disrupting the natural balance of this area, as this can lead to an overgrowth in bacteria and infection. This cream smells delightful – no sterile, medicine-like fragrance here. Premax has added essential oils to the cream to create subtle scents of desert lime, lavender and rosehip. There are antibacterial ingredients too, such as tea tree, as well as aloe vera and vitamin E, which effectively soothe sore spots without causing further irritation. Made for endurance riding, it kept me comfy, moisturised and chafe-free even after being in the saddle for longer than six hours. You may baulk at…

£60 SIZES XS – XXL COLOURS Sky blue, black, white If comfort and performance on the bike is your number one priority (and it’s certainly mine) – and you have smaller breasts (A or B cup) – then this softly supportive bra will no doubt float your boat. Made from 95 per cent polyamide and 5 per cent elastane, this single-knit bra is meshed at the back, which provided good ventilation during a hot and sweaty summer ride, while removable pads at the front gave gentle support. Fully flexible, the bra allowed for a good range of movement and whether I was riding on the hoods or the drops it felt ‘invisible’. It’s not for larger breasted women, however, as the support is minimal; the pads are also best removed…

For the riders, once the Covid test came back negative it was business as usual… It was 7am, and Dartmoor National Park was still asleep. Wrapped in a sheet of thick mist and gentle drizzle, the mountains were invisible and impenetrable. Just the curious, unflappable figures of the cows and sheep at the side of the road, unperturbed by the bright lights and fluoro Lycra shooting by. But there was something else happening — a silent procession of red flashing lights toward the top of the moorland. It wasn’t a pagan celebration, though that would seem fitting in this ancient, mystical area of Britain. Instead, it was the first edition of the Dartmoor Classic sportive after its forced interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the new safety measures…

04 Back in the saddle The Tour of Britain is back! Race director Mick Bennett couldn't be more excited… 08 Stages Is this the hardest Tour of Britain of all time? Teams Details on the 16 teams announced so far to line up in Penzance 18 20 Local heroes How the race can define a homegrown rider's whole career Larry Hickmott VeloUK editor on the state of the British scene 26 The events of 2020 chalked up all manner of sporting casualties, not least the cancellation of our biggest bike race, the Tour of Britain. The organisers, however, prefer to say it was ‘postponed’, because much of what they’d planned for last year was simply shuffled back until now. So, after first writing about it well over two years ago,…

This year marks the first time in the 18 editions of the modern Tour of Britain that it pays Cornwall a visit. Because of the pandemic and the subsequent cancellation of the 2020 race it’s had to wait a little longer than planned – it’s two and a half years since it was revealed as the host of this race! – but it’ll be worth the wait. It’s hard to avoid a hilly ride amid the county’s savage contours and route director Andy Hawes has made no attempts to, suggesting that this is one of the toughest opening stages ever in the ToB. We begin in Cornwall’s most westerly major town, Penzance, and head uphill immediately. Up to St Ives (back in the spotlight again after hosting the summer’s G7…

The longest stage of the race – and yet more hills. They don’t come as thick and fast today, with some prolonged sections of flat along the west Wales coastline, and the race may not start in earnest until Eidda’s Well, a climb that summits at 144.3km, in the heart of Snowdonia. As spectacular as the television pictures will look, the meaningful action will be saved for the very end. The last time the race came to the Great Orme, the magnificent limestone headland to the north of Llandudno, the race finished in town. Today, Hawes has plotted something more fiendish by sending the peloton up to the very top of the Great Orme. After a scenic counterclockwise pass of the headland, the race turns back in on itself and…

Another chastening stage. Plenty of climbs, yes, but it’s the nature of the narrow, sinewy Scottish Borders roads that could make this such a highlight of the whole week. “The first 50km today is simply stunning scenery,” beams Hawes. “In fact, the first 150km, up to the summit of the final KOM, Wanside Rig, will highlight this whole area. “It’s going to be a tough day, even more so if the weather is bad. The roads we’re using aren’t super-wide, so the teams will have to be attentive. “Straight after the neutralised section, we’re on narrow roads, so a break could go. If the race leader gets caught out by a contender getting into the break, it’ll be tough to reel them in today. It could be a pivotal stage.…