Tour of Britain

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The Tour of Britain is a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain.

The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the Second World War, since when various events have been described as the Tour of Britain, including the Milk Race, the Kellogg's Tour of Britain and the PruTour. The current version of the Tour of Britain is part of the UCI Europe Tour.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.2 Sponsors and politics 1.3 The Milk Race 1.4 Kellogg's Tour and PruTour 2 'Tour of Britain' winners 1945-1999 3 The modern tour 3.1 2004 Tour of Britain 3.1.1 Stages 3.1.2 Final general classification 3.2 2005 Tour of Britain 3.2.1 Stages 3.2.2 Final General Classification 3.3 2006 Tour of Britain 3.3.1 Stages 3.3.2 Final General Classification 3.4 2007 Tour of Britain 3.4.1 Stages 3.4.2 Final General Classification 4 Notes and references 5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The Tour of Britain, known for many years as the Milk Race, has its origins in a dispute between cyclists during the second world war. The British administrative body, the National Cyclists' Union (NCU), had feared since the 19th century that massed racing on the roads would endanger all racing, including early-morning time trials and, originally, the very place of cyclists on the road.^[1]

A race organised from Llangollen to Wolverhampton on 7 June 1942, in defiance of the NCU, led to its organisers and riders being banned. They formed a new body, the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC), which wanted not only massed racing but a British version of the Tour de France.^[2]

The first stage, or multi-day, race in Britain was the Southern Grand Prix in Kent in August 1944.^[3] It was won by Les Plume of Manchester; the first stage was won by Percy Stallard, the organiser of the Llangollen-Wolverhampton race in 1942.

The experience encouraged the BLRC to run a bigger race, the Victory Cycling Marathon, to celebrate the end of the war in 1945. It ran from Brighton to Glasgow in five stages and was won by Robert Batot of France, with Frenchmen in six places in the top 10, winners of the mountains competition and best team.

Chas Messenger, a BLRC official and historian, said: "No one had ever put on a stage race in this country, other than the Southern Grand Prix, and even fewer people had even seen one. So raw were they that Jimmy Kain [the organiser] even wrote to the Auto-cycle Union [the body for car racing] and the flags used by them were taken as a guide to what was needed.^[3] Kain recalled the precarious budget: "£44 entry fees and £130 of my own money and £16 when I went round with the hat after the Bradford stage."^[4]

The writer Roger St Pierre said:

"It was reported that 20,000 watched the start but I've seen a picture which would indicate it was probably three or four times that number. What outsiders didn't see though was just what a ramshackle affair it all was, with riders finishing stages often miles longer than billed then having to find a bed for the night - with the poorer riders ending up spending the night huddled in barns, haylofts or even under the hedgerows."^[5]

The BLRC was not recognised by the world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale and so it recruited its French riders from another rebel organisation, the communist Fédération Sportive et Gymnastique du Travail, using French café-owners in Soho, London, as their link.

[edit] Sponsors and politics

The Victory Cycling Marathon was run on what little money the BLRC could raise. Riders stayed in cheap boarding houses and officials used their own cars. In 1947, the News of the World gave £500 to the race, by then called Brighton-Glasgow. Within a year it pulled out again, concerned by the internal arguments that had bedevilled the BLRC from the start. The 1950 race was sponsored by Sporting Record, another newspaper, followed by the Daily Express in 1952.

The cycling official John Dennis said in 2002:

"The most effective sponsor of the Tour of Britain (the Daily Express) was lost as a result of the constant bickering between rival officials and organisations. I was the press officer to the Express publicity director, Albert Asher, and saw it all happen. He was upset by the petty disagreements and decided to support the new Formula 1 motor-racing instead."^[6]

Sponsorship was taken up by the makers of Quaker Oats in 1954 and then, in 1958, by the Milk Marketing Board.

[edit] The Milk Race

The Milk Marketing Board (MMB) was a sales monopoly for dairy farmers in England and Wales. A semi-professional cyclist from Derby, Dave Orford, asked the MMB to pay for "Drink more milk" to be embroidered on the jersey of every semi-professional, or independent, rider in the country. The MMB could then advertise that races had been won because of the properties of milk and the winner would receive a £10 bonus as a result.

Orford met the MMB's publicity officer, Reg Pugh, at the board's headquarters in Thames Ditton, west of London. Orford said: "At the end of the discussion he stated that the MMB would prefer to sponsor a major international marathon. So the Milk Race, the Tour of Britain, was born, starting in 1958 and lasting for 35 years, the longest cycle sponsorship in the UK ever."^[7]

The first two races were open to semi-professionals but from 1960 until 1984 it was open only to amateurs. From 1985 until 1993 the Milk Race was open to both amateurs and professionals. After 1993 the Milk Race ended as the MMB was wound up because of European monopoly laws.

[edit] Kellogg's Tour and PruTour

The professional Kellogg's Tour of Britain began in 1987 and eight editions were completed. The Prudential plc-sponsored PruTour (1998-1999) ran twice.

[edit] 'Tour of Britain' winners 1945-1999

Year	Race name	Rider status	Winner	Team/Country
1945	Victory Marathon	amateur	Robert Batot	France
1946	Brighton-Glasgow	am-ind	Mike Peers	Manchester
1947	Brighton-Glasgow	am-ind	George Kessock	Paris Cycles
1948	Brighton-Glasgow	am-ind	Tom Saunders	Dayton Cycles
1949	Brighton-Glasgow	am-ind	Geoff Clark	ITP
1950	Brighton-Glasgow	am-ind	George Lander	Fréjus Cycles
1951	Butlin Tour[8]	amateur	Stan Blair	England
1951	Brighton-Glasgow	amateur	Ian Greenfield	Comet CC
1951	Tour of Britain	am-ind	Ian Steel	Viking Cycles
1952	Brighton-Glasgow	amateur	Bill Bellamy	Romford CC
1952	Tour of Britain	am-pro	Ken Russell	Ellis-Briggs
1953	Brighton-Newcastle	amateur	Frank Edwards	Norfolk Olympic
1953	Tour of Britain	am-ind	Gordon Thomas	BSA Cycles
1954	Circuit of Britain	amateur	Viv Bailes	Teesside
1954	Tour of Britain	am-ind	Eugène Tambourlini	France
1955	Circuit of Britain	amateur	Des Robinson	Yorkshire
1955	Tour of Britain	am-ind	Tony Hewson	Sheffield
1956	Circuit of Britain	amateur	Dick McNeill	North-east
1958	Milk Race	am-ind	Richard Durlacher	Austria
1959	Milk Race	am-ind	Bill Bradley	England
1960	Milk Race	amateur	Bill Bradley	England
1961	Milk Race	amateur	Billy Holmes	England
1962	Milk Race	amateur	Eugen Pokorny	Poland
1963	Milk Race	amateur	Pete Chisman	England
1964	Milk Race	amateur	Arthur Metcalfe	England
1965	Milk Race	amateur	Les West	Midlands
1966	Milk Race	amateur	Josef Gawliczec	Poland
1967	Milk Race	amateur	Les West	Britain
1968	Milk Race	amateur	Gösta Pettersson	Sweden
1969	Milk Race	amateur	Fedor den Hertog	Holland
1970	Milk Race	amateur	Jiri Manus	Czechoslovakia
1971	Milk Race	amateur	Fedor den Hertog	Holland
1972	Milk Race	amateur	Hennie Kuiper	Holland
1973	Milk Race	amateur	Piet van Katwijk	Holland
1974	Milk Race	amateur	Roy Schuiten	Holland
1975	Milk Race	amateur	Bernt Johansson	Sweden
1976	Milk Race	amateur	Bill Nickson	Britain
1977	Milk Race	amateur	Said Gusseinov	USSR
1978	Milk Race	amateur	Jan Brzezny	Poland
1979	Milk Race	amateur	Yuri Kashirin	USSR
1980	Milk Race	amateur	Ivan Mitchenko	USSR
1981	Milk Race	amateur	Sergei Krivosheev	USSR
1982	Milk Race	amateur	Yuri Kashirin	USSR
1983	Milk Race	amateur	Matt Eaton	USA
1984	Milk Race	amateur	Oleg Czougeda	USSR
1985	Milk Race	pro-am	Eric van Lancker	Fangio
1986	Milk Race	pro-am	Joey McLoughlin	ANC
1987	Milk Race	pro-am	Malcolm Elliott	ANC
1987	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Joey McLoughlin	ANC
1988	Milk Race	pro-am	Vasily Zhdanov	USSR
1988	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Malcolm Elliott	Fagor
1989	Milk Race	pro-am	Brian Walton	7-Eleven
1989	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Robert Millar	Z-Peugeot
1990	Milk Race	pro-am	Shane Sutton	Banana
1990	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Malcolm Elliott	Teka
1991	Milk Race	pro-am	Chris Walker	Banana
1991	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Phil Anderson	Motorola
1992	Milk Race	pro-am	Conor Henry	Ireland
1992	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Max Sciandri	Motorola
1993	Milk Race	pro-am	Chris Lillywhite	Banana
1993	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Phil Anderson	Motorola
1994	Kellogg's Tour	pro	Maurizio Fondriest	Lampre
1998	PruTour	pro	Stuart O'Grady	Crédit Agricole
1999	PruTour	pro	Marc Wauters	Rabobank

[edit] The modern tour

[edit] 2004 Tour of Britain

The first edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain took place over five days in early September 2004, organised by SweetSpot in collaboration with British Cycling. Sponsored by the organisers of London's 2012 Olympics bid, it attracted teams such as T-Mobile (Germany) and U.S. Postal Service (USA). This was partly due to its being a 2.3 category race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar.

The 2004 route climaxed with a 45-mile (72km) criterium in London, where tens of thousands of spectators saw a long break by Londoner Bradley Wiggins last until the penultimate lap, with Enrico Degano of Team Barloworld taking the sprint on the line. The Colombian Mauricio Ardila, of Chocolade Jacques, won the race overall.

[edit] Stages

Stage	Date	Start	Finish	Distance	Winner		Team	Time
1	2004-09-01	Manchester	Manchester	207 km	Stefano Zanini	Italy	QSD	5h 01'23"
2	2004-09-02	Leeds	Sheffield	172 km	Mauricio Ardila	Colombia	CHO	4h 26'26"
3	2004-09-03	Bakewell	Nottingham	192 km	Tom Boonen	Belgium	QSD	4h 30'55"
4	2004-09-04	Newport	Newport	160 km	Mauricio Ardila	Colombia	CHO	3h 32'37"
5	2004-09-05	London	London	72 km	Enrico Degano	Italy	TBL	1h 27'30"

[edit] Final general classification

	Name	Nationality	Team	Time
1	Mauricio Ardila	Colombia	CHO	18h 58'36"
2	Julian Dean	New Zealand	C.A	+ 00'12"
3	Nick Nuyens	Belgium	QSD	+ 00'17"

[edit] 2005 Tour of Britain

Main article: 2005 Tour of Britain

The 2005 race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in six stages starting in Glasgow on 30 August and finishing in London on 4 September:

[edit] Stages

Stage	Date	Start	Finish	Distance	Winner		Team	Time
1	2005-08-30	Glasgow	Castle Douglas	185km	Nick Nuyens	Belgium	QSI	4h 24'32"
2	2005-08-31	Carlisle	Blackpool	160km	Roger Hammond	United Kingdom	GBR	3h 58'48"
3	2005-09-01	Leeds	Sheffield	160km	Luca Paolini	Italy	QSI	4h 27'24"
4	2005-09-02	Buxton	Nottingham	195km	Serguei Ivanov	Russia	TMO	4h 24'17"
5	2005-09-03	Birmingham	Birmingham	(ITT) 4km	Nick Nuyens	Belgium	QSI	4'54.06"
6	2005-09-04	London	London	60km	Luca Paolini	Italy	QSI	1h 30'54"

[edit] Final General Classification

	Name	Nationality	Team	Time
1	Nick Nuyens	Belgium	QSI	19h 04'32"
2	Michael Blaudzun	Denmark	CSC	+ 00'08"
3	Javier Cherro Molina	Spain	ECV	+ 00'22"

[edit] 2006 Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain 2006 took place from the 29 August to 3 September as a UCI category 2.1 event. Martin Pedersen and Andy Schleck of Team CSC won the overall and King of the Mountains classification, respectively. Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile Team) won the points classification and Johan van Summeren (Davitamon-Lotto) the sprints classification.

[edit] Stages

Stage	Date	Start	Finish	Distance	Winner		Team	Time
1	2006-08-29	Glasgow	Castle Douglas	162.6km	Martin Pedersen	Denmark	CSC	4h 03'38"
2	2006-08-30	Blackpool	Liverpool	163km	Roger Hammond	United Kingdom	GBR	3h 54'15"
3	2006-08-31	Bradford	Sheffield	180km	Filippo Pozzato	Italy	QSI	4h 28'18"
4	2006-09-01	Wolverhampton	Birmingham	130.3km	Frederik Willems	Belgium	JAC	2h 54'12"
5	2006-09-02	Rochester	Canterbury	152.6km	Francesco Chicchi	Italy	QSI	4h 24'42"
6	2006-09-03	Greenwich	The Mall	82km	Tom Boonen	Belgium	QSI	2h 00'41"

[edit] Final General Classification

	Name	Nationality	Team	Time
1	Martin Pedersen	Denmark	CSC	21h 51'24"
2	Luis Pasamontes	Spain	UNI	+ 00'51"
3	Filippo Pozzato	Italy	QSI	+ 02'11"

[edit] 2007 Tour of Britain

Main article: 2007 Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain was extended to seven days for 2007, with the extra day being used to run a stage in Somerset for the first time.

Instead of finishing in London, the 2007 race started in London and finished in Glasgow, which used the event to boost its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

French rider Romain Feillu won overall, Mark Cavendish won the points competition amd Ben Swift won the mountains competition.

[edit] Stages

Stage	Date	Start	Finish	Distance	Winner		Team	Time
Prologue	2007-09-09	London	London	2.5km	Mark Cavendish	United Kingdom	TMO	02'27.6"
Stage 1	2007-09-10	Reading	Southampton	138.9km	Mark Cavendish	United Kingdom	TMO	3h07'46"
Stage 2	2007-09-11	Yeovilton	Taunton	169.2km	Nikolai Trusov	Russia	TCS	3h58'53"
Stage 3	2007-09-12	Worcester	Wolverhampton	152.5km	Matthew Goss	Australia	CSC	3h48'41"
Stage 4	2007-09-13	Rother Valley Country Park	Bradford	163.3km	Adrian Palomares	Spain	FTV	2h43'41"
Stage 5	2007-09-14	Liverpool	Kendal	170.1km	Alexander Serov	Russia	TCS	4h00'53"
Stage 6	2007-09-15	Dumfries	Glasgow	156.5 km	Paul Manning	United Kingdom	GBR	3h31'04"

[edit] Final General Classification

	Name	Nationality	Team	Time
1	Romain Feillu	France	AGR	21h 21'33"
2	Adrian Palomares	Spain	FTV	Same time
3	Luke Roberts	Australia	CSC	+ 6"

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Tour of Britain