You are here: home » news » Tour of Britain 09 - stage 7

Tour of Britain 09 - stage 7 · 18/09/09

The penultimate stage of the 2009 Tour of Britain began with a furious spell of attacking, as everyone in the race sensed this might be their last opportunity to challenge for the yellow jersey.

Early attacks, including a dangerous move involving Steve Cummings and Geraint Thomas were neutralised by the Columbia team. It was then after about 60km, in the village of Willand, that a two man break went clear featuring Rapha Condor’s Kristian House and Joker Bianchi’s Stian Remme.

Kristian was asked after the finish what the conditions had been like out in the lead:

“It was a block headwind and it wasn’t fun, the whole idea of it was to get time to try and move up the classement because there’s not been a big split so far in this race and it’s just come down to bonus seconds and me not being a sprinter doesn’t help so I needed those time bonuses.”

After a week of attacking but being allowed little leeway by a vigilant peloton, Kristian was asked if he had been surprised to find himself out in front today:

“I didn’t really expect it, the way the race had been going everyone wants to be in a break so I expected people to continue attacking, but I got a message on the radio pretty quick saying they’d shut it down and Columbia were happy with two guys away because they could control that. So we knew we were going to get a gap, the question was how big of a gap and how long we could hold on to it. It definitely started hurting with about 30km to go. Just coming into that spring both of us were really hurting and the gap was coming down pretty quick so it was just a question of holding on to the finish and not losing any time.”

Having been caught so close to the finish, few would have criticised Kristian if he had been dropped from the main bunch on a run in that featured a short steep climb that was tackled with vigour by a peloton going for another bunch sprint. However, Kristian had the knowledge, and with the motivation of a top ten on GC, the incentive to hang in to the finish:

“We rode the whole stage about two weeks ago, so I knew the finish, I knew if I could get over the climb with the bunch I’d be safe, but it was touch and go for a bit! Fortunately my team mates helped me out with coming back to the front and that was it.”

With the bunch all back together and Kristian safely back with his team, there was just the small matter of a bunch sprint to sort out. Ben Swift brought a smile to British faces showing a turn of speed that even his Italian Champion teammate, Filippo Pozzato, couldn’t match.

After the stage finished I spoke with Rapha Condor manager, John Herety. He gave his point of view on the penultimate day of racing in this year’s tour:

“We tried really hard early on and I thought we’d missed out, but you can see as a result of what Barloworld did, they thought they’d stir things up a little bit, not hand it to columbia on a plate. But it all came back together again and that gave us the opportunity to have a go. I’ve got to say we always thought it was probably going to fail but it’s always worth a try, you never know, there may have been a big lull there towards the end. We never give up, once you’re out there you may as well give it a go. I’m pleased for him, he’s shown his national champions jersey off in his national tour, it’s good for us, good for our sponsors.”

The final day of the race is a home fixture for the Rapha Condor team. A circuit race on the Embankment in London is sure to be a stage where the team will want to shine.

<  ·  >