Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is the name given to a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain. The latest version, a professional stage race, was first run in 2004, but the history of the event dates back to 1951.
History
Marking the involvement of different sponsors, it has also variously been known as:
- the Daily Express Tour of Britain (1951-1955)
- Scot Ian Steel won the 1951 edition, in which Jimmy Savile (later to become a famous DJ and television personality) also raced. The 1955 edition was organised by the British League of Racing Cyclists.
- At its peak, this was a two-week amateur event similar in status to the Peace Race, contested by international teams. From about 1983, the event was also opened to professional teams. The Milk Marketing Board also sponsored the Scottish Milk Race, a smaller tour in Scotland.
- Winners included: Robert Millar (1989), Phil Anderson (1991, 1993), Max Sciandri (1992) and, in its final year, Maurizio Fondriest.
- the Prudential plc-sponsored PruTour (1998-1999)
- Stuart O'Grady (Crédit Agricole) won the 1998 edition; Marc Wauters (Rabobank) won in 1999.
The modern tour
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 the BCF. Sponsored by the organisers of London's 2012 Olympics bid, it was well-promoted and attracted a number of well-known teams such as T-Mobile (Germany) and U.S. Postal Service (USA). This was partly due to it being a 2.3 category race on the Union Cycliste Internationale calendar.
The 2004 route climaxed with a 45 mile (72 km) 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 Tour overall.
2005 Tour of Britain
The 2005 race was run in six stages starting in Glasgow on 30 August and finishing in London on 4 September:
| Start | Finish | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Glasgow | Castle Douglas | Nick Nuyens |
| Stage 2 | Carlisle | Blackpool | Roger Hammond |
| Stage 3 | Leeds | Sheffield | Luca Paolini |
| Stage 4 | Buxton | Nottingham | Serguei Ivanov |
| Stage 5 | Birmingham | Birmingham | Nick Nuyens |
| Stage 6 | London | London | Luca Paolini |
The overall winner was Nick Nuyens.