A very exciting Tour of Britain 2023 has just finished. The 2023 Tour was a men’s professional road cycling stage race.
It was the nineteenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 82nd British tour in total.
The race is part of the 2023 UCI ProSeries.
The Tour of Britain started on Sunday 3rd September in Manchester and the final stage finished in Caerphilly, Wales on Sunday 10th September.
There were 8 Stages, over a distance of 790mls (1,272kms)
The Overall Winner was Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) in a time of 28hrs 43min 57secs
Second was Tobias Johannessen (Team Uno-X Pro Cycling).
Third was Damien Howson (Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
This year the course started in the North of England moving to the East Coast and finally ending up in South Wales.
No Scotland or South-West of the UK this year.
Some cycling Fans have criticised this year’s race, saying the succession of flat stages around the course this year made the racing dull.
The Routes were either short or flat:
Stage 1 > Altrincham – Manchester
Stage 2 > Wrexham – Wrexham
Stage 3 > Goole – Beverley
Stage 4 > Sherwood Forest – Newark on Trent
Stage 5 > Felixstowe – Felixstowe
Stage 6 > Southend on Sea – Harlow
Stage 7 > Tewkesbury – Gloucester
Stage 8 > Port Talbot – Caerphilly
Race director, Mick Bennett told the Guardian newspaper that long delays at Channel ports caused by post-Brexit regulations, had made some continental teams reluctant to travel to the UK, leading to a field of just 96 riders taking part.
16 Teams took part with only 4 Teams from the World Rankings – Bora-Hansgrohe; Ineo-Grenadiers; Jumbo-Visma; and Movistar.
And he pointed out that local councils all around the country faced a financial squeeze which meant they are prioritising spending on things other than bike races.
The Route for the 2024 Race, has not been finalised, and it is rumoured that the Tour organisers are having difficulty finding areas where the councils are willing or able to spend some substantial money on ‘just a bike race’…!
At least they had brilliant weather (apart from the last day), and very few crashes…!
We look forward to the 2024 Tour of Britain.