Another Epic Day at The Tour of Britain
14.09.07: Recycling.co.uk's young squad completed another tough day in the saddle at the Tour of Britain. Today's fifth stage from Liverpool to Kendal was dominated by high winds which split the field into echelons along the coast towards Southport and the first sprint of the day.
Ten riders escaped and gained a maximum lead of 5 minutes whilst the peloton behind regrouped and chased hard. The Fuerteventura-Canarias and Duja Tavira teams led the chase for their riders placed 1st and 2nd overall respectively.
The leading group splintered and was caught apart from Russian rider Alexander Serov (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and Britain's Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile). With the peloton at full speed Cavendish was almost caught on the line after the Russian had escaped to win the stage.
Recycling.co.uk Team Manager John Herety commented on a good day's racing; "It was another epic day, we got through as best we could." For Tom Diggle and Simon Holt, both just out of the junior ranks, this is a huge race to ride so early in their careers, he said; "This is a massive learning curve and more experience for them, it was a big ask, but they wanted to do it, they've got smiles on their faces and are enjoying it."
23-year-old Ryan Bonser is riding a very solid race and is best placed recycling.co.uk rider in 45th place at 12 minutes and 46 seconds. Rob Partridge finished in 46th place today and has now recovered from his long day in the winning break on Wednesday.
Tomorrow's final stage takes the riders into Scotland from Dumfries to Glasgow and is just under 100-miles. For the recycling.co.uk team there wil be no time for rest after the race concludes as they will travel down to Cheshire tomorrow night for the final round of British Cycling's Circuit Race Series in Warwick on Sunday. 18 year-old's Tom and Simon have taken 2nd and 3rd placings in the series this season.
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