Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 7 Preview

By David Hunter

Stage 7 Camberley – Brighton 226.5km

Hold onto your hats, we’re in for a brilliant day!At 226.5km, this is a monster stage. Add in, the 2 cat 1 climbs, in the final 18km, and it could be a classic day.

Ditchling Beacon is 1.55km at 8.7%.

Bear Road is 1.27km at 8.4%.

After the climb, we have 4km of of fast descent, before 3km along the Brighton seafront. This is a nice way to finish the race, as the riders travel towards Brighton Pier, before looping round for the final kilometre.

The final turn, at 1km to go, is very tight. It is vital you are in the first 10 riders, as it will be impossible to move up the peloton.

What type of race will we get?

Alex Dowsett is leading Michal Kwiatkowski by 34 seconds. There are 10 seconds available at the end of the stage, but also 3 bonus points, each worth 3 seconds, throughout the day. OPQS made a massive mistake today, this doesn’t happen very often! They will be furious with themselves and will come back with a bang. Expect them to try and keep the break small and with a tight gap. They will want to take, at least, 1 of the bonus points.

The climbs are tough. Ditchling Beacon, constantly turns and has very steep sections. Expect Kwiatkowski to attack here. After the climb, there is a 5km descent, before Bear Road. If Dowsett manages to stay at the front, he’ll need all the help of Visconti and Izagirre. Bear Road, is a very long, straight road. The end of the climb is exposed and a fast descent follows. The Pole, can descend and climb, better than all other riders, in this race. What an advantage to have! Dowsett, is going to be very tired, after his exploits today.

Already in the race, no one has been able to respond to the explosive attack of Kwiatkowski. I don’t see them starting now!

Prediction time…

It’s all about Kwiatkowski.

David Hunter

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