Thanks to everyone who joined us live for the opening stage – you can watch the whole race back here. Subscribe @tour.of.britain to make sure you catch stages two, three and four!
00:00 – Route preview
00:50 – Early race footage (pre live broadcast)
02:36 – Live broadcast began
10:24 – First Queen of Mountains base (to Blakey Ridge)
25:20 – First QoM finish
41:53 – Second QoM base (Langburn’s Bank)
45:22 – Second QoM finish
1:09:40 – 20km to go
1:22:15 – 10km to go
1:29:13 – Run in
1:41:50 – Highlights
1:47:40 – Stage classification
1:58:10 – Podium presentations
Stage One began outside Forestry England’s visitor centre in Dalby Forest, covering 81.5 kilometres (50.7 miles) across the North York Moors National Park and Tees Valley, before the finish on Coast Road alongside Zetland Park in Redcar.
You can find detail on the teams taking part at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/tourofbritain/women/teams
Along the way the stage it passed through Pickering, Hutton-le-Hole, Castleton, and Great Ayton, before crossing into the Tees Valley and Redcar & Cleveland, where the route went through Guisborough (via Park Lane and Bolckow Street) and Marske-by-the-Sea, on its way to the flat, seaside finish.
During the stage, riders contested two categorised Queen of the Mountains climbs, the first the long, six kilometre climb up to Blakey Ridge in the North York Moors National Park from Hutton-le-Hole, averaging 4%.
The second Queen of the Mountains point followed shortly after, as the race climbed up Langburn’s Bank out of Castleton, averaging just over 5% across the two-kilometre ascent.
Riders contested the day’s intermediate sprint in Newton-under-Roseberry, shortly before Guisborough.
well let’s see what’s ahead of the riders on stage one they’re getting themselves set they’re on the start line waiting and ready it’s a short stage but let’s take a little closer look setting off from Dolby Forest in the heart of the North York Mo National Park stage one is short at just 81.5 km but it does include over 1,000 m of ascent the first categorized climb comes at Blakeley Ridge and is quickly followed by the second at Langburn’s Bank from there the Pelaton heads towards the Tease Valley with an intermediate sprint at Newton under Rosebury before hitting the coast for the final few kilometers the finish line is in Red Car which makes its debut in the women’s race 9 months on from hosting a stage in the men’s tour that set Stevie Williams on his way to overall victory well brilliant to see that the skies are looking a little brighter than they were earlier on you can see the riders are set and ready on the front row you’ve got the Polish road race champion that’s Vladichek of UAE team ADQ got one former winner in the overall classification who’s here and that is Lizzy Dum Britain’s very own got our neutralized roll out currently on the far side there you can see Ellena Bax said the British rider coming from South Wales we’ve got 12 UCI Women’s World Tour teams who are racing here including one pro team that’s TF Education only five continental teams all British continental teams are here and you can see one of those on the left side in the red and black jerseys that’s Joe Tinley one of the most experienced riders in this palaton we’ve also got the British national team they’re fielding the Federation which is led by Jess Roberts former British road race champion schwinkles you can see they’re just talking into the radio it’s all smiles we’ve got this neutralized roll out before the race will get underway for real at the back here you’ve got Mila Dot of Saratis Pro Cycling well it’s going to be a very interesting stage 81 km of racing it’s pretty hilly you know for this type of terrain 1,173 m of elevation flag is going to be waved and they’re going to go through kilometer zero and the racing will officially be be underway don’t forget you’ve got those two queen of the mountain points through kilome 0 ua team ADQ there the squad on the front you can see they’ve gone through kilometer zero and we join and look how ferocious the racing already is in the pink jerseys on the left side that’s CF Education Opley you’ve also got Little Trek with Rihanna Marcus just alongside them you’ve also got Maui Star who of course wanted to try and protect Cat Ferguson today and on the far right hand side of your screen in those indigo and orange jerseys that’s picnic pastel and of course looking after the interests of Charlott today well thanks for joining for this Lloyd’s tour of Britain women my name’s Hannah Walker alongside me is Haley Simmons a Commonwealth bronze medalist multiple British champion and a rider who has raced in this race during her career haley good afternoon welcome along this is typical British weather in some typical fashion yeah I think it’s going to be a very British week actually here the weather looks like it’s going to be quite challenging across all four of the stages and uh as we both know the roads in this part of the country in particular are pretty harsh they can be very um draining on the legs so I think the the women here have tough four days of racing ahead of them they certainly do and particularly the fact that we start with a relatively short stage when you take a look down at the stages they’ve got 81.7 km of racing 114.6 143.8 km on Saturday finishing in Glasgow with an 82.2 km stage it makes for aggressive racing too and so because you’ve of course got the bonus seconds that are on offer at the intermediate sprints and at the finish line you’ve got the queen of the mountains the fact that the roads are difficult and positioning is really crucial it lends itself to this kind of and this type of nature of racing yeah absolutely and you know we’ve said today’s short it’s only just over 80 km but actually in terms of um elevation meters per kilometer today’s the toughest stage so I think today is going to be a really tough introduction to the race and as you said the nature of the roads in the UK some of the road furniture we have um obviously you know we’re in quite a rural area as well um riders will want to get up the road get kind of be be safe be away from the main Pelaton and and really race aggressively to give themselves the best chance here we saw a lot of the riders at the start in in Dolby Forest who were on the turbo trainers wanting to warm up we saw Barbara Kurishki one of the most experienced riders in the pelaton and particularly as a a leadout rider the Italian for team SD works pro time was making sure that she was ready prepared getting any travel out of the legs to Yeah and as well I think if you look at the um the profile actually the neutralized section went up a bit of a drag and then they dropped down a little bit and then the race was denutralized also on another drag so you know it really was necessary especially with slightly lower temperatures today than the riders might have kind of gotten used to over the the last weeks and months um it really was necessary to make sure you were well warmed up and even though they then drop down towards kilometers uh kilometer 15 and 20 they then get almost 20 km of ascent which features the first categorized climb so it could really make for you know an aggressive opening to the stage and the race could split early on how does that affect a rider when the weather conditions are a little bit cooler than they have been perhaps over the last couple of weeks wherever they’ve been racing around Europe or or elsewhere and then you’ve got these different weather conditions does it affect them at all or is it depends on the person the rider some riders will love this i think Pat Ferguson will love this you know she she’s raced really well in some really bad conditions over the last kind of 12 months um Lizzie Den will love this you know we know that she likes the kind of t Well we know that she loves the Tour of Britain women um she loves the bad weather she loves the harder roads so she I think she’ll be quite pleased that the weather’s not so good today whereas maybe some of the other girls coming from uh some of the Spanish races might might have kind of looked at the weather forecast and wish they’d stayed on the continent well that being said even the the world Espa Feminina they didn’t have such great weather conditions whereas we had glorious weather 28 degrees didn’t we a few weeks ago at the the back end of back end of April watch out for Image and Wolf of Vizma Lisa Bike 2 she’ll be a rider to watch out for the 19year-old rider they’ve of course come with a very strong team particularly with Martina Fedanza their sprinter they’ve also got the German rider Linda Reedman Margo Vichi and the Ink Vehovven the 21-year-old Dutch rider just at the back here is Sonata Grove the South African National Road Race Champion you can just see her there on the far right hand side racing for CJ O’Shea racing team that you know well from a couple of years ago a team that you race for Haley and we’ve got all five British continental teams who are here you can see a couple of them at the back here including Hess in the lime green and black jerseys that’s Hess cycling team and you’re looking there at Liv Venzel 21-year-old who’s just reaching into a back pocket you’ve also got the team of Hanseling Alba Development Road team you’ve also got Das Hutchinson both of those teams having a win recently over in the Czech Republic brilliant for them but also for Lauren Dixon she’s performing incredibly well in in France as well at some of the one-day races over in Britany so they’ve got plenty of options and it’s great to see that we’ve got all five of the British teams yeah it’s really nice that in um you know the only World Tour race um in the UK that all of the British teams are represented and also obviously Great Britain national team are here as well so it’s a great opportunity for um you know some of our continental teams to race against the the top world tour teams and like you said you know some of these some of these teams and some of these girls have have already had some great results over the past weeks and you know they’ve they’ve um been racing in the tour of Norway to feminine in the Czech Republic and have been really performing very well so it’ll be really nice to see what they can do in this race this week how important is it to have those stage races already in the legs because when you take a look at the the tour to feminine in in Czech Republic that’s four stages you’ve got the the tour of Norway the first edition of of that a couple of day stage races which had some brilliant uh brilliant racing there yeah so you know you you need to kind of get that fatigue resistance you need to have be used to racing a hard stage one day and then um you know taking what recovery you can because for some of these races as well there can be longer transfers you might have limited time to cool down at the end of the stage so it’s all about kind of learning um what kind of tips and tricks you can employ to make sure that you’re as best recovered for the next day as possible um one thing that I always used to do in a stage race um which can be difficult if if the stages start early but I would always try and make sure that I would do a 20 minute spin the morning of of each stage um just to make sure that the racing from the night before was out of my legs and also you know you’re very lucky that you’ll have Swaners traveling with you you can have a a massage each evening but sometimes actually that massage can you know leave you feeling almost a little bit stale um so I would always find it quite useful the next morning to just spin my legs for 20 minutes um first thing in the morning before even getting to the stage to warm up and and that was one thing that I used to do on a stage race brilliant that we can bring live coverage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain women to viewers and fans all around the world just to let you know this is all coming off 5G coverage so there will be in part potentially a little bit of picture break up but we’ve got these wonderful helicopter shots and you can start to see now as riders are heading into the base of the first queen of the mountain of the day that’s a category 2 on Blakeley Ridge this climb itself is 6.4 km long an average gradient of 3.9% you can see how fast the speeds are here Haley as we travel into the base of that 1 kilometer until we get to the base of the climb itself yeah I think the wind direction could play quite a big part on this stage today so at the moment they’re in a section of the course where it’s going to be mostly across tailwind so actually you know they will get some assistance up this slightly shallower climb um but later on in the stage they’re going to be facing more crosswind sections and actually we could really see that have an effect on on the Pelaton and and maybe we’ll get some splitting and into smaller groups into towards the finish given that the climb is one of the longest of today because the the next climb that they’ll have is Langburn’s Bank and that’s 1.9 km but much more severe steeper gradients average of 6.6% we’ve got maximum gradients here of of 8% on this climb but as you say it’s a little bit more steady it’s longer i guess this is going to suit a rider like Kristen Forner for example the the Olympic road race champion of EF Education Oatley yeah it was interesting listening to her talk in that kind of pre-race interview because I was actually thinking that as a whole this race could suit her quite well um you know the roads are draggy they’re tough it’s it’s really attritional and she said that she actually likes the kind of accumulation of this fatigue in the legs so those kind of slightly shallower but longer climbs could actually be a real um a place where we could see riders like her maybe trying to get a bit of an advantage forming a smaller group off the front and and kind of taking a bit of a chance and I guess for her team of EF Education Oley they don’t come necessarily with a a pure sprinter they’ve got some fast riders they’ve got Sarah Roy who’s won two stages of this race in the past they’ve also got Latitia Borghazi who’s been having a brilliant spring season and for Forner herself suffering with that concussion early on in the season she missed a large chunk of racing but now having won the the USA road race nationals last week she comes into to this race with great form yeah and you know I think that as a team they have quite a lot of like opportunists they’ve got riders who as you heard have performed really well in this race before and um almost they can be a little bit unpredictable some of their riders um which is great for for kind of entertainment for us watching watching them race i think they’ll take any advantage they can get and they will be aggressive they won’t just sit in and and you know wait to see what happens they’ll really take the race upon themselves and make it interesting and given the fact that Lorena Weavers is here a rider who has won six stages the most in of any rider in in history she’s the rider who’s got number one on her about the European road race champion of Team SD Works Pro Time and she stated before coming here she wants to try and go for the general classification she wants to try and give it a go and the team are are fully backing her and she’s got a brilliant team to support her in in doing so and we’ve seen already that despite being the best sprinter in the world she can climb and she can never be underestimated no you you really can’t count her out and and you know you look on paper and you would say that there are there’s more than one stage in this race that suits her but actually I think she can perform well on on actually all of the stages you know she’s she’s so strong she’s so versatile um it reminds me a little bit of you know actually a previous winner of this race um Karin Leiddki she was uh Karin Rivera um you know and initially people would look at her and and call her a sprinter but then actually you see some of the other results she had and she’s so much more versatile than that and I think it’s almost similar with with Lena Vivas you know people initially would say oh the fastest sprinter in the world but she’s so much more than a sprinter and she has a real shot of winning the overall here yeah she certainly does she certainly does and she’s proven it in the the Spring Classic she’s proven it time and time again and even proven in this race in the past back in 2022 when we were in Mid Wales some really hard grippy roads and she proved that she was more than just a sprinter you can see how the team of AG Insurance Sudal have got things all under control they’re the team in the blue and white jerseys just patrolling on the front currently they’ve also got little track who are just alongside them as Ellena Baxstead rider for UAE team ADQ who is setting the tempo she’s really becoming one of the great workh horses of of her team the amount of kilometers she does on the front i was going to say I remember watching you know um this race and also um you know so many other races last year obviously for a different team she was riding for Little Trek at the time but she’s just a constant sight on the front just doing so much of the work she’s such an asset to to the team she certainly is she certainly is rihanna Marcus setting the tempo for lead Loretta Hansen just on a wheel it’s no easy feat this climb i’ve got to say it’s a categorized two climb there are of course points for the Queen of the Mountains competition 6543 two and one points both clims that we’ll see feature in today’s stage both category 2 climbs but very different varied clims even from the body language of these riders and you see the the paddling style this is this is not an easy start to the base of this climb no you can tell that they’re working and you know riders are trying to move up out um move up towards the front kind of through the out up the outside of the bunch and you know desperately trying to get themselves in the best position possible so that if somebody starts pushing on even harder they’re they can respond and and make sure that they’re not gapped at the back of the bunch you can see how exposed it is as well i mean they’re lucky that um it is kind of cross tail today but I think if this was um a pure crosswind it would it would be quite brutal across the the top of this climb tams and Miller on the right hand side number 152 for D Hutchinson just to the left hand side of Smurfett West Rock Cycling team that’s Joe Tinley number 176 you mentioned about the wind and the fact that it’s exposed and you’ve got this crosstail wind how does that change your race how does that benefit or hamper the the riders so I think the directors of of of the teams will have you know sat down this morning looked at the most up-to-date weather forecast they’ll look at the the profile and also obviously the direction of the different roads on the course and what really struck me looking at um some of that myself was that the second cate uh the second categorized climb of the day which is a cat 2 climb and it’s it’s 1.9 km but it’s steep at the bottom for the first kind of 350 m and then the average for the whole climb is 6.6% basically right after they summit that climb the course changes direction by 90° and it goes from being a cross tailwind into a cross headwind so if there are any gaps forming on that climb which there almost certainly will be as people go for the points at the top of the climb um actually if riders decided to push on at that point those splits could just grow and actually what could happen is the race could fracture at that point and with it being quite a short stage you know that’s um not that far from the finish and so actually that could really be the decisive moment of this race and I think directors will have looked at that they will have looked at the weather they will have looked at the map and they will have identified that point in the race as a potential kind of attacking point or or place from which an attack could be launched and depending on how the the race unfolds today and particularly depending on how the the second half of this categorized climb goes and particularly on the Langburn’s Bank you can try and do something you can try and split things and if you want to try and get rid of some of the faster riders namely Lorena Weebis Laura Gillespie Alli Woolston for example teams will be willing to to try and push on that pace and and have that aggressive style of racing yeah absolutely i think one thing that you know obviously it kind of it goes with the fact that she’s the best sprinter in the world but you know Lena is so good at positioning like she will absolutely be in the right position she’ll know the danger points and she’ll make sure that she’s where she needs to be to kind of keep herself safe she also has a very strong team around her but I think that’s one thing that actually makes her very well suited to so to some of these stages in in Britain you know what’s made her so successful in this race in the past is um the nature of the roads as we’ve already spoken about you know that they are narrow there is road furniture and positioning is so so key and that’s something that she’s just brilliant at and really puts her in goodstead one thing that is apparent to me we haven’t seen the team towards the front at all they’ve been well positioned they’ve been using the slipstream they’ve been protecting themselves and sheltering themselves from the wind you can just see Lena Weeb is just alongside the Maritian champion in the bottom left of your screen that European Champions jersey the white jersey with the blue bands across the chest number one that’s who you’re watching out for for the rain we time European champion also world champion on the track opportunity to take a look at the Great Britain national team as well number 182 there that’s Anna Morris just in front of her is April Tacy 24y old fantastic rider and another rider who’s got plenty of opportunities we’ve also got Jess Roberts Morris Flora Perkins Millie cousins Ella McClean Howell and April Tacy jess Roberts is her first UCI race of this season of course she’s been a former British road race champion Olympic medalist last year in Paris i think what we’ll see is um the points in the race where you know that it’s maybe been identified that they’re more uh danger points so to speak um maybe on that second categorized climb you know we’ll start to kind of see uh Lena Vibes maybe some of the other uh riders from the SD Works Pro time team that’s when they’ll move towards the front and and they’ll move as a team and when you’re kind of in the pelaton yourself you almost watch for those moments where the race favorites the big teams all start moving towards the front and that’s kind of your signal that you need to be really alert because something uh something might be about to happen that you might need to pay attention to you certainly do 2 km until they’ll crest the top of Blakeley Ridge i’m almost surprised that maybe a few riders from from some of the British teams from the continental teams haven’t haven’t maybe tried to get away yet and possibly that indicates that how how tough these roads actually are that that nothing has tried to escape because you know obviously there is the honor of of having the Queen of the Mountains jersey on your back at the end of today’s stage and with those two climbs being relatively close together um you know there would have been an opportunity for a small group or an individual rider to kind of go off the front and maybe take those early Queen of the Mountains points to to have that jersey on their back tomorrow but I guess we also saw at the start of of the stage how fast the the pace was and particularly into the bottom of this Queen of the Mountain that particularly the the the UCI women’s world tour teams they were wanting to keep themselves well positioned make sure that they could have the the prime position and so the pace naturally is is very high and it almost neutralizes any potential attacks and for some of these British Continental teams and you mentioned it at the start these these roads are so difficult they’re so demanding you know maybe they’ve got objectives of a little bit later on or maybe on on other stages yeah exactly i think you’re right i think it does does just show how hard the start of this stage has been um you know with all those kind of uphill meters and and a fast pace and I think um Yeah I think you’re right i think maybe people would have liked to have given it a go and there’s just not been that opportunity because of how hard it’s been already the rider there from H cycling team in the lime green and black jersey that’s live Wel the 21-year-old just starting to struggle and the average pace has already been really high already 37 km per hour Marcus still setting the tempo she’s got such a fluid style the rider on the left hand side of your screen in the red yellow and blue jersey Henderson sitting nicely she’s certainly one rider to Watch out for the Olympic medalist in the time trial from Paris 2024 and of course second last year in this race as well she’s certainly a rider who’s not afraid of getting stuck in and the harder the racing the better it is for Anna Henderson yeah you know we she’s got a medal in the time trial in the Olympics you know you can tell that anything that’s kind of just hard and unrelenting is going to suit her well and we’ve seen her you know in solo breaks in enough races she’s she’s really aggressive but she also reads the race really well so she always chooses really good moments to attack um so she’s a rider that’s definitely worth watching this week over the North York Moors there is Rihanna Marcus just taking a sip of fluids and even though the the weather conditions are a little bit cooler 15° you can start to see that the sun is making an appearance so still really important to keep yourself well hydrated well fueled particularly in a stage race where we get to 500 m until we’ll get to the top of this Queen of the Mountain here on Lake Ridge i think we’ll probably start to see maybe a little bit of uh a change of pace here a little bit of attacking as people do try and go for these points now don’t forget points available for the first six riders across the line 65 43 2 and one points towards that Queen of the Mountains competition and of course it’s a a very important competition if you are to be in this kind of tour with a jersey a leader jersey on your shoulders it’s brilliant for the team it’s brilliant for you as a rider but of course really important for for your sponsors and partners of your team so now you start to see a little increase in pacemobbility with Anuska Costa just down the center of the white line and now we start to see the move go and Costa in the black jersey it’s Dominic Flavesk the Polish champion of UA team ADQ’s going for those points close on the line but it looks as though that Anuska Costa took the points there took the six and as you said earlier on Haley you have to be really attentive because if a move goes over the top of these Queen of the Mountains and particularly the fact that the pace has been so high they’re wanting to continue this pace here let’s take a little look at this replay well it is the Polish champion on the left hand side in the white jersey who’s going shoulder-to-shoulder with Anuska Costa anuska Costa comes through in that black jersey to take those six points but there you see so hotly contested she didn’t have a flapping gate she might have got that got to save uh save energy save warts and the the dragon the aerodynamics interest time trial is to me coming out there isn’t it sorry yeah you can see these uh these riders at the back just really fighting just to keep contact over the top here you know the accelerations towards the queen of the mountains towards where those points are you know it’s going to be a danger point and if you’re already struggling just because of the fatigue of the climb it’s it’s just a battle to stay in the wheels here and just keep yourself safe until the pace kind of drops a little bit again hoping it does well it’s the former world champion who is driving things at the front this is Lizzie Dagen off with her teammate Anna Henderson she comes through does a turn hands over to Anuska Costa who took the six points in that Queen of the Mountain on Blakeley Ridge just coming through here from Liv Alula Jac P 51.1 km of racing to go a little opportunity for riders to try and come back on you can see there’s a around 10 riders who are distance off the back and more further behind but this just shows despite the little bit of restbite that they do have here Haley slightly downhill just how difficult it is once you start to be ejected from the back of a pelaton how hard it is to come back yeah and actually the difficulty here is that there are little bits of of descent after that kind of queen of the mountains point but actually the roads keep climbing for another kind of probably five or six kilometers before it then really drops down so you know the riders who are already struggling they don’t just suddenly get a bit of a rest and get to kind of you know um freewheel down a descent they they’ve got to kind of keep pushing because there are false flats and and more ascent and it’s it’s not until kind of maybe kilometer kind of 37 38 that they they’ll then properly drop down and when they do drop down um at the bottom of that descent they’re then straight into the next climb i don’t know about you but this is giving spring classics vibes the fact that the roads that we’ve got here the fact that it’s open it’s exposed we’ve got the wind that really plays a a big part to this race and the way that they’re they’re racing and you have to you’ve got to learn how to to ride in the wind as well to to learn where you need to be if the wind is coming from the left hand side where do you want to try and protect yourself yeah absolutely and I think there’s you know you also almost have to learn how to ride in the UK sometimes i think it’s what um makes Lizzie Dyen love this race so much because the roads are so kind of slow rolling compared to a lot of other places in Europe but I always think it’s really interesting kind of coming back to the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women in June because you know we’ve obviously had the the kind of the Dutch and the Belgian races in in February March in into kind of the start of April um but then the racing moves more to to France to Spain where the nature of the roads are so different and kind of the riders almost get more used to to that kind of um terrain and those difficulties and and the differences um you know racing on kind of the wider smoother Spanish roads maybe with the longer climbs and then suddenly they’re thrown back into the the Lloyd tour of Britain women where the racing is kind of much more back towards uh Belgium and Holland and and kind of it’s almost a bit of a shock to the system certainly is a little bit of calm is reignited at the front but still there’s a large number of riders who are fighting their way back through the convoy we pass through the North York Malls National Park right up in the northeastern part of of Yorkshire and England contains one of the largest expanses of Heather Mall and in the whole of the United Kingdom actually designated as a national park back in 1952 real stunning part of of the country here attracts an estimated 8.4 million visitors a year there are some great shots over the mall stunning is brilliant it is stunning and it is a a wonderful place to come and ride your bike to it’s very quiet you’ve got the the beautiful scenery hard roads but rewarding yeah absolutely i think actually uh training in that part of the country is well it’s it’s a really beneficial place to train because it is hard riding there we get confirmation Anuska Costa takes the six points for Uno X Mobility dominica Vardek taking the five for UAE team ADQ margo Vichi picking up the four points there quincy Ton taking the three for Lalula Jac and Alice Towers the British rider former British road race champion taking the two points it was so close for the one remaining point that it’s a photo finish we’ll bring you the news as to who brought uh who took that one point very shortly but it shows how hotly contested those points are for the Queen in the Mountains haley absolutely you know this competition will actually be decided uh on Saturday so the the third stage is the final stage where we have uh categorized climbs uh we’ve got a couple of category one climbs on tomorrow’s uh stage and then actually the third stage in Kelso is the one where there’s uh a lot of points on offer there’s quite quite a few different climbs on that stage for the riders to kind of be aware of and be vigilant of opportunity for riders to take on some gels take on some nutrition some fuel it’s been such a fast start already and I think when you take a look Haley as we see a number of riders who are chasing back on including one rider from Seratiz Pro Cycling in the red and blue jersey that looks like it’s Molina Duta there sprinter you’ve also got a couple of riders there from Das Hutchinson so one rider from Smurf at West Rock another couple of riders in the convoy trying to come back including one of the riders from Canyon Stram Zonda Crypto So there’s some big names who’ve been distanced here just really shows you how tough that uh that opening part of the stage was and that climb as well you know it was a long climb it we say it only averaged uh 3.9% but 6.6 km and the pace was high so it’s it’s going to have been difficult for these riders so now they’re going to be kind of working their way up through the convoy moving from car to car and then uh hopefully managing to jump back onto the back of this pelaton whilst the pace is actually dropped a little bit that also takes skill to come through a convoy to be patient not panic yeah absolutely and it’s something that um actually you know some of these teams and and particularly maybe the the less experienced riders on some of the smaller continental teams they’ll almost practice this a little bit you know the the drivers in the convoy are normally very experienced and they’re very aware when they have riders on their bumper and they um you know they do try and and make it as easy as possible for those riders but you know the riders have to be concentrating on um on the road ahead maybe what the other cars in the convoy ahead are doing so that they know when the cars are maybe going to accelerate or decelerate and you know you’re trying to keep yourself using as as least energy as possible um sitting on those car bumpers and then choosing the exact right moment to move from the car that you’re currently on um to to the car in front and and working your way back up to the Pelaton with uh using as little energy as possible and there’s some riders who they make it look so easy so simple go from car to car you can see one of the riders just on the bumper of the AG insurance Sudal team take a breather take a moment get to SD Works Pro time get to that car you can see also we’ve got our neutral service Shimano neutral service the blue cars with the spare bikes on the roof and of course all teams have got their own spare bikes for each individual rider but should it occur that maybe a team can’t service their rider maybe they’re on at the back of the pelaton maybe there’s a breakaway the Shimano neutral service can service those in the breakaway should they need a spare bike need a wheel change have a mechanical problem we’ve also got our race direct so the commisser car and the white car despite the fact I was just going to say Haley despite the fact that we’ve actually gone over the top of this Queen of the Mountain we’re still climbing yeah we are still climbing you can just see the roads and uh you know moving gradually upwards and and that’s what it was making it so hard for these riders who’d been distanced on that QM because they didn’t just have the kind of recovery straight away they they’ve got to keep pushing got to keep going and um you know that’s why that’s why riders pay such close attention to the the root maps and the profiles within the the tech manuals because actually sometimes you’ll get climbs on stages that are uncatategorized that are harder than some of the categorized climbs or at least feel harder to ride so you know you really need to kind of go through it with a fine tooth comb so to speak and make sure you know exactly what’s coming up because you can’t just say “Oh well there’s a category 2 climb there and and that’s where I think the the aggression’s going to be.” Because actually there might be a really short steep climb just before that cat 2 climb and actually that’s where the brakes going to go so you know if you’re a rider who’s got real stage or overall race ambitions you you have to put in so much extra work um to really know the race we’ve ticked over 1 hour of racing 45.9 km of racing to go if you’re just joining us welcome along it’s the Lloyds Tour of Britain women myself Hannah Walker alongside Haley Simmons we’ve got a stage of 81 kilometers today taking the riders from Dolby Forest which is one of England’s largest mountain bike trail centers they’re heading for red car for our finish predicted to be a bunch sprint however we’ve got another categorized climb over Langburn’s Bank a 1.9 km climb very steep and could be incredibly decisive we’ve gone over our first queen of the mountain of the day and is Costa taking the maximum points of six the Dutch rider and former Dutch road race champion for UNOX Mobility taking those points and no doubt that they’ll want to try and come away after stage one bit on the podium at least with a jersey and of course they’ve got great options for one of their sprinters in Anina Atasalo got some of the biggest riders in the world who are competing here including Lena Webas we’ve got a two-time overall winner in Lizzie Dagen who is here she’s sitting in third wheel just getting as low and aerodynamic as possible the former world champion coming from Oddley we’ve also got Alli Wiston Anna Henderson Olympic silver Olympic medalist Karakon’s here as well as Martina Fedanza both riders have been world champion on the track we’ve also got Latencia Patinosta Anina Atasalo Cap Ferguson the up and cominging bright British talent including Image and Wolf of Vizma Lisa Bike we’ve also got Glattis for Hulsw Wild as well as Kim Lord the winner of Leage Baston Lege in her first race back after winning that monument becoming the first African rider to win a monument we’ve also got Charlotte Cole wear of the yellow jersey in the tour to France Faravic Swift we’ve also got Lauren Dickinson the Scottish rider for Hansling Alba watch out for her she’s been in exceptional form over the last month or so we’ve also got Jess Roberts as well as Robin Clay couple of the riders there for the Great Britain National Team including Jess Roberts they’re into really fast rolling roads now the Olympic road race champion that is the American rider in the US national US national champions colors kristen Forner of course Olympic road race champion Olympic team pursuit champion really is a a skill and art to be in such close proximity within a palaton 42.1 km of racing to go yeah so they’re now on this kind of fast descent but as soon as they reach the bottom of this they’re going to be straight into the next climb so you know we see riders like Kristen Falconer really keeping herself up near the front because if you’re too far back on this descent and then you hit the steep gradients at the bottom of the next climb then you’re going to be in trouble and actually the the first part of this the climb is is really where it’s most difficult that’s the steep section i think we were talking earlier and there are gradients of 13 14 15% um in the first couple of hundred meters of the next climb so riders really need to make sure that they keep themselves in a good position on this descent before we get to the second and final queen of the mountain of the day let’s have a little think of riders to watch out for and who could be real key contenders as now we see the first appearance of team SD works pro time and that’s in the form of the European champion Lena Weebies you can see her there in that white jersey the black shorts with the blue band around the chest she flicks the elbow she’s got Marta Lac alongside her as well as one other teammate and that looks like it’s Barbara Gurishki i think this is what we were talking about earlier it was interesting to see Lena Vivas just move herself up to the to the front and then almost kind of call up two of her teammates past her so they know that this is a point in the race where they really need to be at the front they need to be kind of making sure they’re in control and dictating the race to the other teams rather than being dictated to now Lisa Vanella one of their new signings the other rider alongside Marta Lac so towards the front Picnic Posanel and the Indigo jerseys in the orange stripe there on the left hand side of the road they’ve got a really strong contingent of riders including Raqueli Barbie Megan Jastra Charlotte Nelson the British rider Esme Peppa Camp as well as Maro Ralden the Canadian really fast section of road forner taking as much speed as possible on that sweeping right hand bend as did Martellac you can see the length of the bunch through here though and this is the kind of danger um you know as as kind of the roads narrow a little bit you come into a slightly more built up area the bunch just suddenly stretches out and what that means is that as soon as they get to the steep gradients at the bottom of the climb and somebody just pushes on really hard the riders that are at the back of the pelaton are suddenly going to be you know quite a long way behind and ultimately you’re you’re having to use so much more energy exactly you know the races already going really hard up the classified climb uh riders fighting for those points fighting for that jersey and then suddenly the riders at the back are having to to kind of work even harder because they’re having to close the gap that’s opened and then also try and keep pace well the sun’s shining dry roads ahead over the little bridge we get to the base of this climb in 400 m this is going to be Langurn’s Bank a 1.9 km climb 1.9 km averaging 6.6% 6% the base of the climb however is extremely difficult you’ve got gradients of 13 14 15 and even 16% where it tops out forner the Olympic road race champion takes them through the queen of the mountain at the base of the climb langurn’s Bank awaits weave is right on the wheel of the Olympic road race champion yeah the protagonist that we were talking about at the start were really all up near the front there they know how crucial this this section of the race is um Anna Henderson was the little track rider up there as well and um yeah you could you can just tell as somebody in the Pelaton as soon as those kind of riders are moving up towards the front you know that that’s where you need to try and be as well which is easier said than done this rider here is starting to get distanced this is one of the riders from Hanseling Alba Development Road Team this is Amy Gornell ordinarily a very good climber but on such a day where it’s been so fast and it’s been a real almost whittling down process in in in some aspects at the back of this Pelaton it’s not necessarily riders going off the front but just riders unable to stay in the Pelaton yeah it’s the attritional nature of of the roads and and the profile of today’s stage um I think yeah it’s almost going to be more riders kind of falling off the back than um than kind of groups going off the front I think and here we see Kim Lort just really pushing the pace and and that’s just going to make life so much more difficult for those riders who are already struggling at the back um 1.9 km sounds like a short climb especially in comparison to the over 6 km we’ve just had but um after what they’ve already faced it’s it’s going to I think it well we’re seeing it splitting now wow look at this the maritian road race champion Kim Lort of Aurance Sudal is the rider who is deciding what happens on the road here and even the Olympic road race champion Kristen Forner in that blue jersey can’t hang on to the wheel of the mician anna Henderson doing a sterling job to try and come forward kim Lort in that white jersey of a Shaw Sudal she takes a look over her left hand shoulder the winner of Leage Baston Leage on a return to racing after that mid-season break is the rider who is being so decisive on the road she comes with high hopes high ambitions and she’s clearly once again in top form and top shape and look at the gap that’s starting to open up already to the riders behind and Henderson with gritted teeth and the shoulders starting to rock and roll she takes a look over her shoulder and there’s no one in the wheel she has to be there for Little Trek kristen Forner seemingly looks as though she’s found a rhythm she’s got that vivid style se seated acceleration high cadence you can see how hard they’re they’re each pushing on here because the gaps even between these three at the front are opening um never mind the gap then to the rest of the pelaton and you know if these riders decide to push on after the top of uh after the top of this climb these gaps are just going to grow this is incredible from Kim Lort they’re going to get to the top of the climb in 500 meters time anna Henderson she’s only seeing the gap start to open up daylight between her and Forner and Forner’s got a decision to to make now she knows she can’t let Kim Laort gain any more time and if she can just try and hold on over the top of this climb here Haley once they go over the top and you’ve got that little bit of restbite you’ve got the descent she could try and get back onto the the wheel but for Kim Laort she’s just in control mode absolutely i think it would actually be beneficial to her though um if she did you know not sit up and wait for for Christine Falconer but try and join forces with Christine Falner for the next section that’s to come because after this bit of descent they’ve got um they’ve got some headwind section to come as well and um you know it’s a lot nicer having a bit of company in that rather than just being completely by yourself so you know what we might see is she’ll go over the top of the climb take the points at the top of the climb and then you know almost just kind of take a bit of a breather not just you know loosen off completely but just um just you know let Kristen Faulner join her and then they can work together and probably have a better chance of of staying ahead of the Pelaton well this is a considerable gap to the Pelaton and this is the largest that we’ve seen throughout the whole stage over the top of Langburn’s Bank and it’s Kim Lort who takes the six points on this categorized two it’s the Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulner who takes the five points you can see Kim Lort just keep glancing over her shoulders just to see what that gap is to Christristen Falner and um kind of make a judgment on on what she does in terms of her pace here this is the chasing group including Caroline Swinkles who looks like she gets the four points still there in the group is Lorena Weebish you’ve also got Mart Lac who’s there and Norskard trying to close the gap is one of the riders from AG insurance Sudal the teammate of Kim Lort Piana still there is Cat Ferguson great to see the young British rider still in that front group in the chase number 45 this is Mir Canavvin the 20-year-old Dutch rider in the pink jersey over the top and you can hear from the motorbikes the wind as Well yeah it’s really exposed as well you know you’ve not got hedge rows to kind of protect them a little bit it’s really open so they’re going to be absolutely feeling it um and you know you can you can see the roads as well they’re they’re draggy they’re not kind of smooth and fast rolling so it’s going to be tough now made that 90° leftand turn the wind is coming directly onto the left hand shoulder of these riders there’s a couple of riders really in some difficulty this is Sophia Burton Solo number 12 in the white jersey he’s also got one of the riders from Visma Lisa bike for company and soon Kim Lord is going to have company in the form of the Olympic road race champion Kristen Forner number 42 i think with 35 km to go actually having uh having Kristen Faulner there is going to be actually quite beneficial for Kim Lort and it gives them a much better chance of staying away as a pair but what’s nice is having kind of listened to both of them give interviews at at the top of the stage and talking about the ambitions of the team and how they were going to take the racing on and you know they they Kim Lort was saying how she thought the team could uh be aggressive get a stage win perhaps even get the general classification win and to then see her do this on this first stage is um it’s it’s it’s quite nice to watch it’s brilliant to watch isn’t it and even for Kim Laort she said the last time I I I raced here and the first time she raced here was back in 2015 she finished last in the general classification and and for her she been racing at at top level she took a a step away from the sport and only a couple of years ago made that decision to to come back she knew she could be one of the big protagonists in in in cycling she can be one of the the top riders in the world she comes from a mountain bike background as well so she’s got all of those technical skills and for her she’s proven she’s delivered and I know for Natasha Van Odin who who gave her that shot gave her that chance at AG Shaw and Sudal and really took a big gamble but the gamble paid off but also Kim Lort stuck to her word and she said look I’m going to I’m going to come back and I’m going to be one of the top riders and and she’s done just that yeah absolutely and like look at the results she’s had this season it’s it’s been an incredible season for her and you know so welld deserved and cycling we we’ve spoken about it a lot over the last few years just as a sport you know um mentally it’s difficult as well as physically and um you know if you’re going through if you’re going through a hard time then sometimes you know you need to kind of step away for a little bit but then actually if you kind of think you know what I I think I can be back on top of my game I think I can contend with the best in the world and then just really focus on that and then to be given the opportunity um and then you know you you feel that you just want to work as hard as you can to repay the opportunity that you’ve been given and it’s great to see that everything’s come together for her i always say you can have all the talent in the world but if you’re not given the opportunity to to show yourself you’re never going to be able to to make it to to the top part of the sport or to be able to prove that you you are capable of doing it so it’s when that that talent and opportunity meets the the right scenario the right situation and that’s when you can get you know some incredible like stories come out of the sport and I think that’s what we’ve had with Kim Lort this year and you know the Leaz Baston leage victory it certainly is it certainly is and for her sixth place at Flesh Won incredible win at Le Baston hasn’t raced since the end of April but taken a a much needed break mental break physical break get some solid training in as well and get a real good training block in for the second part of the season particularly looking towards this Lloyd’s tour of Britain women and no doubt that she’ll have selection for the tour to France as well the season’s really long as well now you know the women’s season used to be much shorter but now we’re starting in in January February you know Kim Lort started racing in the UAE tour uh at the beginning of February so you know you can’t just hold that top form for you know 10 months um so it’s really important to kind of have that step away from racing um and maybe go to altitude get a really solid training block in um and then come back for the second half of the season and mentally you need the break as well because the focus that you need to to race week in week out and travel and everything else you know it does take its toll that’s one thing I I want to come to you on on training camps and altitude camps and how that’s changed because you’re seeing more and more teams are are going on altitude training camps i’ve seen particularly with EF Education only with some of their we’ve got fantastic fans haven’t we at the roadside here of course enjoying the all of the action but for for those riders it’s so important when you’ve got such important races and and like this one where you want to come and you want to have great form it’s important to have those training camp opportunities yeah absolutely and I think um I think on the men’s side of the sport we’ve we’ve seen it a lot more and for a lot longer but now with kind of the growth of of uh the world tour for the women and you know the the introduction of the women’s world uh tour teams and everything else there’s been kind of that greater investment in the women’s side of the sport you’ve got the same level of sport scientists and and the resources that the men have had there’s more knowledge and and the sport is just generally more professionalized so it gives the women the opportunity to be concentrating on it absolutely full-time so they can go and they and and have the same kind of um you know opportunities in terms of the altitude camps have the same input from from the team staff um and and everything’s just more scientific now I think um and it yeah we we see the results from how riders really focus on certain points of the season certain races and how they’re much more able to kind of hit those targets because they have um you know they have the structure within their training plan of this is when I’m going to go to altitude this is when I’m going to come back from altitude we’re doing analysis the whole time that I’m there to see what’s going on this is how much time I need between coming off altitude and then being in my peak performance and and everyone just kind of you know people know that now and and it really kind of makes the riders able to hit the form that they want at the time they want even for riders picking which races for Kim McCor for example skipping Param where she finished in the top 10 last year to say “No look I want to go to the Arden Classics i want to try and win and perform there.” She did just that she won leazes past on Leesge and now she comes back in top flight in good form another sharp fast descent coming up 25% and far better for these two riders to be in this scenario this situation with such a fast descent coming up after that long drag over the unclassified part of the climb than to be fighting for position in in a Pelaton yeah absolutely it’s much easier especially with you know roads kind of narrowing a little bit as well and having kind of the rougher surface at the edge they can really just pick their line as well so um but also having each other I think that’s why we saw Kim Leort keep looking over her shoulder to to kind of uh see where Kristen Faulner was but in terms of kind of being able to pick your calendar as you said I think that’s where it’s really nice to have kind of that good relationship and that trust between rider and team management because it means that they can sit down not just at the start of the season but also during during the season um and say “Look this is this is where I really want to perform and this is what I think I need in order to be able to perform.” And having those really good relationships between riders and staff I think is what then gets the best out of the riders on on the team and actually I think that’s something that we’ve seen um with this with this AG Insurance Sudal team over the last few years actually some of the riders have been maybe performing above expectations you know you saw Justine Gekkiierre at Tour to France FEM last year you know there’s nobody necessarily expected her to have the results there that she did and I think just the kind of the trust and the relationship and the planning between Ryder and staff just gets the best out of everyone and and you know it leads to these results i think that’s impressive isn’t it when you’ve got a team who are able to have these great results have the the great performances and at the same time bring talent through the ranks and really look after some of the younger riders within the team help them develop but you’ve also got older riders within the team and you’ve got great sports directors like Yoland Dora you’ve got Danny Christmas who’s in the the team car here to guide them and help them learn give them that experience give them the opportunity as well and to say “Look we’ve got a big job on our hands we’ve got some of the fastest sprinters in the world we need to make today really difficult we’re going to take the the stage by the scruff of the neck and we’re going to be the riders and the team who really dominate and control and we make the decision as to what happens.” I think you’re completely right as well about having the mix of of like youth and experience because of course it’s necessary to nurture the young talent bring the young riders through but you know I I almost think in a way there’s too much focus on you know really young kind of superstars like and and you know just having teams full of really young riders i think actually what you need is some of the experience as well and um you know like for example one of the team leaders on that team is actually Morman Pacio she’s one of the most experienced riders still in the Pelaton and having her there having her experience and her knowledge um to kind of pass on to the younger members of the team is invaluable you know you can you can have the best sports directors in the world but actually if they haven’t raced in some of the races themselves then they’re not going to have 100% of the knowledge that maybe someone like Ashley does have um and yeah so I think I think yeah obviously you need to invest in the future of the sport you need to invest in the young riders but don’t necessarily look past some of the older riders because you know we’ve seen what Kim Lort can do um having come back from a bit of a break and you know having given her that opportunity she’s she’s paid it back through the Morlands through Commonale pass through the Heather Morland which typifies the vegetation that covers around 1/3 or 44,000 hectares of the national park here it’s actually one of the the largest continuous expanses of Morland in England we’ve already seen the sheep that are there from the small villages of to Billsdale never actually leave the Morland itself but in the summer you can imagine that the Morland is a blaze of this pinkish purplish color really is a a sight to behold really beautiful beautiful place if you want to come by foot come hiking come by bike we’re heading towards Warren Moore Mine which is just close to our our route in the next kilometer and a half heading for red car which is our finish and it’s a new destination for the Lloyd’s tour of Britain women last year we were in North Wales and in the northwest of England at a first stage in Greater Manchester this year we’re into the northeast of England and into southern Scotland and I have to say I think the the organization have done a great job of taking it to new locations taking the the race to fans around the country giving them the opportunity to come out and support but also it really brings diverse stages and diverse kind of racing to the the different nature of of the stages that we’ve got absolutely it’s really nice to not have um you know the the same thing every year or the same thing every day and you know the the final stage of this race is kind of an echo of of the World Championship course and also a course that’s been used for Commonwealth Games and and previous British National Championships as well so we’ve actually got some great locations uh on this tour you know we’ve obviously today we we finish in in Red Car and then um tomorrow Saltburn um and you know Saltburn has been the location for the British National Road Race Championships the last few years um and then of course as I just mentioned we’re also going to Glasgow which has hosted World Championships so you know a lot of these riders will be familiar with with that kind of circuit from uh the World Championships in 2023 yeah if you you take a look over the years particularly over the the last 10 years or so with actually 11 years because Glasgow of course played host to the the National Road Race Championships actually back in 2013 2013 it was uh my first my first National Road Race Championship was uh God that makes me feel old doesn’t it you you and I both you and I both was when it was uh when it was Glasgow and and yeah obviously had the Commonwealth Games a year later and then the Commonwealth Games will be returning there as well yeah we’ve also had the the European Championships there where Martastian Ali took the the victory there we’ve also of course had the the World Championships in 2023 when Lot Capeki won her first road race title the first of two winning back to back of course in Zurich last year of course the defending champion not here to defend a target 4 SD works pro time but they’re very confident in Lena Weave is the European champion but of course they’ve got a strong challenge from their rivals fdj Suez are the team on the front in the blue and red jerseys the French World Tour outfit one of the longest standing teams in the whole of not just women’s cycling but men’s cycling too led by Steven Delcort the team manager they’ve got Lars Bow the sports director who’s in the car for a prolific winner when he was a pro got hopes ambitions on Ali Wist here they’ve also got Marina Net they’ve got Amber Crack Allesia Villier Jadville and Celia Jerry they’ve had a good start to the season already 11 victories one of most dominant teams of this season alone sd Works Pro time well they’re head and shoulders above everybody 18 victories already ua team ADQ with 13 just coming back to the chasing group here this is Tunka be house she’s the Dutch rider the 29year-old for Uno X mobility in that black Gile with the ordinary ordinarily you can see underneath a traditional colors of the team that’s that red jersey we’ve got Anna Bard Gruba the sports director alongside Alexander Wetal who was a rider who used to race in the UK he used to race for what was Endura Racing back in the early 10s around 2010 2011 he was racing for Endura Racing so he’s very accustomed to this these kind of roads part of the Swedish national team too so he’s top sports director 33 seconds is the advantage for Kim Lort in that white jersey the Russian champion one of five national champions in the field alongside her just on the wheel in the blue jersey is the USA road race champion Kristen Forner 33 seconds to this chasing group which has as you can see been whittleled down and there’s several riders who have been ejected out of the back here Haley yeah you can really see that kind of driving the pace uh on the front of this kind of Pelaton is uh riders from FTJ Sewers the Mavastar team and also uh Little Trek because I think those are three of the main teams who really kind of obviously missed out when when this break went you know Little Trek nearly got a rider there with Anna Henderson and then um you know unfortunately she just couldn’t quite hold the wheel of Kristen Falner but you know those are the teams that are really kind of now trying to kind of get back on terms and bring this gap down we see Mobstar are contributing to the chase they’re the team with the white jerseys with the darker blue and light blue colors on got two riders who are contributing to this chase fdj Seers I already mentioned in the darker blue with the red you’ve also got a couple of riders there for picnic pastel in the indigo and orange jerseys zoe Baxstead is still there zoe Backstead from Canyon there as well from the Canyon tram team and I think I saw uh there’s also there’s also at least one rider in there from Liverulo Jaco as well we’re starting to see that there’s a couple of teams who are working who who’s who’s the onus on here in the chase i mean it looked to me as though Little Track had numbers there i think teams are going to be looking to the teams that have the most numbers so you know um if there’s only one rider from Liveula Jacob then you know they’re probably not going to contribute but you’ve got a couple of riders from FTJ Sewers you’ve got a couple from Little Trek and they should really be sharing the workload between them to try and uh bring this move back because you know it’s for their benefit taking a look down at the other teams who are represented in this chasing group you’ve also got a couple of riders there from UAE team ADQ also their Visma Lisa bike these two are working really well together up the front you know they’re really kind of sharing the turns and and kind of you know um making sure that they can really get the best out of each other and out of the situation and do their absolute utmost to kind of stay away from this chasing pelaton later on we might see uh games start to begin if they still have a gap in the closing kilometers but for now what they need to do is just work together and try and make sure that they can get to the finish with a gap to the Pelaton or what remains of the Pelaton i kind of use that term but it’s more of a chasing group isn’t it but you can’t rest on your laurels here you cannot be complacent the fact that you’ve got a a 30 yo-yoing between 31 seconds and 33 seconds but with such a ferocious chase behind the two out front they can’t become complacent they can’t start to look at each other particularly when you’ve got 23.6 6 km of racing remaining no absolutely not but at the same time the chasing group you know they they need to stay motivated and stay working together because as soon as you know one rider from one team says well actually I feel like we’ve done our fair share it’s it’s now on you guys to come through and do do your bit and then if that team suddenly says well no you know we we kind of think that you’ve got more of a job to do than us as soon as they their kind of work falls apart and they kind of start almost bickering between themselves then the gap can grow so you know what the two riders out front need to do is just keep a steady rhythm keep working well together and um and kind of hope I guess hope they can hold their advantage flo Mai the rider on the front the former winner of Gen Wim of Maui Star she’s got to fully commit herself because they’ve got Cat Ferguson who is here going to return having had her first child after having maternity leave she’s also there the rider taking a drink of Maui Star now there is Cat Ferguson on a wheel too so that’s great news for British interest and particularly for Cat Ferguson she said she wants to try and take a podium in at least one of these stages and she’s already proven that she’s capable of doing so she did in one of her first world tour races of the season at Trafo Alfredo Binda Breakaway enter into great air and maybe uh maybe Cat Ferguson would be hoping that the uh that the sun hadn’t quite come out because she’s she’s taken some great victories or or great podium results in not that great conditions but it was nice hearing her speak actually because you know we know what a talent she is but she said that her ambition is to maybe take a stage victory here but then she also said that she knew it would be it would be hard and you know she’s this is her first year at this level um so you know she was she’s ambitious but also you know she’s also realistic with it she says “It’s going to be difficult but it’s it’s what I want to do and I’ll give my utmost to try and achieve that.” Into grade the famous circumnavigator Captain James Cook lived in nearby Great Aton as a a young boy more recently Charlie and Harry Tamfield two top riders two top professionals and both excellent track riders and for Harry Tanfield your current teammate yeah I was talking to Harry uh just a couple of days ago and he was saying uh about it going through his village so yeah Harry was uh Harry actually said that he’d almost benefited in the past few weeks from this race coming through here because uh there was some nice new road surface in places so everyone’s a winner i know everyone uh everyone’s benefiting from the Lloyd tour of Britain coming through they certainly have and it’s brilliant to see the the fans road signed with the banners that they’ve made absolutely terrific to see you’ve also got the Captain Cook monument which stands on the hill quite nearby built in 1827 in memory of Captain James Cook also got the Cleveland Way the national trail which passes via Captain Cook’s monument cleveland is the national trail that it winds its way through the North York moors in the national park along and along the the North Yorkshire coast starting in Helmsley ending at Phy of course always known for its dramatic coastal scenery he’s got that Heather Mandland as it is around here you’ve also got the historic landmarks with Whitby Abbey it’s a pretty stunning part of the world to come to here I have to say if you’ve never been to Whippy Abbey certainly well worth taking a trip a day trip over there you saw the Blackboard just gave the on the back of the motorbike there the Blackboard giving uh two riders in the breakaway the time gaps 20 seconds now to the Chasers still led by FDJ Suez currently led by Amber Crack i have to say the team of EF Education early have done a tremendous job with that gold bike for Kristen Forner as an Olympic road race champion and a USA national road race champion i was admiring it earlier i thought anything bling I know you love yeah I do love uh I do love a nice bike paint job i’ll be honest yeah you know it’s uh I always like it when uh when teams and bike companies just do like a really nice paint job just to kind of commemorate a great win and it one of my absolute favorites was um Amalita Derekson’s World Championship paint job i absolutely love that bike still remember it i agree i agree yeah they certainly do a great job heading into towards Newton under Rosebury this is where we’re going to have our intermediate sprint and don’t forget bonus seconds are on offer for the first three riders 32 and one bonus seconds on offer including those points for the jersey 1075 3 and one points 500 meters to go and if you’re wanting to try and go for general classification ambitions at the end of these four stages these bowler seconds are going to be absolutely crucial it’ll be interesting to see whether these two do actually contest it between themselves um or maybe whether Kim Lort kind of almost lets Kristen Faulner do you think they’ll lose a little bit of their cohesion if they do fight amongst themselves for the bonus seconds and the points yeah they can do i almost think it’s beneficial just to kind of keep pushing on and not not really worry that much about it um well we obviously just saw Kim Lor accelerating but you know maybe she does have overall race ambitions as she spoke about in her interview but Kristen Falner didn’t necessarily look too worried about putting up a fight and you know sometimes what we see if if there are these kind of moves of maybe two riders off the front um they’ll maybe have a discussion of well you know you’ve got the general classification ambitions so you can have the bonus seconds but maybe I have a stage win or you know so on well behind they’re fighting for each and every bonus second cat Ferguson comes through with a late charge and it looks as though the British youngster takes the one second caroline Swinkles was the rider who was challenging from UAE team ADQ there’s no photo finish to be had of the leading duo though because it was Kim Lort who took the three bonus seconds and the 10 points in that points classification kristen Forner taking two bonus seconds and the seven points caroline Swinkles keeping things rolling here yeah yeah well it’s I was going to say it’s kind of sometimes when there are those intermediate sprints and then riders from that chasing group go for the sprint it can actually work to disrupt the chase a little bit because yes the gap will come down as the acceleration for the sprint happens but then potentially um unless they can kind of find their rhythm again quite quickly the the chase can be a little bit disrupted so um it’s interesting to see what they do after the sprint let’s take a little look at this replay it was Carline Swinkles who struck first made that injection of pace it was a very late charge from Cat Ferguson i almost think she didn’t realize that Cat Ferguson was on her wheel there and she thought that she was the only one going for it and was almost a little bit surprised when uh when Cat Ferguson came around that’s one thing that Cat Ferguson despite being so young only 19 years of age has become really good at she can she can read a race so well she can keep herself well hidden she knows exactly where and when she can save energy she knows which wheels to follow yeah I was going to say she almost just pops up at the right moment like she she is a great reader of a race you know she’s I I almost was going to call her inexperienced which is just completely unfair because she’s she’s new to this uh this kind of level of racing but she’s been doing it for so long actually she’s hugely experienced um so it might be you know her first year in the senior ranks in the Women’s World Tour but she’s got such like great knowledge of the racing and just to give context for potentially any new viewers who are are watching the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women here for Cat Ferguson last year she was a junior so you’re in the under 18 ranks and this year is her first year as a fullyfledged world tour pro already she’s had a victory at the back end of last season season season when she was as a sagier for for Maui star she’s already had some top results this season alone already a podium in Trafer Alfredo Binda you can’t underestimate how impressive that is when the level of the racing where we’re currently at is at its best it’s ever been and you’ve got a 19-year-old who’s able to podium at the top level of the sport is something special she certainly should be one of the riders that you’ve got highlighted keeping an eye out for throughout the next four stages 22 seconds oh Forner gets that corner wrong she loses the momentum and she that just shows how quickly things can change at the front of the race inside 15 km to go kim Laort well now she’s got a big decision on her hands is she going to sit up and wait for the Olympic road race champion she takes so much speed she takes the apex of the line correct but then you’ve got the central reservation here lort goes on the left hand side and for Forner she just about saves that one this is what I was talking about with some of the difficulties of British racing because yes there were marshals kind of standing on the corner with the flags with whistles but most of the riders would have assumed that what they were doing was signaling that there was a right-hand corner not necessarily that there was a traffic island in the middle of the road and as you could see from the camera angle it was impossible to see until actually after you’ taken the corner and by that point you’re kind of already committed to your line so yes you might then see some fluorescent pink um on on the curb but once you’re committed to your line it can be very difficult to change it midc corner especially given that the roads are still a little bit slick they’re not completely dry um so you know Kristen Faulner did a really good job there to to kind of save that and and now obviously she’s she’s regrouped with Kim Laort and you know they’re now having obviously a bit of a chat and and are kind of finding their rhythm again great sportsmanship from Kim Lort she just eases off ever so slightly allows her breakway companion to get back onto the wheel because she knows crucially inside 14 km to go that it’s better to have someone to help her it’s better to have a wheel it’s better to have that option to sit on the wheel get a little bit of restbine two is better than one absolutely and what I find quite interesting looking at that chase group behind is there are three little track riders in there and I don’t think I’ve seen them on the front of that chasing group yet and you know we’re getting to kind of a nearly 30 second advantage with 14 km to go the gap’s actually gone up a little bit not come down there’s four riders there just getting a closer look at that motorbike shot we’ve got Lizzy Dyen who is there the former world road race champion and silver medalist at the Olympic Games in 2012 you’ve got Rihanna Marcus the former Dutch time trial champion you’ve also got Loretta Hansen super domestique extraordinaire and you’ve got the Olympic medalist from Paris 2024 in Anna Henderson so that little track have got four of the five riders that they’ve brought to the race the only rider that we can’t see is Emma Northgard and they’re one of the bigger teams who aren’t contributing here it’s still all down to Moistar in the white jerseys with the navy blue band across the chest you’ve also got FDJ Suez who are still committing with Amber Crack in the dark navy blue and red jerseys talking of um of Mobstar and obviously of Cat Ferguson what’s also really nice is that you know Cat Ferguson has has gone to Mauvestar you know one of the biggest teams and um you know you can tell how much they believe in her because they’re obviously instructing their team to kind of commit to um helping her you know achieve a podium on this stage in in this race um so you know it’s not just the case that you know that she’s gone to this team and kind of had to almost take a bit of a backseat a learning role because you know oh you’re you’ve only just come up from juniors you know you kind of need to to learn you know learn this level a little bit they can see how much talent she has and how much potential she has and they’re kind of they’re backing her they’re not just kind of waiting for her to kind of prove herself so to speak they’re you know they’re giving her the opportunity to to have those results and prove herself and and that’s nice to see as well if you’re just joining us welcome to stage one of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women stage one taking the riders from Dolby Forest to Red Car 81.5 km of racing across some of the harshest and attritional terrain 1,173 m of elevation we’ve had two Queen of the Mountains both categorized two kim Lort the rider who took maximum points on Lang Burns Bank the second categorized climb of the day it was Anuska who took maximum points on the first one on Blakeley Ridge it was on Langburn’s Bank that 1.9 km climb with an average gradient of 6.6% but with brutal gradient at the base of the climb of 16% where Kim Laor made her move that meant that things started to fragment it was Kristen Forner the Olympic road race champion who could follow anna Henderson could follow before she started to get tailed off towards the top part of the climb and since then we’ve had two riders who have been in the breakaway with a maximum advantage of 33 seconds they’ve been working well together and they’re heading for red car a host of a stage of the Lloyds Bank Lloyds Tour of Britain Women for the very first time my name’s Hannah Walker alongside me is Haley Simmons we’ve got a chase group that is ferociously trying to get themselves back to the front of the race and then a larger chase group behind that which consists of some of the top names stage one well we’re already starting to see potential time gaps open up in the general classification 28 seconds to our chasers and it’s still FG Suez who are on the front in those blue and red jerseys behind in the palaton we’ve got Lalula Jaco in those purple jerseys who are trying to bring things back as close as possible we’ve also got a couple of riders there from Bisma Lisa Bike Saratis Pro Cycling are there with a number of riders these two riders knowing that for their respective teams perhaps they didn’t bring one of the top flight sprinters they’ve taken the race into their own hands yeah absolutely you know they we spoke about it earlier but they they knew the point on the course where they would have the best opportunity to kind of make a difference to this race and and they really took advantage of that and Kim Court made it look easy a little bit didn’t she and um which just goes to show the form that she’s on and you know all you have to do is look at some of her results from this season to show that but um you know she really took the race into her own hands and has has you know that’ll dominate what happens at the end of the stage picking out a number of riders that are in that pelaton in the purple jerseys letia Patinosta was there so looked as though Georgia Baker was there we also saw Josie Nelson officel this is hanging in the balance now 25 seconds inside 10 km remaining it’s not gone down it hasn’t and what oh for Christristen Forner that’s could be costly this is a fuel you know at one point with with that intermediate sprint the um the the chase group kind of had bought the gap down to 16 seconds but it it’s gone up a little bit again since then and I wonder if you know we um we’ve said that a lot of the work here is being done by the Movar team but they’ve only got those uh those two riders at the front kind of trying to close this gap and at some point they might feel the fatigue and there’ll only be so much that they can do um and yeah the gap is just the gap is not closing at the moment so if these two keep working together well at the front um then you know we could see them get to the finish together these will be roads that actually some of the British riders in the race will recognize because um this has actually been used as part of the National Road Race course the last few years i think currently they’re going in the opposite direction but um that bridge was was on last year’s course so some of the British riders will um will kind of know what they’re facing in these closing 9 km or Bani and FA Makai the two riders from Mobistar who are sharing the workload or bean one of the most experienced riders in the pelaton turned pro back in 2013 michaela Fernani rocks team Italian team fletcher Makai another incredibly experienced rider turn pro straight out of the junior ranks and for Bani a special mention to the rider from Britany from Ladenu on a return to racing had a full of races in the pocket after being out of action and being out of the Pro Pelaton for a year or so had a first child and many congratulations to Orbani and you can’t underestimate this is an incredible return to racing after after having your first child and and making a return to top flight racing absolutely and we’ve seen quite a few women doing it over uh over the last few years you know Ellen Van Djk has recently had a child obviously Lizzy Dyen’s come back from from two children um so the the support that the teams now give the women in terms of allowing them to have that little break and then start a family and then come back to racing is you know is is a really nice change that we’ve seen in the women’s side of the sport and um and obviously riders have proved that they can do it now we’re seeing the gap 24 seconds over a minute to the Palaton and still Kim Lort number 103 the Maritian champion kicks on they just really need to keep working together and cohesively for you know as long as they can i mean ideally 7.4 km or maybe 7.3 um just to give themselves the absolute best opportunity to stay ahead of these chases if you were FDJ Suez or Maui Star and you’ve got two riders from each team who are contributing to this chase but you’ve got Little Track you’ve got four riders represented would you not send one of your riders back to ask for Little Track to lend a rider to this chase personally I would um I’m I’m really surprised that they are just kind of sitting back at the moment i suppose whilst the riders from FJ and Masar seem happy to work without asking then you know it’s actually to their advantage to to you know maybe let them do it but at the same time if that gap continues to stay at 20 seconds and doesn’t close further then then they’ll also lose out i suppose the other thing to consider is that um Lorena Vibas is in this chasing group and if you take Lena Vivas back to the front of the race inside of the finish line then there’s a really strong possibility that she’s going to be crossing that line first so you know that there are lots of considerations and they’ll have the director kind of talking to them through the race radios and and giving them kind of the best instructions possible she’s been keeping herself well hidden lorena Weaver is champion i was going to say I mean the way that we spoke about it before on that that first Queen of the Mountain the way that she’s able to hide self away she’s able to keep herself tucked in save energy she becomes anonymous sometimes her ability to do that a tactical N is just incredible then she’s got the engine to back it up we’ve got one rider who’s in this group from the Great Britain National Team as well dominica Vetek the Polish road race champion is here for UA team ADQ they’ve also got the fast finisher in Caroline Swinkles watch out for the Dutch rider rex Mobility have got one rider likewise watch out for the red jerseys of the Norwegian outfit 21 seconds it’s still yo-yoing here it is but you know we we’ve re in the last 10 kilometers we’ve not really seen any change which which I don’t know suggests to me that these two are actually probably quite likely at this point to hang on quinty Ton is in the move she’s the rider in the purple jersey for Live Alula Jacob she’s sitting six wheels back one of the only riders represented for Live Alula Jacob i think it’s possible we might see a little bit more of their jerseys kind of later on in the week possibly on the Glasgow stage i think you know that’s a team that have a really good opportunity on that stage um you know of course they’ll have to battle with the likes of Lorena Vivas but um you know they’ll be desperate to take a win this year final turn of this stage will come with 2.2 km to go they’ll go through the 2 km kite we’re going to have the C on the right hand side and then it’s a straight running all the way into our finishing red car it’s a really fast finish and this is only going to benefit those chasing behind what’s the wind doing at this running into our final it’s going to be almost a direct crosswind actually the wind’s coming from the southwest today so they’ll have a crosswind to to battle on that final stretch and you know we are right on the seafront here so it could be felt quite strongly um you know luckily they don’t have too much to deal with in terms of any turns they they have a traffic island uh one traffic island within the last 2 km but that shouldn’t really pose too too much difficulty so um yeah it’s um it’ll be it’s just going to be interesting to see whether any more headway can be made by this chasing group or or whether Kim Lort and um and Christen Faulner just just about managed to hold on inside 4 km to go the gap still at 19 seconds and still the chase being led by FDJ Suez and Moistar they still haven’t got any assistance from any other team but now Zoe Backstead starts to move away up she’s the only rider in this group for Canyon Strams on Grypto watch out for the young Welsh rider they go around the roundabout they go separate sides it’s the left side that’s the quickest they keep the momentum caroline Swinkle still there lena Wever has moved herself up from the back of the group and now she moves herself up into the top 10 through 3 km to go in and Kim Piera she’s got the ocean and she’s got the sea just ahead of her you can see the way that the flags are flying high they make that lefthand turn still the Olympic road race champion is on the wheel she flicks the elbow and it’s Kristen Forner who now comes through it was interesting because there have been several times where I’ve thought that you know one of the Movar riders and one of the FDJ Sewers riders had kind of finished doing their work and almost drifted back in the group and then they’ve had to come to the front yet again cuz no other team seems like seems that motivated to take it on so it really is just being left to riders from those two teams to desperately try and bring these two riders back this has been an incredible performance from this duo it was all kicked off by Kim Lort and right now could the breakaway steal the march and take the victory between the two of them which one is it going to be can they outwit the chasing group 19 seconds and it’s going to feel like a long stretch now to the finish you can really see how strong uh strong that crosswind was because obviously we spoke about the flags but then just the formation of the riders in that chase group behind you know they’re they’re kind of fanned across the road in what we would call an echelon and um that’s just indicating to you the the strength of that wind rihanna Marcus still there loretta Hansen is there for Little Trek lizzy Denon is taking a look round the road captain for Little Trek is just trying to shout some instruction by the seams of things i wonder if they be too late now i wonder if they’ve just realized that they’ve left this a little bit late because with uh basically 2 km remaining and 18 seconds and that gap just hasn’t been changing enough so something would have to drastically happen in in order for them to come back fdj Sewers have been working because now you get sight of Ali Wiston who’s tucked in on the far left side you can just see the rider from New Zealand with the skin suit on pop out on the left hand side still it’s Forner who’s on the front number 42 can she take victory here on stage one of the Lloyds tour and women or Bani still like a diesel engine is pulling on the front but the duo out front in the breakaway they’ve got the 1 km to go sign in their sights they’re going to go under the flam rouge and 1,000 m remains amber crack kicks on still they still believe here for FDJ Sewers that they can deliver a victory for Ali Wiston they still believe and they’re not giving up hope but Little Trek now come to the four 15 seconds they’re hoping and banking on the fact that these two are going to start to look at each other for the victory and perhaps that could give the chasing group the time that they need sarra Vanam is at the back of the group for Saratis in the blue and red jersey there’s Cecilia Ludvik is there in the black jersey just out of the saddle now for Canyon Strand Zonda Crypto she’s also got Zoe Baxstead with the Red Bull helmet on but still they’ve got the advantage i think they’ve left it too late i think they’ve miscalculated slightly i think Little Track maybe needed to come and do do some work just a little bit earlier because it’s it’s going to be close but these two unless they really sit up and start looking at each other they have this now 300 meters to go and it’s Kim Loriana who hugs the right hand side of the road now she starts to open up and it’s the Maritian champion who was the rider who kicked off this breakaway it’s a strong challenge from the Olympic road race champion Kristen Forner forner trying to come alongside the maritian champion but Kim Lord is too strong but is she is going to be close on the line kim Lord wins stage one of the Lloyd’s Tour Britain women for AG Sudell behind is Lena Weebiz who takes third kristen Forner taking second well there’s going to be some questions after that but for now what a performance from Kim Lort and Kristen Forner taking first and second on stage one kim Laort what a performance on Return to Racing after that magnificent win in Leage Baston Lege i think to say that you’re going to try and win a stage and maybe the race and then come out and ignite that first stage like that and then take the win is is just so impressive i’m uh yeah I’m so impressed with Kim Lort’s riding today well fortune favors the brave and it’s certainly fortune the brave today there’ll be some questions why didn’t certain teams lend a hand why didn’t they commit and put riders to the front well what a an execution between these two Lort and Forner you couldn’t have asked for a more cohesive duo in the break i was just about to say that just shows the maturity and you know they worked so well together and if they hadn’t worked well together then you know they they would have been caught we saw at the end with the the sprint being kind of launched behind them that I think the gap was about 7 seconds when Lena Vivs crossed the line in third but you know there was just so much maturity the whole time kim Leaport uh waited a little bit at the top of the climb obviously after the kind of mishap after the corner they just worked so well together this was the moment when they went through 300 m to go wanting to hook the right hand side of the road here talk us through this sprint because even if you’re not sprinting from a big bunch Haley you still have to be smart knowing which part of of the road you want to be protection from the wind yeah exactly and you know sprinters bunch sprinters will do their research on the final few hundred meters of the race and they’ll know like if there’s any road furniture where the wind’s likely to come from if there’s a narrowing anything like that so you know it really does pay to have done your homework but what was quite nice here is obviously they were fighting for the stage win but at the same time they didn’t just kind of sit up and look at each other because they were both fully aware that if that had happened it would have opened the door for bees behind to then come and take the stage win so you know they were they were doing their best to kind of take as much advantage as as they could and and have enough rest in the wheel but then at the same time give themselves the first and second places and not have it stolen from them kristen Forknian champion too strong brilliant team performance all round i think for the team they’re almost speechless you see the the facial expressions and the way they’re reacting to this win of Kim Lort alexandra Manley a part of this team there kim Laort just having a word with Glattis for Holst Wild it just strikes me kind of from the outside not knowing uh knowing some of the individuals on the team but obviously not knowing the team kind of from the inside it strikes me that the atmosphere is really good and they’re all friends they all want each other to succeed and you know it sounds a cliche happy head fast legs but having that really nice positive dynamic lends itself to these kind of amazing performances and the joy and reaction there from the sports director Danny Christmas you can just see a wellexecuted plan all round you can all make a plan riders can make the plan as well as the the sports directors of what you want to do but you still have got to have the legs to deliver yeah absolutely and um I think another thing that’s really important is you might know that you have the form but you don’t necessarily know how you’re going to feel on any given day and then having the kind of maturity within a race to say either girls today is my day please back me or actually today is not my day let’s go for someone else and being able to make those calls on the road and then as a team fully commit to those calls that’s really important well project general classification is firmly on it’s nice to see Danny Christmas coming and like joining in the celebrations as well and um she’s she’s a really good person to have in your team car on this race as well obviously you know as a as a British rider very experienced um she’ll she’ll know the road she’ll know what the racing is is or what kind of racing we’re likely to see here and and how best to kind of take advantage of the terrain and and everything else and um yeah it’s nice to see her kind of joining in this victory the wonderful thing is as well to see how close fans can also get to the the the riders to a long-term uh longtime supporter of the women’s pelaton Dave White there just congratulating but we see the front shot of this sprint and in the end it was a handful of seconds between the duo hanging on for the breakaway and Lena Webz winning the bunch sprint behind yeah and I think you’re right i think there will be some some questions about you know why why that kind of 7-second gap or whatever it was at the end couldn’t have been kind of brought back you know it was so close and it was two riders against I don’t know how many were in that chase group 12 15 something like that you know a decent proportion of riders and several riders from from you know one team um there maybe could have been a bit more cohesion but you know any questions tonight in the the team bus as they assess the situation do you think particularly within little track maybe I think the one thing to say is obviously the the time gap was small at the end so it’s not like they let a group go that then got several minutes and that’s almost kind of race over so it’s everything’s kind of catchable in terms of the overall race but you know potentially there could have been stage win at play here or maybe they were being very smart thinking well look we just want to make sure that we can limit our losses in the general classification but Weebiz is there and she’s one of the fastest on two wheels here is our top five if Kim Lord wins stage one of the Lloyds tour of Britain ahead of Christ Forner Lorena Weeb is in the end taking third place at 5 seconds ahead of Lyndon Zenati and Cat Ferguson the young British rider taking fifth place maybe for Little Trek they were thinking well if Lorena Weavers is here look she’s she’s probably going to beat us all she’s going to beat us all so we just want to make sure we’re still in contention for the general classification we want to try and save our energy for particularly a big day on on stage three exactly you know they let the other teams do the work maybe expend more more of their energy whilst keeping actually four of their five riders on pretty much the same time as the stage winner well let’s take a little look at how stage one unfolded starting from Dolby Forest at that neutralized start there is Caroline Swinkles Dominica Vadosek one of five national champions in the race including the USA national champion Forner you’ve got Kim Lort the maritian champion Grove the South African champion atasalo the Finnish champion and there is the Polish champion having a a good little discussion all smiles at the start of stage one before the flag was waved and they were officially underway haley a relatively short stage than perhaps what we’re used to however it’s hard from the beginning of this stage it was and you know short stages do not normally actually mean more exciting i was going to say do not necessarily mean boring but actually it’s almost always the opposite and these these short stages especially one like today with quite a lot of altitude meters per kilometer raced um they lend themselves to some really aggressive riding and that’s what we saw today it was fast-paced and anybody who wanted to attempt to force a breakaway well it was nullified no surprise really when you’ve got these kinds of roads the difficult terrain and the fact that with it being short you couldn’t allow someone to get up the road and particularly not a strong breakaway onto the first queen of the mountain of the day this was Blakeley Ridge the second categorized climb 6.4 4 km long with an average grading of 3.9% exposed over the mall and that didn’t deter from the fact that the pace was relentless set by little trek with Rihanna Marcus also Alice Towers of Canyon Strams on Krypto it was hotly contested though for the points at the top of the queen of the mountain in the black jersey and Kak Costa coming through and taking the maximum points ahead of Dominica Vladek it was Margo Vichi in the yellow jersey of Vizma Lisa Bike who took points to discarding of their rain jackets as the temperatures started to get a little bit warmer and the sun did finally make an appearance over the top of that climb and over the top of the moors the attention turned into the next queen of the mountain of the day and that was Langburn’s Bank the harder of the two shorter but by no means easier average grading of 6.6% 6% and this was where we started to see a change and a shift in the race yeah I think that descent right into the bottom of this climb was really where kind of the intentions were set you know you saw uh Kristen Faulner right at the front on the descent and Kim Lort come through and then Kim Lort really attacked the steep part of the bottom of this climb that first 350 400 meters were the hardest parts of the climb um and you know she she set such a fast solid pace up this climb only Kristen Falner could could actually follow her by the top of this climb and then um you know we saw some really smart kind of uh cohesion kim Lort sat up a little bit waited for Kristen Falner so that she would have um you know somebody there with her to work for the rema remaining kilome kilometers of this stage and really give themselves the best uh opportunity to kind of stay away from any chasers a well-comitted cohesive duo an Olympic road race champion and the Maritian champion out in force into the intermediate sprint of the day bonus seconds on offer but also points towards that points classification jersey and behind there was only commitment from two teams mobistar and left JJ Suez into the intermediate sprint forner didn’t really challenge Piana then Lor Piana was indeed the rider of AG insurance Sudal in the white jersey with the multicolored bands around the chest who took the three bonus seconds and the 10 points in that classification this was a bit of a shift and a change and a bit of a worrying moment because they took the apex of the corner kristen Forner managed to save it when she got to that central reservation and at the traffic island and like a great team player and a great rival Kim Laort waited for Forner and the duo were back in full flight that could have been the moment where that breakaway came completely unstuck because you know either one or both of them could have crashed or actually Kim Lort could have decided to push on at that point but not been kind of strong enough as an individual rider to stay ahead of the chasers so it was really smart uh of her to kind of wait a little bit and have uh have company for the final kilometers into the final kilometer there was no cat and mouse there were no games being played it was such a slender advantage that the breakaway duo had it was full commitment alli Williston guiding her teammate Amber Crack as to where she wanted her to be but it was all but too late because this duo stole the march kim McCort hugging the right hand corner right hand side of the road and it was the Marian champion who opened up first she got the acceleration it was a strong challenge from the Olympic road race champion in blue but in the end Kim Laort too strong she managed to take stage one of the Lloyds Tour Britain Women for Adrien Shaw and Sudal forner settling for second it was Weebiz who took third well there we take a look at our top 10 kim Laort taking the victory ahead of Forna Weaver’s in third with Zenati in fourth cat Ferguson the first British rider taking fifth millie Cousins there in sixth megan Jastra in seventh ali Wston taking eighth quinty Torn in ninth and Sarah Vanam the Canadian running out the top 10 ali Wist she opened up early didn’t she yeah I think you’re always going to have problems if uh you’re contesting a sprint with Lorena Vibas though and I think everyone in that group probably knew that here’s a little look at our general classification standings in the top 10 courtesy of those bonus seconds kim McCort leads 5 seconds ahead of Forner we at 14 seconds with Caroline Swinkles at 17 Zenati at 18 along with Cat Ferguson Millie Cousins Megan Jastra Ali Wist and Quinty Ton rounding out the top 10 at the end of stage one but from now thank you and we’ll be back with you shortly for the presentations thank you six different nationalities in that top 10 just see the convoy of cars that are making their way to the team buses that are all parked up alongside the seafront i think some riders will still be uh rolling through for a little while yet after the damage that was uh done on that climb but hopefully all riders make it make it home nice and safely and ready to start tomorrow’s stage and you’re quite right in saying before just because a a stage is shorter than maybe what we’re used to or what we expect it doesn’t mean that you can’t have thrilling spectacular racing and in in some cases it’s even more enticing to to watch and and also to be a rider in in that kind of stage exactly i think actually some of the more exciting stages we’ve seen in some of the men’s Grand Tours are ones that are either intentionally shorter or have had to be shortened due to you know some weather issues or things like that you know you really see attacking riding and um you know riders teams are sometimes worried about um about you know big gaps going but it it just leads to more aggression I think and it and it really is kind of you know that there’s not the kind of lull in the middle of the stage that you’d get with something that’s 140 150 160 km where riders are naturally a bit more concerned about conserving energy particularly as part of a stage race so um I I personally love these shorter stages kim Lort she launched early just inside 300 m to go she hugged the right hand side of the barrier gave Kristen Forner a really hard time attempting to come round yeah you know and it was a crosswind finish but the wind was coming from the left hand side so um Kim Lort gave herself a slightly more sheltered side and you know which actually meant that as um as Kristen Faulner was trying to come around her left hand side she was actually offering a bit of protection to Kim Lort on the right hand side so it was it was the smart place uh smart kind of line to take there tactically student physically in the form of a life and I have to say I think we got very lucky with the weather today it basically stopped raining as they rolled out and then the sunshine so uh it was all part of the plan Haley it’s all part of the plan and you bought the sunshine back with you from Italy i know that’s what happened can you Can you uh order it up for the next three days as well absolutely i I’ll have a word with the weather gods well we await our podium presentation oh that’s a nice sign isn’t it and a nice sight to see the teammates on i was just about to say this goes exactly this is exactly what I was saying earlier about the atmosphere within that team because I I feel like on other teams you know the riders would be heading back to the bus focusing on their recovery for the next few days and you know getting on their turbo trainers or putting their compressions on or whatever but what you see here is is are the teammates of Kim Laort standing and waiting to cheer her onto the podium and I just think that that kind of camaraderie and atmosphere and genuine friendship is is why they’re having such success at the moment but I guess as a teammate if you are fully supported and you support your teammates when they’ve got that victory when it’s your turn to to be the one who’s victorious and you’ve got that support it means that you’re supporting each other not just in the the good times and the high times but when a rider is maybe going through a difficult time or they they’ve got an injury or illness everyone’s supporting each other exactly you know you travel so much you’re away so much that your teammates often become like your family um and and there are always going to be difficult times through the year for everyone on the team and to know that people kind of have your back and they believe in you and that they will support you um and also kind of to have the maturity within the team to say well you know today I think this stage is for me so please can we work for me but then you know tomorrow the day after really suits you and and will support you and all of the riders kind of know that they will have their opportunity um and by supporting their teammates they’ll get that support back in return you know later down the line and I think that’s what makes really successful teams and I know that I will open Instagram later and one of the first people that I’ll see celebrating this victory is Sarah Gagganti um another of of Kimble Court’s teammates because you know even though she’s not on this race um she will be watching supporting and the fact that you know that your your other teammates who aren’t here with you but are maybe training or or on a different race that they’re also kind of celebrating you it just creates such a good atmosphere each one it’s so important isn’t it for the success of a team is waiting for our podium presentation stage winner to and then also to award our first leaders jersey of course we’ve got our Queen of the Mountains jersey as well as our points jersey and our young rider jersey excellent finish line music i was just about to say got a bit of Danza Cado very nearly broke into song without realizing and that’s not something anyone wants place great as well we’ve got our fan zone you’ve got plenty of fans who have made their way to Red Car we just need to travel a very small distance uh to enjoy some of tomorrow’s stage as well and when you take a little look at tomorrow’s stage heading from Hartley to Saltburn Bank another lumpy day 114.6 kilometers of racing 1,392 m of elevation arguably our queen stage coming in Kelso stage three on Saturday before heading to a flatter stage one certainly aimed for the sprinters but as we know anything is possible anything can happen on Sunday yeah that Glasgow circuit might not have the elevation of the other stages but it has its own its own difficulties to contend with and anyone who watched uh the world championship road races there in 2023 will know that really anything can happen on uh on that city center circuit it’s going to be a really exciting finish to this race i was looking down at the the history of the race and we’ve had some really exciting finalies over over the years the closest ever finish was when Alisa Longini took the victory ahead of Grace Brown one second separated the two that was the smallest winning margin back in 2022 and the largest margin 1 minute and 18 seconds tell me Cassie Nuvia she attacked on stage one she took the gap she got the gap she won the stage and she managed to hold on to the overall victory in 2017 but after several days of racing 1 minute 18 is is nothing i know and this race has been you know six stages long in the past as well so um yeah I think the fact that that’s the largest winning margin is unbelievable exactly over six days of racing so um I think the nature of of the stages that the organizers devised for this race leads to really exciting aggressive racing and and that actually means that the time gaps stay quite small i guess it makes the race open as well everyone believes that they’ve got a shot at winning and so they’re willing to take that risk to try and go for a stage victory quite like we saw today yeah it was it was risk versus reward but also having a strong tactic in place yeah exactly and you know the the tactic um some of the tactic will have come from from Danny Christmas in in the team car but then the team have to buy into it and then and then they actually have to be able to execute it but um yeah I think you’re right i think that people believing that they can be in contention leads to some really exciting racing and then and then the small time gaps and you know I hope that today’s today’s race today’s stage is is a sign of the week to come and what racing we’re kind of into into view stage one of the Lloyd’s Tour Britain Women from Dolby Forest to Red Car presenting the prize welcome to the stage from British Cycling Bob Howen bob Howen comes to the stage much of the riders get one of these tremendous Please put your hands together tremendous photographs of of the stage itself winner representing AG Insurance Sudal Kim our stage winner Kim Lort of AG Insurance Sudal well a cheers and a toast from Bob Howen and Kim Lort nice of Night Timber that’s not a bad recovery shake is it i know and after the race is done I think she’s got herself a night at a hotel as well as one of her prizes so she can put her feet up properly and uh and relax in Saltburn you’re quite right i mean not bad is it not bad at all an incredible victory from Kim Lort of Agri Insurance Sudal the rider who ignited the race on Langburn’s Bank stage combativity award please welcome presenting the prize from British Cycling seemed a one night stay from Red Car and a guest at the Spa Hotel at Salturn by the Sea great to see that our local clubs are getting involved stockton Wheelers including Cleveland Wheelers as well brilliant to see our younger generation being involved in this kim Lord most combative rider of the day this is a huge moment isn’t it for a young aspiring racer to be awarding a prize to our stage winner absolutely and the riders respond so well to it as well and are really encouraging you know we’ve seen before lot giving her podium flowers and things like that to to kind of young aspiring riders in the audience and you know I think it can’t be underestimated just how important these moments are she’s going to have another return to the podium i was just thinking she’s going to be doing more steps to and from to and from the podium and a lot of these uh nice artworks for a wall as well i am a big fan of the artwork very nice cleveland Wheelers another local club in the area will be awarding this classification the points classification in the red jersey it’s Kim Lort who leads the red points classification perhaps she’s got extra luggage i wonder whether you’re going to say wall space or luggage or what you know for some jerseys and some space on the mantle piece one more time give it up for Yeah what a year she’s having courtesy of that stage victory she took 25 points she also took 10 points at the intermediate sprint 35 points for Kim Lord in that red points classification present the queen of the mountains leader and please welcome the mayor of red car in heart the mayor of red car person to present our prize and the artwork of the mountains leader after stage one of the tour women Kim and another jersey to add to the collection for Kim Lord it’s a real sweep isn’t it she took maximum points on Langburn’s Bank six points on that category 2 climb i tell you what it’s not just the prizes that you get here with the trophies and the jerseys and of course leading a classification but prize money comes with this as well Haley yeah absolutely and and as a race the Lloyds tour of Britain women is you know is doing a great job at making sure that you know they’ve got equal prize money for for the different races you know women in the past have have suffered that maybe some of our races have had much lower levels of of prize money but um but yeah and the prize money different teams will have different ways of doing it but they’ll be kind of shared a little bit between the team as well because as we all know cycling is very much a team sport not just not just the individual It’s nice to see Cat Ferguson uh on the podium and the hard work of her Mistar teammates in trying to close that gap uh kind of being repaid and and her kind of taking the uh the jersey for the best British rider folks into the white jersey as the best young rider under 22 years of age fifth place on the stage and up against some top sprinters in Lorena Weaver’s Antonati from that reduced bunch sprint Ferguson having a sterling performance on day one you’ll be seeing her in the white jersey tomorrow it is of course worth saying that um obviously Kim Lort cannot wear three jerseys at once tomorrow so we will see we’ll see her wearing the leader jersey and then we’ll see other riders uh kind of you know taking care of the Queen of the Mountains and and the points jerseys on her behalf well our leader in the general classification is of course none other than Kim Lord of Adrian Shaw Sudal she’ll be wearing the green Lloyd’s leaders jersey tomorrow let’s get one more big red for Kim what a performance it was for Kim L she’s enjoying the atmosphere as well isn’t she soaking up all of the atmosphere the vibes here at Red Car it’s a real I don’t know about you it’s almost like a festival feel here i know i love it i I love seeing the riders you know celebrating and enjoying themselves and you know taking a sip of the champagne or the beer on the podium or whatever it is you know it’s just it it just it makes it it makes the riders more approachable as well I think and it just you know creates a great atmosphere for the teams for the fans and for everyone watching you work so hard you put so much effort into training and all of the the preparations you’ve got to enjoy these big moments when they arise kim Lort the leader in the general classification 5 seconds ahead of Christen Forner we at 14 seconds with Carlin Swinkles at 17 zenati Ferguson Cousins Jastra Wllist Anton all at 18 seconds you won’t be seeing Lord in her Mician Champions jersey tomorrow but you’ll be seeing her in that Green Lloyd’s leaders jersey general classification mission is firmly on for AG and Shaw and Sudell i think as well based on uh you know the finish of tomorrow’s stage in Saltburn and and how she attacked that 1.9 km climb today you know I think we’ve got an really exciting finish coming up tomorrow taking a little look at tomorrow’s stage partly pulled to Saltburn by the sea i’ll finish just a stone throw away from where we are here in Radcar 114.3 km of racing what can we expect on a day like tomorrow i think I think a lot of people are going to be looking to see what the weather’s doing um but I think we’re going to get more aggressive racing i think you know ultimately the time gaps are still quite tight there’s a lot of opportunity there for different teams so I think I think it’s going to be aggressive particularly in the latter half of the stage where it becomes more lumpy well what a performance what a day it’s been for stage one of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women kim Lort winning the stage from the breakaway she was the rider who made the decisive move on Langburn’s Bank kristen Forner the Olympic road race champion taking second and Lorena Weez in third it’s all to play for in the general classification make sure you join us tomorrow for stage two from Heartley to Saltburn by the Sea from myself Hannah Walker and Haley Simmons joining me alongside we’ll see you tomorrow for stage two
10 Comments
Absolutely love seeing the growth of women’s cycling! 💪🚴♀️ The passion, power, and perseverance these athletes bring to the sport is truly inspiring. Every race showcases incredible talent and teamwork—keep pushing boundaries and making history! 👏🔥 #WomensCycling #RideLikeAGirl 💞
So happy this is being shown and I can follow along (I’d be going in person if I wasn’t stuck at work!). Love that the ladies tour is back! Good luck to all the riders ❤ and thank you for showing this !
Where was SD Worx in the lead in to the finish?
These roads are embarrassing !!!!
🚴Appreciate the great coverage. Merci beaucoup ! 🚴
Brilliant coverage, well done !
My dad taught me to ride a bike and cycling has brought me so much. He can’t see as well or hear as well but he still wants to go on an e-bike. Mum won’t let him, he says she’s always trying to stop him doing stuff. Would love to go see this but too expensive for me. Good luck ladies
Enjoyed the interesting and inciteful commentary – not easy in a long stage! Good camera work too.
If you're recording a voiceover for the route profile you could do two seconds of research to figure out how to pronounce the placenames.
BLAKEY Ridge , not BlakeLey…. Great AYton not Great Ayrton (Senna???) Take the time to get these details right