The 2012 Tour of Britain was the ninth running of the current Tour of Britain and the 73rd British tour in total. The race consisted of eight stages, starting on 9 September in Ipswich, and finishing on 16 September in Guildford. The race was part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, and was categorised by the UCI as a 2.1 category race.
The race was originally won by Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who became the first British rider to win the race in its current guise and the first to win a British tour since Chris Lillywhite won the 1993 Milk Race.[1][2] Tiernan-Locke assumed the race lead with a second-place finish on the sixth stage and maintained the lead until the end of the race. He won by eighteen seconds ahead of Australia's Nathan Haas, who rode for the Garmin–Sharp squad, and the podium was rounded out by Liquigas–Cannondale's Damiano Caruso, who finished five seconds behind Haas and twenty-three seconds in arrears of Tiernan-Locke.[3] In 2014 however, following investigation for biological passport irregularities, Tiernan-Locke was banned for two years and stripped of his 2012 victory.[4]
In the race's other classifications, UnitedHealthcare rider Boy Van Poppel won the points classification[5] for the most consistent finisher in each of the stages; despite not winning any stages, Van Poppel placed four times inside the top three placings of a stage. The mountains classification was won by a Rapha Condor–Sharp rider for the second year in succession, as Kristian House[5] succeeded Tiernan-Locke as the winner; the sprints classification was won by Peter Williams of the Node 4–Giordana Racing team,[5] while Saur–Sojasun won the teams classification.[5]
The opening stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain was a primarily flat stage, with the first of the Yodel intermediate sprint points coming in the village of Melton, before the first Škoda King of the Mountains climb came in another Suffolk village, in Snape. The second King of the Mountains point came at the village of Westleton, with the second sprint coming in Great Yarmouth. The final sprint was at Coltishall, with the final King of the Mountains climb coming at Swanton Morley; all three climbs during the stage were third-category ascents. A quartet of riders – An Post–Sean Kelly's Niels Wytinck, Rapha Condor–Sharp rider Kristian House, Rony Martias of Saur–Sojasun and Jonathan Clarke, representing the UnitedHealthcare team[11] – made the early breakaway from the field, locking out the top placings at each of the three intermediate sprint points and the three categorised climbs during the stage.
Martias finished first at two of the three sprints, and thus took the race's first sprints jersey, while House earned the polka-dot jersey for heading the mountains classification, and Wytinck earned the award for the day's most combative rider.[12] The breakaway, which had an advantage of seven minutes over the field at one point during the stage, was caught with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, which was expected set up a sprint finish at the Royal Norfolk Showground.[13] However, a large crash with around 2 km (1.2 mi) remaining delayed a large portion of the peloton, leaving few riders to contest the final sprint; Team Sky rider Luke Rowe prevailed to take his first professional victory ahead of Clarke's team-mate Boy Van Poppel and Endura Racing's Russell Downing.[14] Rowe took the first leader's jersey by three seconds ahead of Martias, who was sixth on the stage but moved up due to bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints.[15]
The peloton, being led by Team Sky, during the stage. Race leader Luke Rowe – in the gold jersey – lost the jersey post-stage, after a one-second time gap was implemented at the finish.
The first sprint point on the second stage was contested just over 20 km (12.4 mi) into the stage, at Duffield. After the sprint point, there were three successive first-category climbs on the 180.7 km (112.3 mi) parcours, coming at Cross o' th' Hands, Alstonefield and finally Morridge. The two final sprint points were at Chelford and Culcheth with the stage finishing, for the first time, at Knowsley Safari Park on the outskirts of Liverpool. The breakaway for the stage consisted of six riders, and they managed to remain off the front of the field for the majority of the stage. Making up the group were Liquigas–Cannondale stagiaire Matthias Krizek, Jack Bobridge of Orica–GreenEDGE, Peter Williams representing the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, Rapha Condor–Sharp's Richard Handley, Team Raleigh–GAC rider Russell Hampton and Pablo Urtasun for the Euskaltel–Euskadi squad.[17] The sextet managed to establish a lead of over four minutes at one stage on the roads,[18] but were gradually brought back by the peloton, led once again by Team Sky with assistance from Endura Racing; both teams were looking to set up their sprinters Mark Cavendish and Russell Downing respectively.
The leaders managed to remain clear until around 25 km (15.5 mi); Bobridge and Williams resisted capture for another few kilometres,[19] but all was together before the 20 km (12.4 mi) to go banner. There were several late-stage attacks from riders representing the domestic teams, but it was ultimately a sprint finish within the safari park for the stage honours. Team Sky were on the front with race leader Luke Rowe leading out Cavendish, but the pair became separated in the closing stages, allowing Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Bobridge's team-mate Leigh Howard into space. Howard beat a recovering Cavendish to the line for his first win of the year,[20] while a third place for Van Poppel,[21] compared to a tenth for Rowe – with a one-second time gap[22] – allowed Van Poppel to take the lead in the general and points classifications from Rowe. This was despite Rowe receiving the leader's jersey during the post-stage podium ceremonies.
The third stage of the race started with an almost immediate sprint point, 10 km (6.2 mi) into the stage at Hawick. Like the second stage, there were three successive King of the Mountain points, with two first-category climbs and a second-category climb coming at Roberton, Turner Cleuch and Grey Mare's Tail respectively. The two final sprints were contested at 107 km (66.5 mi) and 122 km (75.8 mi) respectively, at Lochmaben and Whitesands in Dumfries. Following a finishing loop of around 30 km (18.6 mi) in length,[24] the finish of the stage itself was contested on Whitesands for the second successive year; Mark Cavendish led home HTC–Highroad team-mate Mark Renshaw in a 1–2 finish in the race-opening stage, in 2011.[25]
Five riders were part of the breakaway during the stage; the group consisted of riders mainly from the domestic teams – all bar one of the five – as Bernard Sulzberger of Team Raleigh–GAC was joined by Team IG–Sigma Sport rider Peter Hawkins, Rapha Condor–Sharp's Kristian House and Peter Williams, representing the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, with the group completed by Vacansoleil–DCM stagiaire Wesley Kreder.[26] Williams was looking to defend his lead in the sprints classification, while House was out to regain the lead in the mountains classification, that he had lost the previous day to Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Pablo Urtasun.[27] House ultimately regained his mountains lead with a first and two seconds – both to Sulzberger – while Williams extended his lead with two intermediate sprint wins.
The peloton had given them a maximum advantage of four minutes during the stage, before gradually pulling them back, being led by the UnitedHealthcare team of race leader Boy Van Poppel. Hawkins and Kreder left their breakaway companions behind on the finishing loop around Dumfries, while Garmin–Sharp rider Sep Vanmarcke attacked out of the peloton to join up with the two leaders around 10 km (6.2 mi) later. Hawkins was almost immediately dropped after that, with Kreder and Vanmarcke managing to hold off the peloton until around 2 km (1.2 mi) to go,[28] as the Team Sky and Orica–GreenEDGE had ramped up the pace in the peloton ahead of the sprint finish. With a lead-out from opening stage winner Luke Rowe,[29] Cavendish took victory in Dumfries for the second consecutive year, ahead of Orica–GreenEDGE pairing Leigh Howard and Aidis Kruopis.[30] With six bonus seconds on the line, Howard assumed the overall lead of the race,[31] with Cavendish level on time; Van Poppel fell to third but held on to the lead of the points classification.[32]
The fourth stage of the race started in Carlisle, where two sprints and two King of the Mountain points were all contested within the first 80 km (49.7 mi) of the stage. The first two sprint points were held at Shap and Kendal, interspersed with two-second-category climbs at Shap Fell and Old Hutton. The final sprint of the day was situated at Caton and the final King of the Mountain point of the day was the third-category climb at Quernmore. The stage finished on the Golden Mile in Blackpool,[34] where André Greipel had won the most recent finish there[35] in the race-opening stage in 2010; the stage scheduled to finish in Blackpool in 2011 was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions after the remnants of Hurricane Katia hit the country.[36] The main breakaway of the day was initiated during the opening kilometres of the stage, and involved six riders.
The group – consisting of mountains classification leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor–Sharp), Ronan McLaughlin of An Post–Sean Kelly, Team UK Youth's Niklas Gustavsson, Team IG–Sigma Sport rider Dan Craven, Matt Cronshaw of Node 4–Giordana Racing and David Lelay representing the Saur–Sojasun team[37] – quickly gained an advantage of around seven minutes on the peloton, before they started attacking one another with around 40 km (24.9 mi) remaining. House and Gustavsson were initially dropped, while in the peloton, echelons were formed with 25 km (15.5 mi), reducing the group to twenty-seven riders in depth.[38] McLaughlin and Craven pushed on together off the front, before they were caught with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining. This ultimately set up a reduced sprint finish, where Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish won for the second day running, ahead of Australian pair Steele Von Hoff (Garmin–Sharp) and race leader Leigh Howard of Orica–GreenEDGE. Cavendish assumed the race lead from Howard by six seconds,[39] having previously stated that he did not want to hold the leader's jersey,[40] to remain in the world champion's jersey ahead of defending his title in Valkenburg in the Netherlands.
For the fifth successive year the Tour of Britain held a stage in Stoke-on-Trent,[42] with the fifth stage of the race commencing at Trentham Gardens. The first sprint of the day was contested at only 7.3 km (4.5 mi) into the stage, at Stone. The second sprint point was situated at Uttoxeter and the final such point was located at Rocester. There were three categorised climbs during the stage, with two-second-category climbs coming in Glacial Boulder – at Cannock Chase – and Oakamoor respectively, while there was also a first-category climb at Gun Hill. The field remained together for the first hour of racing during the stage; at the first intermediate sprint point, Orica–GreenEDGE's Leigh Howard took three bonus seconds towards the general classification, ahead of Luke Rowe of Team Sky and Endura Racing rider Russell Downing.[43]
Three riders – Liquigas–Cannondale rider Ivan Basso, Bartosz Huzarski of Team NetApp and Team Raleigh–GAC's Bernard Sulzberger[44] – were able to break clear before the second climb of the day at Oakamoor, also taking maximum points in the process at both of the intermediate sprints en route to the climb. Strong crosswinds at this point allowed the main field to split apart, forming echelons, and also allowed a group of 21 riders to break clear of the peloton, and ultimately joined up with Basso and Huzarski after Sulzberger was dropped to form a 23-man group. Thirteen of the race's seventeen teams were represented in the group, including four members – Howard, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Garmin–Sharp pairing Sep Vanmarcke and Nathan Haas – of the overnight top ten in the general classification. The distance between the leaders and the remains of the main field continued to increase, eventually reaching four minutes with around 20 km (12.4 mi) remaining, while race leader Mark Cavendish, of Team Sky, was four minutes further behind after losing contact on the earlier climbs.
Cavendish eventually lost almost twelve minutes on the day, comfortably losing his race lead.[45] In the lead group, Paul Voss (Endura Racing) misjudged a right-hand turn with 9 km (5.6 mi), with Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare and Saur–Sojasun rider Jérémie Galland also hitting the tarmac as a result.[46] Galland had to abandon the race with a fractured collarbone.[47] Galland's team-mate Jérôme Coppel then put in an attack on the group, closely followed by Haas before this was chased down. De Maar, having returned to the group after his fall, went on the attack with 6.5 km (4.0 mi) and was not brought back as the Curaçao national champion soloed to his first victory of the year by fifteen seconds.[48] Vanmarcke beat out Van Poppel, Haas and Howard for second place, with Howard retaking the leader's gold jersey by seven seconds ahead of Van Poppel.[49]
The sixth stage started and ended in Wales with a profile similar to the Welsh stages that had been held during previous Tours of Britain, while it was also denoted as the queen stage of the race.[51][52] Stage 6 also marked one of the hardest days in terms of climbing, with four first-category climbs at Cwm Owen, Brecon Beacons, as well as two ascents of Caerphilly mountain. The three sprint points were contested at 25.2 km (15.7 mi), 71.9 km (44.7 mi) and 154.2 km (95.8 mi) respectively, located at Kerry, Llandrindod Wells and Mountain Ash. Six riders formed the breakaway for the stage, which was instigated within the opening few kilometres of the stage; it consisted of mountains classification leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor–Sharp), 2011 sprints winner Pieter Ghyllebert of An Post–Sean Kelly, Node 4–Giordana Racing rider Marcin Białobłocki, Team IG–Sigma Sport's Dan Craven, Graham Briggs representing Team Raleigh–GAC and Team UK Youth's Magnus Bäckstedt.[53] The group held a lead of eight minutes after the first intermediate point in Kerry, which was won by Bialoblocki, before the peloton – led by Endura Racing and Orica–GreenEDGE – started to gradually cut into their lead.
House continued to extend his mountains classification lead by taking the first two climbs of the day,[54] while the peloton remained four minutes behind at the Brecon Beacons, although the group splintered on the descent from the climb – with eleven riders going clear[55] – before eventually coming back together before the Mountain Ash intermediate sprint. At the foot of Caerphilly mountain, Endura Racing's Jonathan Tiernan-Locke attacked out of the peloton, surpassing the remnants of the breakaway,[56] with only Briggs catching up with Tiernan-Locke.[57]Team NetApp's Leopold König linked up with the leaders from a small chasing group, while Ghyllebert tried to rejoin the leaders before being dropped again. Briggs was also dropped with König and Tiernan-Locke remaining clear until the end, where König won the stage and Tiernan-Locke assumed the leader's gold jersey,[58] after Orica–GreenEDGE's Leigh Howard finished 33 seconds behind on the stage.[59]
The leading group of riders that remained clear of the peloton towards the end of the stage.
The penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain started in north Devon, and contained two first-category climbs at Merrivale and Coffin Stone, as well as a second-category climb at South Hill. The day's intermediate sprint points were heavily favoured towards the latter part of the stage, with the final two sprints both coming within the final 30 km (18.6 mi) of the stage. These were situated at Kingsbridge Promenade and Slapton Ley, with the day's first sprint contested at Great Torrington; the field had remained as one complete entity until this point, where Leigh Howard of Orica–GreenEDGE reduced the overall lead of Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke by three bonus seconds to ten seconds.[61]
After that, the race split apart on the first climb[62] at South Hill, before eventually reforming; the breakaway was formed during this phase of the race, with ten riders eventually going clear at the front. They eventually established an advantage of around four minutes at its maximum before Tiernan-Locke's squad along with Team NetApp started bringing them back at a gradual rate, falling to 1' 20" with around 25 km (15.5 mi) before the advantage started to increase once again. Tiernan-Locke attacked with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, taking the other race contenders Nathan Haas of Garmin–Sharp and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas–Cannondale) with him.[63] Their group eventually finished 46 seconds down on the stage-winning group of four riders,[64] who had remained out front from the breakaway; Pablo Urtasun took his first win of the season for Euskaltel–Euskadi ahead of fifth stage winner Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare), Caruso's team-mate Ivan Basso and team-mate of Urtasun, Samuel Sánchez.[65]
The final stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain contained four categorised climbs: two third-category climbs at Staple Lane and Crocknorth Road, a second-category climb at Leith Hill and a final first-category climb at Barhatch Lane. Early in the stage there were two sprint points: the first at Dorking just over 10 km (6.2 mi) into the stage, the second on the High Street in the finish town of Guildford; the final sprint of the 2012 Tour was at Ockley. Four riders formed the day's breakaway, consisting of Node 4–Giordana Racing rider Peter Williams – the sprints classification leader, who secured the jersey by getting into the breakaway – as well as Vacansoleil–DCM's Wesley Kreder, Jack Bobridge of Orica–GreenEDGE and Simon Richardson, representing Team IG–Sigma Sport.[67]
The break only got three minutes clear before the peloton gradually brought them back. On the final categorised climb of the race, Barhatch Lane,[68] the overall leader Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) ramped up the pace and split the main field for a time before it eventually reformed on the descent. Bobridge attacked on his own with 30 km (18.6 mi) remaining of the stage,[69] pulling clear by around half a minute before Team Sky set up station on the front of the peloton to keep Mark Cavendish out of trouble ahead of a likely sprint finish. After Bobridge was caught, three other riders tried solo attacks on the run-in to Guildford without success; setting up the sprint finish, Luke Rowe led it out for Cavendish again,[70] and Cavendish won the sprint – for his third win of the race[71] – by several bike lengths ahead of UnitedHealthcare's Boy Van Poppel, who secured the points classification on the line. Tiernan-Locke finished within the peloton to secure the overall victory.
^"Jonathan Tiernan-Locke wins race". BBC Sport. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^"Tiernan-Locke takes the overall win in the Tour of Britain". British Cycling. British Cycling Federation. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^Wynn, Nigel (16 September 2012). "Tiernan-Locke wins 2012 Tour of Britain as Cavendish takes stage". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ abcd"Jonathan Tiernan-Locke wins The Tour of Britain". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^"Bradley Wiggins & Mark Cavendish set for Tour of Britain". BBC Sport. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
^"Ivan Basso to lead Liquigas Cannondale at Tour of Britain". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
^"Samuel Sánchez to lead Euskaltel Euskadi at Tour of Britain". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
^"Jonathan Tiernan-Locke leads Endura Racing at The Tour of Britain". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
^(PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^Gallagher, Brendan (9 September 2012). "Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins crash on first stage of Tour of Britain as Team Sky's Luke Rowe takes honours". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^Stokes, Shane (9 September 2012). "Rowe salvages Tour of Britain stage win for Sky after Cavendish crashes". VeloNation. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (9 September 2012). "Rowe wins first stage of Tour of Britain for Sky". Cycling News. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^"Rowe takes British opener". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^"Luke Rowe sprints to Tour of Britain lead in Norfolk". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^(PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (10 September 2012). "Howard pips Cavendish on stage 2". Cycling News. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (10 September 2012). "Leigh Howard sprints to victory in Knowsley on stage two". VeloNation. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^"Howard edges out Cavendish to win Tour of Britain stage two". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^"Leigh Howard Wins Tour of Britain Stage Two Sprint". Orica–GreenEDGE. GreenEDGE Cycling. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^"Van Poppel credits teammates for gold jersey at Tour of Britain". Cycling News. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (10 September 2012). "Boy van Poppel delighted with unexpected Tour of Britain lead". VeloNation. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^(PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"Tour of Britain Race Guide". Team Sky. BSkyB. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"Mark Cavendish wins Stage One of The Tour". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (11 September 2012). "Cavendish wins stage 3". Cycling News. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (11 September 2012). "Mark Cavendish wins stage three as Team Sky gets it right this time". VeloNation. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^Marshall, Alan (12 September 2012). "Borders go wild for Mark Cavendish as he wins third stage of Tour of Britain". Daily Record. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^Gallagher, Brendan (11 September 2012). "Mark Cavendish eases to victory after Bradley Wiggins delivers sprinter to the line". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"Mark Cavendish's rainbow stripes shine in Scotland". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"Leigh Howard pulls on the IG Gold Jersey after Stage Three". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey for Boy Van Poppel". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^"4: Carlisle – Blackpool" (PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Mark Cavendish wins stage four to lead Tour". BBC Sport. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^Fotheringham, William (11 September 2010). "André Greipel sets pace to win opening stage of Tour of Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Second stage cancelled due to weather". BBC Sport. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Cavendish quickest in Blackpool at Tour of Britain". Cycling News. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Mark Cavendish takes Tour of Britain lead in Blackpool". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012. Cavendish sprinted to victory in the shadow of Blackpool Tower, as strong winds and heavy rain split the field in half, leaving a select 27 rider group at the front to contest victory in the Carlisle to Blackpool stage.
^Atkins, Ben (12 September 2012). "Mark Cavendish sprints into gold on Blackpool's Golden Mile". VeloNation. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Cavendish prefers world champion's jersey to race leader's tunic, tips Rowe". VeloNation. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"5: The Stoke-on-Trent Stage" (PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
^"Stoke-on-Trent stage five". Stoke and Staffordshire: BBC News. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (13 September 2012). "Marc de Maar escapes the break to win in Stoke-on-Trent". VeloNation. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (13 September 2012). "De Maar wins alone in Stoke". Cycling News. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^Gallagher, Brendan (13 September 2012). . The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^Abraham, Richard (13 September 2012). "De Maar takes solo Stoke win as Tour of Britain takes shape". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^ [Fracture of the clavicle for Galland]. Saur–Sojasun (in French). Breizh Cyclisme Compétition. 13 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"Mark Cavendish toils as Marc de Maar wins stage". BBC Sport. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"UnitedHealthcare serve up perfect cocktail for de Maar". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"6: Welshpool – Caerphilly" (PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^"Tiernan-Locke takes race lead in Wales". Endura Racing. Primitive Media. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Walker, Lee (14 September 2012). "Tiernan-Locke takes Tour of Britain lead". Yahoo!Eurosport. TF1 Group. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (14 September 2012). "König king of Caerphilly". Cycling News. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Wynn, Nigel (14 September 2012). "Tiernan-Locke moves into Tour of Britain lead as Koenig takes stage". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Fotheringham, William (14 September 2012). "Bradley Wiggins out of Tour of Britain as Tiernan-Locke takes lead". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^"Bradley Wiggins out of Tour of Britain as Tiernan-Locke leads". BBC Sport. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^"Tiernan-Locke hits the front". The Herald. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (14 September 2012). "Jonathan Tiernan-Locke attacks into gold over Caerphilly Mountain". VeloNation. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^"Leigh Howard Limits Losses in Caerphilly". Orica–GreenEDGE. GreenEDGE Cycling. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^(PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Fotheringham, William (15 September 2012). "Jonathan Tiernan-Locke poised to be Tour of Britain home winner". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Wynn, Nigel (15 September 2012). "Urtasun wins Tour of Britain stage seven as Tiernan-Locke extends lead". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Atkins, Ben (15 September 2012). "Pablo Urtasun wins Devon stage as Tiernan-Locke consolidates lead". VeloNation. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^"Jonathan Tiernan-Locke leads Tour of Britain after stage seven". BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (15 September 2012). "Urtasun wins in Dartmouth". Cycling News. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
^(PDF). Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^Lampard, Rob (16 September 2012). "Tiernan-Locke wins Tour of Britain overall". Cycling News. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^Farrelly, Tony (16 September 2012). "Cavendish sprints to victory as Tiernan-Locke takes overall". Road.cc. Farrelly Atkinson Ltd. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^Howes, Nick (16 September 2012). "Perfect finish for Cav". Team Sky. BSkyB. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
^Pilcher, Tom (16 September 2012). "Cavendish tunes up for worlds defence with win". Yahoo!Eurosport. TF1 Group. Reuters. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2012 Tour of Britain.
Official website
January 01, 1970
2012, tour, britain, ninth, running, current, tour, britain, 73rd, british, tour, total, race, consisted, eight, stages, starting, september, ipswich, finishing, september, guildford, race, part, 2012, europe, tour, categorised, category, race, 2012, europe, t. The 2012 Tour of Britain was the ninth running of the current Tour of Britain and the 73rd British tour in total The race consisted of eight stages starting on 9 September in Ipswich and finishing on 16 September in Guildford The race was part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour and was categorised by the UCI as a 2 1 category race 2012 Tour of Britain2012 UCI Europe TourRace detailsDates9 16 September 2012Stages8Distance1 347 4 km 837 2 mi Winning time33h 11 22 ResultsWinner Nathan Haas Australia Garmin Sharp Second Damiano Caruso Italy Liquigas Cannondale Third Leigh Howard Australia Orica GreenEDGE Points Boy Van Poppel Netherlands UnitedHealthcare Mountains Kristian House Great Britain Rapha Condor Sharp Sprints Peter Williams Great Britain Node 4 Giordana Racing TeamSaur Sojasun 20112013 The race was originally won by Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan Locke who became the first British rider to win the race in its current guise and the first to win a British tour since Chris Lillywhite won the 1993 Milk Race 1 2 Tiernan Locke assumed the race lead with a second place finish on the sixth stage and maintained the lead until the end of the race He won by eighteen seconds ahead of Australia s Nathan Haas who rode for the Garmin Sharp squad and the podium was rounded out by Liquigas Cannondale s Damiano Caruso who finished five seconds behind Haas and twenty three seconds in arrears of Tiernan Locke 3 In 2014 however following investigation for biological passport irregularities Tiernan Locke was banned for two years and stripped of his 2012 victory 4 In the race s other classifications UnitedHealthcare rider Boy Van Poppel won the points classification 5 for the most consistent finisher in each of the stages despite not winning any stages Van Poppel placed four times inside the top three placings of a stage The mountains classification was won by a Rapha Condor Sharp rider for the second year in succession as Kristian House 5 succeeded Tiernan Locke as the winner the sprints classification was won by Peter Williams of the Node 4 Giordana Racing team 5 while Saur Sojasun won the teams classification 5 Contents 1 Teams 2 Stages 2 1 Stage 1 2 2 Stage 2 2 3 Stage 3 2 4 Stage 4 2 5 Stage 5 2 6 Stage 6 2 7 Stage 7 2 8 Stage 8 3 Classification leadership 4 Final standings 4 1 General classification 4 2 Points classification 4 3 King of the Mountains classification 4 4 Sprints classification 4 5 Team classification 5 References 6 External linksTeams editThe winner of the 2012 Tour de France Bradley Wiggins participated in the race alongside 2011 World Champion Mark Cavendish for Team Sky 6 Two time Giro d Italia winner Ivan Basso also contested the race for Liquigas Cannondale the squad making their debut in the race 7 and Samuel Sanchez also competed in the race for the first time as part of the Euskaltel Euskadi team 8 Among the domestic teams Jonathan Tiernan Locke was the designated leader of the Endura Racing team 9 An Post Sean Kelly Endura Racing Euskaltel Euskadi Garmin Sharp Great Britain national team Team IG Sigma Sport Liquigas Cannondale Team NetApp Node 4 Giordana Racing Orica GreenEDGE Team Raleigh GAC Rapha Condor Sharp Saur Sojasun Team Sky Team UK Youth UnitedHealthcare Vacansoleil DCMStages editStage 1 edit 9 September 2012 Ipswich to Royal Norfolk Showground 203 km 126 1 mi 10 The opening stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain was a primarily flat stage with the first of the Yodel intermediate sprint points coming in the village of Melton before the first Skoda King of the Mountains climb came in another Suffolk village in Snape The second King of the Mountains point came at the village of Westleton with the second sprint coming in Great Yarmouth The final sprint was at Coltishall with the final King of the Mountains climb coming at Swanton Morley all three climbs during the stage were third category ascents A quartet of riders An Post Sean Kelly s Niels Wytinck Rapha Condor Sharp rider Kristian House Rony Martias of Saur Sojasun and Jonathan Clarke representing the UnitedHealthcare team 11 made the early breakaway from the field locking out the top placings at each of the three intermediate sprint points and the three categorised climbs during the stage Martias finished first at two of the three sprints and thus took the race s first sprints jersey while House earned the polka dot jersey for heading the mountains classification and Wytinck earned the award for the day s most combative rider 12 The breakaway which had an advantage of seven minutes over the field at one point during the stage was caught with around 10 km 6 2 mi remaining which was expected set up a sprint finish at the Royal Norfolk Showground 13 However a large crash with around 2 km 1 2 mi remaining delayed a large portion of the peloton leaving few riders to contest the final sprint Team Sky rider Luke Rowe prevailed to take his first professional victory ahead of Clarke s team mate Boy Van Poppel and Endura Racing s Russell Downing 14 Rowe took the first leader s jersey by three seconds ahead of Martias who was sixth on the stage but moved up due to bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints 15 Stage 1 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 4h 51 05 2 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED UnitedHealthcare s t 3 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing s t 4 nbsp Jeremie Galland FRA Saur Sojasun s t 5 nbsp Peter Hawkins IRL Team IG Sigma Sport s t 6 nbsp Rony Martias FRA Saur Sojasun s t 7 nbsp Barry Markus NED Vacansoleil DCM s t 8 nbsp Paolo Longo Borghini ITA Liquigas Cannondale s t DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing s t 10 nbsp Ben Grenda AUS Rapha Condor Sharp s t General Classification after Stage 1 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR nbsp nbsp Team Sky 4h 50 55 2 nbsp Rony Martias FRA nbsp Saur Sojasun 3 3 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED UnitedHealthcare 4 4 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing 6 5 nbsp Jeremie Galland FRA Saur Sojasun 10 6 nbsp Peter Hawkins IRL Team IG Sigma Sport 10 7 nbsp Barry Markus NED Vacansoleil DCM 10 8 nbsp Paolo Longo Borghini ITA Liquigas Cannondale 10 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 10 10 nbsp Ben Grenda AUS Rapha Condor Sharp 10 Stage 2 edit 10 September 2012 Nottingham to Knowsley Safari Park 180 7 km 112 3 mi 16 nbsp The peloton being led by Team Sky during the stage Race leader Luke Rowe in the gold jersey lost the jersey post stage after a one second time gap was implemented at the finish The first sprint point on the second stage was contested just over 20 km 12 4 mi into the stage at Duffield After the sprint point there were three successive first category climbs on the 180 7 km 112 3 mi parcours coming at Cross o th Hands Alstonefield and finally Morridge The two final sprint points were at Chelford and Culcheth with the stage finishing for the first time at Knowsley Safari Park on the outskirts of Liverpool The breakaway for the stage consisted of six riders and they managed to remain off the front of the field for the majority of the stage Making up the group were Liquigas Cannondale stagiaire Matthias Krizek Jack Bobridge of Orica GreenEDGE Peter Williams representing the Node 4 Giordana Racing team Rapha Condor Sharp s Richard Handley Team Raleigh GAC rider Russell Hampton and Pablo Urtasun for the Euskaltel Euskadi squad 17 The sextet managed to establish a lead of over four minutes at one stage on the roads 18 but were gradually brought back by the peloton led once again by Team Sky with assistance from Endura Racing both teams were looking to set up their sprinters Mark Cavendish and Russell Downing respectively The leaders managed to remain clear until around 25 km 15 5 mi Bobridge and Williams resisted capture for another few kilometres 19 but all was together before the 20 km 12 4 mi to go banner There were several late stage attacks from riders representing the domestic teams but it was ultimately a sprint finish within the safari park for the stage honours Team Sky were on the front with race leader Luke Rowe leading out Cavendish but the pair became separated in the closing stages allowing Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare and Bobridge s team mate Leigh Howard into space Howard beat a recovering Cavendish to the line for his first win of the year 20 while a third place for Van Poppel 21 compared to a tenth for Rowe with a one second time gap 22 allowed Van Poppel to take the lead in the general and points classifications from Rowe This was despite Rowe receiving the leader s jersey during the post stage podium ceremonies Stage 2 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 4h 31 09 2 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky s t 3 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED UnitedHealthcare s t 4 nbsp Steele Von Hoff AUS Garmin Sharp s t 5 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing s t 6 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp s t 7 nbsp Wesley Kreder NED Vacansoleil DCM s t 8 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp s t 9 nbsp Sam Bennett IRL An Post Sean Kelly 1 10 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR nbsp Team Sky 1 General Classification after Stage 2 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp nbsp UnitedHealthcare 9h 22 04 2 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 0 3 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 1 4 nbsp Rony Martias FRA Saur Sojasun 4 5 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 4 6 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing 6 7 nbsp Steele Von Hoff AUS Garmin Sharp 10 8 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 10 9 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 10 10 nbsp Peter Hawkins IRL Team IG Sigma Sport 11 Stage 3 edit 11 September 2012 Jedburgh to Dumfries 152 6 km 94 8 mi 23 nbsp The peloton around halfway through the stage in the Southern Uplands The third stage of the race started with an almost immediate sprint point 10 km 6 2 mi into the stage at Hawick Like the second stage there were three successive King of the Mountain points with two first category climbs and a second category climb coming at Roberton Turner Cleuch and Grey Mare s Tail respectively The two final sprints were contested at 107 km 66 5 mi and 122 km 75 8 mi respectively at Lochmaben and Whitesands in Dumfries Following a finishing loop of around 30 km 18 6 mi in length 24 the finish of the stage itself was contested on Whitesands for the second successive year Mark Cavendish led home HTC Highroad team mate Mark Renshaw in a 1 2 finish in the race opening stage in 2011 25 Five riders were part of the breakaway during the stage the group consisted of riders mainly from the domestic teams all bar one of the five as Bernard Sulzberger of Team Raleigh GAC was joined by Team IG Sigma Sport rider Peter Hawkins Rapha Condor Sharp s Kristian House and Peter Williams representing the Node 4 Giordana Racing team with the group completed by Vacansoleil DCM stagiaire Wesley Kreder 26 Williams was looking to defend his lead in the sprints classification while House was out to regain the lead in the mountains classification that he had lost the previous day to Euskaltel Euskadi rider Pablo Urtasun 27 House ultimately regained his mountains lead with a first and two seconds both to Sulzberger while Williams extended his lead with two intermediate sprint wins The peloton had given them a maximum advantage of four minutes during the stage before gradually pulling them back being led by the UnitedHealthcare team of race leader Boy Van Poppel Hawkins and Kreder left their breakaway companions behind on the finishing loop around Dumfries while Garmin Sharp rider Sep Vanmarcke attacked out of the peloton to join up with the two leaders around 10 km 6 2 mi later Hawkins was almost immediately dropped after that with Kreder and Vanmarcke managing to hold off the peloton until around 2 km 1 2 mi to go 28 as the Team Sky and Orica GreenEDGE had ramped up the pace in the peloton ahead of the sprint finish With a lead out from opening stage winner Luke Rowe 29 Cavendish took victory in Dumfries for the second consecutive year ahead of Orica GreenEDGE pairing Leigh Howard and Aidis Kruopis 30 With six bonus seconds on the line Howard assumed the overall lead of the race 31 with Cavendish level on time Van Poppel fell to third but held on to the lead of the points classification 32 Stage 3 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 3h 54 30 2 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE s t 3 nbsp Aidis Kruopis LTU Orica GreenEDGE s t 4 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky s t 5 nbsp Sam Bennett IRL An Post Sean Kelly s t 6 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing s t 7 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare s t 8 nbsp Jonathan McEvoy GBR Endura Racing s t 9 nbsp Barry Markus NED Vacansoleil DCM s t 10 nbsp Yanto Barker GBR Team UK Youth s t General Classification after Stage 3 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS nbsp Orica GreenEDGE 13h 16 28 2 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 0 3 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 4 4 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 4 5 nbsp Rony Martias FRA Saur Sojasun 10 6 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing 12 7 nbsp Steele Von Hoff AUS Garmin Sharp 16 8 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 16 9 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 16 10 nbsp Sam Bennett IRL An Post Sean Kelly 17 Stage 4 edit 12 September 2012 Carlisle to Blackpool 156 km 96 9 mi 33 The fourth stage of the race started in Carlisle where two sprints and two King of the Mountain points were all contested within the first 80 km 49 7 mi of the stage The first two sprint points were held at Shap and Kendal interspersed with two second category climbs at Shap Fell and Old Hutton The final sprint of the day was situated at Caton and the final King of the Mountain point of the day was the third category climb at Quernmore The stage finished on the Golden Mile in Blackpool 34 where Andre Greipel had won the most recent finish there 35 in the race opening stage in 2010 the stage scheduled to finish in Blackpool in 2011 was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions after the remnants of Hurricane Katia hit the country 36 The main breakaway of the day was initiated during the opening kilometres of the stage and involved six riders The group consisting of mountains classification leader Kristian House Rapha Condor Sharp Ronan McLaughlin of An Post Sean Kelly Team UK Youth s Niklas Gustavsson Team IG Sigma Sport rider Dan Craven Matt Cronshaw of Node 4 Giordana Racing and David Lelay representing the Saur Sojasun team 37 quickly gained an advantage of around seven minutes on the peloton before they started attacking one another with around 40 km 24 9 mi remaining House and Gustavsson were initially dropped while in the peloton echelons were formed with 25 km 15 5 mi reducing the group to twenty seven riders in depth 38 McLaughlin and Craven pushed on together off the front before they were caught with 10 km 6 2 mi remaining This ultimately set up a reduced sprint finish where Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish won for the second day running ahead of Australian pair Steele Von Hoff Garmin Sharp and race leader Leigh Howard of Orica GreenEDGE Cavendish assumed the race lead from Howard by six seconds 39 having previously stated that he did not want to hold the leader s jersey 40 to remain in the world champion s jersey ahead of defending his title in Valkenburg in the Netherlands Stage 4 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 3h 51 33 2 nbsp Steele Von Hoff AUS Garmin Sharp s t 3 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS nbsp Orica GreenEDGE s t 4 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare s t 5 nbsp Daniel Schorn AUT Team NetApp s t 6 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing s t 7 nbsp Magnus Backstedt SWE Team UK Youth s t 8 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp s t 9 nbsp Rony Martias FRA Saur Sojasun s t 10 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky s t General Classification after Stage 4 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR nbsp Team Sky 17h 07 51 2 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 6 3 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 14 4 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 14 5 nbsp Rony Martias FRA Saur Sojasun 20 6 nbsp Steele Von Hoff AUS Garmin Sharp 20 7 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing 22 8 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 26 9 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 26 10 nbsp Yanto Barker GBR Team UK Youth 27 Stage 5 edit 13 September 2012 Stoke on Trent to Stoke on Trent 147 km 91 3 mi 41 nbsp Team Sky s Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish at the start of the stage Cavendish lost the race lead on the stage eventually losing almost twelve minutes on stage winner Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare For the fifth successive year the Tour of Britain held a stage in Stoke on Trent 42 with the fifth stage of the race commencing at Trentham Gardens The first sprint of the day was contested at only 7 3 km 4 5 mi into the stage at Stone The second sprint point was situated at Uttoxeter and the final such point was located at Rocester There were three categorised climbs during the stage with two second category climbs coming in Glacial Boulder at Cannock Chase and Oakamoor respectively while there was also a first category climb at Gun Hill The field remained together for the first hour of racing during the stage at the first intermediate sprint point Orica GreenEDGE s Leigh Howard took three bonus seconds towards the general classification ahead of Luke Rowe of Team Sky and Endura Racing rider Russell Downing 43 Three riders Liquigas Cannondale rider Ivan Basso Bartosz Huzarski of Team NetApp and Team Raleigh GAC s Bernard Sulzberger 44 were able to break clear before the second climb of the day at Oakamoor also taking maximum points in the process at both of the intermediate sprints en route to the climb Strong crosswinds at this point allowed the main field to split apart forming echelons and also allowed a group of 21 riders to break clear of the peloton and ultimately joined up with Basso and Huzarski after Sulzberger was dropped to form a 23 man group Thirteen of the race s seventeen teams were represented in the group including four members Howard Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare and Garmin Sharp pairing Sep Vanmarcke and Nathan Haas of the overnight top ten in the general classification The distance between the leaders and the remains of the main field continued to increase eventually reaching four minutes with around 20 km 12 4 mi remaining while race leader Mark Cavendish of Team Sky was four minutes further behind after losing contact on the earlier climbs Cavendish eventually lost almost twelve minutes on the day comfortably losing his race lead 45 In the lead group Paul Voss Endura Racing misjudged a right hand turn with 9 km 5 6 mi with Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare and Saur Sojasun rider Jeremie Galland also hitting the tarmac as a result 46 Galland had to abandon the race with a fractured collarbone 47 Galland s team mate Jerome Coppel then put in an attack on the group closely followed by Haas before this was chased down De Maar having returned to the group after his fall went on the attack with 6 5 km 4 0 mi and was not brought back as the Curacao national champion soloed to his first victory of the year by fifteen seconds 48 Vanmarcke beat out Van Poppel Haas and Howard for second place with Howard retaking the leader s gold jersey by seven seconds ahead of Van Poppel 49 Stage 5 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Marc de Maar CUW UnitedHealthcare 3h 30 26 2 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 15 3 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 15 4 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 15 5 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 15 6 nbsp Sam Bennett IRL An Post Sean Kelly 15 7 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 15 8 nbsp Leopold Konig CZE Team NetApp 15 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 15 10 nbsp Jerome Coppel FRA Saur Sojasun 15 General Classification after Stage 5 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS nbsp Orica GreenEDGE 20h 38 35 2 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 7 3 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 17 4 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 23 5 nbsp Christian Knees GER Team Sky 24 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 24 7 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 24 8 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 34 9 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 2 02 10 nbsp David Lelay FRA Saur Sojasun 2 02 Stage 6 edit 14 September 2012 Welshpool to Caerphilly 189 6 km 117 8 mi 50 The sixth stage started and ended in Wales with a profile similar to the Welsh stages that had been held during previous Tours of Britain while it was also denoted as the queen stage of the race 51 52 Stage 6 also marked one of the hardest days in terms of climbing with four first category climbs at Cwm Owen Brecon Beacons as well as two ascents of Caerphilly mountain The three sprint points were contested at 25 2 km 15 7 mi 71 9 km 44 7 mi and 154 2 km 95 8 mi respectively located at Kerry Llandrindod Wells and Mountain Ash Six riders formed the breakaway for the stage which was instigated within the opening few kilometres of the stage it consisted of mountains classification leader Kristian House Rapha Condor Sharp 2011 sprints winner Pieter Ghyllebert of An Post Sean Kelly Node 4 Giordana Racing rider Marcin Bialoblocki Team IG Sigma Sport s Dan Craven Graham Briggs representing Team Raleigh GAC and Team UK Youth s Magnus Backstedt 53 The group held a lead of eight minutes after the first intermediate point in Kerry which was won by Bialoblocki before the peloton led by Endura Racing and Orica GreenEDGE started to gradually cut into their lead House continued to extend his mountains classification lead by taking the first two climbs of the day 54 while the peloton remained four minutes behind at the Brecon Beacons although the group splintered on the descent from the climb with eleven riders going clear 55 before eventually coming back together before the Mountain Ash intermediate sprint At the foot of Caerphilly mountain Endura Racing s Jonathan Tiernan Locke attacked out of the peloton surpassing the remnants of the breakaway 56 with only Briggs catching up with Tiernan Locke 57 Team NetApp s Leopold Konig linked up with the leaders from a small chasing group while Ghyllebert tried to rejoin the leaders before being dropped again Briggs was also dropped with Konig and Tiernan Locke remaining clear until the end where Konig won the stage and Tiernan Locke assumed the leader s gold jersey 58 after Orica GreenEDGE s Leigh Howard finished 33 seconds behind on the stage 59 Stage 6 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Leopold Konig CZE Team NetApp 4h 38 02 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 2 3 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 19 4 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 19 5 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 19 6 nbsp Paul Voss GER Endura Racing 19 7 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 19 8 nbsp Simon Yates GBR Great Britain 19 9 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 19 10 nbsp Liam Holohan GBR Team Raleigh GAC 19 General Classification after Stage 6 Rider Team Time DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR nbsp Endura Racing 25h 16 57 2 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 13 3 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 18 4 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 20 5 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 23 6 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 33 7 nbsp Christian Knees GER Team Sky 1 34 8 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 2 01 9 nbsp David Lelay FRA Saur Sojasun 2 01 10 nbsp Jerome Coppel FRA Saur Sojasun 4 16 Stage 7 edit 15 September 2012 Barnstaple to Dartmouth 170 7 km 106 1 mi 60 nbsp The leading group of riders that remained clear of the peloton towards the end of the stage The penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain started in north Devon and contained two first category climbs at Merrivale and Coffin Stone as well as a second category climb at South Hill The day s intermediate sprint points were heavily favoured towards the latter part of the stage with the final two sprints both coming within the final 30 km 18 6 mi of the stage These were situated at Kingsbridge Promenade and Slapton Ley with the day s first sprint contested at Great Torrington the field had remained as one complete entity until this point where Leigh Howard of Orica GreenEDGE reduced the overall lead of Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan Locke by three bonus seconds to ten seconds 61 After that the race split apart on the first climb 62 at South Hill before eventually reforming the breakaway was formed during this phase of the race with ten riders eventually going clear at the front They eventually established an advantage of around four minutes at its maximum before Tiernan Locke s squad along with Team NetApp started bringing them back at a gradual rate falling to 1 20 with around 25 km 15 5 mi before the advantage started to increase once again Tiernan Locke attacked with around 10 km 6 2 mi remaining taking the other race contenders Nathan Haas of Garmin Sharp and Damiano Caruso Liquigas Cannondale with him 63 Their group eventually finished 46 seconds down on the stage winning group of four riders 64 who had remained out front from the breakaway Pablo Urtasun took his first win of the season for Euskaltel Euskadi ahead of fifth stage winner Marc de Maar UnitedHealthcare Caruso s team mate Ivan Basso and team mate of Urtasun Samuel Sanchez 65 Stage 7 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Pablo Urtasun ESP Euskaltel Euskadi 4h 20 31 2 nbsp Marc de Maar CUW UnitedHealthcare s t 3 nbsp Ivan Basso ITA Liquigas Cannondale s t 4 nbsp Samuel Sanchez ESP Euskaltel Euskadi 2 5 nbsp Leopold Konig CZE Team NetApp 38 6 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 46 7 nbsp Bernard Sulzberger AUS Team Raleigh GAC 46 8 nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR nbsp Endura Racing 46 9 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 46 10 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 46 General Classification after Stage 7 Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR nbsp Endura Racing 29h 38 14 2 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 18 3 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 23 4 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 1 02 5 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 1 12 6 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 2 01 7 nbsp David Lelay FRA Saur Sojasun 2 01 8 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 2 23 9 nbsp Christian Knees GER Team Sky 2 26 10 nbsp Jerome Coppel FRA Saur Sojasun 4 21 Stage 8 edit 16 September 2012 Reigate to Guildford 147 8 km 91 8 mi 66 The final stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain contained four categorised climbs two third category climbs at Staple Lane and Crocknorth Road a second category climb at Leith Hill and a final first category climb at Barhatch Lane Early in the stage there were two sprint points the first at Dorking just over 10 km 6 2 mi into the stage the second on the High Street in the finish town of Guildford the final sprint of the 2012 Tour was at Ockley Four riders formed the day s breakaway consisting of Node 4 Giordana Racing rider Peter Williams the sprints classification leader who secured the jersey by getting into the breakaway as well as Vacansoleil DCM s Wesley Kreder Jack Bobridge of Orica GreenEDGE and Simon Richardson representing Team IG Sigma Sport 67 The break only got three minutes clear before the peloton gradually brought them back On the final categorised climb of the race Barhatch Lane 68 the overall leader Jonathan Tiernan Locke Endura Racing ramped up the pace and split the main field for a time before it eventually reformed on the descent Bobridge attacked on his own with 30 km 18 6 mi remaining of the stage 69 pulling clear by around half a minute before Team Sky set up station on the front of the peloton to keep Mark Cavendish out of trouble ahead of a likely sprint finish After Bobridge was caught three other riders tried solo attacks on the run in to Guildford without success setting up the sprint finish Luke Rowe led it out for Cavendish again 70 and Cavendish won the sprint for his third win of the race 71 by several bike lengths ahead of UnitedHealthcare s Boy Van Poppel who secured the points classification on the line Tiernan Locke finished within the peloton to secure the overall victory Stage 8 result Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 3h 33 05 2 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare s t 3 nbsp Fabio Sabatini ITA Liquigas Cannondale s t 4 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Endura Racing s t 5 nbsp Cesare Benedetti ITA Team NetApp 3 6 nbsp Yanto Barker GBR Team UK Youth 3 7 nbsp Pieter Ghyllebert BEL An Post Sean Kelly 3 8 nbsp Bernard Sulzberger AUS Team Raleigh GAC 3 9 nbsp Niels Wytinck BEL An Post Sean Kelly 3 10 nbsp Richard Lang AUS Rapha Condor Sharp 3 Final General Classification Rider Team Time 1 nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR nbsp Endura Racing 33h 11 22 2 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS Garmin Sharp 18 3 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 23 4 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 1 02 5 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 1 12 6 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 2 01 7 nbsp David Lelay FRA Saur Sojasun 2 01 8 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 2 14 9 nbsp Christian Knees GER Team Sky 2 35 10 nbsp Jerome Coppel FRA Saur Sojasun 4 30 Classification leadership editStage Winner General classification nbsp Sprint Classification nbsp Mountains Classification nbsp Points Classification nbsp Team Classification Combativity award 1 Luke Rowe Luke Rowe Rony Martias Kristian House Luke Rowe Saur Sojasun Niels Wytinck 2 Leigh Howard Boy Van Poppel Peter Williams Pablo Urtasun Boy Van Poppel Garmin Sharp Jack Bobridge 3 Mark Cavendish Leigh Howard Kristian House Peter Hawkins 4 Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Ronan McLaughlin 5 Marc de Maar Leigh Howard Saur Sojasun Ivan Basso 6 Leopold Konig Graham Briggs 7 Pablo Urtasun Nathan Haas Samuel Sanchez 8 Mark Cavendish Simon Richardson Final Nathan Haas Peter Williams Kristian House Boy Van Poppel Saur Sojasun n aFinal standings editGeneral classification edit Rider Team Time DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 33h 11 22 1 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS nbsp Garmin Sharp 18 2 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 23 3 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 1 02 4 nbsp Christopher Jones USA UnitedHealthcare 1 12 5 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 2 01 6 nbsp David Lelay FRA Saur Sojasun 2 01 7 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 2 14 8 nbsp Christian Knees GER Team Sky 2 35 9 nbsp Jerome Coppel FRA Saur Sojasun 4 30 Points classification edit Rider Team Points 1 nbsp Boy Van Poppel NED nbsp UnitedHealthcare 76 2 nbsp Mark Cavendish GBR Team Sky 59 3 nbsp Nathan Haas AUS nbsp Garmin Sharp 56 4 nbsp Russell Downing GBR Orica GreenEDGE 56 5 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 53 6 nbsp Luke Rowe GBR Team Sky 50 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR Endura Racing 38 7 nbsp Leopold Konig CZE Team NetApp 34 8 nbsp Sep Vanmarcke BEL Garmin Sharp 32 9 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 31 King of the Mountains classification edit Rider Team Points 1 nbsp Kristian House GBR nbsp Rapha Condor Sharp 86 2 nbsp Pablo Urtasun ESP Euskaltel Euskadi 67 3 nbsp Bernard Sulzberger AUS Team Raleigh GAC 49 DSQ nbsp Jonathan Tiernan Locke GBR nbsp Endura Racing 44 5 nbsp Jack Bobridge AUS Orica GreenEDGE 44 6 nbsp Peter Williams GBR nbsp Node 4 Giordana Racing 43 7 nbsp Leopold Konig CZE Team NetApp 34 8 nbsp Ivan Basso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 26 9 nbsp Damiano Caruso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 25 10 nbsp Samuel Sanchez ESP Euskaltel Euskadi 25Sprints classification edit Rider Team Points 1 nbsp Peter Williams GBR nbsp Node 4 Giordana Racing 45 2 nbsp Marcin Bialoblocki POL Node 4 Giordana Racing 23 3 nbsp Mathew Cronshaw GBR Node 4 Giordana Racing 13 4 nbsp Kristian House GBR nbsp Rapha Condor Sharp 11 5 nbsp Jack Bobridge AUS Orica GreenEDGE 11 6 nbsp Leigh Howard AUS Orica GreenEDGE 10 7 nbsp Ivan Basso ITA Liquigas Cannondale 10 8 nbsp Wesley Kreder NED Vacansoleil DCM 10 9 nbsp Bernard Sulzberger AUS Team Raleigh GAC 9 10 nbsp Bartosz Huzarski POL Team NetApp 8 Team classification edit Pos Team Time 1 Saur Sojasun 99h 41 34 2 UnitedHealthcare 2 51 3 Team NetApp 5 50 4 Garmin Sharp 12 36 5 Endura Racing 14 33 6 Liquigas Cannondale 18 17 7 Euskaltel Euskadi 20 46 8 An Post Sean Kelly 21 50 9 Node 4 Giordana Racing 24 06 10 Team UK Youth 29 10 References edit Jonathan Tiernan Locke wins race BBC Sport 16 September 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Tiernan Locke takes the overall win in the Tour of Britain British Cycling British Cycling Federation 16 September 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Wynn Nigel 16 September 2012 Tiernan Locke wins 2012 Tour of Britain as Cavendish takes stage Cycling Weekly IPC Media Limited Retrieved 16 September 2012 Archived copy Archived from the original on 15 July 2014 Retrieved 12 July 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link a b c d Jonathan Tiernan Locke wins The Tour of Britain Tour of Britain SweetSpot 16 September 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Bradley Wiggins amp Mark Cavendish set for Tour of Britain BBC Sport 7 September 2012 Retrieved 7 September 2012 Ivan Basso to lead Liquigas Cannondale at Tour of Britain Tour of Britain SweetSpot 12 July 2012 Retrieved 7 September 2012 Samuel Sanchez to lead Euskaltel Euskadi at Tour of Britain Tour of Britain SweetSpot 16 August 2012 Retrieved 7 September 2012 Jonathan Tiernan Locke leads Endura Racing at The Tour of Britain Tour of Britain SweetSpot 4 September 2012 Retrieved 7 September 2012 1 Ipswich Norfolk Showground PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2012 Retrieved 9 September 2012 Gallagher Brendan 9 September 2012 Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins crash on first stage of Tour of Britain as Team Sky s Luke Rowe takes honours The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 9 September 2012 Stokes Shane 9 September 2012 Rowe salvages Tour of Britain stage win for Sky after Cavendish crashes VeloNation Retrieved 9 September 2012 Lampard Rob 9 September 2012 Rowe wins first stage of Tour of Britain for Sky Cycling News Retrieved 9 September 2012 Rowe takes British opener Sky Sports BSkyB 9 September 2012 Retrieved 9 September 2012 Luke Rowe sprints to Tour of Britain lead in Norfolk Tour of Britain SweetSpot 9 September 2012 Retrieved 9 September 2012 2 Nottingham Knowsley PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2012 Retrieved 11 September 2012 Lampard Rob 10 September 2012 Howard pips Cavendish on stage 2 Cycling News Retrieved 11 September 2012 Atkins Ben 10 September 2012 Leigh Howard sprints to victory in Knowsley on stage two VeloNation Retrieved 11 September 2012 Howard edges out Cavendish to win Tour of Britain stage two Cycling Weekly IPC Media Limited 10 September 2012 Retrieved 11 September 2012 Leigh Howard Wins Tour of Britain Stage Two Sprint Orica GreenEDGE GreenEDGE Cycling 11 September 2012 Retrieved 11 September 2012 Van Poppel credits teammates for gold jersey at Tour of Britain Cycling News 11 September 2012 Retrieved 11 September 2012 Atkins Ben 10 September 2012 Boy van Poppel delighted with unexpected Tour of Britain lead VeloNation Retrieved 11 September 2012 3 Jedburgh Dumfries PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Tour of Britain Race Guide Team Sky BSkyB 6 September 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Mark Cavendish wins Stage One of The Tour Tour of Britain SweetSpot 11 September 2011 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Lampard Rob 11 September 2012 Cavendish wins stage 3 Cycling News Retrieved 12 September 2012 Atkins Ben 11 September 2012 Mark Cavendish wins stage three as Team Sky gets it right this time VeloNation Retrieved 12 September 2012 Marshall Alan 12 September 2012 Borders go wild for Mark Cavendish as he wins third stage of Tour of Britain Daily Record Retrieved 12 September 2012 Gallagher Brendan 11 September 2012 Mark Cavendish eases to victory after Bradley Wiggins delivers sprinter to the line The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 12 September 2012 Mark Cavendish s rainbow stripes shine in Scotland Tour of Britain SweetSpot 11 September 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Leigh Howard pulls on the IG Gold Jersey after Stage Three Tour of Britain SweetSpot 12 September 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey for Boy Van Poppel Tour of Britain SweetSpot 12 September 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 4 Carlisle Blackpool PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Retrieved 13 September 2012 Mark Cavendish wins stage four to lead Tour BBC Sport 12 September 2012 Retrieved 13 September 2012 Fotheringham William 11 September 2010 Andre Greipel sets pace to win opening stage of Tour of Britain The Guardian Retrieved 13 September 2012 Second stage cancelled due to weather BBC Sport 12 September 2011 Retrieved 13 September 2012 Cavendish quickest in Blackpool at Tour of Britain Cycling News 12 September 2012 Retrieved 13 September 2012 Mark Cavendish takes Tour of Britain lead in Blackpool Tour of Britain SweetSpot 12 September 2012 Retrieved 13 September 2012 Cavendish sprinted to victory in the shadow of Blackpool Tower as strong winds and heavy rain split the field in half leaving a select 27 rider group at the front to contest victory in the Carlisle to Blackpool stage Atkins Ben 12 September 2012 Mark Cavendish sprints into gold on Blackpool s Golden Mile VeloNation Retrieved 13 September 2012 Cavendish prefers world champion s jersey to race leader s tunic tips Rowe VeloNation 12 September 2012 Retrieved 13 September 2012 5 The Stoke on Trent Stage PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Retrieved 13 September 2012 Stoke on Trent stage five Stoke and Staffordshire BBC News 13 September 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 Atkins Ben 13 September 2012 Marc de Maar escapes the break to win in Stoke on Trent VeloNation Retrieved 14 September 2012 Lampard Rob 13 September 2012 De Maar wins alone in Stoke Cycling News Retrieved 14 September 2012 Gallagher Brendan 13 September 2012 Mark Cavendish loses overall lead as Dutchman Marc de Maar wins stage 5 in Stoke The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 13 September 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 Abraham Richard 13 September 2012 De Maar takes solo Stoke win as Tour of Britain takes shape Cycling Weekly IPC Media Limited Retrieved 14 September 2012 Fracture de la clavicule pour Galland Fracture of the clavicle for Galland Saur Sojasun in French Breizh Cyclisme Competition 13 September 2012 Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 Mark Cavendish toils as Marc de Maar wins stage BBC Sport 13 September 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 UnitedHealthcare serve up perfect cocktail for de Maar Tour of Britain SweetSpot 13 September 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 6 Welshpool Caerphilly PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Retrieved 15 September 2012 Tiernan Locke takes race lead in Wales Endura Racing Primitive Media 14 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 Walker Lee 14 September 2012 Tiernan Locke takes Tour of Britain lead Yahoo Eurosport TF1 Group Retrieved 15 September 2012 Lampard Rob 14 September 2012 Konig king of Caerphilly Cycling News Retrieved 15 September 2012 Wynn Nigel 14 September 2012 Tiernan Locke moves into Tour of Britain lead as Koenig takes stage Cycling Weekly IPC Media Limited Retrieved 15 September 2012 Fotheringham William 14 September 2012 Bradley Wiggins out of Tour of Britain as Tiernan Locke takes lead The Guardian Retrieved 15 September 2012 Bradley Wiggins out of Tour of Britain as Tiernan Locke leads BBC Sport 14 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 Tiernan Locke hits the front The Herald 15 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 Atkins Ben 14 September 2012 Jonathan Tiernan Locke attacks into gold over Caerphilly Mountain VeloNation Retrieved 15 September 2012 Leigh Howard Limits Losses in Caerphilly Orica GreenEDGE GreenEDGE Cycling 14 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 7 Barnstaple Dartmouth PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 Fotheringham William 15 September 2012 Jonathan Tiernan Locke poised to be Tour of Britain home winner The Guardian Retrieved 15 September 2012 Wynn Nigel 15 September 2012 Urtasun wins Tour of Britain stage seven as Tiernan Locke extends lead Cycling Weekly IPC Media Limited Retrieved 15 September 2012 Atkins Ben 15 September 2012 Pablo Urtasun wins Devon stage as Tiernan Locke consolidates lead VeloNation Retrieved 15 September 2012 Jonathan Tiernan Locke leads Tour of Britain after stage seven BBC Sport 15 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012 Lampard Rob 15 September 2012 Urtasun wins in Dartmouth Cycling News Retrieved 15 September 2012 8 Reigate Guildford PDF Tour of Britain SweetSpot Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Lampard Rob 16 September 2012 Tiernan Locke wins Tour of Britain overall Cycling News Retrieved 16 September 2012 Fotheringham William 16 September 2012 Mark Cavendish enjoys happy return to Surrey The Guardian Retrieved 16 September 2012 Farrelly Tony 16 September 2012 Cavendish sprints to victory as Tiernan Locke takes overall Road cc Farrelly Atkinson Ltd Retrieved 16 September 2012 Howes Nick 16 September 2012 Perfect finish for Cav Team Sky BSkyB Retrieved 16 September 2012 Pilcher Tom 16 September 2012 Cavendish tunes up for worlds defence with win Yahoo Eurosport TF1 Group Reuters Retrieved 16 September 2012 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2012 Tour of Britain Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2012 Tour of Britain amp oldid 1199046073, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
