Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 8 London. Everything you would ever want in a cycling event Time Trial, Racing and the final champion decided on the line!

The final stage of Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 8 London. Split into two parts the first an 8km time trial. Riders would set off at regular 1 minute intervals, if they missed it they couldn’t start. The top 10, the last to set off have a 2 minute stagger. All eyes were of course on the British and Olympic Time Trial champion Sir Bradely Wiggins. Was there any doubt that as he romped home a full 8 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

I’d just like to  say that Sir ‘Wiggo’ is quite possibly the coolest person in existence, my belief has been furthered enhanced when I saw his support car. Yes it is a Jaguar F-Type R! and the plate is pretty spot on as well.

Time Trial is a weird thing compared to racing. There’s no tactics other than going out fully focused and pushing your physical limits to the extreme.

The final part was a 10 lap race over the same course as the time trial so not really a lot of change. There wasn’t a climb and only just about the chance for the final Yodel Sprint category. The surprise Garmin Sharp’s Dylan Van Baarle  started with the yellow jersey on his back.

Team GB young rider Chris Latham worked hard all race in the break away and was for his efforts awarded the Rouleur Combativity Award for the final stage.

You couldn’t have written the ending a photo finish that saw Giant-Shimano’s Marcel Kittel narrowly beat Omega Pharma Quickstep’s Mark Cavendish in a photofinish.

 

Full results can be found on the Tour of Britains website and all my full set of pictures ready for licence on the SportPix website. Here is a selection of a few of my favorites.