Tread Caerphilly

Yesterday's Tour of Britain stage was billed as the queen's stage and had it all (albeit in a very British way. There was a big(ish) climb and some castle porn and as the weather improved it could almost be a Continental Tour.

Inevitably there was a break and it was dragged in, then as the race hit Caerphilly mountain for the first time Quintana gave it a go and jumped free, followed by a bunch of riders. The injection of pace put pressure on some of the peloton, including Cavendish who got distanced off the back demonstrating that the climb was the first so far to even suggest a really deciding incline.

The main group had the new break pegged over the climb that was decisive for Jon Tiernan-Locke last year. Wiggins and Martin remained in the front part of the peloton and there was no early attack from the Garmin rider as many people expected. Another attack went out form Sojesun, jumping over the climbing pair while Sky and Garmin sat in and controlled the pack.

Second time round all eyes were on Quintana and Martin as they looked to put time into Wiggins. Martin attacked form a group which now included Quintana again with a big effort to power the mountain and stamp his intention as a race winner on the stage. His attack was solid but Quintana reached his wheel as he hit the summit. They descended together and looked to contest the dayas they were chased down by the scary pair of Stannard and Wiggins working to bring the race back together, which they did brilliantly.

As it came together there were more attacks but they seemed to be all neutralised quickly by an elite group that was entirely controlled by Sky. Wiggins, in the gold jersey was sitting firmly in and had no problem holding his placing as the sprint wound up to a win by Sam Bennett from An Post - Chain Reaction.

It's an absorbing race and we hit the weekend with three final days to end in London and some great racing still to come and an increasingly likely win for Wiggins.
For a more in-depth view here's how it is for smaller team, Madison Genesis:

Madison Genesis - Tour of Britain : Part One from Madison on Vimeo.

Also this weekend is the final round of the downhill World Cup where we shall see if the Athertons can pull of a double family win. It's all coming from Leogang on Sunday.

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