#bikeschool: Rule Britania

As we head towards the World Championships, which historically signifies the entry into the European winter and the slowing of professional UCI racing, I felt we should reflect on what an awesome season it’s been… for British riders & teams. Your favourite cycling magazine will have full season reviews in the coming weeks and I’m sure you’ll enjoy them, but my LovingTheBike.com sponsored soap box gives me the opportunity to celebrate the superb season British fans have been able to enjoy.

World Class

The 2010 season was a mightily successful one, with British professional road riders racking up over 40 wins across the globe so it’s fair to say that with the increase in British riders in the peloton this year and the lure of the Olympic games in 2012, we were expecting big things. Following my trip to France for Le Tour this year and seeing the impressive performances by Cavendish et al, the most content of fans may have sat back and accepted that as a good season. Thankfully for us, the British riders decided with the upcoming Worlds just round the corner, the Vuelta and the Tour of Britain were going to be spectacular events where British riders would shine and once again show that they can never be underestimated as top contenders for stage wins and overalls. Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins performed superbly at the Vuelta, although it again seemed a couple of small tactical errors cost them a Grand Tour GC victory.

As this article goes to print the 3rd stage of the Tour of Britain will be about to kick off and the first class field displayed this year is a testament to the way this race has been developed over the last few years. Riders such as Mark Cavendish, Thor Hushovd & Jens Voigt all started this years Tour of Britain and it is brilliant to see so many supporters out watching the race, often in terrible weather conditions, enthralled by these super athletes. Due to the extreme weather conditions we have had because of the tail end of hurricane Katia hitting our shores, stage 2 of the Tour of Britain had to be cancelled before it started, which was a big shame but wont stop the enthusiasm you see on our roads.

The numbers never lie

We are lucky to have a superb cycling culture in Britain and it breeds winners. You can see a list of the 2011 British winners below… with some handy links I’ve found for some superb photos and race reports for you to browse through. I hope to be able to edit this post later this month with some more British winners, maybe even including a World Champion! For now, if you are a Brit, or a Brit supporter, revel in the glory, pain and suffering we have poured onto the rest of the peloton this year and look forward to 2012 and the Olympics!

British major international pro wins 2011
January
Ben Swift (Team Sky): Tour Down Under, stage two
Ben Swift (Team Sky): Tour Down Under, stage six

February
Steve Cummings (Team Sky): Tour of the Algarve, stage three
Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp): Tour of South Africa, stage one
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour of Oman, stage six
Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp): Tour of South Africa, overall

March
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Trofeo Alfredo Binda

April
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Scheldeprijs
Ben Swift (Team Sky): Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, stage five

May
Ben Swift (Team Sky): Tour de Romandie, stage five
Andrew Fenn (Great Britain): Tour de Bretagne, stage seven
Lizzie Armitstead (Garmin-Cervelo): Tour of Chongming Island, stage one
Ben Swift (Team Sky): Tour of California, stage two
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Giro d’Italia, stage 10
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Giro d’Italia, stage 12
Bradley Wiggins (Sky): Bayern Rundfahrt, stage four ITT
Geraint Thomas (Sky): Bayern Rundfahrt, overall
David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo): Giro d’Italia, stage 21 ITT

June
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira, stage 3a ITT
Bradley Wiggins (Sky): Critérium du Dauphiné, overall

July
Nicole Cooke (MCippolini): Giro Donne, stage five
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, stage five
Ian Stannard (Sky): Tour of Austria, stage five
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Giro Donne, stage eight
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, stage seven
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, stage 11
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, stage 15
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Thuringen Rundfahrt, stage four
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, stage 21
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour de France, points classification
Lizzie Armitstead (Garmin-Cervelo): Thuringen Rundfahrt, stage six
Lizzie Armitstead (Garmin-Cervelo): Thuringen Rundfahrt, points classification
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Thuringen Rundfahrt, mountains classification

August
Mark Cavendish (Great Britain): London-Surrey Cycle Classic (Olympic test event)
Mark McNally (An Post-Sean Kelly): La Mi-Août en Bretagne, overall
Alex Dowsett (Sky): Tour du Poitou Charentes, stage five

September
Chris Froome (Sky): Vuelta a Espana, stage 17
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Tour de l’Ardeche, stage three
Simon Yates (Great Britain): Tour de l’Avenir, stage six
Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo): Tour de l’Ardeche overall
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): Tour of Britain, stage one

And if you were under any illusions about how we like our pomp and ceremony here in Great Britain, check out this video from the Last Night of the Proms!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnY83VTHSTM&feature=related[/youtube]

Keep The Rubber Side Down

Stevie