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Tour of Britain 2024 review: Williams rewarded, Magnier graduates and Remco’s 24-carat bike
The Tour of Britain concluded at the weekend in Suffolk with a final stage to Felixstowe. Welsh rider Stevie Williams ended up the champion ahead of Scotland’s Oscar Onley and Frenchman Tom Donnenwirth.
The 2024 Tour of Britain saw fans from the Scottish Borders to the East Anglian coast come out in their droves to cheer on the peloton of Britain’s biggest bike race.
During the week, we witnessed a puncheur’s masterclass from Williams, a coming of age for Trinity Racing alumni Paul Magnier and an Irish exit from Tom Pidcock in Suffolk. There’s a lot to chew through as we take a look back on the 2024 Tour of Britain.
The fight for the…teal-coloured jersey
Regardless of the enigmatic jersey colour, the battle for the GC was fairly wide open once we caught a glimpse of Remco Evenepoel struggling on Stage 2’s tour around North Yorkshire. From here, the battle opened up and allowed for a decisive GC distillation on Stage 2.
It became clear early on that the British riders were in it to win it. Onley was motivated to win the race that set off from his hometown. However, much like at the Tour Down Under earlier this year, Welshman Williams would pip the Scot to glory.
You can’t take anything away from Williams. He rode a great race. He made every GC selection and managed to snatch bonus seconds where it mattered. In a race with fine margins, this is key. Williams really cemented his place as the race leader with an impressive victory from a reduced sprint in Barnsley. Here, Williams edged out some proper sprinters, demonstrating that he was the man to beat in Blighty last week.
A reserved rider, Williams was compensated for his years unfairly spent in the shadows. He continues his splendid season, adding the Tour of Britain trophy to his Tour Down Under and Fleche Wallonne titles from earlier this year. This also marked his first win at the Tour of Britain. In fact, this was his first senior win in the UK since he turned professional at the back end of the 2010s.
For the rest of the race, the battle for third place remained rather open. It yo-yoed between candidates who ebbed and flowed at the mercy of bonus seconds. This was Julian Alaphilippe’s fate as he slipped off the podium during the second phase of the race. In the end, Donnenwirth took the bronze medal. However, it wasn’t much of a bronze medal, it was more of a Lloyds Bank-branded Pringles tube.
Despite all the talk before the race, Evenepoel’s performance at the Tour of Britain was rather underwhelming. Sitting far down the standings, this is Evenepoel’s worst stage race result since he turned pro in 2019. Too many baked beans and square sausage with his Full Scottish breakfast in Kelso? Who knows.
Birth of a new age
Soudal-QuickStep’s Magnier has the honour of becoming the Tour of Britain’s breakout star. We knew he was on good form after finishing as runner-up at the WorldTour level Bretagne Classic, but three stage wins were maybe beyond our expectations. With wins in Kelso, Newark and Northampton, Magnier claimed half of the stages on offer at the race.
The Texas-born Frenchman has an old-school Peter Sagan touch about him. A strong sprinter unfazed by short climbs, plus the added agility to navigate a hectic finale. At the age of just 20, Magnier is a real talent to keep your eye on.
Slovenia’s Matevž Govekar scored his biggest win to date with a stage victory in Felixstowe on Sunday. The Bahrain Victorious rider has been knocking on the door of a big win for a couple of seasons now, so it’s a relief that he has that off his shoulders as he continues to prove his worth to team bosses.
In terms of British talent, it’s safe to say that the kids are alright. Bob Donaldson secured a hard-fought top-three finish on Stage 1. His Trinity Racing team was active in the breakaway and the head of the peloton throughout the six stages. None more than Callum Thornley who hit the ground running on home roads in Stage 1. He soon claimed the blue mountains jersey and held onto it until the race’s conclusion in Suffolk. A little-known rider before the Tour of Britain, Thornley demonstrates once more that Scotland is becoming a hotbed for British cycling talent.
However, the news of Trinity Racing’s financial struggles sent some troubling waves through the British cycling bubble. The team that fed Tom Pidcock, Magnier, Ben Healy and more into the WorldTour has been reported to be facing a potential closure at the end of 2024. Despite the highs of Thornley’s mountains jersey win, the state of British cycling sits firmly on a knife edge.
Talking points
Evenepoel’s return after a golden summer was a much-needed headline grabber for the Tour of Britain. Who’d have thought that Kelso would be the place where Evenepoel had his gold bike unveiled? I mean, if you thought Remco getting papped outside a Greggs on a golden bike twelve months ago, you’d be lying.
The combined star power of Evenepoel and teammate Alaphilippe brought some real prestige to proceedings. The Frenchman would ride his final race for QuickStep in Britain, marking the end of an era between Alaphilippe and Patrick Lefevere’s team. In recent fashion, he came close, but not close enough for a stage win.
The honours, however, went to Williams who continued his stellar season. After an overall win at the Tour Down Under and a crowning moment at La Fleche Wallonne, Williams claimed two stages and the overall classification here at the Tour of Britain.
Staying with the British riders, Pidcock remained outspoken. In his first race back from winning gold in the mountain biking pistes at the Paris Olympics, Pidcock went on the record to discuss the future and Ineos’s internal issues. Before Stage 6, Pidcock said, ‘Yes, it is true that there are a number of things within the team that I have to deal with at the moment. And to be honest, they do not help me to perform optimally.’
For salacious reasons more than anything, this was a real beacon for eyes to remain on the Tour of Britain. His abandonment on the final day only added to the plot’s intrigue. Will he stay, will he leave Ineos? We’ll soon find out. When asked about the move, he said, ‘I’ve got a contract through to 2027. I can’t say more than that.’
A race in need of improvement
Simply put, the route was strangely configured. The parcours was front loaded and felt like it was in reverse. The decisive GC days came at the beginning, including the game-changing second stage, while any form of decisive action in the GC fizzled out.
It was almost like starting your day with a three-course meal, then finishing with a soggy bowl of nutrient-deficient cereal.
Once we caught a glimpse of Remco’s golden bike, a GC shakeup on Stage 2 and a puncheur’s palaver in Barnsley, the race’s edge was lost. The second half was completely blunt. No flavour or spark could be carved out from the final three stages. This isn’t the fault of the riders for the most part. A set of plainly flat profiles made for uninteresting racing.
Magnier was impressive in the sprints, I’ll admit that, but it felt inconsequential given that GC was already wrapped up. No eyes were on him anymore as the shinier WorldTour races and the women’s Tour de Romandie captured more imaginations.
The Tour of Britain did a good job at grabbing attention to begin with, but it needs to sell itself more during this busy slot in the race calendar. A new sponsor and organiser helped bring some needed slickness to the racing and broadcast, but there’s still work to be done. For starters, streaming every stage (not just the first) unrestricted on YouTube. The race has some of its sparkle back, but it’s got a long way to go to be anywhere near its continental counterparts.
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