The 2007 edition of the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

stage race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in seven stages starting in London on 9 September and finishing in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 15 September. The Tour was extended to seven days for 2007, with the extra day being used to run a stage in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

for the first time. Instead of finishing in London as in previous years, the 2007 race started in London and finished in

, which is using the event to boost its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. French rider Romain Feillu won the overall race,

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a ...

won the Points competition and

Ben Swift Benjamin Ian Swift (born 5 November 1987) is a British professional track and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Swift won the scratch race at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the men's elite road ...

won the Mountains competition.

Stages

Prologue

;9 September 2007 –

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, The tour started with a 2.5 km prologue time trial at the

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...

. The leader's

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

was claimed by Britain's

in a time of two minutes 27.6 seconds, ahead of two Russian riders. As a result, Cavendish was the first British rider to take yellow since the Tour of Britain resumed in 2004. The result was debated as the electronic timing system did not turn up and the timing was thus completed with basic stopwatches. Prologue result.

Stage 1

;10 September 2007 –

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

The first road stage of the tour started at Reading's

Palmer Park Stadium Palmer Park Stadium is located in Palmer Park, Reading. It contains a velodrome and athletics stadium. Set in acres of parkland, the stadium provides a focal point for a variety of indoor and outdoor leisure activities. Clubs Palmer Park has s ...

, finishing at Southampton's Hoglands Park, in the city centre. En route, it passed through Whitchurch, Stockbridge and the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

. The route was relatively level with only two small climbs.

extended his overall lead in the Tour, winning the stage by coming home in a bunch sprint ahead of Belgian Steven Caethoven. Pre-race favourite Robbie Hunter crashed with 3.5 km to go and came home on his own four minutes later. Stage 1 result. General Classification after Stage 1 *Leader of the Points competition –

*Leader of the King of the Mountains competition –

František Raboň František Raboň (born 26 September 1983) is a Czech mountain biker for the Specialized Racing Factory Mountain Bike Team. He was formerly a road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeams , and . Born in Prague, Raboň turned professional in 2006 with G ...

Stage 2

;11 September 2007 –

Yeovilton Yeovilton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, east of Ilchester and north of Yeovil, in South Somerset district. The parish had a population of 1,226 in the 2011 census, es ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, The second road stage was mainly in

and started at the

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...

before travelling west through

and

Dunster Dunster is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, within the north-eastern boundary of Exmoor National Park. It lies on the Bristol Channel southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. At the 2011 Unit ...

. The first major climb of the tour was at

Porlock Hill Porlock Hill is a road west of Porlock, Somerset. It is part of the A39, connecting Porlock to Lynmouth and Barnstaple in Devon and is the steepest A-road in the United Kingdom, approaching 1 in 4 (25%) in places. A parallel toll road is availab ...

(using the private toll road), which is a First Category King of the Mountains climb. There followed a steep descent into

Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, which was the only place to expand to once Lynmouth became as bu ...

before climbing to Watersmeet, a Second Category climb. The route then passed through Simonsbath and Exford before reaching the final climb at Wheddon Cross. The race finished in the centre of

. Nikolai Trusov steered clear of a late crash to win the stage and take the yellow jersey from

. Trusov was part of a 36-man break which made a decisive move after two-thirds of the gruelling 169.5 km leg. He kept pace with the leaders and hit the front after avoiding a four-man pile-up close to the finish in Taunton. Cavendish, the prologue and first stage winner, came home in 34th, more than 10 minutes behind Trusov. Stage 2 result General Classification after Stage 2 *Leader of the Points competition – Nikolai Trusov *Leader of the King of the Mountains competition –

Serge Pauwels Serge Pauwels (born 21 November 1983) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2020, for , the , , , and the . Cycling career Born in Lier, Flanders, Pauwels' career kicked off in 2004 in t ...

Stage 3

;12 September 2007 –

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Stage 3 is one of the shortest stages of the 2007 race – the route was constantly undulating featuring an early Category 1 climb through the

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...

before heading north via Ankardine Hill (also Cat. 1) and

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

to join the

Severn Valley The Severn Valley is a rural area of the West Midlands region of England, through which the River Severn runs and the Severn Valley Railway steam heritage line operates, starting at its northernmost point in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and runni ...

Bewdley Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the Riv ...

, continuing towards the Ironbridge Gorge where the riders tackled the final King of the Mountains climb of the day at

Coalport Coalport is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located on the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield. The settlement wa ...

bank 26 km. before the finish in

Matt Goss Matthew Weston Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer of 1980s pop group Bros, which also featured his twin brother Luke as the drummer. Goss as a solo artist has released five st ...

held his nerve in a sprint finish to take victory in the stage, edging out

Freddy Bichot Freddy Bichot (born 9 September 1979 in Saint-Fort) is a French road racing cyclist who last rode for Véranda Rideau-Super U. After rising from relative obscurity, in 2002 he won the French Amateur National Championship, yet later tested posit ...

and Roger Hammond at the finish in Wolverhampton; but Goss failed to take the overall lead from Russian Nikolai Trusov, who still has an eight-second advantage. Britons Paul Manning,

Rob Partridge Robert Lloyd "Rob" Partridge (born 11 September 1985) is a Welsh former professional cyclist from Wrexham, Wales. He represented Wales in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Inspired after watching the Tour de France on television, he joined the Wrexham ...

and John Bellis all finished in the top 10. Stage 3 result General Classification after Stage 3 *Leader of the Points competition – Nikolai Trusov & Roger Hammond *Leader of the King of the Mountains competition –

Stage 4

;13 September 2007 –

Rother Valley Country Park The Rother Valley Country Park is a country park in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, close to Rotherham's border with Sheffield and Derbyshire. It covers 3 square kilometres (740 acres), has four artificial lakes, recre ...

to Bradford, The stage started in

before heading north to the first climb (the Third Category ascent of Limestone Hill) after 18.2 km. The race then passed east of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

before heading into the eastern Pennines. After Ilkley the road headed upwards, to the climb of the Cow & Calf, the final First Category climb of this year's Tour. From the top of the climb, there was just 21 km to the finish in Bradford in Lister Park. The Tour of Britain organisers honoured charity fundraiser Jane Tomlinson by naming the stage in Yorkshire after the 43-year-old who lost her battle against cancer in the week before the tour commenced. The stage was marred when the riders were forced to cease racing and ride behind a safety car after organisers failed to close the roads to traffic. The stage was neutralised for 20 miles after a dispute between the organisers and North Yorkshire Police. After demonstrating his climbing skills in the Pennines, Adrian Palomares took the stage on the line from Tom Stubbe and the yellow jersey from Nikolai Trusov. A 26-man break had developed, with

Luke Roberts Luke Justin Roberts (born 25 January 1977) is a sports director and former Australian racing cyclist specialising in both track cycling and road bicycle racing. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he resides both in Adelaide and in Cologne, ...

briefly taking the outright lead, but Palomares hit the front after the race was neutralised. He made a decisive break over the Cow and Calf climb and was able to hold off Stubbe and fellow Spaniard David Blanco in the sprint to the line. Stage 4 result General Classification after Stage 4 *Leader of the Points competition – Romain Feillu *Leader of the King of the Mountains competition –

Stage 5

;14 September 2007 –

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

to Kendal, Stage 5 travelled from the sea to the fells, as the race made its way from Liverpool to the Cumbrian town of Kendal, in the most picturesque stage of this year's race, featuring three categorised climbs and the constantly rolling roads of the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

and the northern Pennines. After leaving Liverpool the stage headed along the coastline, passing the sand dunes and pine forests at

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Fo ...

and on through

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. The race then turned inland through Walton le Dale before beginning to climb, on its way up to the Second Category climb of Grizedale. After passing through the historic market town of

Kirkby Lonsdale Kirkby Lonsdale () is a town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically in Westmorland, it lies south-east of Kendal on the A65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in the 2001 ...

, came the climbs of Old Town and Blease Hill in quick succession. Both of these are Second Category climbs, counting towards the King of the Mountains competition. From the summit of Blease Hill, it was just over 11 kilometres to the finish line in the Kendal at the top of the fearsome Beast Banks.

Alexander Serov Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Серо́в, Saint Petersburg, – Saint Petersburg, ) was a Russian composer and music critic. He is notable as one of the most important music critics in ...

took the stage after proving too strong for

in the final stages. Serov and Cavendish went clear after 72 km before Serov shook off the Briton in the final 16 km, finishing one minute 43 seconds ahead of Cavendish. Adrian Palomares remains one second ahead of fellow Spaniard David Blanco Rodriguez in the overall classification. Stage 5 result General Classification after Stage 5 *Leader of the Points competition – Romain Feillu *Leader of the King of the Mountains competition –

( BAR)

Stage 6

;15 September 2007 – Dumfries to

, The final stage started in Dumfries before heading into the Southern Uplands, with three category 3 climbs at Clovehead, Whiteside Hill and Black Hill (56.5 km from the finish line in Glasgow). Paul Manning broke for home in the final two kilometres to take the stage win, whilst Romain Feillu beat Adrian Palomares in the final stage to clinch a narrow overall victory. The times were dead level at the end of the race but Feillu was confirmed as the yellow jersey winner by just 0.49 seconds as a result of the times on the opening day's prologue. Stage 6 result

Final classifications

French rider Romain Feillu of

Agritubel Agritubel Pro Cycling Team () was a French professional road race cycling team. The team's title sponsorAgritubel is a manufacturer and supplier of tubular metal products for cattle, livestock and farming. Agritubel mostly competed for wins at t ...

won the general classification. The points competition and sprinters award were won by

while

won the King of the Mountains competition.

References

External links

Tour of Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of Britain, 2007 2007 in British sport 2007 in road cycling 2007 2007 sports events in London September 2007 sports events in the United Kingdom