RideLondon-Surrey Classic

:00:43. > :00:53.Hello and welcome to The Mall. Thousands of cyclists have taken to

:00:54. > :01:00.London over the past couple of days and we are now approaching the end

:01:01. > :01:02.of the mass participation event, the London Surrey 100. 30,000 cyclists

:01:03. > :01:08.set off from Olympic Park earlier this morning and roughly 20,000 of

:01:09. > :01:11.them are back here on The Mall. The crowds have been magnificent and

:01:12. > :01:15.they will be hanging around to enjoy the climax of the elite men's race

:01:16. > :01:20.which features, among others, man of the moment, Chris Froome. With one

:01:21. > :01:25.of his most beautiful wins in his career, head over the bars, leans

:01:26. > :01:30.her every second of advantage, Chris Froome punches the air. Wow, this

:01:31. > :01:34.Tour de France is turning into a mighty battle already. Banging on

:01:35. > :01:43.the boards for Chris Froome, the leader of the Tour de France. Ooh,

:01:44. > :01:46.Chris Froome is off his bike, running on Mont Ventoux! This is an

:01:47. > :01:50.unprecedented situation and he could be losing serious time. I have

:01:51. > :01:54.never, ever seen anything like this in my life. Chris Froome attacks and

:01:55. > :02:00.Nairo Quintana is again losing time on Chris Froome. He ready has one

:02:01. > :02:04.stage win, now he has two, and Chris Froome wins the time trial. Chris

:02:05. > :02:12.Froome becomes the first Briton to retain the Tour de France title.

:02:13. > :02:16.Froome wins his third Tour, sky when it for the fourth time, and what a

:02:17. > :02:21.Tour de France it has been for Great Britain. How has it been since Paris

:02:22. > :02:27.last weekend? Feels like it's been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest

:02:28. > :02:32.since we finished up in Paris one week ago. I've had three nights at

:02:33. > :02:36.home which has been great, just to recharge the batteries. And spend

:02:37. > :02:43.some time with the family. At the same time I haven't really switched

:02:44. > :02:47.off. And with Rio so close, that's been in the back of the mind. You

:02:48. > :02:51.won the Tour in a slightly different way this year, didn't you? Do you

:02:52. > :02:57.feel you have really added to your arsenal this year?

:02:58. > :03:06.It was in a more complete way. Winning full example on the descent,

:03:07. > :03:10.being there in the crosswinds on the flat stages with the likes of the

:03:11. > :03:14.sprinters. Then the strength of the team was really a clear sign for

:03:15. > :03:18.everyone this year that once I had got into the yellow jersey it was

:03:19. > :03:24.going to be hard for the rivals to do anything to separate me from my

:03:25. > :03:28.team-mates. The Tour de France clearly the focus every year, but

:03:29. > :03:36.where does the Olympic Games fit into the grand scheme of things? It

:03:37. > :03:42.is a big deal to me. I am extremely motivated. For the event in Rio,

:03:43. > :03:48.more the time trial because it is the one effort that you can gauge

:03:49. > :03:53.and you have the control over. Whereas the road race is going to be

:03:54. > :03:58.more of a gamble. Are you thinking road race or time trial as your

:03:59. > :04:07.priority, what are you focusing on? The time trial for me really is the

:04:08. > :04:11.more realistic chance where I would be in for a shot of a medal. Having

:04:12. > :04:18.said that, the Road course is an extremely tough one. I am yet to

:04:19. > :04:22.perform in a one-day race, to get a big result in a one-day race. Great

:04:23. > :04:26.to see you on British roads again, it has been a couple of years.

:04:27. > :04:30.Hopefully you will be able to enjoy the race to a certain extent,

:04:31. > :04:36.because there will be thousands and thousands of people out on the

:04:37. > :04:40.roads. Just coming to see you. It is amazing, I cannot wait to get out

:04:41. > :04:45.there. Given the Tour de France we just had, I think it is great to be

:04:46. > :04:51.able to come over here and say thanks in a way to all the fans.

:04:52. > :04:55.What are you looking for from today? Is it just a nice stretch between

:04:56. > :04:58.the Tour de France and the Olympics? It is good to be able to open up

:04:59. > :05:03.before we jump on the fly tomorrow morning to head to Rio. This will be

:05:04. > :05:10.the last big hit before we fly over there. Yes, pretty competitive team

:05:11. > :05:15.here so it would be good to try to fight for victory today. We wish you

:05:16. > :05:18.every success. STUDIO: Three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome,

:05:19. > :05:24.I imagine he will get an enormous cheer when he comes down here later

:05:25. > :05:28.on the The Mall. Michelle with us all weekend. We will hear her

:05:29. > :05:32.thoughts in a moment but I should say the race is under already and we

:05:33. > :05:37.have seen extraordinary scenes on the roads. At around 47 km, the

:05:38. > :05:43.break of six riders of the road with the advantage, the race was paused,

:05:44. > :05:47.apparently due to congestion ahead of the elite race. There was even

:05:48. > :05:52.time during the break for the National road race champion Adam

:05:53. > :05:57.Blythe to chat to David Millar. I am here without them, we have been

:05:58. > :06:02.stopped in the middle of the race. 55 km, 47, sorry. Apparently we have

:06:03. > :06:08.caught up with the RideLondon sportive. How are the riders doing?

:06:09. > :06:11.Boonen, we are moving quickly, Team Sky setting a quick tempo, I think

:06:12. > :06:18.they are looking to try something sooner than everyone thinks. Every I

:06:19. > :06:26.can attach myself to that and stay intact. Everybody handling the stock

:06:27. > :06:32.question my OK, this is like a normal training ride, brilliant.

:06:33. > :06:35.Coffee stop 47 km, nice one. I hope you can hang on to the sky train.

:06:36. > :06:51.And always with the selfie. Great to have you with us, Rachelle.

:06:52. > :06:56.Extraordinary scenes. How disruptive is that for the peloton, Adam Blythe

:06:57. > :07:01.looked relaxed but it is not ideal. Low if you was very relaxed but I

:07:02. > :07:04.was in the sportive this morning and we ran out of water. I was so

:07:05. > :07:10.hesitant to stop because I know terrible feeling you have when you

:07:11. > :07:14.take. It can be nerve wracking for some of the athletes because they

:07:15. > :07:18.can take off quickly and they can be nervous about feeling how long the

:07:19. > :07:21.breakaway had to stand there while it was going away. It is quite

:07:22. > :07:30.difficult to get held up like that mentally and physically. As time

:07:31. > :07:34.moves on, congestion in Dorking, the sportive was blocking the road

:07:35. > :07:38.ahead. However they are now underway and the break was allowed to get the

:07:39. > :07:44.advantage back. In the main peloton Chris Froome of course. Very relaxed

:07:45. > :07:49.as well. It has been quite a week. Absolutely. It would be a dream for

:07:50. > :07:51.him to win here. Personally I do not think the course is difficult enough

:07:52. > :07:56.but it is much more challenging than it looks on the profile. We have

:07:57. > :08:00.seen he is in time trial form, there is a chance he could take this. Team

:08:01. > :08:05.Sky perhaps might be riding for Ben Swift. It will be an interesting

:08:06. > :08:10.race. Chris Froome three-time Tour de France winner but not the only

:08:11. > :08:13.big-name hair. Let's hear what some of the other riders have to say

:08:14. > :08:18.about the man himself. I never fully in the past has talked about Sky

:08:19. > :08:23.being boring, but this year it is not like he has started doing new

:08:24. > :08:28.things. -- big-name here. He has gone back to bike racing, that is

:08:29. > :08:32.the best bit. He did not have much competition sadly but the way he has

:08:33. > :08:39.been racing is actual bike racing, not just looking at the numbers

:08:40. > :08:43.which we have seen Sky do in the past. This year to be nice to watch.

:08:44. > :08:51.Chris is pretty amazing in GC in Grand Tours and once you get yellow

:08:52. > :09:01.he never gives it away. This year it was the same again. Pretty strong

:09:02. > :09:06.team behind him. Always doing good. We saw him running up Mont Ventoux,

:09:07. > :09:10.just to be able to stay calm and call and Chris is that kind of guy,

:09:11. > :09:16.it does not seem to faze him, he was not under any pressure even though

:09:17. > :09:20.he was in the yellow jersey. He surprised a lot of people attacking

:09:21. > :09:26.in the downhill and in the wind and in the echelons you have to gain

:09:27. > :09:33.every second you can get. That is what he did. Overall the best time

:09:34. > :09:36.trial specialist, best climber of the GC contenders, this result was

:09:37. > :09:41.not really a surprise for anyone. He really dominated together with Team

:09:42. > :09:48.Sky. It was something we were expecting. But I was really happy

:09:49. > :09:54.for him that he won again. For me what makes him such a great GC rider

:09:55. > :09:58.is his personality. He is still down-to-earth, the nicest guy you

:09:59. > :10:03.will meet in the peloton. Every time he comes party says hello. He does

:10:04. > :10:06.not think he is above you at all. To have the victories he has under his

:10:07. > :10:12.belt and still be so down-to-earth and such a nice guy, but for me is

:10:13. > :10:18.more than winning the Tour de France ten times. Just the way he goes

:10:19. > :10:22.about his life he is such a normal guy and I was really happy for him

:10:23. > :10:28.winning again this year. Some thoughts from the professional

:10:29. > :10:31.peloton, about Chris Froome, a great British sporting heroine and I have

:10:32. > :10:37.another one here, Dame Kelly Holmes, fresh from riding the 46. A lot of

:10:38. > :10:40.the riders from the 100 finishing now but the 46 this year for those

:10:41. > :10:44.perhaps a little bit intimidated by the hundred miles. There was this

:10:45. > :10:51.option, that is what you did. Congratulations. Thank you, I loved

:10:52. > :10:55.it. Probably one of the most enjoyable events I have done in such

:10:56. > :11:01.a long time. Being free and closed roads. You enjoyed it so much am I

:11:02. > :11:07.right in the day you have signed up next year for the 100. As usual I

:11:08. > :11:15.have opened my mouth. I have been in the tenth doing too much celebrating

:11:16. > :11:17.as well. But I loved it, because I am all about motivating and

:11:18. > :11:22.inspiring people to do things and feel good and take risks. And have a

:11:23. > :11:25.challenge. Today on the start line all of those people of different

:11:26. > :11:32.ages and abilities, there for different reasons. The atmosphere

:11:33. > :11:37.there, lots people nervous like me, this is the first time I have done

:11:38. > :11:43.anything like this. The furthest I had done for was 29.5 miles.

:11:44. > :11:49.Rachelle, what advice do you have, it is a step up from 46 miles in a

:11:50. > :11:56.one-day race. I think if anybody can manage it. Yes, certainly from me

:11:57. > :11:59.being a sprinter, following the Wales and being in the right bunch

:12:00. > :12:03.and making the effort to bridge the gap to the bunch in front and make

:12:04. > :12:07.sure you are always in a well working bunch, and as I experienced

:12:08. > :12:12.today after being a professional for 15 years nutrition is so important

:12:13. > :12:15.to get to the finish line. I was not able, I did not choose to drink in

:12:16. > :12:21.the last half of the race because I did not want to stop. That awful

:12:22. > :12:26.feeling of getting going again. I hit the wall big-time. Nutrition

:12:27. > :12:30.obviously and I think being in the bunch is that are working well

:12:31. > :12:35.together and flowing consistently. It is still to you to keep in shape,

:12:36. > :12:39.you still love taking part. It is amazing that it is 12 years since we

:12:40. > :12:44.saw you when the double gold in Athens. How much are you looking

:12:45. > :12:46.forward to watching radio? Very much and from the British perspective we

:12:47. > :12:53.have some great up and coming talent. My own event, Laura Muir

:12:54. > :12:58.going for the British record. One the great British perspective, a

:12:59. > :13:06.huge amount of funding continuing since 2012 and let's see some new

:13:07. > :13:11.superstars and the old hats bringing it home again. Thank you very much,

:13:12. > :13:15.we look forward to seeing you in the hundred next year. I will have to

:13:16. > :13:24.train for it, I cannot like it any more. Still riders from the 100

:13:25. > :13:27.coming in behind. -- blag. We know there has been a couple of quite

:13:28. > :13:31.serious accidents in the sportive and our thoughts are with those who

:13:32. > :13:35.have had to finish the race on the road, we wish them all the very

:13:36. > :13:41.best. Now we can get across to the elite race, the London Surrey

:13:42. > :13:48.Classic, Rachelle will be joining Simon in the commentary box to take

:13:49. > :13:52.us through today's course. Budgeon thank you, Jill. The route today is

:13:53. > :13:58.a familiar one as the event establishes itself and is based in

:13:59. > :14:01.large part on the Olympic Games four years ago. The race heading

:14:02. > :14:06.south-west through central London before crossing the Thames at

:14:07. > :14:10.Chiswick. Richmond Park comes fairly early on in proceedings and we had

:14:11. > :14:15.down to Kingston, bushy Park and over towards Hampton Corbridge as

:14:16. > :14:22.well. Walton on Thames, Weybridge and Byfleet on the route as we head

:14:23. > :14:27.into the Surrey Hills. The first loop sees the riders turning right

:14:28. > :14:33.in talking over Leith Hill and then the yellow loop, three laps based

:14:34. > :14:40.around Ranmore common. Then once up Box Hill and they begin the race

:14:41. > :14:44.back into central London. Through Eshera, Kingston once more,

:14:45. > :14:49.Wimbledon, up along the edge of the common and over Putney Bridge and

:14:50. > :14:52.along the embankment into the heart of London once more. Taking a left

:14:53. > :14:59.turn through Admiralty Arch into the finish here on The Mall. Some of the

:15:00. > :15:03.riders we might want to keep an eye on this afternoon, Jempy Drucker,

:15:04. > :15:07.number one, from BMC, he was the winner of the race last year.

:15:08. > :15:10.Michael Matthews we saw talking about Chris Froome, stage winner in

:15:11. > :15:16.the Tour de France this year, second in the World Championship last year.

:15:17. > :15:18.Mat Hayman one of his team-mates, fellow Australian, winner of the

:15:19. > :15:23.Paris-Roubaix this year. Adam Blythe we heard from at the top of the

:15:24. > :15:29.programme, previous winner of this Classic. Chris Froome of course

:15:30. > :15:34.fresh from his bird when in the Tour de France. Ian Stannard and Geraint

:15:35. > :15:37.Thomas as well out of the Tour de France, Geraint Thomas the

:15:38. > :15:42.Commonwealth Games champion. Ben Swift has twice done very well in

:15:43. > :15:46.this event, and twice on the podium in the Milan-San Remo. Tom Boon,

:15:47. > :15:50.four-time winner of the Paris-Roubaix, three Tour of

:15:51. > :15:54.Flanders wins in his career and a former world champion. Matteo

:15:55. > :15:57.Trentin, his team-mate from Etixx-Quick-Step, two-time stage

:15:58. > :16:03.winner in the Tour de France. And finally from that list, Steve

:16:04. > :16:07.Cummings of Boucher data, he took the stage in the Tour de France in

:16:08. > :16:10.each of the past two years and of course he will be part of the Great

:16:11. > :16:16.Britain team in the road race in the Olympic Games one week today.

:16:17. > :16:27.That was the scene at the start of the race, red carpet out for the

:16:28. > :16:30.cyclists. Chris Froome and his team-mates on the front row of the

:16:31. > :16:36.grid. Just over 200, it is in length as they set out from horse Horse

:16:37. > :16:40.Guards Parade, along Birdcage Walk, around St James's Park and making

:16:41. > :16:42.their way out of London via Knightsbridge and out towards the

:16:43. > :16:50.countryside, which is where they are now. And here we are now, first life

:16:51. > :16:56.pictures with just under 113 kilometres still to go, a breakaway

:16:57. > :17:02.group of six. Three minutes and 19 seconds is that gap. Matt Holmes of

:17:03. > :17:08.Madison Genesis riding on the front in the black jersey with the orange

:17:09. > :17:10.sleeves as we go back to the peloton. Christian Knees on the

:17:11. > :17:17.front. The peloton riding through Dorking at the moment. The breakaway

:17:18. > :17:23.group including Jim B Drucker, winner of the race last year,

:17:24. > :17:29.Jonathan last, Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven, and Jonas Rickaert

:17:30. > :17:34.from top sport. Good crowds in Dorking, very big crowds in Dorking.

:17:35. > :17:38.Two-time British national champion alongside me for this one, Brian

:17:39. > :17:43.Smith. Chance to say hello to Brian for the first time this afternoon.

:17:44. > :17:47.Hello, Simon. Looks as though we will have a fantastic race. Fast

:17:48. > :17:51.start with many riders trying to get away, and eventually a six strong

:17:52. > :17:57.breakaway went four minutes down the road. At 47 kilometres we had the

:17:58. > :18:02.neutralisation of the peloton but they are back up to speed again. It

:18:03. > :18:08.does look to me as though Team Sky and Etixx-QuickStep want to try to

:18:09. > :18:12.control things. And I tell you what, you interviewed Chris Froome

:18:13. > :18:16.earlier, we could see him have a little bit of a pop today. I was

:18:17. > :18:19.wondering whether he might just use it, but a training ride, but a

:18:20. > :18:23.bridge between the Tour de France and the Olympic Games. He is looking

:18:24. > :18:28.at the time trial but this is a massive event for him, and for

:18:29. > :18:33.everybody here in London and out on the course in Surrey today. But I

:18:34. > :18:37.think he's the perfect gentleman, he does not want to let his crowd down

:18:38. > :18:42.and I think we will see him, whether it is in one of the client is going

:18:43. > :18:45.up, whether it is to set up one of his team-mates but I think we will

:18:46. > :18:50.see him towards the front, possibly up Box Hill, trying to help out one

:18:51. > :18:54.of his team-mates to win. I don't think this course, especially the

:18:55. > :18:58.last 50, does, will suit him much. As we know from the Tour de France,

:18:59. > :19:01.he can pull off a few surprises but I think this will be too much. If

:19:02. > :19:06.you are checking the pictures and wondering where they are, they are

:19:07. > :19:11.just south of the centre of Dorking on the A24, not far from the bottom

:19:12. > :19:15.of the climb of Box Hill. That would be a right-hand turn shortly. They

:19:16. > :19:20.will go left because they are on the Ranmore common circuit. We have King

:19:21. > :19:25.of the Mountains points up for grabs when they go up Ranmore hill. The

:19:26. > :19:29.plan is that there will be three laps of this fairly small circuit

:19:30. > :19:34.before they then go up Box Hill and then they will head back in towards

:19:35. > :19:37.London. I have to mention what we saw at the start of the programme,

:19:38. > :19:40.extraordinary scenes, riders sitting on the grass verges for just over 20

:19:41. > :19:47.minutes because of a blockage in the road ahead. Yes, it's not often we

:19:48. > :19:53.see it. Obviously with so many sporty riders out on the course,

:19:54. > :20:00.obviously there had been a bit of a mishap in the sportive. The fast

:20:01. > :20:07.start in the pro race, everything kind of court up. Nothing to do with

:20:08. > :20:12.the organisers, just circumstances. And luckily the race had settled,

:20:13. > :20:16.the six riders had gone away, the peloton had started to settle down

:20:17. > :20:20.into chasing them back. I think most of them were glad of the rest. It

:20:21. > :20:31.was a very fast start. It was aggressive racing. They were happy

:20:32. > :20:38.they had a few minutes out. We saw pictures throughout and the peloton

:20:39. > :20:46.did not seem to be stressed by it. The breakaway had formed. It has

:20:47. > :20:49.added an extra 20 minutes to the shift of the riders but I don't

:20:50. > :20:53.think they will be worried. The sun is out, they are racing, and they

:20:54. > :21:01.will just crack on with this. Got ourselves a decent group here with a

:21:02. > :21:05.former of winning riding for Lotto Soudal. Looks like a problem at the

:21:06. > :21:09.back of the peloton. A crash has brought down a number of riders

:21:10. > :21:13.across the road here including a couple from Team Rwanda who were

:21:14. > :21:16.involved in this. I can see at least one of them on the right-hand side

:21:17. > :21:21.on the grass verge. We've got two national team here today, Team

:21:22. > :21:25.Rwanda is one of them, great to see them here, it's a great project. And

:21:26. > :21:31.obviously team Great Britain. Two national teams in the 25 teams here

:21:32. > :21:37.in the right to the Surrey Classic. Only six riders. You only need to

:21:38. > :21:41.lose one or two at this early stage, it depletes the numbers very much.

:21:42. > :21:45.Looks fairly decent sized crash, there, and let's hope everything is

:21:46. > :21:49.OK. That's why we are seeing Team Sky at the front of the peloton,

:21:50. > :21:53.they are trying to keep their riders out of trouble for small crashes

:21:54. > :22:00.like that. They certainly weren't very keen to allow the breakaway to

:22:01. > :22:04.go above about three minutes, four minutes, they just started to chip

:22:05. > :22:09.in it a bit. It has been around the three minutes 15 seconds mark for a

:22:10. > :22:20.while now. These six riders, at the back is Rickaert. Gardy as --

:22:21. > :22:23.Gardias of Pedal Heaven. Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis, one of the

:22:24. > :22:28.domestic -based professionals doing a turn on the front. Overall quite a

:22:29. > :22:32.strong looking breakaway group. Obviously we have seen the start,

:22:33. > :22:38.many of the viewers watching now haven't. It was a very fast start.

:22:39. > :22:46.Groups going away all the time. With Drucker there as well, last year's

:22:47. > :22:55.winner. To have last year's winner, this is a strong breakaway. It can

:22:56. > :22:58.take about an hour, sometimes more, for the breakaway to establish

:22:59. > :23:08.itself. It has established itself. The other groups going away, 12, ten

:23:09. > :23:11.riders. Six is containable. If you want to try to win this race and

:23:12. > :23:18.control it, you have to put riders on the front. Depleted teams means

:23:19. > :23:21.we are going to have more aggressive racing and that is what it is all

:23:22. > :23:26.about. Get the impression it will kick off from here on. Team Sky were

:23:27. > :23:33.all gathered in a line a few moments ago at the front of the peloton, and

:23:34. > :23:38.Etixx-QuickStep involved, with Tom Boonen, and with Trenton, both

:23:39. > :23:42.fancying their chances. Team Sky would love to win this race. They

:23:43. > :23:49.have come up short over the last couple of years. Can they get a

:23:50. > :23:54.podium again, go one step further with this race? They have good

:23:55. > :24:00.riders in their team, like Danny van Poppel. You must remember, if you

:24:01. > :24:04.haven't read in the Tour de France, what have the riders been doing over

:24:05. > :24:08.the last month of July? They've been doing altitude training camps.

:24:09. > :24:15.Question marks over some of their form. But to have the reigning

:24:16. > :24:19.champion, Jempy Drucker, in this group, shows that BMC are really up

:24:20. > :24:22.for taking this race on. They won last year by taking it by the scruff

:24:23. > :24:27.of the neck and again they have plenty of options. Nice to see some

:24:28. > :24:32.of the domestic British teams in this breakaway. Matt Holmes, the

:24:33. > :24:39.rider from Oxford, the Madison Genesis, at the front of this group

:24:40. > :24:45.of six. And Dexter Gardias from Pedal Heaven. Nice to see them

:24:46. > :24:48.getting involved. Gardias was 11th in the national championship earlier

:24:49. > :24:53.this summer, and Holmes finished 19th overall in the Tour of

:24:54. > :25:00.Yorkshire in the spring. And here we are Ranmore common, topped for the

:25:01. > :25:05.first time. And the gap is coming down. The pressure slowly being

:25:06. > :25:08.applied, primarily, I think, from Team Sky at the front of the main

:25:09. > :25:15.field, although we haven't seen it for a minute or two. As Holmes leads

:25:16. > :25:19.them over the top with Drucker right on his wheel. Rickaert sat on the

:25:20. > :25:30.back all the way up the climb, there. Big difference in the size

:25:31. > :25:35.and shape of these riders. The rider at the back, the 22-year-old Belgian

:25:36. > :25:43.rider, from Topsport Vlaanderen, Jonas Rickaert. You look at Jonathan

:25:44. > :25:44.Masters, only 64 kilograms, big difference when we come to like

:25:45. > :25:53.this. Team Sky riding on the front,

:25:54. > :25:58.Christian Knees is doing an awful lot of work. As we mentioned

:25:59. > :26:03.earlier, so many people riding the 146 today. One of those who rode in

:26:04. > :26:05.the 100 earlier on and finished some time ago, former Formula 1 driver

:26:06. > :26:17.Mark Webber. Tim caught up with him Mark Webber safely home, we saw you

:26:18. > :26:25.waving everybody off, how did you enjoy it? Absolutely mind blowing.

:26:26. > :26:29.The courses and safe. Right around the course, the spirit of everyone,

:26:30. > :26:33.everybody knows it is unique to do such a long-distance on closed

:26:34. > :26:38.roads. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was awesome. With a few mates we did

:26:39. > :26:45.it together and took in the sites. I'll be shouting from the rooftops,

:26:46. > :26:51.cracking event. You have really taken to cycling. Yeah, I don't

:26:52. > :26:55.mind, it hasn't been a chore for me to stay fit for my main profession,

:26:56. > :26:59.I have enjoyed doing that. Mind you, you have to keep the concentration

:27:00. > :27:03.up. In the last hour there was an incident on the road, somebody went

:27:04. > :27:11.down. Just shows you have got to concentrate. Not as much as 220 mph,

:27:12. > :27:14.obviously. But still, I just think it is so great, considering what has

:27:15. > :27:17.gone on round the world in the last few weeks, all these big events,

:27:18. > :27:21.everybody just getting on and enjoying what we should be able to

:27:22. > :27:25.do and it's just awesome. We were listening to you at the start saying

:27:26. > :27:30.how Brits love to participate, and are doers, and join in, and we were

:27:31. > :27:32.laughing because if anything the Australians are really the ones to

:27:33. > :27:38.get out there to enjoy outdoor pursuits. They are, but we are also

:27:39. > :27:42.a bit Fairweather, if it is windy or rainy we might put it off, whereas

:27:43. > :27:47.you British, boom, you've signed up, and I like that. You really give it

:27:48. > :27:53.a good go. And everybody was so chatty out there on the course, it

:27:54. > :27:57.was great. Bit hot. But you must be happy with the time you managed? It

:27:58. > :28:01.was all right. We had some changes early on with one of our team-mates

:28:02. > :28:07.and got that sorted out. There's always some little dramas here and

:28:08. > :28:13.there. But yeah, perfect temperature, no real wind, mega,

:28:14. > :28:18.absolutely mega. You are going to be supporting Australia as the Olympics

:28:19. > :28:22.gets underway, one of the big cycle events will be the team pursuit in

:28:23. > :28:25.the velodrome. Everybody looking forward to perhaps a final between

:28:26. > :28:31.Great Britain and Australia. Will you be able to watch? Yes. I've got

:28:32. > :28:34.to keep an eye on that, actually. Obviously Great Britain have

:28:35. > :28:38.certainly lifted the bar in terms of the technology of the sport,

:28:39. > :28:42.aerodynamics and those kinds of things, setting the mark in London.

:28:43. > :28:46.And the Aussies have knocked it around a little bit, technology,

:28:47. > :28:52.also fitness. All the parameters need to be tied to get that gold.

:28:53. > :28:56.The tactics are awesome. Of course I want the Aussies to get it. Nice

:28:57. > :29:02.second place for you guys would be awesome. But there's a really great

:29:03. > :29:07.rivalry brewing. Enjoy it, thanks very much. Thanks, guys. Second

:29:08. > :29:12.place for the Brits... That interview had been going so well

:29:13. > :29:15.until the end. But Mark Webber clearly absolutely loving it out

:29:16. > :29:24.there today. Not the first time he has written this event. Just a pity

:29:25. > :29:28.we cannot get involved -- ridden this event. People still finishing

:29:29. > :29:32.now, as indeed I think I probably would be, had I been out there

:29:33. > :29:37.earlier on today. Christian Knees is riding on the front for sky, as he

:29:38. > :29:41.has done for quite a while now. This is some turn he is doing on the

:29:42. > :29:50.front of the peloton, a very powerful rider up the first climb of

:29:51. > :29:56.Ranmore Hill. We have seen him do it so many times for Team Sky. It seems

:29:57. > :30:00.to be Team Sky and Etixx-QuickStep doing the majority of the work. We

:30:01. > :30:05.did see earlier a couple of teams getting involved in the chase. We

:30:06. > :30:11.saw Alex Towson towards the front, riding for the great British

:30:12. > :30:14.national team. There was a lot of teams coming to the front either to

:30:15. > :30:16.try to keep out of trouble, but I think it was to keep the six rider

:30:17. > :30:25.breakaway well within four minutes. Hill interesting collection of

:30:26. > :30:29.riders under the Great Britain flag, Adam Blythe a former winner of this

:30:30. > :30:34.race, very capable finisher. Alex Dowsett of course has had numerous

:30:35. > :30:37.successes including a stage win in the Giro d'Italia a couple of years

:30:38. > :30:45.back and also Dan McLay, I don't know whether he is fresh, but out of

:30:46. > :30:49.his first Tour de France. Finishing third to Mark Cavendish in that

:30:50. > :30:59.stage as well, but let's not forget the other riders. I used to race

:31:00. > :31:07.with his father. That makes me feel old. They have that cyclo-cross

:31:08. > :31:11.rider, Ian Field and Matt Gibson as well. For sure they are riding for

:31:12. > :31:19.Dan McLay, the national jersey on his bike. Dan McLay one of those

:31:20. > :31:24.riders who are starting to make a name, he can go over these clients

:31:25. > :31:29.and I think he will be in there. His first Tour de France here this year

:31:30. > :31:32.was the first time he had been in a race for longer than eight days. He

:31:33. > :31:36.thought the first week was fine but then he was hanging on but he did

:31:37. > :31:42.well to come out of it, 12 on the final day in Paris. That is what it

:31:43. > :31:48.is all about. The final stage says it all. So many top tens in the

:31:49. > :31:53.first half of the race but it is a real difficult race, three weeks is

:31:54. > :31:57.difficult, a lot different to a one-week race. I think if he has

:31:58. > :32:02.looked after himself this week I am sure he will want to be putting on a

:32:03. > :32:07.good performance for the crowd. The breakaway just under three minutes

:32:08. > :32:13.ahead at the moment. They have lost about 20 seconds, 25 seconds on that

:32:14. > :32:20.climb of Ranmore Common, the first time up, Christian Knees reducing

:32:21. > :32:23.their advantage, disappearing into the semi-darkness under the cover of

:32:24. > :32:35.the trees and in the depths of the Surrey countryside. It can often be

:32:36. > :32:43.tricky on roads like this with the tree cover making things difficult

:32:44. > :32:47.for the cyclists, maybe even somewhere to patches. I wonder if we

:32:48. > :32:59.can head out to David Millar who might not be far from the leading

:33:00. > :33:05.riders. Yes,... Yes, hi, we are just, sorry almost saw the crash,

:33:06. > :33:11.very technical descent, trying to miss somebody. The race is on, it

:33:12. > :33:17.feels like this is a roller-coaster but it is interesting to see, when

:33:18. > :33:20.we spoke to Max and the beginning, director sportive for BMC, he said

:33:21. > :33:26.they were right and offensive race, aggressive race, not only that they

:33:27. > :33:33.have last year's winner Jempy Drucker in this move. It has woken

:33:34. > :33:41.up a bit and Asmir coming by, the other riders, all six of them. I

:33:42. > :33:46.think what is going to happen next is Team Sky, if they want to make

:33:47. > :33:52.this race hard and stand a chance with Swifty, they have to ride the

:33:53. > :33:57.aggressive race. You can see from these roads it is so technical if

:33:58. > :34:02.Team Sky pile on the pressure it will wreak havoc. We are looking for

:34:03. > :34:08.the Senate, I am sure you will see more than me, all I can see is

:34:09. > :34:12.madness. It felt as if you are on a roller-coaster, it looked like that

:34:13. > :34:17.as well I have to say. He seems to be enjoying himself too much. Jonas

:34:18. > :34:23.Rickaert the rider who overshot and nearly disappeared into the bushes.

:34:24. > :34:27.And who else but Christian Knees on the front. David mentioning that Sky

:34:28. > :34:31.working hard now to try to close the gap but I think they will have some

:34:32. > :34:35.allies, none more so than perhaps in the blue and black and white of

:34:36. > :34:41.Etixx-Quick-Step. Simon you have seven World Tour First Division

:34:42. > :34:45.teams, eight second division teams, eight continental, third division,

:34:46. > :34:51.teams and two national team, Team GB and Team Rwanda. These roads are

:34:52. > :34:58.very narrow and tricky. Very technical. You have to keep your

:34:59. > :35:02.riders safe and this is what we have seen through the Tour France, Team

:35:03. > :35:10.Sky keeping Chris Froome safe. If you put a rider on the front, your

:35:11. > :35:16.team are allowed to stay out of trouble. We have seen some crashes

:35:17. > :35:21.so keep your riders out of trouble but keep the pressure on, then the

:35:22. > :35:27.bunch starts to get less and less as we get over the lumpy to rain. That

:35:28. > :35:30.is going to suit the likes of BMC, ticks and Team Sky.

:35:31. > :35:44.The overall King of the Mountains situation. Drucker on nine points

:35:45. > :35:55.with Gardias and Lastra. -- Etixx, BMC and Team Sky. Back with the

:35:56. > :35:58.leaders, Drucker at the back, Jelle Wallays in the red and white of

:35:59. > :36:05.Lotto Soudal taking the pace at the front. Dexter Gardias dropping the

:36:06. > :36:12.back from pedal heaven. Former one pro-rider. For him to be here as a

:36:13. > :36:17.success for voting, they have taken a step up, third division team. I

:36:18. > :36:23.love to see the underdogs getting involved. A team like pedal heaven

:36:24. > :36:28.and Madison Genesis getting involved with this breakaway. Matt Holmes the

:36:29. > :36:33.rider from Madison Genesis, only 22, has not had any row wins but I'm

:36:34. > :36:41.sure there is still something to come from him. Seventh this year in

:36:42. > :36:47.the GC, from Lancashire, living in Wigan at the moment. Here's a very

:36:48. > :36:52.strong rider and a great future ahead of him. On the front of the

:36:53. > :37:01.group of six at the moment taking his turn. Began holding at the

:37:02. > :37:05.moment, quite a big step up even in this season for the British-based

:37:06. > :37:10.professional riders because they do not have many races of this

:37:11. > :37:14.intensity and duration? British cycling are trying to look at

:37:15. > :37:17.things, trying to group the criterions and the road races in

:37:18. > :37:30.different parts of the year. The Spring cup. -- criteriums. Maybe not

:37:31. > :37:32.the best progression for a race like this but if you are doing the

:37:33. > :37:44.training for yourself you can makes good good road riding with criterium

:37:45. > :37:52.riding, but for the British riders to go up against the likes of the

:37:53. > :37:55.Belgian champion, former world champion Tom Boonen, Chris Froome,

:37:56. > :37:59.Tour de France winner, it is super motivating. Of the British

:38:00. > :38:03.continental teams you would think they would want to get in the mix.

:38:04. > :38:07.Some of them have got good enough riders being mix at the end, NFTO

:38:08. > :38:14.winning this race in the past with Adam Blythe, Chris Lawless for JLT

:38:15. > :38:20.Condor winning the national criterium championship. From Stewart

:38:21. > :38:25.has a team-mate in the breakaway. I'm hoping to see some of the

:38:26. > :38:30.continental teams in the next. The way things are playing out at the

:38:31. > :38:36.moment this race is fast and hard and they will be up against it. They

:38:37. > :38:40.will be playing with the big boys. David Millar in the middle of it.

:38:41. > :38:48.Simon, we are sitting here waiting for the peloton, not far back. About

:38:49. > :38:53.three minutes, I can see them coming now. I'm interested to see who is at

:38:54. > :38:59.the front. Team Sky have now if they want this to work they will have to

:39:00. > :39:03.go higher. Like you said, it has been a fast race. What we have seen

:39:04. > :39:07.in the past, we have not seen this so fast in the past. It has the

:39:08. > :39:11.potential to really be a tough race. Not like it normally is when of a

:39:12. > :39:16.body is waiting for Box Hill. If they go hard soon there will be a

:39:17. > :39:21.completely different race, very much like a Flanders Classic. Getting the

:39:22. > :39:26.impression looking at it as if sky have decided they are really going

:39:27. > :39:33.for it. They are going to begin to close the gap. Then it is still

:39:34. > :39:43.3.53, it has not come down too much. Knees may be having a look around.

:39:44. > :39:45.-- 2.53. Team Sky in their home race and the Belgian outfit

:39:46. > :39:50.Etixx-Quick-Step, only putting two riders, Christian Knees, the German

:39:51. > :39:53.rider, he will be used up along with the Etixx-Quick-Step rider in second

:39:54. > :39:56.place but there is so much firepower just behind. Every knows you have to

:39:57. > :40:02.ride this race from the front because around these laps when you

:40:03. > :40:08.come off the climb of the day, the RAM more common, the new head

:40:09. > :40:15.towards Box Hill. The last time up man more common is normally wear the

:40:16. > :40:18.race splits. But it looks as if Team Sky and Etixx-Quick-Step want to

:40:19. > :40:22.make this as difficult as possible, as David Millar says, this could

:40:23. > :40:26.turn it on its head. Just when we are thinking in the last few years

:40:27. > :40:31.we have seen springs down The Mall this race could change. Etixx doing

:40:32. > :40:35.their turn on the front as we go back to the leading group. Etixx

:40:36. > :40:41.have a very strong squad here that is not just about Tom Boonen, Niki

:40:42. > :40:46.Terpstra in that field, Matteo Trentin, as well as Martinelli. It

:40:47. > :40:50.is a strong six riders they have got. This is the leading group and

:40:51. > :40:56.they have been at the front fork some considerable time. If you are

:40:57. > :41:02.just joining us there was a delay of just over 20 minutes earlier in the

:41:03. > :41:09.race about 50 km in. A blockage in Dorking. Riders stopped up waiting

:41:10. > :41:20.for it to be cleared and then these six were allowed to go off with the

:41:21. > :41:25.same time gap. No further problems and all is well out on the road.

:41:26. > :41:35.Matt Holmes riding on the front once again. This race, really gaining in

:41:36. > :41:40.reputation and do you not feel. About four years in an hoping to get

:41:41. > :41:44.World Tour recognition as early as next year. Much more difficult for

:41:45. > :41:49.the domestic riders to get opportunities. I am afraid if it

:41:50. > :41:54.does go World Tour, when I say afraid it will be all the best World

:41:55. > :41:57.Tour teams. It would be a fantastic event. Unfortunately there will not

:41:58. > :42:05.be the space for the continental domestic teams. At the same time.

:42:06. > :42:11.They could be the GB team, the cream of the crop could be there. If that

:42:12. > :42:19.is the case then we will see a lot better race, lot better riders but

:42:20. > :42:23.saying that. I went to talk to the teams and they love being here. Tom

:42:24. > :42:28.Boonen was happy. He is motivated to try to win this. One of the last

:42:29. > :42:32.times I saw him winning here was in the Torah Britain when he was

:42:33. > :42:37.wearing the World Championship jersey. He wants to win this race.

:42:38. > :42:41.That is why he has one of his team-mates at the front. Is that

:42:42. > :42:44.primarily because of the way the race is organised here because of

:42:45. > :42:50.the level of enthusiasm at the side of the road? A bit of both. In the

:42:51. > :42:56.London Olympics the crowds coming out, then the Tour de France coming

:42:57. > :42:59.here and Yorkshire and I think everybody that races their bikes

:43:00. > :43:04.especially the sportive riders this morning. We heard from Dame Kelly

:43:05. > :43:08.Holmes. Everybody was just encouraging people, from the side of

:43:09. > :43:13.the road for a sportive, encouraging the amateur bike riders, but the

:43:14. > :43:20.professionals it is an atmosphere. I don't always like playing a game of

:43:21. > :43:25.football against maybe 300 fans. -- I don't know. But when you get

:43:26. > :43:32.100,000 it inspires you and gives you goose bumps. It is the same as

:43:33. > :43:35.cycling. In front of a bigger crowd you up your game. As long as you can

:43:36. > :43:41.get through which has not always been the case particularly in the

:43:42. > :43:45.Tour de France. This event now, 2:44 the gap for the leading riders. This

:43:46. > :43:49.event of course is the legacy event from London 2012 for the English

:43:50. > :43:54.capital and John Douglas spoke with the new Mayor of London Sadiq Khan a

:43:55. > :44:00.little earlier. Enjoying the sunshine here on The Mall, how much

:44:01. > :44:04.are you enjoying RideLondon? It is great, the world's biggest cycling

:44:05. > :44:09.festival this year, more than 100,000 cyclists, people all the way

:44:10. > :44:14.to my shape and size, but to the world's best, Chris Froome and Team

:44:15. > :44:19.GB with in Stannard and Geraint Thomas and I'm excited. Your first

:44:20. > :44:24.RideLondon, firmly establishing itself as a real key date in the

:44:25. > :44:27.calendar. How important is it for the capital city? We want to make it

:44:28. > :44:31.safe and easy for people to ride across the city and what is great as

:44:32. > :44:36.people can ride a bike for the first time when it is safe with the road

:44:37. > :44:40.closed off but also you get to see inspiring cyclist. Tour de France

:44:41. > :44:46.winners, three times, that lifts the spirits. We have to make it easy to

:44:47. > :44:51.cross the city and RideLondon is the world's biggest cycling Festival.

:44:52. > :44:55.You not attempted to jump on a bike yourself that you mark your

:44:56. > :44:59.predecessor of course. I think I could have Boris but I'm not sure

:45:00. > :45:02.about Chris Froome. Looking forward to enjoying as a spectator. I will

:45:03. > :45:09.choose which one to do next day, the lead on all the fun one on Friday.

:45:10. > :45:13.We have seen people on BMX, mums and dads and grandparents, some people

:45:14. > :45:19.today a bit older than me and looking fit. The challenge is on. So

:45:20. > :45:24.we will see on a bike next year. I think I had better. It is important.

:45:25. > :45:29.The great thing about this weekend is the world is seeing London is

:45:30. > :45:30.open. After Brexit it was a concern. We had the premiere yesterday of

:45:31. > :45:41.Harry Potter. Hopefully he'll be swapping that

:45:42. > :45:44.suits for Lycra this time next year and he'll be out on the roads of the

:45:45. > :45:49.capital and in the Surrey countryside as well. Fresh back from

:45:50. > :45:58.her 100 right earlier today, Rachelle Gilmore. Just joined us in

:45:59. > :46:03.the commentary box. I wouldn't exactly say I'm fresh back from the

:46:04. > :46:06.100, I am tired back from the 100. Very demanding. Even though the

:46:07. > :46:11.profile does not look difficult it is a demanding course. You knew what

:46:12. > :46:15.to expect, you have done it before. I have, but that was closer to my

:46:16. > :46:19.retirement so I was a lot fitter. You have your breath back now which

:46:20. > :46:23.is good to see. And what have you made of the race so far? Looks as

:46:24. > :46:28.though it's really starting to intensify. It looks like Sky are

:46:29. > :46:32.doing a lot of work and of course they would want this victory on home

:46:33. > :46:37.roads and the fans would love to see that. It would be very exciting if

:46:38. > :46:41.Froome could get the win. It's not a course that's really suited to him,

:46:42. > :46:45.not quite hilly enough. We've seen that his racing style has changed a

:46:46. > :46:49.lot and I'd be really excited to see him have a go, anyway. Interesting

:46:50. > :46:53.when I was talking to him this morning, just saying the fact that

:46:54. > :46:56.he'd won the Tour de France in a different way this year and he'd

:46:57. > :47:00.shown some real panache in the way he had ridden at times. And whether

:47:01. > :47:05.he felt that it had come from trying to work on what were perceived

:47:06. > :47:09.weaknesses that he had, or whether it was just a matter of confidence

:47:10. > :47:12.and the fact that now he had greater confidence in knowing what he was

:47:13. > :47:15.capable of achieving so therefore he would go out and do it? I think he

:47:16. > :47:20.has mature over the last couple of years into that role. He was always

:47:21. > :47:25.worried about his other competitors, that's why he was always taking the

:47:26. > :47:29.chances. In the end Team Sky was too strong and Chris Froome was too

:47:30. > :47:33.strong. The strong this man won in the end, which we all want to see.

:47:34. > :47:38.Even today it's going to be a strong man that wins. You know there are

:47:39. > :47:41.some Aussies in this race today? Absolutely, I think Michael Matthews

:47:42. > :47:45.would be a good chance if it comes back together for a bunch sprint. He

:47:46. > :47:52.won a stage of the Tour de France. It would be great to see him win. He

:47:53. > :47:55.could do a Kirsten Wild and hide among the wheels until the last

:47:56. > :48:01.moment possible. One thing we were talking about just before when she

:48:02. > :48:06.came into the commentary booth, predominantly in the Tour de France

:48:07. > :48:11.teams are made up of nine riders. In most of other men's racing it is a

:48:12. > :48:16.dry this. On this race it has aways been six riders, same with Tour of

:48:17. > :48:21.Britain. In women's racing predominantly it is all teams of

:48:22. > :48:26.six. So how do you think this plays out in men is a sin, that they only

:48:27. > :48:38.have six riders instead of eight? -- in men's racing. In the Tour de

:48:39. > :48:40.France we see these trains in the sprints. In women's you

:48:41. > :48:44.predominantly have to chase everything down, so your lead out

:48:45. > :48:47.train can be reduced to less numbers. Sometimes only one or two

:48:48. > :48:51.riders. I think that makes a big difference when it comes down to a

:48:52. > :48:54.bunch sprint. Some riders might have been used in the race, they might

:48:55. > :48:58.have been working really hard after a break. That's the biggest

:48:59. > :49:03.difference with the reduced number of riders in the team's. One thing I

:49:04. > :49:07.have noticed in women's cycling is that the breakaway does not get too

:49:08. > :49:13.many minutes away down the road. Exactly the same as men's racing,

:49:14. > :49:17.you put less team riders, and the breakaway never gets a big distance.

:49:18. > :49:21.If there are eight riders, they could get to seven, eight, nine, ten

:49:22. > :49:26.minutes. But they had it at four minutes and came to the front and

:49:27. > :49:28.started riding straightaway. Well, exactly, they could lose a couple of

:49:29. > :49:34.riders and their numbers are reduced. It's quite dangerous to let

:49:35. > :49:39.that break go out. Yes, in women's cycling they don't. But also because

:49:40. > :49:43.in a lot of races they do not have team radios and it's difficult to

:49:44. > :49:47.trust the information you are being given. So they try to keep the

:49:48. > :49:53.breakaway is a little bit closer. It's fairly interesting. I prefer

:49:54. > :49:59.smaller teams. I think it's better racing. We have seen it in Britain

:50:00. > :50:04.over the last few years, it's always an unpredictable race. I don't like

:50:05. > :50:11.seeing too many teams controlling things from start to finish. I just

:50:12. > :50:15.love it. Obviously watching the ascendancy of women's cycling as

:50:16. > :50:18.well, there are some great races. Kirsten Wild did a great win

:50:19. > :50:25.yesterday. And it was an exciting race. It's always attacking and

:50:26. > :50:30.aggressive, and great television. There was a big question mark over

:50:31. > :50:34.whether Kirsten Wild could win yesterday. She came in as one of the

:50:35. > :50:36.favourites being one of the best sprinters in the world, it had her

:50:37. > :50:41.name written all over it but there was a big question mark. And like

:50:42. > :50:44.you said before, it is great to see the best rider win. On the course

:50:45. > :50:48.they raced yesterday she was the favourite and she won in fine style

:50:49. > :50:54.with a lot of power. From the moment she hit the front with whatever it

:50:55. > :51:00.was, 250 to go, you just knew she was going to win and nobody would

:51:01. > :51:05.stop. She put legs into her competitors. One of the outside

:51:06. > :51:10.favourites, Chloe Hosking, who won in Paris the week before, but like

:51:11. > :51:13.we know in sport, she had a terrible sprint yesterday, boxed in, may not

:51:14. > :51:19.have had the legs. That would have been the biggest competition for

:51:20. > :51:23.Kirsten Wild. But when she sprinted she just pulled away from her

:51:24. > :51:27.competitors. A very convincing sprint. Any initial reaction from

:51:28. > :51:31.the women's peloton to the classic? The first time it was held last

:51:32. > :51:36.night. Up until last night it had been a circuit race just around St

:51:37. > :51:40.James' Park but now it's a five and a half kilometre circuit around many

:51:41. > :51:43.iconic sights of central London. I think they really loved the slightly

:51:44. > :51:47.longer course and the thing that changed it up a bit was the

:51:48. > :51:51.technical U-turns. That takes a lot out of the legs. It's quite a skill

:51:52. > :51:55.to get around a U-turn, having won so close to the finish, it was

:51:56. > :52:01.important to be in position. Some riders caught out a bit far back.

:52:02. > :52:04.One of the canyon riders put the hammer down out of the U-turn all

:52:05. > :52:08.the way to the finish. It was an exciting race. The leading riders on

:52:09. > :52:13.the climb up to run more common. Let's join David Miller out in the

:52:14. > :52:16.race. Sky are doing exactly what I hoped they would do. They have

:52:17. > :52:21.launched an attack as soon as they got onto a small road. We can see be

:52:22. > :52:26.hind, I can't quite see who it is, I'm sure you can see better than I,

:52:27. > :52:29.but they launched. Keeping controlled pace. Etixx-QuickStep and

:52:30. > :52:33.Team Sky. All of a sudden Team Sky have launched a full offensive.

:52:34. > :52:38.Because the road is so narrow it's going to rip the race to pieces.

:52:39. > :52:41.This is brilliant, I love this! You better get a move on, they are

:52:42. > :52:46.coming after you from what we can see. Two riders from Team Sky and it

:52:47. > :52:49.looks like Geraint Thomas, the second rider with the white glasses,

:52:50. > :52:55.looking at his knees at the moment but that in fact is Geraint Thomas.

:52:56. > :53:01.Who is now riding on the front. Is that Ian Stannard with him? It was

:53:02. > :53:05.actually Ben Swift. Trying to launch Geraint Thomas on this kind possibly

:53:06. > :53:10.to try to come across to this breakaway, and who better than the

:53:11. > :53:13.Welshman, Geraint Thomas, to do it? Obviously he had a terrific Tour de

:53:14. > :53:20.France. This is a plan that has been set up. As the saying goes it has

:53:21. > :53:24.thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. With the discussion we had before

:53:25. > :53:29.about nine and six riders, would it normally be the job of Ben Swift to

:53:30. > :53:33.do that, to set him up to launch, take a bit of the sting out of the

:53:34. > :53:37.legs? If it comes down to a bunch sprint he will be called up to race

:53:38. > :53:41.for the victory. Matt Holmes crossing for the King of the

:53:42. > :53:50.Mountains. Jempy Drucker third over the line. Looks as though we have

:53:51. > :53:52.two riders vying for the minor competitions out on the road,

:53:53. > :54:20.definitely Matt Holmes for Madison Genesis looking

:54:21. > :54:22.for the King of the Mountains, at the back, looking to get involved in

:54:23. > :54:25.that competition and get some points for the sprints competition. This

:54:26. > :54:28.original group of six down to four. Back to our man with the mike on the

:54:29. > :54:31.bike. It looks like Geraint Thomas has been the chosen one and we have

:54:32. > :54:33.not seen this happen before. It is one of their leaders. This really

:54:34. > :54:37.puts the pressure on everybody else to race and Geraint Hughes is in

:54:38. > :54:41.full flight. The peloton is not far behind but sky are covering

:54:42. > :54:44.everything. Teams like Oracle bike exchange, BMC if they choose, or

:54:45. > :54:46.Etixx-QuickStep to shut it down. And then I imagine never be another

:54:47. > :54:53.counterattack. It is in full flight now. And this is the first time we

:54:54. > :54:57.have seen it in London. I just wonder whether that is Chris Froome

:54:58. > :55:03.riding behind him up towards the front? It is Chris Froome. Alongside

:55:04. > :55:06.somebody from BMC. I think Team Sky, it doesn't matter, they can send as

:55:07. > :55:11.many guys up there, because the road is so narrow, the race is blocked

:55:12. > :55:15.behind. They may as well launch Chris Froome, Ian Stannard, put them

:55:16. > :55:18.all up there. I've got Geraint Hughes. They could have three or

:55:19. > :55:23.four guys in a front group of ten if they like. Fair to say they are

:55:24. > :55:27.strung up all over the lane as they head up towards Ranmore common. Many

:55:28. > :55:32.were asking why Chris Froome was coming to ride London off the back

:55:33. > :55:36.of the Tour de France. This is why. He has come here to race. He has

:55:37. > :55:40.come to show the public what he did in France for three weeks. This race

:55:41. > :55:44.is going to be in bits soon. This has played out the way Sky wanted it

:55:45. > :55:47.to play out and it's being controlled by them. You can see

:55:48. > :55:52.everybody just rang to grab wheels in this group behind. Everybody

:55:53. > :55:58.doesn't know what's happening, who's up the road, who's behind. Great to

:55:59. > :56:01.see this blistering attack from Geraint Thomas. Interesting, I don't

:56:02. > :56:05.know how the pair of you feel about what has happened to Thomas later in

:56:06. > :56:08.terms of the Tour de France. Last year he finished 15th and everybody

:56:09. > :56:14.said, how fantastic it was, how well he had done, in the top few apart

:56:15. > :56:18.from one bad day in the mountains, clearly doing an awful lot of work

:56:19. > :56:22.on Chris Froome's behalf. This year he finished 15th as well but people

:56:23. > :56:26.were much more muted about it. I think he's doing what he is destined

:56:27. > :56:29.to do, and that is to help someone else win the Tour de France,

:56:30. > :56:36.unfortunately. I think he's one of the best riders to do that.

:56:37. > :56:41.Sometimes you know what your job is, when you get to the pro ranks, and

:56:42. > :56:47.you become a pro rider for a few years, you know what you are best

:56:48. > :56:52.at. Geraint definitely could finish top six, maybe top three in the Tour

:56:53. > :56:58.de France. But he is the heart of the Sky team. Is he a Flanders man,

:56:59. > :57:04.for your money? I would love to see him purely right for the Classics.

:57:05. > :57:07.But we look at the Tour of Switzerland, when he really thinned

:57:08. > :57:13.down, and he went there to try to win General classification. He came

:57:14. > :57:18.out with nothing because he cramped in the cold temperatures. It was

:57:19. > :57:23.freezing cold rain. But they get the best out of them. And Geraint is

:57:24. > :57:27.somebody, no matter what you do, whatever race you are in, you'd want

:57:28. > :57:31.him as your right-hand man. But I still believe he's got another

:57:32. > :57:41.classic in him. Let's get back to David Miller on the road. This is

:57:42. > :57:44.cracking stuff. Yes. Just wondering whether you are just in front of

:57:45. > :57:48.Geraint Thomas at the moment? Where are you out on the road? We've just

:57:49. > :57:52.come over the plateau through the feed zone and Geraint Thomas is

:57:53. > :57:57.really making a difference now. If we wait here, here he comes now, is

:57:58. > :58:05.pushing on. He hesitated for a bit, saw his team-mates going. There he

:58:06. > :58:09.goes. I can see them right now. There are about 25 riders left, only

:58:10. > :58:14.25, so the damage is done, and this is perfect for Team Sky. They can

:58:15. > :58:19.just mark stuff. That's Chris Froome himself marking, I think it was

:58:20. > :58:25.Michael Matthews. BMC and Oracle bike exchange chasing. Sky sitting

:58:26. > :58:29.on and using Geraint as the rabbits to chase. Great tactics, and you can

:58:30. > :58:35.see the gap. A group of 20 riders and nobody behind. A minute and 16

:58:36. > :58:39.seconds then, the gap held by the six riders at the front. Gap coming

:58:40. > :58:49.down all the time. But it's a very select grouping behind now, isn't

:58:50. > :58:52.it? Amazing racing by. Geraint Hughes was looking over his shoulder

:58:53. > :58:57.a lot, obviously the team tactics and the plans. It's a brilliant

:58:58. > :59:01.plan. And I'm sure after a very short time you can see that Chris

:59:02. > :59:07.Froome was coming, only a group of four, very exciting racing. We'll

:59:08. > :59:12.just have to wait and see, because I think Danny Van Poppel is another

:59:13. > :59:16.carrot for Team Sky to play. It will be interesting to see who it is.

:59:17. > :59:23.Hoping David can get in amongst the group of 25 riders behind. Very

:59:24. > :59:27.interesting. The speed Geraint is coming up, he's just going to fly

:59:28. > :59:31.past. He was trying to use the motorbikes but I don't think he

:59:32. > :59:36.needs one committees on a motorbike himself! Geraint Thomas himself is

:59:37. > :59:40.absolutely fine. The men's road race in the Olympic Games in Rio is a

:59:41. > :59:43.week away today. Talking to Chris Froome about that this morning as

:59:44. > :59:50.well, whether it was all about Project Froome or whether there was

:59:51. > :59:53.a plan B, C, maybe even D. When you look at the British team it's a very

:59:54. > :59:58.strong team, all of those riders have great potential on a circuit

:59:59. > :00:03.like that. The thing I like about the road race, it is a bit of a

:00:04. > :00:08.lottery. You've got to have options for different riders. I know they

:00:09. > :00:13.came to the Olympics in London here with Mark Cavendish in mind, they

:00:14. > :00:17.had one plan and that was to try to ride at the front and control

:00:18. > :00:21.things. I think if they go to the Rio Olympics with the opportunity to

:00:22. > :00:24.look at every option, whether it's putting the likes of Steve Cummings

:00:25. > :00:30.in a breakaway, we know what he's capable of doing from the Tour de

:00:31. > :00:35.France. He is capable of doing it from a breakaway. Chris Froome, if

:00:36. > :00:38.he comes back, is very capable of winning the road race, but it is a

:00:39. > :00:44.bit of a lottery. I understand what Chris Froome wants to do. Dare I say

:00:45. > :00:45.it, Bradley Wiggins, he won the Tour de France and went on to win Olympic

:00:46. > :01:02.gold. I think Chris Froome is capable of

:01:03. > :01:07.it. I mentioned it to him is? We have a great competition there but

:01:08. > :01:11.like I say, just before Rachelle, when you have a time trial it is

:01:12. > :01:15.different to the Ray Lewis, especially the Olympics when you are

:01:16. > :01:20.reduced in numbers. It can be a bit of a lottery. If you want the

:01:21. > :01:26.Olympic of you would go for the individual race. Exactly. And I

:01:27. > :01:36.think that might be Chris Froome's ambition. But we know here's a race,

:01:37. > :01:41.he is really racing here. In the road race he is breaking. I think

:01:42. > :01:46.Weetles and exciting road race but his thoughts are on the time trial.

:01:47. > :01:51.We could see him handing over the lead role to one of his team-mates.

:01:52. > :01:54.Next Saturday the road race in the Olympic games, the women's road race

:01:55. > :01:59.of course with Lizzie Armitstead among the favourites for Great

:02:00. > :02:03.Britain, one of the big favourite for gold but that would be very

:02:04. > :02:09.keenly contested. A number of other riders will really fancy their

:02:10. > :02:14.chances on a hilly course like that. The Rio course is a hard-core is

:02:15. > :02:20.that it is so open. Yukonite name and 12 riders that will have a

:02:21. > :02:24.chance of winning. Lizzie has been dominant, able to pull off the road

:02:25. > :02:27.race championship win last year with every single rider watching her and

:02:28. > :02:33.she was the favourite after a very strong season. She can win in those

:02:34. > :02:42.circumstances. It will be very hotly contested road race. How to do you

:02:43. > :02:47.feel, by the way Thomas still hurtling through the country lanes,

:02:48. > :02:53.mopping up the remnants of the breakaway at the moment. The latest

:02:54. > :02:58.to be caught, Dexter Gardias, who is trying to hang on now to Geraint

:02:59. > :03:03.Thomas. Briefly about the course in Rio, from what you have seen, is it

:03:04. > :03:08.unusually tough? Is it the sort of course that only comes around very

:03:09. > :03:18.infrequently. In terms of world road championship, people still talk

:03:19. > :03:35.about 1981 with Bernard Hinault winning. I think it is a bit like

:03:36. > :03:50.that course. Even the Belgian rider search Pouls was up there. Looking

:03:51. > :03:58.at 19 81, then you had: via since then. I road the World Championships

:03:59. > :04:06.in 92 in Stuttgart when it was just up and down. Very difficult. I think

:04:07. > :04:13.it might reduce a slightly different winner. But it might throw up a

:04:14. > :04:23.surprise winner. Maybe someone we have not seen racing so much could

:04:24. > :04:27.come out. It is a tough circuit. But maybe these tough circuits could

:04:28. > :04:32.lend themselves to a slightly easier race. It is about how it is raised.

:04:33. > :04:49.It is a very tough circuit. Let's catch up with David. Of this

:04:50. > :05:00.group of 20 riders, interestingly four BMC riders, only one Sky, Chris

:05:01. > :05:04.Froome. Look at that. The peloton nowhere to be seen. Let's go! We can

:05:05. > :05:16.see how far Geraint Thomas is in front. This is the gap, coming up on

:05:17. > :05:20.Geraint Thomas massive gap. Sky have had their tactic work but now

:05:21. > :05:28.Geraint is isolated. And there he is. Straight through. He has

:05:29. > :05:35.bridged, three riders, there we go. And here we go, in Stannard, Geraint

:05:36. > :05:42.Thomas, and we have got, let's see, two sky riders working together,

:05:43. > :05:47.Chris Froome behind locking with BMC, they are the big riders own.

:05:48. > :05:51.Geraint and Ian have all the responsible at it. And dusty

:05:52. > :05:56.construction of the gap gained by Geraint Thomas in the last few

:05:57. > :06:04.minutes. The distance he gained on the rest of the riders. It is great

:06:05. > :06:16.to see when you can visually see it. On the front, the young rider, if I

:06:17. > :06:24.was Pat Bevan, Rachelle, I would be slightly worried in this company.

:06:25. > :06:29.Absolutely, not tapping through for so many longer turns on the front.

:06:30. > :06:32.The way in Stannard rides he might not have the opportunity to do many

:06:33. > :06:45.turns on the front, but now he goes to the front. Dexter Gardias was in

:06:46. > :06:56.the early breakaway group and we are getting some real-time information

:06:57. > :07:03.now coming from Pat Bevin, as you can see some other riders are wired

:07:04. > :07:07.up. Everybody has different outputs, it is nice to see, unless you know

:07:08. > :07:15.exactly what the maximum heart rate is, the power outputs, it is a nice

:07:16. > :07:20.bit of information put together by them, honestly trying to bring this

:07:21. > :07:26.information to our screens. It is nice to mix with what we already see

:07:27. > :07:32.from the riders. This is so far has been the dominant performance by

:07:33. > :07:35.Team Sky. We were talking about where their options live. It does

:07:36. > :07:44.not look as though Sannuvand Popple, their sprinter, really wanted to

:07:45. > :07:47.take it on today. They wanted to be like an early-season Classic, that

:07:48. > :07:54.is where we normally see the likes of in Stannard and Geraint Thomas

:07:55. > :07:58.giving pain out to every body else. The fact BMC have last year's winner

:07:59. > :08:04.Jempy Drucker in this move and four riders back, there is a big call now

:08:05. > :08:08.for BMC, do they call off Drucker because it looks as though Stannard

:08:09. > :08:12.and Garrard are coming across which might Jempy Drucker you have two

:08:13. > :08:18.member is pushing on. He wants to give Stannard and Geraint Thomas a

:08:19. > :08:32.harder time to try to come across. BMC under the cosh. Three riders

:08:33. > :08:40.chasing effectively. He has another life today, it does look as if Pat

:08:41. > :08:44.Bevin from Canada Drapac is working with the Sky riders. -- Cannondale

:08:45. > :08:51.Drapac. They have been going full gas and it is nice to see him still

:08:52. > :08:55.in there, in good company with the likes of Jempy Drucker and Jelle

:08:56. > :09:02.Wallays, nice to see Matt holds involved. And also Lastra, 23 year

:09:03. > :09:05.rolled Spanish rider, he was leading the King of the Mountains in the

:09:06. > :09:15.Basque country earlier this, no slouch. Going back to the BMC

:09:16. > :09:19.tactics, they have last year's winner, who has already been doing

:09:20. > :09:24.lots of work. This fresh firepower coming across with the Sky riders,

:09:25. > :09:33.BMC have to make the call, whether they chase them down or they allow

:09:34. > :09:39.Jempy Drucker his opportunity. If that is the case and the gap is

:09:40. > :09:45.going on even more. If I was BMC and say, gently, save some of your

:09:46. > :09:49.energy because you will need it. -- Jempy. I think he feels right

:09:50. > :09:52.confident in this group and he wants them to get to the finish so he is

:09:53. > :09:58.doing the majority of the work. Some very strong bike riders chasing him

:09:59. > :10:04.down. Like you say, prime, he will have to make a decision on this.

:10:05. > :10:13.Jelle Wallays leading them through talking. Coming up to the next

:10:14. > :10:16.sprint, very shortly. All eyes on the bigger prize I think, the gap

:10:17. > :10:24.coming down all the time. Chipping away, Geraint Thomas and Ian

:10:25. > :10:32.Stannard with Pat Bevin of the Cannondale Drapac team. And here

:10:33. > :10:44.come the leading riders. Lastra from Caja Rural on the front, Wallays on

:10:45. > :10:47.his wheel. Drucker bringing up the rear behind Mackems. He has been the

:10:48. > :10:52.chief animator in the last few minutes. The chasers now, Ian

:10:53. > :10:56.Stannard, the wonderful diesel that he is, powering along, dishing it

:10:57. > :11:07.out to everybody in his vicinity. You get the impression with

:11:08. > :11:16.Stannard, but bit like he can do it all day. In the national Japanese

:11:17. > :11:22.ships everybody said he was going to early. But both of these Sky riders

:11:23. > :11:32.have been national champions. This gap coming down. What they will want

:11:33. > :11:38.to do is try to come across and close the gap on the next climb of

:11:39. > :11:43.Ranmore Common. I will be interested to see where David is an see who is

:11:44. > :11:54.chasing behind. To see what the gap is. David Millar. I am just, this is

:11:55. > :11:57.the group chasing, we are in Dorking, over one minutes behind

:11:58. > :12:04.already and there is no organised chase. As you can see, random

:12:05. > :12:08.attacks, but Geraint Thomas, G, Patrick Bevin, they are gone. This

:12:09. > :12:15.is not looking good for BMC, they need to do something or it is all

:12:16. > :12:22.over. And back with the leaders on the main road out of Dorking,

:12:23. > :12:28.heading north at the moment on the A24, the vineyard on the left-hand

:12:29. > :12:35.side any second. They will make a left-hand turn in a couple of

:12:36. > :12:39.minutes. 75 km still to go in this prudential RideLondon Surrey

:12:40. > :12:44.Classic. It looks like they are in disarray, Mat Hayman looking at Alex

:12:45. > :12:50.Dowsett for the Team GB but it does not look like there is any concerted

:12:51. > :12:57.chase. BMC have made their choice, I think they will go with Jempy today.

:12:58. > :13:01.He won last year, he seems to be riding, there is no concerted effort

:13:02. > :13:08.from BMC behind. If they were already losing a minute to the likes

:13:09. > :13:11.of Stannard and Geraint it looks as if they have gone. Nice to see the

:13:12. > :13:18.young Kiwi Pat Bevin involved with Cannondale Drapac. This rider hit,

:13:19. > :13:28.Rachelle, Matt Hunn is riding for a domestic team, just coming off the

:13:29. > :13:32.back of a lot of criteriums in the UK. The road surface getting smooth

:13:33. > :13:40.until you get to Box Hill but he is doing a great job. During his terms

:13:41. > :13:43.there. Fantastic job from a rider who races domestic league in such a

:13:44. > :13:47.big race. As this has become in the last couple of the. Very globally

:13:48. > :13:53.recognised race, big names just before the Olympics. Globally

:13:54. > :13:59.recognised event ticking on number of cycling boxes with so many

:14:00. > :14:03.thousands of cyclists around, over 100,000 taking part in all of the

:14:04. > :14:07.various events. Riders still finishing in the right 100 and ride

:14:08. > :14:11.46 coming past opposition here on The Mall at the moment. The official

:14:12. > :14:17.charity this year the WellChild charity, Colin Evans one of those

:14:18. > :14:21.riding for their charity and he spoke with Jill Douglas. Good to see

:14:22. > :14:26.you over the line, we heard from you earlier talking about what it meant

:14:27. > :14:32.to take part. Was it worth it? It was fantastic. Great riding around

:14:33. > :14:37.London, closed roads, and the crowds as you come back into London

:14:38. > :14:44.absolutely unbelievable. Was it as you expected? I did not know what to

:14:45. > :14:46.expect, I have to say. The hills were more challenging than I thought

:14:47. > :14:53.they were going to be. Coming from Yorkshire we have lots of ills. I

:14:54. > :14:59.thought it would be a fairly flat ride. I really enjoyed it. Good

:15:00. > :15:03.response Beasley for the WellChild charity, of course that is the

:15:04. > :15:08.designated charity this year. How important was it for you to ride

:15:09. > :15:14.with the jersey? It is a charity really close to my heart. WellChild

:15:15. > :15:22.got us out of hospital in the first place. They do such important work.

:15:23. > :15:26.It is a really important charity. And I liked riding round with the

:15:27. > :15:30.jersey on and showing support for them. I'm sure the family cheering

:15:31. > :15:34.you on as well very proud. I cannot wait to see them again. Weldon,

:15:35. > :15:42.thank you very much indeed. One of so many great stories coming

:15:43. > :15:47.out of the right 100 earlier today on the roads of London and Surrey.

:15:48. > :15:50.Back with the leaders and that advantage is slipping away, three

:15:51. > :15:58.quarters of the minute now. It was a group of six earlier on this

:15:59. > :16:06.afternoon, now down to four. Trucker, Wallays, Lastra and homes

:16:07. > :16:14.those at the front. Climbing up Rushmore, one more time. Lastra

:16:15. > :16:25.taking that one on the line. On the climb now to Ranmore, once again.

:16:26. > :16:31.Beautiful day for a bike race, around 23 or 24 degrees out there.

:16:32. > :16:38.Predominantly Sunni, as you can see. -- predominantly sunny. Racing

:16:39. > :16:41.pretty intense out there on the country lanes at the moment as Matt

:16:42. > :16:50.Holmes from Madison Genesis leads the way. In this king of the

:16:51. > :16:53.mountain section of the course. He took the points at the top of the

:16:54. > :16:57.climb last time round and will be hoping to do the same once again.

:16:58. > :17:03.Drucker sitting on the back at the moment. Lastra in green in second

:17:04. > :17:09.place. Number 61, Jelle Wallays, the strong young Belgian rider who made

:17:10. > :17:15.the step up to the World Tour level at Lotto Soudal. Quick to get

:17:16. > :17:18.himself in this breakaway. The thing is, you have four riders from mixed

:17:19. > :17:25.levels of world cycling. Matt Holmes from a level three division team.

:17:26. > :17:33.Lastra in a second division team, and the two World Tour riders. They

:17:34. > :17:36.are kind of the bigger fish with a couple of minor competitions in the

:17:37. > :17:39.King of the Mountains and spring, additions, it does look as though

:17:40. > :17:43.Matt Holmes could be on the podium for that and Lastra could be taking

:17:44. > :17:46.the sprints competition. It's nice to see that they've got a bit of

:17:47. > :17:52.collaboration from the World Tour riders, allowing the likes of Matt

:17:53. > :17:56.Holmes and Lastra to take the points and give them that opportunity to

:17:57. > :17:59.get on the podium. But to get on a podium for this type of race you've

:18:00. > :18:09.got to try hard, take the points. You've got to be there. Nice to see

:18:10. > :18:12.both Lastra and Holmes in there aren't holding their own. Likely to

:18:13. > :18:18.get company before too long, do you not think? Very much so. Looks like

:18:19. > :18:23.Wallays sitting on the front for Lotto Soudal is pushing hard today

:18:24. > :18:25.with Jempy Drucker. They do not want Stannard, Geraint Hughes and Pat

:18:26. > :18:29.Bevan to join them, they want to make it as difficult as they can.

:18:30. > :18:37.The last time at Ranmore common and then we head towards Box Hill.

:18:38. > :18:41.Normally the race towards Box Hill, that's what made the race over the

:18:42. > :18:47.last few years, but Team Sky have just thrown that away, and have

:18:48. > :18:54.decided to go further out. Looking at the time gap now back to the

:18:55. > :19:02.peloton, it does look as if Team Sky, with two riders coming across,

:19:03. > :19:07.this could be their time in the RideLondon classic. Still got 71

:19:08. > :19:10.kilometres to go before we find out who will win this race but they have

:19:11. > :19:15.made sure that it's far from formulaic. And continuing in the

:19:16. > :19:19.vein of their Tour de France race, perhaps taking people by surprise

:19:20. > :19:23.and racing in a way that people might not necessarily have been

:19:24. > :19:28.expecting. Geraint Thomas on the front, Stannard hanging on, swinging

:19:29. > :19:32.the bike from side to side. Seven World Tour teams in this race and

:19:33. > :19:37.right from the start Etixx-QuickStep put a rider towards the front

:19:38. > :19:43.thinking of their riders. We saw Tom Boonen winning a stage last week and

:19:44. > :19:47.getting the yellow jersey. Their team has pretty much been decimated.

:19:48. > :19:51.I never saw many of them in the chasing group with Chris Froome. So

:19:52. > :19:56.it's going to be a hard pill to swallow if they don't get something

:19:57. > :19:59.from this race. Another word with David Miller. Were you surprised at

:20:00. > :20:08.how quickly Etixx-QuickStep were taken out of the equation,

:20:09. > :20:15.seemingly? Not sure whether we can contact David at the moment. Can you

:20:16. > :20:21.hear us, David question up we will see if we can get back to David

:20:22. > :20:25.Miller shortly as the crowd wait at the top. And here come the leading

:20:26. > :20:33.riders. Maybe the trees are getting in the way and interrupting our

:20:34. > :20:36.signal. Hopefully we will get back to David Millar for his insightful

:20:37. > :20:42.analysis again shortly. The advantage slowly being whittled away

:20:43. > :20:46.by the Geraint Thomas group. Good to see them in such fine form. We knew

:20:47. > :20:50.they were going well because of their efforts in the Tour de France.

:20:51. > :20:55.Clearly hanging onto their form and their focus ahead of the Olympic

:20:56. > :20:59.Games road race next weekend. Here we go, up towards the line for one

:21:00. > :21:04.final time in the King of the Mountains. Holmes, presumably if he

:21:05. > :21:09.has anything left, will try to make a sprints to ensure he is first

:21:10. > :21:12.across the line. Certainly making sure he just nudges in front of

:21:13. > :21:17.Jelle Wallays at the last moment. Yeah, good job. He'd done a lot of

:21:18. > :21:21.riding on the lower slopes, and takes the points. I think we will be

:21:22. > :21:25.seeing him later on in the podium. Stannard and Geraint Thomas have got

:21:26. > :21:31.a good young rider with them, Pat Bevan, the current national time

:21:32. > :21:35.trial champion of New Zealand. So they have a strong rider with them.

:21:36. > :21:39.It does look as if the gap is coming down all the time. It will be

:21:40. > :21:43.interesting to see what is, again, happening behind, with the Froome

:21:44. > :21:47.group, if there is any attempt to chase. I think they are a bit

:21:48. > :21:50.shocked in the group behind, I don't think they expected this and I don't

:21:51. > :21:55.think they know what to do to stop this happening. Because you've got

:21:56. > :21:59.two of the stronger striders in the race, Ian Stannard and Geraint

:22:00. > :22:04.Thomas, is appearing down the race. That's a lot of firepower to let go.

:22:05. > :22:09.Absolutely. I think we can join David Millar on the course. Were you

:22:10. > :22:16.surprised how quickly Etixx were seemingly taken out of the equation?

:22:17. > :22:19.Yes, seeing Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas driving forward. They dropped

:22:20. > :22:30.Pat Bevan Pedal Heaven. Date are working well together with

:22:31. > :22:35.Pat Bevan. The race is in disarray. It would appear the MCI playing the

:22:36. > :22:40.Jempy Drucker card. We can still see a bit of a gap, about 50 seconds to

:22:41. > :22:47.the front group, behind that, then it's back to the group. They are not

:22:48. > :22:55.waiting, they are going to keep going. Significant gap for them to

:22:56. > :22:59.close. I have to say that gap was a bit bigger than I thought it was

:23:00. > :23:07.going to be. It seems bigger when you go over in the motorbike. It

:23:08. > :23:13.will be about 40 seconds. We question the tactics of the other

:23:14. > :23:22.teams. Etixx have been taken out of the equation. The call has come out.

:23:23. > :23:28.He obviously wants to go for it. Playing that card. With four riders

:23:29. > :23:36.in the group behind, you would think it would be difficult to win this

:23:37. > :23:39.again. That's why Jempy Drucker and Jelle Wallays have been told to put

:23:40. > :23:47.pressure on, make it difficult, don't make it easier for them to

:23:48. > :23:51.come across. The race is still on. Nice to see Adam Lyth in the script,

:23:52. > :23:54.he'll be hoping he can duck and dive. He said at the top of the show

:23:55. > :24:00.he wanted to follow the Team Sky train. Just goes to show how

:24:01. > :24:04.difficult it was when they went. Left the station a bit earlier than

:24:05. > :24:09.he was expecting. Exactly, missed the train. Maybe he never had a

:24:10. > :24:19.ticket. Tremendous race, here. And we still have the thick end of 70

:24:20. > :24:25.kilometres still to go. Here we are with the front group with Jelle

:24:26. > :24:28.Wallays piling it on. And on his wheel is Drucker. Lastra in green

:24:29. > :24:33.and white in third, and Holmes at the back of the quartet. Chasing

:24:34. > :24:37.group just over half a minute behind with Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas

:24:38. > :24:43.and Patrick Bevin. Bevan, by the way, was third in the prologue of

:24:44. > :24:47.Paris - Nice. Good tester, good time trialist. Good, strong young rider.

:24:48. > :24:55.Just going into his mid-20s now. Taking some fluid on board. Nice to

:24:56. > :24:59.see the Cannondale-Drapac car came up, had a word with the two Team Sky

:25:00. > :25:04.riders and gave them a bottle as well. You've got to remember in this

:25:05. > :25:09.race there is only one car. In Grand Tours and other tours there are two

:25:10. > :25:14.cars. It looks as though the Team Sky car is stuck behind the Chris

:25:15. > :25:19.Froome group. Back out into the peloton and let's join David. Yeah,

:25:20. > :25:27.we've just been waiting, you can see the three guys. They are only 20

:25:28. > :25:31.seconds behind now. Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Patrick Bevin, are

:25:32. > :25:36.less than 20 seconds now. I think you can tell the four riders at the

:25:37. > :25:40.front seemed to have dropped their pace a little bit, almost allowing

:25:41. > :25:43.these three riders to get out. I think they know that three riders of

:25:44. > :25:46.this calibre coming up to them, that's going to mean a strong group

:25:47. > :25:53.of seven riders who could possibly make it all the way to the finish.

:25:54. > :25:55.Certainly when you look at it, a gap of two and three quarters minutes,

:25:56. > :26:00.you would think these riders would contest it one way or another? I

:26:01. > :26:04.think it's going to make for a very exciting finish. We've seen this

:26:05. > :26:08.before at RideLondon, cat and mouse games in the final kilometres. Who's

:26:09. > :26:12.going to make the last moment attacks, and will it come down to a

:26:13. > :26:16.bunch sprint between these seven riders that will come together? We

:26:17. > :26:21.saw some words from the back of the lead group now, with Stannard

:26:22. > :26:27.speaking to Bevan about whether he was going to pull some more tones or

:26:28. > :26:31.just sit on the back. Maybe they are looking for a little bit of

:26:32. > :26:34.assistance. They've made it difficult, the riders on the front,

:26:35. > :26:37.because they didn't relent for some considerable time, and they've made

:26:38. > :26:42.them chase hard to try and close the gap. But of course now I think they

:26:43. > :26:45.realise that they are fighting a losing battle and it's the

:26:46. > :26:59.inevitable, it is what is going to happen. Let's go to David Millar.

:27:00. > :27:04.It's all yours, David. Well, good to see he's still out there on the

:27:05. > :27:07.course keeping an eye on things. But yeah, these riders here, they are

:27:08. > :27:15.going to bridge that gap any time soon. Yes, the war has been won by

:27:16. > :27:18.Team Sky. They are still not hanging about at the front but they want to

:27:19. > :27:24.make it as difficult as possible, but they realise that this firepower

:27:25. > :27:36.coming up, and knock off the gas a little bit in the front group, save

:27:37. > :27:38.that little bit. The BMC card is firmly in the pocket of Jempy

:27:39. > :27:43.Drucker for the second year in a row. With Jempy Drucker in the front

:27:44. > :27:50.group all day, he's going to be a bit tired. The gap has come down and

:27:51. > :27:55.the junction is complete. Superb writing primarily by Ian Stannard

:27:56. > :27:59.and Geraint Thomas. Patrick Bevin also contributed but he was not the

:28:00. > :28:02.prime animator of the three. We mentioned Geraint Thomas and spoke

:28:03. > :28:07.about him earlier in the broadcast and his abilities. We've seen how

:28:08. > :28:11.good he is in races like the Tour de France, and winning the Commonwealth

:28:12. > :28:13.Games road race as well. What we should not underestimate Ian

:28:14. > :28:17.Stannard by any stretch of the imagination. Former national

:28:18. > :28:23.champion, twice a winner, consecutive years, one of the early

:28:24. > :28:30.Classics of the season, a real hard man's race. And third in Paris- roo

:28:31. > :28:34.Bay this year. He can mix it in the front end in the toughest of

:28:35. > :28:38.company. And they came out with a plan today. Nice to see Chris Froome

:28:39. > :28:42.trying to get involved as well. If they are covering attacks, obviously

:28:43. > :28:46.went Geraint went down the road, Chris Froome was covering attacks,

:28:47. > :28:49.and when Pat Bevan went, Ian Stannard was the man on him. It

:28:50. > :28:55.could quite possibly have been Chris Froome. He obviously went with one

:28:56. > :28:59.attack, Stannard went with another, and now we've got a group of seven

:29:00. > :29:05.at the front. And they take the left hand bend rather better than

:29:06. > :29:10.Rickaert did in the race earlier when he ended up in the barriers,

:29:11. > :29:14.which were well positioned to stop him disappearing off the side of the

:29:15. > :29:17.road. Some confirmation of what we saw, Matt Haines from Madison

:29:18. > :29:31.Genesis first over the line ahead of Jelle Wallays and Jempy Drucker. He

:29:32. > :29:34.has done a lot of work so far, and it will be interesting to see what

:29:35. > :29:39.he's got left in the tank, frankly, when it all kicks off again. He's a

:29:40. > :29:44.quality rider, the 29-year-old from Luxembourg. Picked up by BMC after

:29:45. > :29:56.some riding for a second division team. He's a class, big rider. But

:29:57. > :29:59.it looks like BMC have decided Jempy Drucker is their man once again.

:30:00. > :30:03.Straight to the front with the Team Sky riders, Geraint Thomas the

:30:04. > :30:07.30-year-old from Cardiff at the front. Coming to the back now the

:30:08. > :30:15.29-year-old from Chelmsford, Essex, Ian Stannard. Second to none in the

:30:16. > :30:18.last few years at the start of the season, and absolutely brilliant to

:30:19. > :30:23.see the focus, especially for the Brits, not too sure about the

:30:24. > :30:28.Australians, but the focus in the British team coming up to the

:30:29. > :30:31.Olympics, coming to write this and going out there and racing.

:30:32. > :30:33.Especially after a difficult Tour de France, and it bodes well for the

:30:34. > :30:44.Olympic dream next week. It is super impressive there is such

:30:45. > :30:52.a strong line-up. It is now a very big race and all of the teams, not

:30:53. > :31:00.just the British teams, globally such an important race. It has that

:31:01. > :31:03.feeling behind it. It is impressive these riders have come. Some of the

:31:04. > :31:08.riders in the women's race were going to not come here but rather

:31:09. > :31:13.focus on Olympics but with the men it is so impressive to see such a

:31:14. > :31:16.strong line-up. I think the trees have cleared enough for David Millar

:31:17. > :31:23.to hear us. What is it like down there with Marco is looking good? It

:31:24. > :31:31.is looking good, this group we are just about to see them come by,

:31:32. > :31:38.seven of them working well together. We will stop to get the gap to the

:31:39. > :31:41.group behind. Confirmation if you have just joined as that Geraint

:31:42. > :31:47.Thomas of Team Sky and his team-mate Ian Stannard now at the front of the

:31:48. > :31:54.race with Patrick Bevin Cannondale, John Pietro Kerr of BMC, Jelle

:31:55. > :31:59.Wallays of Lotto Soudal and Jonathan Mastro of Caja Rural and Matt Holmes

:32:00. > :32:02.from Madison Genesis waving the flag for the domestic professionals. --

:32:03. > :32:15.John Pietro John Pierre Drucker. The race was

:32:16. > :32:20.brought to life very early on with the blistering attack by Geraint

:32:21. > :32:28.Thomas to bridge the gap to the leading group. Nice to see one of

:32:29. > :32:35.those things where you put down the plan and it is succeeding. With Sky

:32:36. > :32:41.and Etixx-Quick-Step they were sitting back earlier on. To put a

:32:42. > :32:46.plan like that together, for it to succeed so far. That is nice to see.

:32:47. > :32:53.It is going to be interesting to see what happens now as Max Sciandri

:32:54. > :32:58.comes up to speak to Jempy Drucker for the first time. The BMC car

:32:59. > :33:04.there. I think it is very coaching to see a couple of members of the

:33:05. > :33:11.Great Britain team for next weekend, Ian Stannard and Thomas going so

:33:12. > :33:16.well coming out of the Tour de France but that is something I felt

:33:17. > :33:22.about Chris Froome, seem very lax that the same you could sense the

:33:23. > :33:27.was very focused and up for the Olympic Games. You have to be

:33:28. > :33:34.focused, riding from the front is a lot safer. It can be dangerous in

:33:35. > :33:40.these lanes. It is a lot easier to split the race up will stop I think

:33:41. > :33:43.this is a huge opportunity for Team Sky to win their first Surrey

:33:44. > :33:51.Classic. They were close with Ben Swift a couple of years ago. And

:33:52. > :33:57.Thomas and Stannard riding on the front. Benning is the kiwi in the

:33:58. > :34:06.lime-green from Cannondale Drapac. And Jelle Wallays just taking a

:34:07. > :34:11.little bit of food on board as Lastra has a bit of a stretch to

:34:12. > :34:17.stay loose. We can head back out to David Millar. Yes, we have been

:34:18. > :34:23.sitting here for exactly two' minutes and still no sign. It looks

:34:24. > :34:30.like that is the winning move unless Orica-BikeExchange or BMC, although

:34:31. > :34:37.Jempy Drucker up there. We have been sitting here for 2:15, that is a

:34:38. > :34:41.bigger. I do not know what you feel but with riders like Stannard and

:34:42. > :34:45.Thomas of the road, and also presumably the strength of ballets

:34:46. > :34:51.and look it will take some bringing back. I do not think it will be.

:34:52. > :34:56.Only Box Hill, I say only, but a lot of people sitting on the couch back

:34:57. > :34:59.home saying only Box Hill. The way the professional riders go up it

:35:00. > :35:05.they would just go over it like it is not there. Blink and you miss it.

:35:06. > :35:08.This is the winning move that now it has settled down a little bit looks

:35:09. > :35:19.as though those seven are working together. It looked a bit like

:35:20. > :35:25.Mastro was starting to suffer. He is only 64 kilos, he is very slight.

:35:26. > :35:29.Once it comes down to putting the power down, the likes of Stannard

:35:30. > :35:33.and Geraint Thomas, I do not think he can live with these riders. On

:35:34. > :35:38.this sort of running it will be interesting how it plays out. A lot

:35:39. > :35:43.of pressure on Jelle Wallays from Lotto Soudal. If I was Matt Holmes I

:35:44. > :35:48.would start to think about maybe missing out some terms. It does look

:35:49. > :35:52.as if he's doing that now. Nobody will be worried about you because

:35:53. > :35:58.potentially format homes if he plays his cards right then there is still

:35:59. > :36:05.a podium place on offer. This has been a great ride for. -- for Matt

:36:06. > :36:13.Holmes. I have known what he is capable of before. He finished

:36:14. > :36:19.seventh this year in not an easy race. At the tender age of 22 he has

:36:20. > :36:25.shown he has the ability and he has a future at the. But if I was him I

:36:26. > :36:31.would start missing terms. If he gets ever Box Hill, if it comes down

:36:32. > :36:38.to tactical attacking, if he just goes for it he could get a podium

:36:39. > :36:43.will stop we have seen Rachelle in previous editions that whoever is in

:36:44. > :36:47.the front, when they go over the top of Box Hill. That is usually the

:36:48. > :36:54.group in some form or other that competes for the finish. I think if

:36:55. > :36:58.this group makes it over Box Hill it will be these riders coming to the

:36:59. > :37:04.finish. There will be a bit of cat and mouse towards the finish. In

:37:05. > :37:07.men's cycling it is so calculated and scientific and I think they will

:37:08. > :37:15.work hard until they are instructed by their team directors. What do you

:37:16. > :37:22.think Max Sciandri was suggesting, saying perhaps to Drucker Ben, when

:37:23. > :37:27.the team car drew up alongside? Not a lot. Probably just, he came out

:37:28. > :37:34.there and give it a couple of bottles. That says to me he has

:37:35. > :37:39.already told him, that call has already been made, Jempy, it is down

:37:40. > :37:42.to you. He won it last year from a small group, it is down to you

:37:43. > :37:50.today. We were starting to see the team cars. The team cars are coming

:37:51. > :37:54.up. BMC falling behind, they said they did not want it to come to a

:37:55. > :38:00.sprint. Let's be straight here. The fastest sprinter in this group is

:38:01. > :38:05.Jempy Drucker. But he has done a lot of work so far in this race. You

:38:06. > :38:14.know as a sprinter yourself. What must he be thinking. Three strong

:38:15. > :38:18.riders have come across. And with two sky riders it will not come down

:38:19. > :38:25.to the seven man sprint. What is going through his head? He has to

:38:26. > :38:33.have a go in the final kilometres vet from his body language, that

:38:34. > :38:37.stretch of the neck and the stretch of the letter says to me he is

:38:38. > :38:42.thinking about the sprint. It shows a little bit of confidence. He has

:38:43. > :38:47.the mental game, have I done too much to be able to cover those moves

:38:48. > :38:50.in the finish. Looking at his body Lang Richard says he is still in

:38:51. > :38:58.this. He has no choice but to see that type of body language, but he

:38:59. > :39:01.has not jumped on these moves, so he probably has thought about how it is

:39:02. > :39:07.going to play out and riders are going to under pressure. So he does

:39:08. > :39:09.not have to close down the gaps. A bit of a lottery coming into the

:39:10. > :39:18.finish that a sprinter generally says in the last five or ten km it

:39:19. > :39:22.is down to me to cover the moves. There was some jumping around,

:39:23. > :39:27.Wallays in the team car, trying to do something maybe before Box Hill.

:39:28. > :39:33.In Stannard went straight over the top to the front. Definitely to make

:39:34. > :39:50.the point. Extremely strong at the moment. After the Tour de France. It

:39:51. > :39:55.can be completely the other way. Jempy has been forced to come to the

:39:56. > :40:02.front because it did not look like Pat Bevin had anything left. He is

:40:03. > :40:05.the fastest sprinter there, is to take on board a lot of the

:40:06. > :40:09.responsible at each close these gaps. Having a look back at the

:40:10. > :40:12.remnants of the peloton, Chris Froome there third in line on the

:40:13. > :40:19.right-hand side of the picture in the black. I say remnants, I think

:40:20. > :40:24.that is the operative word. A bit further up the road is even once

:40:25. > :40:32.again on the motorbike. And here we have Adam Blythe getting some food

:40:33. > :40:37.from the GB team car. This is the group of about 30 riders about two

:40:38. > :40:44.and a half minutes back. There is no organised chase, random attacks and

:40:45. > :40:49.in disarray. We're about to go by as you can see, someone fuelling up,

:40:50. > :40:57.there is nothing really happening. A good shop there, there we go. You

:40:58. > :41:01.will see now as we come by, and again, no organised chase

:41:02. > :41:08.whatsoever. Seven riders I think now with Adam Thomas and Ian Stannard

:41:09. > :41:11.looking good. The chase group, the peloton will not see those leading

:41:12. > :41:20.riders and time soon. Chris Froome here riding through talking for the

:41:21. > :41:24.final time. Just sitting third wheel, he knows they potentially

:41:25. > :41:29.have the race winning move down the road. We also see Niki Terpstra up

:41:30. > :41:33.there for Team Sky. Mat Hayman also in the green helmet on the left-hand

:41:34. > :41:38.side. Like David says no real concerted chase and Chris Froome

:41:39. > :41:42.sitting on the front coming through Dorking High Street. Three-time

:41:43. > :41:47.winner of the Tour de France, no real chase, this race is over. The

:41:48. > :41:53.race is on from now. I think the graphic there rather misleading, it

:41:54. > :42:01.is not 35 seconds, the gap, that is why it rapidly dissipate. 2:30 five.

:42:02. > :42:05.Nice to see Chris Froome towards the front. I do not think there is any

:42:06. > :42:13.firepower in that group. Sepp Straka setting the tempo. -- Niki Terpstra.

:42:14. > :42:19.You can see four riders, one of those from Dimension Data but three

:42:20. > :42:23.in there from Team Sky, four from Dimension Data, it looks as though

:42:24. > :42:28.there are two riders in the blue of Etixx-Quick-Step towards the front.

:42:29. > :42:30.We know that Orica-BikeExchange do not have anybody there but I am

:42:31. > :42:36.tried to see what numbers they have. David said they were not those of

:42:37. > :42:41.BMC riders, the fact they are not chasing down says to me, Rachelle,

:42:42. > :42:45.they do not have the legs. They missed all the moves in the first

:42:46. > :42:50.place, so that is a good indication. It can happen with six riders,

:42:51. > :42:53.Laurel five of them having a bad day on the same day that is unfortunate

:42:54. > :42:57.but they missed the move in the first place. They were not strong

:42:58. > :43:09.enough to be there. It looks like they have called it a day. 55 km

:43:10. > :43:16.left, Lastra just hanging on. I think he'll be lucky to use a one

:43:17. > :43:20.over Box Hill. We might see some action, Matt Holmes maybe thinking

:43:21. > :43:26.of the points. And in Stannard goes again. As they start the latest King

:43:27. > :43:30.of the Mountains section, just for a change Stannard dishing it out from

:43:31. > :43:34.the front and makes everybody else suffer in his wake. Giving you the

:43:35. > :43:38.indication that he is trying to set it up for Thomas or really going for

:43:39. > :43:43.the victory? Looks like he is going for the victory himself. Iran has

:43:44. > :43:47.already put in a big effort but it looks as if he knows, in Stannard

:43:48. > :43:50.knows that when you have two strong riders in a group like this that if

:43:51. > :43:55.he goes and Geraint Thomas is sitting in the wheels he knows that

:43:56. > :44:00.the other riders are not going to give 100% because they know if they

:44:01. > :44:03.catch Stannard then Geraint will go. In Stannard wants to win this race.

:44:04. > :44:10.He was brought up not far away from London, and he knows that if he goes

:44:11. > :44:15.in front he has a great opportunity. We have seen him doing it similar

:44:16. > :44:23.times before. That is the climb up Box Hill. Well-known to so many

:44:24. > :44:26.cyclists particularly of course in the south-east and particularly at

:44:27. > :44:31.the weekend if you are driving anywhere near Box Hill there are

:44:32. > :44:37.cyclists absolutely everywhere, real mecca in this part of the world. The

:44:38. > :44:42.Box Hill climb, wonderful smooth surface lay down for the Olympic

:44:43. > :44:46.Games of course four years ago. They just go over once these days, rather

:44:47. > :44:51.more in the Olympic road race, nine times in the end in the men's race.

:44:52. > :44:54.For the sprinters that were going into the London Olympics they were

:44:55. > :45:01.very pleased it was resurfaced. I actually wrote the Box Hill run when

:45:02. > :45:04.it had the old surface and again with the new surface, it certainly

:45:05. > :45:07.makes the climb less demanding having the new road surface. And how

:45:08. > :45:23.was it today at that point? It was a tough ride today. But I

:45:24. > :45:28.remembered Box Hill feeling hard. I was not looking forward to the last

:45:29. > :45:31.climb, but after that there was a few more little bridges and bumps in

:45:32. > :45:39.the way into London and they were the ones that really hurt. Here we

:45:40. > :45:48.are, then, with Geraint Thomas on the right-hand side. Stannard now a

:45:49. > :45:55.little bit further back. Lastra still on the back. Here we are with

:45:56. > :46:03.what is left of the peloton. Daniel Oss in second. Just noticed that

:46:04. > :46:09.Jempy Drucker is sitting at the front. Normally as a sprinter on a

:46:10. > :46:13.climb like this you want to set a nice, steady tempo, you don't want

:46:14. > :46:17.it jumping around. If you set the tempo just hard enough you don't get

:46:18. > :46:20.the attacks and I think that's what he's worried about, attacks from

:46:21. > :46:24.Stannard and Geraint Thomas. Jelle Wallays riding on the front at the

:46:25. > :46:32.moment with Drucker writes on his shoulder in the middle-of-the-road.

:46:33. > :46:40.In the lime-green is Pat Bevan. A little look back, and very scenic it

:46:41. > :46:44.is for us, but not for those in the saddle, concentrating on what is

:46:45. > :46:48.going on. Geraint Thomas deciding to attack just as we go back to the

:46:49. > :46:51.peloton, three minutes and 12 behind, but let's get back to the

:46:52. > :46:56.business end of the race. It's all starting to kick off in the sunshine

:46:57. > :47:02.on Box Hill. Geraint Thomas, the key animator at the moment. Bevan tries

:47:03. > :47:05.to go with him. Wallays labouring a bit, just lost the wheel in third

:47:06. > :47:10.place. Drucker is right on his wheel. Finding it difficult now to

:47:11. > :47:18.try and hang on at the moment, Matt Holmes. He has Lastra right on his

:47:19. > :47:22.wheel. You can tell from the body language that it's getting rather

:47:23. > :47:26.tough at the back of the lead group. It is not the big acceleration from

:47:27. > :47:30.Geraint Thomas that does it, it's just that he keeps it going for so

:47:31. > :47:36.long. He's actually done an amazing effort. Very noticeable that Ian

:47:37. > :47:41.Stannard never got caught out with these two suffering riders at the

:47:42. > :47:46.back, he followed the attacks. Back to David Millar on the course just

:47:47. > :47:48.ahead of the riders, I think. We are coming up behind, you will see the

:47:49. > :47:58.damage. Hang on! He had to attack here,

:47:59. > :48:04.because it is quite flat afterwards. There is a big gap. We will keep

:48:05. > :48:07.going forward and you will see that. This is perfect because it means Ian

:48:08. > :48:12.Stannard can sit on, he no longer has to work. Once again good tactics

:48:13. > :48:19.but still a long way to go for Geraint. But it's a win-win

:48:20. > :48:22.situation, even if he's caught, they've got Ian Stannard to make a

:48:23. > :48:28.counterattack. We are about to go by and you will see there is a big gap.

:48:29. > :48:32.There you go, he is flying, Geraint is flying. This is an absolutely

:48:33. > :48:37.brilliant ride, isn't it, from Geraint Thomas? Brian Smith is just

:48:38. > :48:42.shaking his head and smiling. This is a wonderful ride from Thomas. The

:48:43. > :48:48.thing is they have set it up and Ian Stannard knew that and he was trying

:48:49. > :48:53.to get away before Box Hill, a new Geraint was going to go on the

:48:54. > :48:56.attack. It wasn't a scintillating attack, he just pedalled fast and

:48:57. > :49:02.got a gap. He's like Steve Cummings, once he gets a small gap, he's so

:49:03. > :49:06.difficult to bring back. Here we are, just behind David we can see

:49:07. > :49:11.Geraint Thomas, almost keeping up with the motorbike. Look at him,

:49:12. > :49:16.using full flight, and this doesn't look like a flash in the pan attack,

:49:17. > :49:19.he's gone into full time trial mode. You can see the big gap is God. It's

:49:20. > :49:30.a beautiful sight to behold when Geraint is going like this -- you

:49:31. > :49:32.can see how big a gap he has got. In imperious form and looking

:49:33. > :49:37.magnificent as he hits the front of the race and leads the others in the

:49:38. > :49:43.breakaway group trailing in his wake. Chris Lloris there, the

:49:44. > :49:47.national criterium Champion in the black. Beggars Chris Froome on the

:49:48. > :49:52.left-hand side of the road. -- there goes. Froome, with the familiar

:49:53. > :49:58.acceleration, familiar nodding of the head, side to side, showing his

:49:59. > :50:01.pace off the front of the peloton. He's testing himself out. We

:50:02. > :50:06.mentioned earlier what we would see from Chris Froome. He's testing

:50:07. > :50:13.himself out. He is putting people in pain. Matteo Trentin was just behind

:50:14. > :50:19.him. He knows he will not endanger Geraint Thomas or Ian Stannard, they

:50:20. > :50:21.are free and minutes before. David Millar was right, it is great to

:50:22. > :50:26.watch Geraint Hughes riding like this. It's also a long way to go to

:50:27. > :50:32.the finish, 50: that is. The thing is, it is a long way to go, but Ian

:50:33. > :50:35.Stannard is just sitting on the other riders, so it's a win-win

:50:36. > :50:40.situation. They have all bases covered. Sky have just raced

:50:41. > :50:45.sensationally, tactically it has just been a sensational ride from

:50:46. > :50:49.Team Sky. Goering Thomas, we referred to the interview he had,

:50:50. > :50:53.Chris Froome is still on the front, trying to test his legs -- Geraint

:50:54. > :50:58.Thomas. He probably had a bit of a rest period after the Tour, going

:50:59. > :51:02.into the Olympic Games next week. He was saying he'd had three nights at

:51:03. > :51:08.home since Paris. And he'd also written a couple of races. David

:51:09. > :51:16.Millar is with Geraint Thomas out on the road. Hi, David, just wondering

:51:17. > :51:20.whether you can hear us out there on the motorbike. Yeah, now I can, this

:51:21. > :51:25.is fine. We are with the group chasing Geraint Thomas. As you can

:51:26. > :51:30.see, four of them are there. Three of those guys have been at the front

:51:31. > :51:34.all day. Only Patrick Bevin has the fresh legs, if you like. Ian

:51:35. > :51:45.Stannard is sitting on the back. I can't even see Geraint up the front,

:51:46. > :51:51.E is out of sight, out of mind -- he is. There will be heavy legs,

:51:52. > :51:56.particularly Jelle Wallays and Drucker. Yes, tired legs in there.

:51:57. > :52:01.It will be interesting to see when they get to the finish. A bubbly one

:52:02. > :52:06.of the fastest editions of the RideLondon. -- probably one. You can

:52:07. > :52:10.see what the team tactics were, that's why Ian Stannard, when he saw

:52:11. > :52:14.an opportunity, coming into Dorking, and even at the bottom of the Klein,

:52:15. > :52:19.he was trying to get in front and he knew what was coming. He new Geraint

:52:20. > :52:23.was going to go and in fact he wanted to win this race. To try and

:52:24. > :52:28.win this race he wanted to be in front. Geraint came across, they

:52:29. > :52:31.could potentially have a two up time trial all the way to the finish.

:52:32. > :52:36.Thomas has a very long time trial by the looks of things, but he is full

:52:37. > :52:40.gas, fully committed. I was going to refer to the interview he did during

:52:41. > :52:45.the Tour de France when he said that he was told he was being paid to win

:52:46. > :52:49.races, not be an entertainer. His response to that was, if I am an

:52:50. > :52:53.entertainer and directs like this, I have more chance of winning.

:52:54. > :52:57.Obviously today he is setting up his team with a chance of winning and

:52:58. > :53:03.absolutely entertaining us. This augurs well for next week, from a

:53:04. > :53:07.parochial British point of view? He is clearly going well. It looks

:53:08. > :53:12.good, unless all the other nations are just kind of faking it at the

:53:13. > :53:16.moment, lulling us into a false sense of security. Stannard is

:53:17. > :53:21.strong. Chris Froome testing his legs out. He was doing the

:53:22. > :53:25.acceleration up Box Hill. You don't normally see this. When you've got

:53:26. > :53:31.riders in front and you've got one of your riders in front, and this is

:53:32. > :53:35.the peloton, only 25 riders left, just looked as if Chris Froome was

:53:36. > :53:37.testing his legs. Looked like a little attack coming off the front

:53:38. > :53:44.of the peloton on the right-hand side of the road. We got evidence of

:53:45. > :53:53.that before the camera pulled away. Some might just creeping through the

:53:54. > :54:03.trees come here, as Geraint enjoys the predominant shade a along the

:54:04. > :54:07.road. The earpiece is in so he can hear what is being said. He just

:54:08. > :54:12.wants to know the time gap. He is concentrating on his effort. It's

:54:13. > :54:16.not easy, you go over the top of Box Hill. On paper that's the last

:54:17. > :54:22.obstacle. But it's heavy, it's lumpy, it's rolling. Wimbledon as

:54:23. > :54:26.well. That's what I was going to say. We've seen attacks in previous

:54:27. > :54:31.editions. It does look as if the race is on, and the group behind is

:54:32. > :54:35.starting to see some splits. Think it's just riders thinking they are

:54:36. > :54:38.Rover Box Hill, they think it is downhill to the finish and they are

:54:39. > :54:43.looking for a top ten performance, they are not going to catch this

:54:44. > :54:47.man. I was told on Box Hill this was the last climb of the day and it is

:54:48. > :54:50.downhill to London. I was expecting some downhill, so every time these

:54:51. > :54:56.bumps kept popping up and you need to get out of the seat to push over

:54:57. > :55:00.them, and especially these riders with particularly tired legs on the

:55:01. > :55:05.front. I'm sure they will feel those bumps coming into London. You had a

:55:06. > :55:12.tough old day on the bike, I can tell. You can really tell. 46.2

:55:13. > :55:19.kilometres to go for Geraint Thomas at the front of the race. And there

:55:20. > :55:23.he is. Of course Geraint Thomas a two-time Olympic gold medallist on

:55:24. > :55:28.the track as part of the team pursuit squad. It's all about the

:55:29. > :55:31.road these days. David Millar keeping close tabs on Geraint Thomas

:55:32. > :55:36.and the others at the business end of the race. Yeah, here we go. You

:55:37. > :55:43.can see the four riders are working well. Look at the gap. We will try

:55:44. > :55:51.to catch up with Geraint and you will see how far he is. Into the

:55:52. > :55:59.technical section. It's a little bit technical. Just make sure you hang

:56:00. > :56:03.on! Yeah, no, this is great. We didn't realise it was going to be

:56:04. > :56:07.this technical here. You can see how hard it will be to catch Geraint

:56:08. > :56:11.Hughes, we can't see him and we are on a motorbike. And you are not

:56:12. > :56:16.hanging around by the looks of things. No! Here we are, we are

:56:17. > :56:26.about to catch him and you saw how long that to. Here we go. That's how

:56:27. > :56:32.fast he is going, and we are just catching him now. That's how long it

:56:33. > :56:35.on a big motorbike. That's incredible, the gap that Geraint

:56:36. > :56:41.Thomas has opened in a relatively short space of time off the front.

:56:42. > :56:45.That's really impressive. Either to things, either Geraint Thomas is

:56:46. > :56:51.flying and the others are just tired... I think the first point is

:56:52. > :56:58.Geraint Thomas is flying. And they are tired. We know that he's been

:56:59. > :57:02.capable of this. We see him right on the front like this all the way

:57:03. > :57:07.through the Tour de France. We are seeing it on our screens today. Team

:57:08. > :57:12.Sky, tactically, they've been perfect. They haven't put a foot

:57:13. > :57:16.wrong. Everybody saw what was happening. It's not as if they

:57:17. > :57:22.didn't see it coming. Went to the front. If David is thinking it and

:57:23. > :57:25.I'm thinking it, there's other big riders in that race today thinking

:57:26. > :57:32.it as well. They just didn't have the legs when it happened. Certainly

:57:33. > :57:37.getting more likely on the front-end of the peloton but they are some

:57:38. > :57:41.considerable distance behind now. Yes, you can see Marcus Burghardt

:57:42. > :57:46.trying to do something and they've got Daniel Oss as well. They know

:57:47. > :57:49.the race has gone. The information that Geraint Thomas is on his own,

:57:50. > :57:56.he's probably one minute in front of the chasing group now. Ian Stannard

:57:57. > :58:01.sitting on. This is too late to start to try and do something. They

:58:02. > :58:05.had a big call to make, whether they put it all in getting Jempy Drucker

:58:06. > :58:09.up, or they shut that down straightaway. They decided to go

:58:10. > :58:13.with Jempy Drucker, never shut it down, and they are paying for it

:58:14. > :58:17.now. It's just damage limitation, trying to send riders to the front.

:58:18. > :58:24.I don't know what I'm enjoying more, watching pictures of Geraint Thomas

:58:25. > :58:30.or David Lastra on the motorbike looking as if he's on a

:58:31. > :58:34.roller-coaster -- David Millar. I'd like to know whether David would be

:58:35. > :58:40.racing in the chasing group, if he would be able to attack Geraint

:58:41. > :58:47.Thomas in his heyday. Maybe we'll ask him at the next available

:58:48. > :58:51.opportunity. Or does he just needs a big motorbike to do that. Showing no

:58:52. > :59:01.signs of weakening at the moment. 43 kilometres to go for the Welshman.

:59:02. > :59:05.The speed Geraint Hughes is doing now, you can see the vegetation and

:59:06. > :59:10.the trees at the side of the road, is that the speed you were doing

:59:11. > :59:14.earlier? It's possible I was going slightly faster than he is... I was

:59:15. > :59:21.by myself as well, pushing wind. No, of course I wasn't. What was my

:59:22. > :59:25.average speed? I rode 100 miles in four hours and 18 minutes, 18

:59:26. > :59:35.minutes slower than last year. I had a ball out there. So inspiring to be

:59:36. > :59:42.out there with all those people. It was a fantastic ride. Really wanted

:59:43. > :59:46.to do it again this year. It's a great legacy of event, isn't it?

:59:47. > :59:54.Without being corny, it caters for so many people throughout the

:59:55. > :59:57.weekend, right from the start. You have the free cycle round the centre

:59:58. > :00:05.of London, tens of thousands of people on closed roads in the middle

:00:06. > :00:09.of the centre of London stop. And they can relate to the race by

:00:10. > :00:15.having been out there in the morning, just being able to relate

:00:16. > :00:21.to how tough the roads are, and what the harder parts are. I think it's

:00:22. > :00:25.fantastic, just a wonderful event. I think David Millar can hear us.

:00:26. > :00:30.Great attack by Geraint Thomas, isn't it? Is it all about him flying

:00:31. > :00:31.also some very tired legs behind from the likes of repair and Jelle

:00:32. > :00:41.Wallays, for example? He is flying, Geraint keeps

:00:42. > :00:46.distancing the fully fledged chase and we have never seen anybody do

:00:47. > :00:51.this here before. The Olympics, RideLondon, never has an attack like

:00:52. > :00:57.this happened. It is really testament to how strong Geraint is

:00:58. > :01:05.going on the moment. Super ride from the Welshman. One week and from the

:01:06. > :01:08.road race at the Olympic Games. Lovely smooth pedalling style from

:01:09. > :01:22.Thomas. I think in some respects not

:01:23. > :01:26.dissimilar to his effort at the back end of the Commonwealth Games in

:01:27. > :01:30.Glasgow although I think he will be hoping it does not follow the same

:01:31. > :01:34.thing when he had a very late puncture that almost cost him. He

:01:35. > :01:39.said it felt like an eternity before he got a replacement wheel. He has

:01:40. > :01:42.some considerable way to go here but as we saw from the motorbike a

:01:43. > :01:49.couple of minutes ago he has a fair old advantage. In the late afternoon

:01:50. > :01:59.sunshine. As he heads back in towards London. I think it looks

:02:00. > :02:04.easy, watching Geraint in full flight if it's fairly easy but you

:02:05. > :02:10.have to remember that one of the photographer but bikes went across

:02:11. > :02:18.to try to get the -- and he went across to try to get the advantage.

:02:19. > :02:25.Over one of those little rises that hurt the legs. Pushing a bit on the

:02:26. > :02:28.pedals and perhaps feeling his legs a little. Then he jumped on the

:02:29. > :02:46.radio moments later to talk to the team. Certainly moving out there.

:02:47. > :03:01.Shot the of the Wanty-Groupe Gobert rider coming off the front. Really

:03:02. > :03:08.stretching his legs now, Baugnies. The is 24 years old, as a stage by

:03:09. > :03:14.your trying to find your legs, trying to impress the team and back

:03:15. > :03:21.in the peloton the pace has come down. -- stagiaire rider. He has

:03:22. > :03:26.been sitting in the wheels little and he's trying to make a name for

:03:27. > :03:36.himself. Did he win a stage in Dunkirk? And he finished third in

:03:37. > :03:39.the GC that race, so that is why he has been taken on as an apprentice.

:03:40. > :03:43.At this time of year you are allowed three apprentices and he was to show

:03:44. > :03:47.what he can do. Sometimes when the race has settled down a little bit,

:03:48. > :03:58.you have been riding on the wheels and you want to try to do something.

:03:59. > :04:02.A little look at Ian Stannard. Question for Rachelle Knauer. The

:04:03. > :04:08.really rather be at the moment? Geraint Thomas at the front or Ian

:04:09. > :04:14.Stannard sitting in the wheels. Mentally this is a hard situation to

:04:15. > :04:18.be in. I would definitely prefer to be Stannard. I would want to be the

:04:19. > :04:21.one out there with the likelihood of winning because a thing of these

:04:22. > :04:25.riders are doing the majority of the work and they will get tired and we

:04:26. > :04:29.can see the form of Thomas. He could possibly do it. It will be an

:04:30. > :04:33.exciting finale. Definitely would prefer to be Stannard right now.

:04:34. > :04:37.Let's go back to the pointy end of the race and David Millar is there

:04:38. > :04:45.with Geraint Thomas. It does not get any pointy than this. Amazing being

:04:46. > :04:49.up there. When you see him up close like this, I remember what it was

:04:50. > :04:54.like that you can see he is just flying, it is beautiful, it does not

:04:55. > :04:57.look like he is weakening, he has slipped into time trial mode, he

:04:58. > :05:06.just looks fast and actually he is going fast. He most certainly is and

:05:07. > :05:12.showing no sign of tying up as he makes his bid for victory. If he was

:05:13. > :05:16.riding a little bit easier he would be further back in the saddle, he

:05:17. > :05:19.has just pushed himself back a little bit their bed when you are

:05:20. > :05:24.riding on the point of the saddle, Rachelle, you are trying. Although

:05:25. > :05:34.it looks fast, it looks easy, this is not what we are seeing. That old

:05:35. > :05:39.phrase, on the rivets. Right on the point of the saddle. For Ian

:05:40. > :05:43.Stannard, he tried to do something, the new Geraint was going to attack,

:05:44. > :05:52.he tried to get in front because he was pretty to the tactics. It wasn't

:05:53. > :05:56.to be. -- privy. They try to get them both out in the lead together

:05:57. > :06:02.but it wasn't a beer and Ian Stannard has an easier ride now.

:06:03. > :06:06.Geraint really not holding back. On the point of the saddle again.

:06:07. > :06:09.Giving it everything. Certainly working hard because you can see

:06:10. > :06:15.he's dropping his head as well. Looking at his power and keeping a

:06:16. > :06:20.check on that. Still quite a long way? Anything can happen. He could

:06:21. > :06:26.get a message on the radio and say he is hitting the wall. We have seen

:06:27. > :06:31.that many times. Looking so strong. The nutrition has to be right. I

:06:32. > :06:36.made the mistake today of not taking on enough nutrition after 15 years

:06:37. > :06:41.of being professional so anything can happen. The is giving it

:06:42. > :06:47.everything and that could mean two things, it could mean he isn't going

:06:48. > :06:54.to make it and he believes he is going to win this race but you can

:06:55. > :07:01.see he is absolutely giving it everything. 'S you have to remember,

:07:02. > :07:06.Rachelle, that they have a passenger in this group of five, Ian Stannard.

:07:07. > :07:11.When you have a passenger that you love is strong you are trying to

:07:12. > :07:15.bring back his team-mate in front, 43 seconds of the road, you know you

:07:16. > :07:20.are in a no-win situation. You are going through the motions, giving

:07:21. > :07:24.99.9% but there is something in the back of your mind saying, we are not

:07:25. > :07:31.going to win this. That's exactly right. They will have that feeling

:07:32. > :07:38.of doubt, what are we actually doing. Pulling back on rider for the

:07:39. > :07:45.other. That is always on the back of the head. You can see David is just

:07:46. > :07:50.there with the second group. He has decided to just leave them behind

:07:51. > :07:54.now to go back up towards Geraint Thomas. To give us some sort of

:07:55. > :07:59.indication of the gap and to see whether it is coming down a little

:08:00. > :08:02.bit as the Welsh flag flies on The Mall, barely a breath of wind here

:08:03. > :08:09.in the middle of London. Just off the front of the peloton here, with

:08:10. > :08:15.BMC. It looked like couple of the riders from Bardiani, draws the

:08:16. > :08:20.front as well,. It looks as if BMC are trying to win this. In a no-win

:08:21. > :08:31.situation with Ian Stannard on this group. It looked like Daniel Oss had

:08:32. > :08:39.come to the front with a couple of the other Italian riders. Some

:08:40. > :08:49.tentative attacks. The race quite far down the road. Three minutes: 38

:08:50. > :08:55.a long way to go. -- 3:30 eight. Ian Stannard will be staying very

:08:56. > :09:00.focused in that group. To come from not ever winning this race to

:09:01. > :09:06.potentially finishing first and second, that is a tactical

:09:07. > :09:10.masterclass by Team Sky today. Geraint Thomas has just extended his

:09:11. > :09:17.lead a little. Back up by another ten seconds now as he is pressing

:09:18. > :09:22.on. Not letting up for a second. A little splinter group now just off

:09:23. > :09:31.the front of the peloton now. Daniel Oss therefrom BMC? Powerhouse,

:09:32. > :09:34.current world team time trial champion for BMC, he does his turn

:09:35. > :09:38.and then swings. You can see the group behind being led by

:09:39. > :09:45.Etixx-Quick-Step, they are fighting for the minor places. This is the

:09:46. > :09:53.peloton, this is the group of Ian Stannard. This gap creeping up now

:09:54. > :09:59.to 40 seconds. Disappointing day for Etixx-Quick-Step, I thought we would

:10:00. > :10:07.see more from them. We were talking about it before. Bodenham came here

:10:08. > :10:10.thinking he could win. -- Tom Boonen. They have a strong team here

:10:11. > :10:17.but there is nothing you can do when the other team are superior when it

:10:18. > :10:22.comes to the power. The chasers slowing down or he is accelerating

:10:23. > :10:27.again. Low I think he is maintaining his momentum. It is a time trial.

:10:28. > :10:31.When you get into that you are trying to maintain that threshold. I

:10:32. > :10:37.just think the closer you get to the line the other riders behind in the

:10:38. > :10:45.chasing group with Ian Stannard are starting to think of second and

:10:46. > :10:49.third place. 33 km left still for Geraint Thomas and even the slight

:10:50. > :10:55.little inclines will start to kick in a little bit now as he stays on

:10:56. > :11:03.the nose of the saddle. Just momentarily moves off the front of

:11:04. > :11:06.it. The race has just gone through Oxshott and they are heading towards

:11:07. > :11:13.Esher now as we head towards south-west London. They will have to

:11:14. > :11:16.go through Thames Ditton, Kingston, Raynes Park, Wimbledon Village,

:11:17. > :11:23.Putney and then over Putney Bridge and along the impact and before

:11:24. > :11:27.heading up vital and then the welcome sight of the finishing line

:11:28. > :11:31.halfway down the The Mall where we are waiting for them. A good-sized

:11:32. > :11:35.crowd here. One or two stragglers still crossing the line at the end

:11:36. > :11:40.of sporty, but most of them are in now, the road mostly empty. Still

:11:41. > :11:44.the rider, most of them grinning from ear to ear being cheered to the

:11:45. > :11:48.rafters by those in The Mall as they come towards the line. 52 seconds

:11:49. > :11:52.now the gap between Geraint Thomas and this small group of chasers with

:11:53. > :11:58.Ian Stannard just having a free ride on the front. -- on the back. A

:11:59. > :12:03.reminder of who we are watching here if you have just joined us, on the

:12:04. > :12:10.front Matt Holmes from Madison Genesis in the red and white. Then

:12:11. > :12:13.Jelle Wallays Lotto Soudal in the red and white. Cannondale-Garmin are

:12:14. > :12:18.represented here with number 92, Patrick Bevin, time trial champion

:12:19. > :12:24.from New Zealand as we come back to the leader, Welshman Darren Thomas.

:12:25. > :12:29.Something of a masterclass the last half-hour from him. I think

:12:30. > :12:38.everybody looking at the Olympic Games and seeing how some of the

:12:39. > :12:41.men's team are riding today will be thinking a little bit more

:12:42. > :12:49.confidently as they go into next week even with the selections that

:12:50. > :12:55.GB have made, I believe there has been controversial selections. The

:12:56. > :13:00.fact Peter Kennaugh has dropped out is testimony, my hat off to him for

:13:01. > :13:03.realising he does not have the form but another rider does and he can

:13:04. > :13:08.help the team and Steve Cummings being allowed in. I do not know what

:13:09. > :13:14.you think about winning selection for GB, was that the team you

:13:15. > :13:18.thought it would be four did you think they would be any changes? I

:13:19. > :13:23.think it would have been a very difficult choice for British cycling

:13:24. > :13:26.to make the selection between the likes of Emma Pooley or Nikki Harris

:13:27. > :13:31.and Danny King. As we were saying before with Geraint Thomas, 15th in

:13:32. > :13:35.the Tour de France while working for his lady, Danny King had a number of

:13:36. > :13:38.top ten finishes while working for her team leaders which I think is

:13:39. > :13:41.incredible. When you are talking about Thomas and 15th place I was

:13:42. > :13:45.thinking about Danny King and how many top ten places she has had

:13:46. > :13:51.while being designated to work for her leaders which she did very well

:13:52. > :13:54.as Dan Thomas does as well. That is phenomenal for these riders after

:13:55. > :13:59.doing all that work. Perhaps that was overlooked by British cycling in

:14:00. > :14:04.their selection but still a very tough selection to make. The

:14:05. > :14:07.question over the form of Emma Pooley however she has proven in the

:14:08. > :14:14.past she is able to pick for that event and her strength is in the

:14:15. > :14:17.time trial. That in his her main interest. But they do look up the

:14:18. > :14:23.cause rather than results. They say this is what you need to do to do

:14:24. > :14:26.well on this course, what rider is capable of doing that rather than

:14:27. > :14:32.necessarily the result which is possibly what you would have thought

:14:33. > :14:35.the process would need. Absolutely the question has come from the lack

:14:36. > :14:43.of racing that Emma Pooley has done, the lack of form. But ultimately I

:14:44. > :14:49.think the selections made due to her past performances in major events

:14:50. > :14:55.and she's ray capable of hitting form. She can really assist Lizzie

:14:56. > :15:03.Armitstead if she reaches the climbs. Geraint Thomas's lead

:15:04. > :15:11.continues to extend. To the best part of one minute now. So is the

:15:12. > :15:16.group behind, starting to be led by Orica-BikeExchange.

:15:17. > :15:23.Obviously they have a potential winner in Michael Matthews. I think

:15:24. > :15:28.they are thinking, if they can drive this in, they might not catch

:15:29. > :15:33.Geraint but if the group one start messing around there is still a

:15:34. > :15:39.podium shot. 30 kilometres to go it will be very difficult to bring them

:15:40. > :15:42.back. People have turned out in the multitudes to enjoy the bike race

:15:43. > :15:47.and hurtling past them on his motorbike is David Millar. Thanks.

:15:48. > :15:51.These guys are looking good and working really well together. Like I

:15:52. > :15:55.said before you've got to remember, only Patrick Bevin has moved to the

:15:56. > :15:59.latter part of the race. The other three guys have been out there all

:16:00. > :16:03.day. Geraint Thomas is continually putting time in them. The latest

:16:04. > :16:06.time I saw is 54 seconds. Just chipping away and it's not looking

:16:07. > :16:10.good for these guys, although they are working together. And they know

:16:11. > :16:16.they've got Ian Stannard just sitting there, waiting to pounce

:16:17. > :16:22.whenever he wants. Mentally tiring, I imagine, when you are working

:16:23. > :16:26.hard, and every time we go to David, you says they are riding well and

:16:27. > :16:30.hard but they are not gaining ground and they must feel like they are

:16:31. > :16:34.banging their head against a wall. The thing is they are stuck in the

:16:35. > :16:38.middle. They know they are in a no-win situation. But they know the

:16:39. > :16:43.peloton behind is starting to get organised. They are only just over

:16:44. > :16:49.two minutes behind them. Just under 30 kilometres to go, they know they

:16:50. > :16:52.have to keep riding. Podium position, even a top ten performance

:16:53. > :16:58.in this race is something to be had and to be kept. So that's why they

:16:59. > :17:03.are working. There is something in the back of their heads thinking,

:17:04. > :17:08.they want to get that performance. They are racing for the minor

:17:09. > :17:15.placings, and they don't want to be caught by the peloton chasing

:17:16. > :17:21.behind. Having gone to Esher, with the peloton just over three minutes

:17:22. > :17:25.behind. Chase group, Bevan on the front, Holmes in second place,

:17:26. > :17:29.Drucker third in the line, Jelle Wallays of Lotto Soudal, and

:17:30. > :17:36.bringing up the rear precisely because his team-mate is on his own

:17:37. > :17:37.up the road ahead is Ian Stannard. Oracle by Kingston, the Australian

:17:38. > :17:49.squad, on the front. -- they will have had high hopes for

:17:50. > :18:01.Michael Matthews but it hasn't really worked out for them. One

:18:02. > :18:07.Chine to step up to World Tour level sooner rather than later -- trying

:18:08. > :18:11.to. Lets hope they do, they are getting some good races and

:18:12. > :18:16.performances. All the best to them. Just saw the Team Sky car moved up

:18:17. > :18:18.to Geraint Thomas. I think they now know that Geraint Thomas is the

:18:19. > :18:25.potential winner of this race. They've only got one car. They

:18:26. > :18:28.cannot sit behind Thomas, Stannard, and a group with Froome, they have

:18:29. > :18:32.gone forward and have realised they need to stay there. They sat behind

:18:33. > :18:42.Stannard in case anything happened to either of them. So they've gone

:18:43. > :18:51.up there, but I tell you what, one Pro Cycling are lining this out. The

:18:52. > :18:56.speed of the peloton now, the orders have obviously come out that this

:18:57. > :19:00.race is not over. You've got Geraint in front, he's got 55 seconds, but

:19:01. > :19:06.they are only two minutes behind the chasing group behind. A quick word,

:19:07. > :19:10.confirmation of the result of the King of the Mountains

:19:11. > :19:15.classification. Jempy Drucker has finished on 20 points along with

:19:16. > :19:19.Matt Holmes from Madison Genesis, those two joint winners of the King

:19:20. > :19:23.of the Mountains competition. Jelle Wallays in third place with 18

:19:24. > :19:29.points, the other two have 20. Lastra down in fourth on 16, and so

:19:30. > :19:33.on and so forth. Drucker and Holmes finishing level on 20 points. Both

:19:34. > :19:42.listed on the official sheet as number one. Another word in that

:19:43. > :19:46.year for Geraint Thomas. This race is being squeezed a little bit. The

:19:47. > :19:50.impetus is from the peloton behind, starting to get their act together.

:19:51. > :19:54.They've got a bit of belief but they've left it too late. Still

:19:55. > :20:05.think that Geraint is very possibly going to solo to a victory here on

:20:06. > :20:08.The Mall, first time for a Team Sky rider. But these riders have to keep

:20:09. > :20:13.going because they have to fight it out for the other podium positions.

:20:14. > :20:16.Don't know whether it was last year or the one before, Marcus having a

:20:17. > :20:20.go at winning on his own but he did not have the strength to stay away.

:20:21. > :20:25.We haven't seen anything like this in this race before. I was talking

:20:26. > :20:31.to a lot of the riders before, traditionally this is where the race

:20:32. > :20:34.goes the last time up Ranmore Common, into Box Hill, over Box

:20:35. > :20:39.Hill, the group that is together over the top goes to the finish.

:20:40. > :20:44.Team Sky have looked at this, like they've looked at a lot of things,

:20:45. > :20:49.thinking, what's going to benefit us? Ben Swift is coming back after

:20:50. > :20:52.injury, how is he? We can't just play for a spin. Danny van Poppel

:20:53. > :20:59.has obviously not got good legs either. So they have to do it from

:21:00. > :21:06.far out. And set out their stall. And they've just shown, when you've

:21:07. > :21:11.got the form, you can pretty much split this race apart and when it.

:21:12. > :21:18.From the commentary box down to the race itself and out on the road once

:21:19. > :21:25.again, David on the motorbike. Pretty amazing. Holding 31, 33 mph

:21:26. > :21:28.the whole time. So that's like 53, 54 kilometres per hour. So many

:21:29. > :21:33.people out here as well, it's amazing. It just looks so good. You

:21:34. > :21:41.get a real indication of the speed of Geraint Thomas at the front of

:21:42. > :21:46.the race. As he heads back up towards Kingston on Thames,

:21:47. > :21:49.confirmation of the overall result of the King of the Mountains.

:21:50. > :21:57.Drucker at the top of the leaderboard alongside Holmes. And as

:21:58. > :22:01.Geraint Thomas towers along the road and head back towards London, down

:22:02. > :22:07.in the finishing straight just below us, Sir Dave Brailsford is with Jill

:22:08. > :22:10.Douglas. With his lovely daughter Millie enjoying her first bike race,

:22:11. > :22:15.I can't believe this is your first, but a good one to turn up for. You

:22:16. > :22:19.were standing in Paris a week ago welcoming home Chris Froome for his

:22:20. > :22:23.third win and here you are on The Mall. Quite a week. Yeah, it's been

:22:24. > :22:28.a great three weeks or four weeks, should I say. And it's always great

:22:29. > :22:31.to come back here and be able to take the opportunity to race in

:22:32. > :22:37.Britain and its a brilliant event. We've seen so many amateur cyclists,

:22:38. > :22:41.and it such an iconic place. It just feels like a great celebration of

:22:42. > :22:49.cycling. We brought a strong team. The guys wanted to do this. Off to

:22:50. > :22:54.Rio tomorrow. We felt it was important to have a race between the

:22:55. > :23:00.end of the road race and the start of Rio. So all round it's just a

:23:01. > :23:04.brilliant time, quite frankly. No surprise you've got a smile on your

:23:05. > :23:07.face, so much success, and Chris Froome winning that third Tour de

:23:08. > :23:16.France, just how important was that to the team, not just the win but

:23:17. > :23:21.the manner of the wind? Absolutely. We tried to fight for opportunities

:23:22. > :23:25.that we wouldn't normally race for. It was enjoyable. It's easy with

:23:26. > :23:29.hindsight to look back and say that was great but at the time it didn't

:23:30. > :23:34.feel so relaxed as we may look at it now. But it was a tremendous three

:23:35. > :23:42.weeks for us and Greg Fergus. People saw more of Chris's personality.

:23:43. > :23:52.Running up, the crosswinds, and everything that went on. With great

:23:53. > :23:57.leadership. A lot of it has to do with their belief. So it was great

:23:58. > :24:02.fun. Talking about a great team, the form they are in, looking at Goering

:24:03. > :24:06.Thomas today, key is absolutely storming to the end and Ian Stannard

:24:07. > :24:10.looks strong as well -- Geraint Thomas. We talked a lot about how we

:24:11. > :24:17.would win, got to be aggressive and make it a tough race. Particularly

:24:18. > :24:25.for Geraint or Ian, and at the minute Geraint looks very strong.

:24:26. > :24:31.The threat is still from the group behind, it is getting tight, they

:24:32. > :24:34.are riding hard. He's got to push on as only he knows how. Great to see

:24:35. > :24:40.Chris Froome animating the race as well in that group. Can he do what

:24:41. > :24:44.Bradley Wiggins did four years ago? Come off the back of winning the

:24:45. > :24:50.Tour de France and win a gold medal? I think he can come I think he can.

:24:51. > :24:54.You never quite know after a three-week race how it will go. The

:24:55. > :24:58.difference between London and Rio is another week, so the timescale is a

:24:59. > :25:05.little longer. And a different time zone, you've got to fly out. Whereas

:25:06. > :25:08.we came straight back from Paris, did the Surrey opening ceremony and

:25:09. > :25:12.then raced pretty much. So there is a little added congregation. You

:25:13. > :25:17.will not be as sure about form. -- complication. But the belief is in

:25:18. > :25:22.his eyes. His pacing strategy in the two time trials of the Tour de

:25:23. > :25:28.France was fantastic. It is a tough time trial in Rio, 60 kilometres is

:25:29. > :25:31.a long one. Amongst the top guys the difference will be in their

:25:32. > :25:35.abilities to pace it properly. Now with a bit of maturity and where he

:25:36. > :25:39.is at in terms of his career, having come off the back of a big win, I

:25:40. > :25:43.think he will have the confidence to pull it off. He looked super focused

:25:44. > :25:48.when we talked to him earlier. Can't wait to see who will come first over

:25:49. > :25:51.the line. I must ask you, how are you enjoying the experience, Milly?

:25:52. > :25:56.It's really good, I'm really enjoying it. I think you should have

:25:57. > :26:04.a word with your old man, you could take part in the free cycle next

:26:05. > :26:08.time, even the Sunday. Yeah. Let's sign her up. You like to ride your

:26:09. > :26:12.bike, wouldn't you like to do this? I would have loved to, but I've been

:26:13. > :26:16.a bit sick this week. I said when we were watching them, we were choosing

:26:17. > :26:23.the best jerseys, looking at the designs and having a bit of fun. I

:26:24. > :26:27.wish I could have done it. Enjoy the rest of your day, great to have you

:26:28. > :26:32.here, and good luck, we'll see what happens. Great to see you, thanks

:26:33. > :26:36.very much. Great to hear from Sir Dave Brailsford enjoying his day out

:26:37. > :26:40.with his daughter here in London. And Geraint still powering away at

:26:41. > :26:43.the front. Interesting to note the peloton has started to get its act

:26:44. > :26:49.together finally. Yes, just looking at the gap. Not so much the chasers

:26:50. > :26:53.but the actual peloton, the third group. It is squeezing a little bit,

:26:54. > :27:01.this group of five now have to really keep the power-down if they

:27:02. > :27:06.want a podium position. Looks like Etixx-QuickStep towards the front. I

:27:07. > :27:15.can only think that Michael Matthews, Matteo Trentin, I Sonny

:27:16. > :27:21.Colbrelli as well. They are thinking there is nothing to lose. Just put

:27:22. > :27:25.all the bodies to the front. Try to bring this all back together. I

:27:26. > :27:30.think the Welsh Dragon out there, Geraint Thomas, he's got this little

:27:31. > :27:35.bump up here but with 20 kilometres to go I think this race is for him

:27:36. > :27:44.to win. He's taken by the scruff of its neck and will probably come down

:27:45. > :27:49.The Mall with his arms aloft. But it is the group behind, they will be

:27:50. > :27:54.looking behind shortly in this run-in. They certainly will. You can

:27:55. > :27:58.see the intensity of effort from Geraint Thomas still on the nose of

:27:59. > :28:02.the saddle. His face a picture of grim determination and

:28:03. > :28:05.concentration. Here's the first chase group with Ian Stannard still

:28:06. > :28:14.twiddling along on the back, just in case he required. And they do manage

:28:15. > :28:18.to bridge the gap -- if they do manage to bridge the gap to Geraint

:28:19. > :28:21.Thomas, and if it is, it doesn't look as though it will be from that

:28:22. > :28:25.particular group. It's just over a minute now, as you can see. His

:28:26. > :28:31.advantage is slowly growing over that first chase group. The peloton

:28:32. > :28:35.seemed to have given up that post for a long time in the race but they

:28:36. > :28:39.have suddenly decided they will have a go after all. Yeah, it is very

:28:40. > :28:43.interesting. Like you said, Simon, they may have just thought to

:28:44. > :28:47.themselves, nothing to lose now. But why wasn't that thought given a

:28:48. > :28:51.little bit earlier, to be back in the game? It's a big bike race.

:28:52. > :28:56.Being the richest men's one-day race in the world you'd think they'd want

:28:57. > :28:59.to be in the game. They are here. Obviously if you are in a bike race

:29:00. > :29:02.you want to be in it. It's interesting that they haven't

:29:03. > :29:08.decided earlier to try to get themselves in it. Especially the

:29:09. > :29:12.likes of Michael Matthews. Saying that, we do not know the form of

:29:13. > :29:15.each rider or how their legs are feeling. And that could be the

:29:16. > :29:21.result of not getting the team on the front to chase earlier. It's

:29:22. > :29:25.coming down. We've just been talking since we heard from Dave Brailsford,

:29:26. > :29:29.it has come down from two and a quarter minutes to less than two.

:29:30. > :29:33.Tired legs out there. His legs are screaming with pain. But he's

:29:34. > :29:37.blocking that out. He wants to win this race and I believe he can pull

:29:38. > :29:44.it off. The other riders behind, the five riders, they looked at the

:29:45. > :29:48.blackboard and had to look again, because they know the peloton are

:29:49. > :29:54.coming behind. They want the other podium positions. The thing, Ian

:29:55. > :29:59.Stannard is stuck now, because he's been sitting behind the other four

:30:00. > :30:03.riders and he'll be thinking, when we come off Box Hill, this is a

:30:04. > :30:07.chance for me to get second, podium position. Now that is under threat

:30:08. > :30:13.because of the peloton. Also, at what point is he able to attack, or

:30:14. > :30:16.try to hit them a little bit earlier to go for the second place? Of

:30:17. > :30:20.course he will want that with the good prize money up for grabs, to be

:30:21. > :30:24.standing on that podium at RideLondon will be a wonderful

:30:25. > :30:29.moment and he will want to be there. But at what moment can he do that,

:30:30. > :30:31.given that the gaps are not too big, and he doesn't want to spark some

:30:32. > :30:44.extra speed in that chase group. The peloton have clawed back over a

:30:45. > :30:51.minute in the last 15 kilometres. When you see the big riders from

:30:52. > :30:56.attic Quickstep coming to the front, -- from attics Quickstep coming up,

:30:57. > :31:00.you know there's a lot of fire in front of this peloton. It is in the

:31:01. > :31:07.balance, whether these riders can stay in it. It seems that they are

:31:08. > :31:12.thinking of second and third place, the minors places, because this

:31:13. > :31:18.rider has shown today what a world-class rider he is. It seems,

:31:19. > :31:21.the closer they get to the finish, the more motivation, you can see it

:31:22. > :31:26.from the body language and the speed is picking up again. He's really

:31:27. > :31:31.finding confidence, getting closer to the finish. The motivation from

:31:32. > :31:36.the team director, saying you can do this, it really looks like, before

:31:37. > :31:40.he was fighting his bike and looked uncomfortable, now it looks like

:31:41. > :31:44.he's on top of the gear, really coming in with confidence. It takes

:31:45. > :31:52.guts as well as one to attack from that far out. Plans right from the

:31:53. > :31:57.start, to do that, I've not done it many times in my life! But I can

:31:58. > :32:02.imagine what it's like at this sort of level to take it out with 50

:32:03. > :32:22.kilometres to go on your own, it's a huge effort. I just noticed in the

:32:23. > :32:35.penitent behind, Trenton is actually on and Tom Boonen there. They are

:32:36. > :32:41.not hanging around at the moment. Vandenbergh there. They've left it

:32:42. > :32:44.far too late. As we said, why did they not organise it before?

:32:45. > :32:48.Sometimes everyone is waiting for everyone else to do it and they

:32:49. > :32:54.don't get themselves together. A lot of the times in bike races you have

:32:55. > :32:57.to have friends in the peloton. Obviously the teams have chatted,

:32:58. > :33:02.and it's slowly come together but it hasn't been fast enough, and you can

:33:03. > :33:09.see that Geraint is trying to hold on. The riders are thinking, I don't

:33:10. > :33:14.care, I need to get everything, I've been out here all day and I want to

:33:15. > :33:19.finish in the top ten. I don't want that peloton to catch us. But it

:33:20. > :33:24.looks like it could be inevitable for this group of five between

:33:25. > :33:27.Geraint and the peloton. They've taken another quarter of a minute

:33:28. > :33:32.out of the advantage of Geraint Thomas as he goes through Wimbledon

:33:33. > :33:37.Village. We were talking before about why did the peloton leave it

:33:38. > :33:42.so late. One reason could be that I have found with our team, during

:33:43. > :33:46.races is, the sprinters of the teams could be saying in the first part of

:33:47. > :33:50.the race or in the middle that they don't feel really good. And if their

:33:51. > :33:54.team gets into the front they might get caught out of the back.

:33:55. > :33:57.Sprinters feel in races when they get closer to the finish their

:33:58. > :34:03.feelings could really change and they could have said to their

:34:04. > :34:05.directors, coming into the finish, Tom Boonen, or Michael Matthews,

:34:06. > :34:11.they could have said they were starting to feel really good, let's

:34:12. > :34:15.finish this. A lot of the case in this situation is that they've

:34:16. > :34:20.nothing to lose. The peloton behind have nothing to lose. One of the

:34:21. > :34:29.teams going up to the front, as with Michael Matthews, they are not going

:34:30. > :34:34.to win the race, the only way to win the race is to go into the fund. At

:34:35. > :34:37.the end of the day that nothing to lose attitude is inspired and

:34:38. > :34:42.everybody is going to try to bring this race back together which will

:34:43. > :34:49.not be with Geraint in front. Let's go back to the motorbike. We are

:34:50. > :34:52.sitting at 40 miles an hour constantly comment nine riders

:34:53. > :34:56.chasing and we've just caught sight of the five riders in front. They

:34:57. > :35:03.are hunting them down, big-time. Team Sky's tactic was genius. They

:35:04. > :35:07.needed to go before Box Hill too disorganised the peloton. It took

:35:08. > :35:11.the peloton until the top of Box Hill and afterwards to regroup. And

:35:12. > :35:15.now they have there are ten riders chasing. We've just gone past the

:35:16. > :35:19.team cars of the five riders in front so it is inevitable they are

:35:20. > :35:26.going to get caught. Now it's all down to Geraint and not weakening.

:35:27. > :35:30.And back with the first Jeyes group with Ian Stannard, although they

:35:31. > :35:35.will have some company soon with a hungry pack chasing them down,

:35:36. > :35:38.trying to give us what would be a dramatic finish to this race. It's

:35:39. > :35:43.all coming down to what Geraint Thomas has left in his legs. Has he

:35:44. > :35:49.got enough to carry him forward and keep him ahead of the rest of the

:35:50. > :35:53.field to cross the line first of all an The Mall? This is the final

:35:54. > :35:58.noticeable incline of the race. It will certainly feel heavier than it

:35:59. > :36:04.would do normally. It's Ian Stannard now putting the hammer down. I was

:36:05. > :36:08.just going to say, it's the last opportunity for Ian Stannard to

:36:09. > :36:12.distance the rest. It's a big question, whether you go on the

:36:13. > :36:19.attack, and go across to Geraint Thomas. I'm not sure he could do

:36:20. > :36:23.that. The character of the peloton. I was thinking maybe it's not a good

:36:24. > :36:27.idea if Ian Stannard goes on the attack. Although just as we say that

:36:28. > :36:32.we've come to this climb and everybody's riding has exploded!

:36:33. > :36:36.They really are struggling up this climb. One of the riders on the

:36:37. > :36:43.Dutch team goes off the front of the peloton. Hopefully we'll get a

:36:44. > :36:48.chance to see who that is in a moment with Ian Stannard 45 seconds

:36:49. > :36:53.behind Geraint Thomas, it's just one minute and 19 seconds now, back to

:36:54. > :36:59.the peloton! As they make their way up through Wimbledon. Yet we are

:37:00. > :37:05.back with the lead again. He will be hurting. David Millar is back with

:37:06. > :37:12.Ian Stannard in second place on the road. Perfect tactics from Ian

:37:13. > :37:16.Stannard. He can see the four riders he was with getting weaker and he

:37:17. > :37:21.knew the peloton was coming so he had no choice but to leave them. You

:37:22. > :37:26.can see the car in front, he can see where Geraint is. It's perfect. The

:37:27. > :37:31.peloton coming back so fast that Ian can get to Geraint and they can hold

:37:32. > :37:35.a pack of together with Geraint if he is weakening. At least Geraint

:37:36. > :37:44.has fresh, strong legs coming to help him. And they're all few

:37:45. > :37:47.stronger legs in the peloton than the ones we're looking at there,

:37:48. > :38:00.belonging to Ian Stannard. Such a strong rider. You can just see the

:38:01. > :38:07.pressure at the front of the peloton. You can CFT L coming up.

:38:08. > :38:12.With this smaller attack it does not seem to me that acceleration is

:38:13. > :38:16.still at the front and Etixx are a strong team and to see an

:38:17. > :38:20.all-rounder attacking of the front means that this tie the legs as

:38:21. > :38:25.well. Wimbledon Common on the left of Geraint Thomas. Before long he

:38:26. > :38:30.reached the top and it will be downhill into Putney before he goes

:38:31. > :38:34.over Putney Bridge. Back with Ian Stannard in second. Closing in a

:38:35. > :38:40.little on his team-mate, still over half a minute behind, on the road. I

:38:41. > :38:45.still think it is a big ask. David Millar said there was a possibility

:38:46. > :38:54.they could hook up. I don't think Geraint can ease off one bit. He's

:38:55. > :38:58.got to keep the pressure on. The Team Sky riders just have to go full

:38:59. > :39:03.gas. When we see other riders going on the attack, I think there was a

:39:04. > :39:08.big chase on by the peloton. I think the peloton are starting to struggle

:39:09. > :39:13.as well. It looks a bit that way. We can see a rider at the front of the

:39:14. > :39:18.peloton. Coming into ten kilometres to go you would think they would be

:39:19. > :39:21.riding 100% and closing in rapidly but to see one rider at the front

:39:22. > :39:27.gives an indication that the peloton is getting a little tired and not

:39:28. > :39:33.giving 100%, but bit of hesitation, why are we doing this now, it's too

:39:34. > :39:37.late, we are not going to get there. And chase from the peloton and a

:39:38. > :39:42.climb and suddenly the riders stopped going south, over that last

:39:43. > :39:45.climb you can see this tuft of wind, some of the Orica BikeExchange

:39:46. > :39:49.raiders holding onto the back of the peloton. They've been riding hard.

:39:50. > :39:56.Now it's at ticks Quickstep and they are wondering where the Orica

:39:57. > :40:02.BikeExchange riders are. Then you get a bit of disarray. This man just

:40:03. > :40:07.has to keep his focus had. I think it will still be a big ask for Ian

:40:08. > :40:12.Stannard to come up to his team-mate. You have to take your hat

:40:13. > :40:19.off to Geraint Thomas. Absolutely, his expression, having been a

:40:20. > :40:23.sprinter in my career I cannot comprehend how someone can endure

:40:24. > :40:27.such pain. Seeking gritting his teeth, you can see how long he's had

:40:28. > :40:34.to endure that pain. It's much more intense now coming into the finished

:40:35. > :40:39.but he's really it now. This is just about where it joins the A three.

:40:40. > :40:46.Shortly the riders will be heading down the hill into Putney high

:40:47. > :40:51.Street. No release from Geraint. Just looking ahead, knows he must go

:40:52. > :40:57.full gas all the way. Great tactic, he knew the gap was nearing, he

:40:58. > :41:04.chose to go on one of the tracks, this is just a time trial between

:41:05. > :41:09.the two Team Sky riders. Can he hold off the peloton? I believe Geraint

:41:10. > :41:14.can. I think Ian Stannard can but it will be very close. A good crowd in

:41:15. > :41:20.Putney as they go over the South circular and into Putney high

:41:21. > :41:28.Street. Some tired legs there. That is Jelle Wallays. Ewen the rider for

:41:29. > :41:36.Madison Genesis, Matt hogs, has been riding hard. If you are tired legs

:41:37. > :41:45.but they've got their act together yet again. Riding at the front for

:41:46. > :41:48.Orica BikeExchange, they'll be working hard to put Michael Matthews

:41:49. > :41:58.into a late position to achieve something in this race. Also

:41:59. > :42:04.presumably got the legs of riders like Mat Hayman to potentially help

:42:05. > :42:14.them to get to the line. And these green

:42:15. > :42:21.jerseys of Tom Boonen involved. Unfortunately for these four riders

:42:22. > :42:27.they will be brought back, now it's a case of whether can Team Sky bring

:42:28. > :42:31.of one 12. It's going to be a fantastic finish. Just when we

:42:32. > :42:37.thought it was all over, everyone was saying, David, you me, that was

:42:38. > :42:41.the race, and now we've come ten kilometres, their only two riders in

:42:42. > :42:47.front. This is the beauty of cycling. The reduction of riders,

:42:48. > :42:51.not a reduction in this race, but the teams, now they only have six

:42:52. > :42:56.riders it's a little less predictable. This has been fantastic

:42:57. > :43:03.racing by Team Sky. It's going to come down to the wire. It will be

:43:04. > :43:07.close. Other teams are coming up, Wigan is putting a rider there,

:43:08. > :43:13.Lotto-Soudal a game, they are another team, Jelle Wallays is

:43:14. > :43:18.coming back, they've got a couple of good sprinters. More teams might be

:43:19. > :43:26.involved in the chase. It's still in the balance. They've been in the

:43:27. > :43:32.saddle for just over four and a half hours. Look at this picture,

:43:33. > :43:37.confirmation of the Sprint result, Jonathan Lastra winning the

:43:38. > :43:46.competition ahead of Jelle Wallays and Jonas Rijkaard in third place. -

:43:47. > :43:51.Jonas Rickaert. Geraint Thomas will be really feeling this with every

:43:52. > :43:59.revolution of the pedals. Can he hold on and take a victory? Just

:44:00. > :44:02.having one or two problems with the radio signal in the closing

:44:03. > :44:06.kilometres of this race. Hopefully we'll get back to it as soon as

:44:07. > :44:10.possible. We are back with the leader, Geraint Thomas. You can feel

:44:11. > :44:15.his pain just from seeing the pictures where he is. It's one of

:44:16. > :44:19.the occasions when the kilometres are not ticking off as fast as you'd

:44:20. > :44:25.want. He's got that picture in his mind of what's he going to do when

:44:26. > :44:29.he comes down The Mall. 39 seconds is not enough. Ian Stannard will be

:44:30. > :44:34.looking behind him and be caught fairly soon. This adds to the

:44:35. > :44:39.suspense, not seeing where he is on the road and how much they are

:44:40. > :44:47.closing in. It's 36 seconds, 35 seconds, according to the graphic we

:44:48. > :44:49.have seen, coming down all the time as we look from Trafalgar Square

:44:50. > :44:52.down Whitehall. Hopefully we'll get a glimpse of Geraint Thomas at the

:44:53. > :44:57.front of the race soon. He's in the lead, Ian Stannard is second. And

:44:58. > :45:02.the peloton is reinvigorated, and is chasing for all they are worth,

:45:03. > :45:06.trying to make this a bunch gallop for the line after this brave effort

:45:07. > :45:10.from Geraint Thomas with 50 kilometres to go he went on the

:45:11. > :45:13.attack on Box Hill, having already put in an equally big attack earlier

:45:14. > :45:24.on in the race. The Mall involved in attacks from

:45:25. > :45:28.halfway through this race, instigating and trying to pull off a

:45:29. > :45:34.win for Team Sky -- Geraint involved in attacks. It is still in the

:45:35. > :45:41.balance. 32nd is nothing inside the last six kilometres. It would be

:45:42. > :45:48.heartbreaking if he is caught. You have to start thinking, who is in

:45:49. > :45:53.the peloton behind, who will win. He's already said he wants to win

:45:54. > :46:03.this race, Michael Matthews is there. Great win in the Tour de

:46:04. > :46:09.France. Bardiani have riders in the mix as well. Don't know whether the

:46:10. > :46:16.likes of Adam Blythe are out there or not. I do believe Adam is a

:46:17. > :46:19.former winner of this race. The news from the course at the moment is

:46:20. > :46:25.that Ian Stannard is getting closer to Geraint Thomas. Don't think he

:46:26. > :46:30.has joined him but he is closing in. In fact he has caught Geraint Thomas

:46:31. > :46:34.apparently. Here we are with Geraint Thomas racing along embankment with

:46:35. > :46:38.5.8 kilometres to go but the chase is very much on. The fact they are

:46:39. > :46:44.really strung out behind just gives a chew indicator of the pace of the

:46:45. > :46:48.race. As soon as Jelle Wallays came back in, it did look as though Ian

:46:49. > :46:52.Stannard is still hanging out there. Could be caught by the bunch behind.

:46:53. > :46:59.Ms Lotto Soudal losing their man from the chasing group, it means

:47:00. > :47:02.that Lotto Soudal are now involved with the chase. In fact it is

:47:03. > :47:10.Stannard who has been caught, back with the peloton now. Geraint Thomas

:47:11. > :47:14.is still out on his own. That was a tantalising glimpse of the front of

:47:15. > :47:19.the race, as the crowd waits, the anticipation builds. Many have been

:47:20. > :47:26.there all day cheering home the riders in the sportive, in the 100,

:47:27. > :47:32.the 46, and now to bring the day to a crescendo, we await the arrival of

:47:33. > :47:36.some of the best elite cyclist in the world. And Geraint Thomas at the

:47:37. > :47:41.moment leads, but not by much. And we don't have any indication at this

:47:42. > :47:48.moment in time exactly how far he is. I think he's probably three or

:47:49. > :47:52.four minutes away from joining us on The Mall here. We apologise for lack

:47:53. > :47:57.of pictures at this crucial point in the race but it adds to the

:47:58. > :48:06.suspense. It does. Wales did so well in the Euro Championships. We can

:48:07. > :48:10.hold our heads high. We'll just have to see if Geraint Thomas can hold

:48:11. > :48:14.his head high in front of the group behind to pull off the wing. And who

:48:15. > :48:19.knows who's going to come round the corner in first place? Could be

:48:20. > :48:23.anybody and we still do not have that information. Coming down an

:48:24. > :48:29.embankment now, a few of the teams starting to come up. We still

:48:30. > :48:33.believe that Geraint Hughes has now been caught. So it looks as if it is

:48:34. > :48:42.altogether. We being told that Geraint Thomas has been caught. But

:48:43. > :48:45.we haven't been able, as you can tell, haven't been able to get

:48:46. > :48:49.visual confirmation of that. So I think we will just have to wait and

:48:50. > :48:56.see. David Millar has confirmed that Thomas has been caught. Geraint

:48:57. > :49:05.Thomas has been caught so he did not manage to hang onto the lead all the

:49:06. > :49:09.way the finish. We think they are inside the final kilometres of this

:49:10. > :49:12.race. They will be heading up Whitehall shortly, and there is an

:49:13. > :49:16.attack of the front, is that one of the Bardiani riders. The Italian

:49:17. > :49:20.second division team have gone on the attack. The peloton are amassing

:49:21. > :49:25.behind, this is a last-ditch attack by some of these riders. Some teams

:49:26. > :49:28.in here have done a lot of work and they will not want to throw it out

:49:29. > :49:33.the window. They've done the hard work, brought back Geraint Thomas

:49:34. > :49:37.and Ian Stannard, they will want to try and get organised. So many

:49:38. > :49:40.quality sprinters in here. Still in the balance. Still talking about the

:49:41. > :49:49.British champion Adam Blythe in the group behind. Orica have Michael

:49:50. > :49:54.Matthews, Etixx have Tom Boonen on some decent form at the moment.

:49:55. > :49:59.Bardiani have got, ready for the sprint. Lotto Soudal have come up

:50:00. > :50:13.thinking of their man as well. Letts -- lets see who hits the front.

:50:14. > :50:16.Etixx, having seemed to be out of the running, have brought it back

:50:17. > :50:19.together. One of the leading motorbikes coming through, the

:50:20. > :50:22.riders can't be too far away, surely they will be heading through

:50:23. > :50:26.Parliament Square any moment now and making their way up Whitehall. Here

:50:27. > :50:30.we are with the ride on the front, Sonny Colbrelli of Bardiani, a

:50:31. > :50:34.little look behind and it will be interesting to see the gap that he's

:50:35. > :50:40.got. Is it a gap he stands any chance of holding onto, here? A very

:50:41. > :50:43.slender gap. I thought Sonny Colbrelli was a shoo-in in a small

:50:44. > :50:47.group like this. Obviously feels there are too many of the biggest

:50:48. > :50:52.printers and he wanted to go for a long one. Just shows Bardiani and

:50:53. > :50:56.the group behind, they wanted to bring the victory. This is their

:50:57. > :51:00.opportunity for the victory but unfortunately he's only got a matter

:51:01. > :51:05.of about 20 metres. It's not much of an advantage for him. Suddenly the

:51:06. > :51:08.likes of Michael Matthews will be licking their lips at the

:51:09. > :51:12.possibilities that lay before them. This is a team that have not done

:51:13. > :51:16.much today, team Dimension Data, they've got three riders up towards

:51:17. > :51:21.the front of the peloton. Renshaw? Could be Renshaw. Not too sure if

:51:22. > :51:27.Tyler Farrar is there. They've got a couple of good sprinters. Just when

:51:28. > :51:31.you thought the race was over, Team Sky had a dominant tactical display,

:51:32. > :51:36.second to none, all of a sudden you are back in with an opportunity.

:51:37. > :51:39.Well, it's made for an absolutely fascinating and thrilling bike race.

:51:40. > :51:43.And it has all come back together right at the end with Geraint Thomas

:51:44. > :51:48.looking as though he was riding to victory for such a long time, but

:51:49. > :51:53.the lead just evaporated inside the final ten kilometres of the race, as

:51:54. > :51:57.they had up Whitehall, hopefully we will see riders shortly. This camera

:51:58. > :52:02.angle coming from Trafalgar Square, looking down Whitehall, the top end

:52:03. > :52:07.of Whitehall. The peloton cannot be far away. Once they go through

:52:08. > :52:14.Admiralty Arch there will be just over 500 metres to go. The crowd all

:52:15. > :52:18.looking down the road, still no sign of the riders. We do apologise for

:52:19. > :52:22.the loss of pictures at this vital point in the race but we will bring

:52:23. > :52:27.you the spring shortly. And it does look as if that Sprint will happen

:52:28. > :52:30.imminently. Nick Bennett, the race director, coming through, an

:52:31. > :52:35.indication the peloton will not be far behind. A couple of motorbikes

:52:36. > :52:40.and then the peloton. The peloton are pretty much coming into our view

:52:41. > :52:44.very quickly. Here we are, they are massed up towards the front, getting

:52:45. > :52:49.ready for a spin. Matt Heymann riding on the front for Orica Bike

:52:50. > :52:54.Expo, in a good position. Lotto Soudal as well with riders at the

:52:55. > :52:57.front, Tom Boonen sixth in as they take the left-hander through

:52:58. > :53:02.Trafalgar Square. They are about to go through Admiralty Arch, about 550

:53:03. > :53:06.metres to go to the line. Now we are going to have that big sprint

:53:07. > :53:10.towards the line, and Geraint Thomas is still up there in the first 20 or

:53:11. > :53:13.so in the field at the moment. Lotto Soudal do not have Andrei griped all

:53:14. > :53:20.here in the field but they do have options. Michael Matthews is in a

:53:21. > :53:25.good position here. Mark Renshaw is right on his wheel, as attacks go,

:53:26. > :53:29.both left and right, here. The sprint very much on. Four and three

:53:30. > :53:32.quarters hours in the saddle, pushing up towards the line

:53:33. > :53:36.superfast. It's really competitive, and Tom Boonen looks like he will

:53:37. > :53:43.take it at the last second on the line, Tom Boonen, four-time winner

:53:44. > :53:49.of Paris-Roubaix, three-time winner of the Tour of Flanders adds the

:53:50. > :53:53.London Surrey Classic. He has not shown his face at the front of the

:53:54. > :53:56.race all afternoon, he waited until it really mattered, it was right at

:53:57. > :54:00.the end, his team-mates brought the race back together in the closing

:54:01. > :54:06.stages right and the business end of the race, and Tom Boonen timed it to

:54:07. > :54:10.perfection. He takes the win. Mark Renshaw from Australia in second

:54:11. > :54:15.place, and his compatriot Michael Matthews in third. Here is the

:54:16. > :54:19.sprint again. Fantastic effort. Just when we had written off Etixx all

:54:20. > :54:28.day, Tom Boonen comes up with the win and beats Michael Matthews. I

:54:29. > :54:32.tell you what, just says never give up. I don't think Etixx gave up

:54:33. > :54:36.today. They had the help of a lot of other teams but Tom Boonen, we said

:54:37. > :54:42.it all along, came here to win. He had good form coming into this race

:54:43. > :54:47.and in the end from a great display from Team Sky, Tom Boonen comes up

:54:48. > :54:51.trumps, here in the right London classic. Tom Boonen taking the win,

:54:52. > :54:55.Renshaw in second place, Matthews third. The booster from Lotto, the

:54:56. > :55:03.former Belgian national champion for. Paolo Simion from Italy was

:55:04. > :55:08.sick over the line. The tawdry than half and Mark McNally the British

:55:09. > :55:16.rider taking tenth place over the line. And Tim is with Tom Boonen,

:55:17. > :55:19.the winner, right now. Absolutely, and it is smiles all round down

:55:20. > :55:24.here. Massive congratulations, what a race, took us through it. Yeah,

:55:25. > :55:28.thank you. It was a very hot day today. Don't know if that was the

:55:29. > :55:34.difference between the guys from the Tour and us. We just went for all

:55:35. > :55:37.day. At a certain point I was dropped two times, I had a puncture

:55:38. > :55:42.one time, got stuck behind some guys that were dropped. At the point I

:55:43. > :55:50.got back in the group, the group split. I was back in with 80 guys or

:55:51. > :55:54.something. So we came back, doing an incredible job chasing everybody

:55:55. > :55:58.down, the last five kilometres getting ready for a sprint. I felt

:55:59. > :56:04.confident because I did a few good sprinters last week. Didn't know I

:56:05. > :56:08.was already recovered. What it felt OK. And I'm happy with this win,

:56:09. > :56:16.first time in a while I've beaten all these guys again. Looking good

:56:17. > :56:20.for the next few races. Looks like it took the peloton while to get

:56:21. > :56:24.going, coming round the corner there you could see the finish line, what

:56:25. > :56:28.was going through your head? Just always I think also when I was here

:56:29. > :56:33.in the Olympics, it's very hard, this course, to write on. It's very

:56:34. > :56:37.hard to go faster than the group if you get a gap. The first three or

:56:38. > :56:41.four guys in the group setting the pace, the other ones just have to

:56:42. > :56:46.sit back because you cannot pass. That's why it takes a lot of time to

:56:47. > :56:51.catch them back. The final was just a very strong few guys. It took

:56:52. > :56:56.everybody to catch them back. When we came to the last corner I was

:56:57. > :57:02.waiting for the perfect moment. I was passing one or two guys with a

:57:03. > :57:06.little bit of speed. I saw the 200 metres sign, I had a few kilometres

:57:07. > :57:11.per hour extra, I thought I would try it and see what happens. I had

:57:12. > :57:16.the legs to finish it off. Amazing, massive congratulations and well

:57:17. > :57:18.done. Thanks. Tin with a very happy Tom Boonen. Let's confirm the result

:57:19. > :57:44.for you. Boonen, Renshaw, Matthews, very

:57:45. > :57:49.strong sprinters finish in the end here at right London, the only

:57:50. > :57:53.person going faster than Tom Boonen at the finish was David Millar who

:57:54. > :57:55.watched the race from the back of a motorbike. When we lost the host

:57:56. > :57:58.pictures you were right in the middle of it when Geraint Thomas was

:57:59. > :58:03.caught, what happened when we missed the pictures video it happened so

:58:04. > :58:08.quickly. I was with Ian Stannard, concentrating on catching Geraint

:58:09. > :58:12.and then the peloton was coming from nowhere. They both got swallowed up

:58:13. > :58:16.within a kilometre and a half of each other. Horrible to watch after

:58:17. > :58:20.the work they had done. We talked about whether it would come down to

:58:21. > :58:25.a sprint finish, saw as we saw Tom Boonen 's position, he's such a

:58:26. > :58:30.super strong finisher. He has so much experience as well. Mark

:58:31. > :58:34.Renshaw and Michael Matthews, the two Australians, but Tom Boonen was

:58:35. > :58:38.in a class of his own. As we've said before, when the sprinters get that

:58:39. > :58:41.close to the finish, he's got the experience of winning, and he had

:58:42. > :58:44.the indications are week ago in his training and it all came into place

:58:45. > :58:48.but he certainly had a powerful sprint. A Welsh flag over my

:58:49. > :58:52.shoulder, they thought they would see a Welsh winner, Tim Bunn got

:58:53. > :58:57.caught, but he is talking to Tim. Thought we were on for a repeat of

:58:58. > :59:02.the Commonwealth 2014, you went out and were going so strong, took us

:59:03. > :59:05.through its. We wanted to race hard. When the Ian Stannard went across

:59:06. > :59:11.the group it was all good. Box Hill I just wanted to test everyone and

:59:12. > :59:18.maybe get rid of a few people. Ended up on my own and I was kind of like,

:59:19. > :59:24.oh, sugar. I kind of book my ticket and had to bite the bullet and try

:59:25. > :59:28.and go. Oh, man. It's tough. I just could have done with somebody to

:59:29. > :59:33.give myself a bit of a breather. But I was on my own. Everything started

:59:34. > :59:40.to go towards the end. The back of my legs. And yeah, unfortunately

:59:41. > :59:44.with four or five kilometres ago I was always going to be up against it

:59:45. > :59:48.with the strong teams behind. The peloton seemed to come from nowhere,

:59:49. > :59:51.it was way back, we saw David Millar on his bike going backwards and

:59:52. > :59:57.forwards, and it came from absolutely nowhere. That's the

:59:58. > :00:02.pro-peloton for you. Riding hard for a sprint, a couple of sprint teams

:00:03. > :00:07.committed, you've got to be super strong to hold them off. If maybe I

:00:08. > :00:11.had stayed with the group a bit longer and maybe gone 25 kilometres

:00:12. > :00:15.out rather than 50 yard, I might have had more of a chance. But like

:00:16. > :00:20.I say, just great to race here in the UK for me. The last time was the

:00:21. > :00:26.Tour of Britain. When the Tour de France was here, and before that was

:00:27. > :00:32.Toure Britain in 2011. Pleasure to have you, thanks for chatting.

:00:33. > :00:41.He's onto a flight for Rio tomorrow. I hope he hasn't damaged his legs.

:00:42. > :00:46.It is super hard to get on a flight with tired legs and he was really

:00:47. > :00:49.feeling tired by the end of the race, he will have to have a stretch

:00:50. > :00:58.that he will certainly feel it on that flight. David, Tom Boonen

:00:59. > :01:03.looked super strong. He timed it just perfectly, though. That run-in

:01:04. > :01:08.is deceptively hard, it looks flat all the time, falls flat. They had a

:01:09. > :01:12.big day out, Geraint and Ian, and they've paid the price, as Geraint

:01:13. > :01:16.said the peloton is so strong in full flight and they were going

:01:17. > :01:21.faster and faster and Geraint and Ian were just blowing and going

:01:22. > :01:27.slower. Look at that finish, Renshaw, masses, so strong at the

:01:28. > :01:31.finish. It was a fantastic top pedigree and Sprint. The next big

:01:32. > :01:35.race to look forward to is that the Olympics. Loads of Olympic action to

:01:36. > :01:39.look forward to. We begin our build-up on Thursday night with a

:01:40. > :01:43.fascinating insight into the build-up from Mo Farah, double

:01:44. > :01:48.Olympic champion. And on Friday we have the Olympic preview show, Clare

:01:49. > :01:53.balding with the build up from 8:30pm which leads beautifully into

:01:54. > :02:00.the opening ceremony. We start that one at 11:40am on BBC One --

:02:01. > :02:04.11:40pm. My thanks to my guests, to everyone involved in what has been a

:02:05. > :02:08.fantastic weekend, right London. We will see you next year. The bye for

:02:09. > :03:05.now. Can't have a day off, can't afford

:03:06. > :03:10.it, cos Rio's around the corner.