Friday's British news round-up

• Friday, 31 July 2009
• Andrew Canning & Andy McGrath
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TOP STORIES THIS WEEK
-Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France blood values
-Blackpool Nocturne: the big preview
-Wiggins staying put at Garmin Slipstream
-Family of cyclist killed by car receives £580,000
-Cavendish joins the Tour de France elite

MILLAR PUSHING ON IN SPAIN
The 2009 season has so far offered little respite for Garmin’s David Millar, who has already ridden (and completed) the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

Now building up for his third Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España, Millar will ride this Saturday’s San Sebastian.

Millar will be joined by Ireland’s Dan Martin, who is recovering from a bout of tendonitis, Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Tom Danielson, Julian Dean, Ryder Hesjedal and Danny Pate.

San Sebastian preview>>>


HARRIS A CLOSE SECOND IN HOLLAND
Britain’s Nikki Harris was a close second to Marianne Vos in a post-Tour de France criterium on Wednesday night in Holland.

“It was a very fast race with a great atmosphere with so many people there,” explained Harris.

“I got away with Marianne vos, Inge Klep and Andrea Grimberg on the second lap.  The gap grew from the peloton behind and we stayed away all race around two or three minutes ahead of the main bunch by the finish.

“Marianne was strong and attacked on the last lap to get a gap and I sprinted in for second.”

After the national championships, Harris had a solid ten days of rest, “but now I’m back racing and training hard and fully focused on getting in good shape for the end of the road season and for the start of the cyclocross season”.


TOP TEN FOR HUNT IN DENMARK
Britain’s Jeremy Hunt notched up another top-ten result this year, with tenth place on the second stage of the Tour of Denmark yesterday.

The stage was won by Saxo Bank’s Nicki Sorensen, who also won a stage of the Tour de France this year and Hunt placed tenth in the bunch led home by Matti Breschel some 20 seconds in arrear of Sorensen.

Hunt now lies fourth overall, just 23 seconds behind new race-leader, Sorensen.

Hunt’s Cervélo team-mates Roger Hammond, Daniel Lloyd and Daniel Fleeman are 27th, 29th and 95th overall respectively.

Today’s stage covers 185km from Arhus to Vejle. The race concludes on Sunday.


BRITS ON THE CONTINENT
As Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins flew the flag for Britain in the last week of the Tour, plenty of other home riders were also racing in lower-profile events across Europe.

Katusha neo-pro Ben Swift was the only Brit at the Tour de Wallonie; the
Rotherham rider featured in a couple of bunch sprints, finishing twelfth on stage two and tenth on stage five on the way to 78th overall.

Roger Hammond's seventh place on the last stage was the pick of the British bunch in the Brixia Tour. Barloworld team-mates Geraint Thomas and Steve Cummings also rode the five-day Italian stage race.

Alex Coutts (Heraklion - Nessebar) and Matt Brammeier (Sean Kelly Cycling Team) were in action at last week's Sachsen Tour in Germany. Scottish climber Coutts rode to 37th overall, while Brammeier finished 59th.


INTERNATIONAL RACES CANCELLED FOR VISION 1
Despite a successful start to the season in which the team eight races, Vision 1, the team of World and Olympic champion Nicole Cooke, has been forced to cancel three races from its international racing programme.

This news comes after former team manager Stefan Wyman left the team in late May to pursue other projects.


SKYRIDE MANCHESTER READY FOR TAKE OFF
This Sunday will see the first of the city centre SkyRides in the heart of Manchester.

The first in a series of five city centre rides, they are designed to expound the benefits of a healthier lifestyle.

Tens of thousands of cyclists are expected to take to the streets of Manchester to enjoy traffic-free roads for the day, passing some of the city’s most recognisable landmarks along the way.

“I’m very excited about the first of our events and can’t wait to get to Manchester to join in,” enthused Sky’s director of cycling, Corin Dimopoulos.

“This is just the start – our aim is to get one million more Britons cycling regularly by the end of 2013”.

After Manchester, there will also be rides in Glasgow, Leicester, Hounslow and central London.

For more information, see www.goskyride.com

Are you racing abroad at the moment? Have you got any time trialling news you'd like to share? Get in touch: andrew_canning@ipcmedia.com