{"id":31391,"title":"Tour of Britain postcard","description":"Belgian Bingoal WB professional cyclist Lennert Teugels is making his debut in the Tour of Britain. It's also his first time in the UK. He's kindly agreed to send us a postcard from each day with his impressions on the race and the UK.","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: COBBLES & CLASSICS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

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Belgian Bingoal WB professional cyclist <\/span>Lennert Teugels<\/strong><\/a> is making his debut in the Tour of Britain. It's also his first time in the UK. He's kindly agreed to send us a postcard from each day with his impressions on the race and the UK.<\/span><\/p>

\"Image<\/p>

Tour of Britain - Stage 0<\/h2>

\"ImageImage: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Lennert's first postcard is from the day before the race started - Saturday, 2 August 2023.<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 45<\/span><\/p>

Position: n\/a<\/span><\/p>

Overall: n\/a<\/span><\/p>

\"Early flight today from Charleroi to Manchester. We did a lovely easy ride. Some clich\u00e9s about England were confirmed: grippy roads, and potholes.<\/em><\/p>

<\/p><\/blockquote>

Others were rejected: we got lovely weather with zero wind and very calm traffic. Really enjoyed the countryside just south of Manchester. A 45 km route with a small coffee stop at the Tearoom '<\/em>The Wizard<\/em><\/strong><\/a>' (in Alderley Edge).\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 1<\/h2>

\"Lennert'sImage: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Sunday, 3 August 2023 Altrincham to Manchester<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 161<\/span><\/p>

Position: 61st, same time as the winner Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 61st, same time as overall leader Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cAs relaxed as our easy ride was yesterday, so stressful the stage was today. All day city circuit and quite exhausting roads. Learned quite quick you better hold your handlebars, when after 5km a TDT Unibet guy launched an attack right into a pothole, lost his chain and went down hard straight in front of me, I could just avoid it by a sliver. (Ed: Martijn Budding who didn\u2019t finish)<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

A bit further a dog ran into the peloton, that kind of day. For me it's waiting for the last 2 stages, something more suited for punchers. The last 10k were done in about 10 minutes so that tells enough about the speed. I had a slow flat (about half of the pressure was gone by the end) in the front, what made it extra difficult to hold onto the pack.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I finished in the pack.\u00a0 Hopefully tomorrow more luck. But have to be honest, what INEOS and Jumbo Visma showed today was from another level.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 2<\/h2>

\"StunningImage: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Monday, 4 August 2023 Altrincham to Manchester<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 109 (270 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 39th, same time as the winner Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 49th, same time as overall leader Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cA very short, flat and fast stage today. The roads were a bit better today but still not great. Another stunning pace of Jumbo all day today. They had to back off sometimes because they would have caught the break too early. It's like those guys have only 2 buttons: on and off.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

For our team it was a better day. We found ourselves a good place behind Uno-X and stayed out of the wind all day. In the final, our sprinters just missed out top 10.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I do have to say the final was on the limit concerning safety. I don't like to criticize organisers because I know how hard it is to organise a race with all the obligations, but these final kilometers could have been better...<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Anyway, apart from 1 DSM guy crashing, nothing really happened. 39th for myself, I was just trying not to lose time in the GC, which worked out.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Now we have quite a long travel by car from the west to the eastern coast through the Peak District, stunning views in the hills between Manchester and Sheffield!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 3<\/h2>

\"HolidayIt\u2019s a glamorous life - Holiday Inn Doncaster Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Tuesday, 5 August 2023 Goole to Beverley<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 154 (424 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 20th, same time as the winner Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 35th, same time as overall leader Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cLife as a cyclist isn't always luxury. Yesterday we came into hotel rooms of 30 degrees C with a non functional air-conditioning. I have to say to suffer from heat was really the last thing I expected in the UK in September! Maybe the weather isn't as bad here as everyone thinks?<\/p>

<\/p>

Luckily the other facilities in Hotel Holiday Inn Doncaster were good.<\/p>

<\/p>

The race then, along the eastern coast with the wind as a potential enemy. The roads were significantly better here in south Yorkshire and luckily, quite protected from wind.<\/p><\/blockquote>

\"TrainingLennert\u2019s Training Peaks Data. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

I could manage to stay in the front for quite a while in the crosswind section but of course right at the moment you think nothing will happen and you go to the back, you get caught in an echelon!<\/p>

<\/p>

Luckily I came back soon and signed up for another bunch sprint. It's getting a bit boring to be honest, but with those strong teams and no real hills, there is nothing really what can be done to avoid it.<\/p>

<\/p>

It's a long wait to stages 7 and 8. The last 90 minutes of the race was over 50kmh average (see trainingpeaks screenshot, thats over 30mph). I do have to say this time the last kilometer was safe and nice!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 4<\/h2>

\"BingoalLennert\u2019s teammate Dimitri Peyskens goes full Robin Hood. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Wednesday, 6 August 2023 Sherwood Forest to Newark-on-Trent<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 166 (590 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 48th, same time as the winner Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 36th, same time as overall leader Olav Kooi (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cA brilliant starting location in the Sherwood Forest, famous for being the home of legendary Robin Hood. We got some nice hats for the presentation to keep the story alive (see picture).<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Once we got out of the woods the race fell quickly into a classic pattern of a small early break and Jumbo in control. The fact that there is no bonus seconds really blocks the race (usually races like this provide some bonus seconds to grab in intermediate sprints).<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Apart from a KOM jersey what was actually already decided on day 1 till the weekend (not much points to grab before Saturday), there's really nothing to win in the break but some publicity.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I could help the team a bit to position before a small road 15k to go but that was about it for today, another bunch sprint. Our Italian stagiaire (Ed: Davide Persico - brother of cyclocross rider Silvia Persico) did great, finishing 7th! I closed down the stage with the fastest ever doping control, before another 2.5h transfer towards northern London.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 5<\/h2>

\"FelixstoweCosta del Felixstowe. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Thursday, 7 August 2023 Felixstowe to Felixstowe<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 192 (782 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 47th, three seconds behind the winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 38th, three seconds behind the overall leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cHello and welcome at this postcard from Spain... Or wait, it's eastern England! Beautiful start from Felixstowe coast and immediately full gas for an hour.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Teams like Uno-X clearly didn't want to make it another easy day for Jumbo but after a crazy first hour unfortunately that's exactly what it became with another 3 guy breakaway.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Small crash 10k to go to spice things up but our team stayed safe and pulled off great results with a 4th and 6th place in the bunch sprint.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Did I say bunch sprint? I mean after Wout Van Aert made us all look ridiculous after going solo in the last kilometer while we were still averaging 60kmh...<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

For me the countdown can now really begin, 1 more day of flat roads before we finally head towards Wales and the hills!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 6<\/span><\/h2>

\"SouthendSouthend-on-Sea. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Friday, 8 August 2023 Southend-on-Sea to Harlow<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 146 (928 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 40th, same time as the winner Danny van Poppel (BORA - hansgrohe)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 37th, three seconds behind the overall leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cAnother seaside start at Southend-on-Sea, famous for the longest amusement pier in the world.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Today the break went fast, looked like a chill day but half race the game was on and the break literally got replaced by another. After 2 punctures in the break they were fast reduced in power and there was bunch sprint number 6.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

This tour has had multiple downhills in the last kilometers and it had to go wrong one time. Today was that day. We had our Danish sprinter Salby down and it doesn't look good, very doubtful that he can continue the race, sadly.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Our Italian rocket Persico keeps doing well with another 7th place. Mixed feelings. But there's also good news, tomorrow we hit the first real hills around Gloucester.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Let's see if we can hang on with the big guns! By the way, can someone turn the heating down a bit? Soon I'll have to tell the people in Belgium the UK is hotter than Spain...\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 7<\/h2>

\"TewkesburyTewkesbury Abbey. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Saturday, 8 August 2023 Tewkesbury to Gloucester<\/span><\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 171 (1,099 in total)<\/span><\/p>

Position: 32nd, thirty-six seconds behind the winner Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X)<\/span><\/p>

Overall: 26th, thirty-nine seconds behind the overall leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma)<\/span><\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cThey know how to find the nice start locations, another beautiful one at the Tewkesbury Abbey (picture). We left the seasides and finally hit some hills in the Cotswolds.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Still they were quite punchy, I do like them a bit longer and more regular. British climbs seems to have all thus in common, very steep parts mixed with better going parts. It was definitely a beautiful stage, I enjoyed it!<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I didn't have the legs to follow the attacks from the best riders but I managed to follow in a 2nd group.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I do have to say I was suffering from the heat, even 10 bottles couldn't cool me down. Tomorrow the final chapter of the Tour, the Queen stage in Wales, really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Tour of Britain Stage 8<\/h2>

\"MargamMargam Castle. Image: Lennert Teugels<\/em><\/p>

Sunday, 9 August 2023 Margam Country Park to Caerphilly<\/p>

Kilometres ridden: 167 (1,289 in total)<\/p>

Metres climbed: 12,8600m<\/span><\/p>

Hours ridden: 28 hours 44 minutes<\/span><\/p>

Position: 15th, fifty-nine seconds behind the winner Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos)<\/p>

Overall: 15th, one minute twenty-seven seconds behind the overall winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma)<\/p>

Strava ride<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\u201cSave the best for the last. The nicest starting location at Margam Castle (see picture) and the nicest stage through the stunning landscapes of Wales. Not only the hills but also some steep cliffs along the coast were amazing.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I had a plan for an early breakaway and got into a promising group early on, but we got caught and the next group went with my teammate and breakaway-expert Johan Meens, good situation.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

Wales also didn't disappoint with the weather as we got some refreshing rain (on the highest hills it even got a bit chilly!), perfect for me. Movistar started the final early and it got bit of an elimination race.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

The local circuit in Caerphilly was super nice and hard. I got some help of Johan and Floris to position for the final climbs and I decided not to follow the attacks and just ride up the hill twice as hard as I could in my VO2max zone.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

This went pretty well and finished 15th place in a group for twelfth place. Quite happy to finish this way! The start of the week was a bit boring but the hard weekend made it a nice week anyway.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

I hope to come back here. I enjoyed the UK, the thing what I will remember the most is the crowds. Not only cheering along the road but also after the finish we got a lot of compliments and 'well dones'. Thank you, Great Britain!\u201c<\/span><\/p>

<\/p><\/blockquote>

READ MORE<\/strong>: Read all of Rijden\u2019s <\/em>articles about cycling\u2019s classics and cobbled races.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\"Read<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Our thanks to Lennert for his help.<\/em><\/p>

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