Thousands of people lined the streets of Caerphilly County Borough on Friday for the sixth stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain.
Around 100 elite cyclists raced through the county borough into Caerphilly town and then made the climb up Caerphilly mountain twice before coming into Crescent Road for the finishing straight.
First Minister Carwyn Jones, who presented stage winner Leopold Konig with a winner’s watch, told Caerphilly Observer the event was good for Wales.
He said: “All publicity like this is good for Wales and hosting an event like this is good for Wales.
“It’s a fantastic sunny day and people have seen Caerphilly, the mountain and the castle.”
One person the crowd did not see though was Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.
This year’s Tour de France winner failed to make the start line at Welshpool because of a stomach bug and the 32-year-old will also miss the final two stages of the race on Saturday and Sunday.
Unfortunately Bradley Wiggins was unable to start stage six of the Tour of Britain today after picking up a stomach bug. More details soon
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) September 14, 2012
Speaking after his withdrawal, Wiggins said: “I’m sorry to have to pull out of the Tour.
“I’ve loved the last six days, meeting so many people around the country and enjoying those crowds along the roads. It’s been a great experience, but this bug sadly means I’ll now miss the climax this weekend.
“I’m sorry I can’t continue and would like to thank all those fans, of all ages, for the support. Those fans have really inspired us this week and this summer.
“I’d also like to wish Mark, Luke, Bernie, Christian and Jez all the best for the last three stages of the Tour. Sorry I can’t be there.”
The sixth stage of the Tour of Britain between Welshpool and Caerphilly was 189.8km long and Caerphilly didn’t disappoint with its support.
Design engineer Stephen Layman, 41, of Glenfields, was at the start of the mountain climb in the town centre.
He said: “It’s fantastic and hopefully it will inspire some youngsters to greater things. Who knows, we might have some future Olympic cyclists here today. You can’t fault having an event like this in your home town.”
Project manager Rob Jenkins, 41, who works in Ystrad Mynach agreed.
He said: “It’s brilliant. I wanted to come down this afternoon but I didn’t expect to feel this excited.”
Cllr Harry Andrews, leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, praised the efforts of council workers to bring the Tour of Britain to Caerphilly for a second year.
He said: “Today has been mind-blowing – absolutely fantastic. It’s been superbly organised and I’m proud and delighted by the quality of the support the workers and staff of Caerphilly County Borough Council have achieved here today.
“I’m ready to sign up [to host again next year] before I leave here.”
Plaid Cymru Councillor Colin Elsbury, who represents the St Martin’s ward, also praised the support from the public.
He said: “We’re delighted it’s come back for a second year and the atmosphere here is fantastic.”
View Tour of Britain 2012 route through Caerphilly County Borough in a larger map
Wales. You were amazing. The pupils I met this morning made my week and the Caerphilly crowds made a tough day memorable. #cycling #ToB2012
— Chris Opie (@SpeedyOpie) September 14, 2012
Simply awesome – Mark Cavendish & Mark Froome – Tour Of Britain in #Caerphilly – photo courtesy of the wife! twitter.com/BlogThoughts/s…
— Jim Barnett (@BlogThoughts) September 14, 2012
Thanks for all the support today, was epic racing in Wales. Awesome crowds up Caerphilly. 5th on the stage for me ! #Dragons !!!
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) September 14, 2012
All the mods are out in caerphilly today to watch the tour of britain, only to find wiggo’s not even riding 🙁 twitter.com/Kellyyyyyy_/st…
— Gallagher Groupie ? (@Kellyyyyyy_) September 14, 2012
3.30 pm Caerphilly town Centre
Roads that need not be closed, closed.
Absolute chaos, Residents unable to get into their homes, and marshals totally unwilling to help.
Can anyone in authority tell me why the section of road between the junction of White Street and Bartlet Street, and Bartlet street and Broomfield Street was closed.??????? Even the Marshal on duty, who was preventing residents accessing their homes did not know.
Absolute chaos and very poor planning, and no regard for the interest of town centre ratepayers.
The tour of Britain was very good, but the behaviour of some of the fans, especially on Mountain Road was dangerous, they did not keep to the pavement but stepped onto the road leaving a gap, just wide enough for two cylistd to pass. If you are racing up a 17% slope the last thing you need is clown running alongside you or jumping in front of you to take an action picture.
I am a resident of Caerphilly town centre and truly enjoyed the event today. It was a great sporting spectacle and a pleasure to see world class athletes on the streets of the town.
The race can viewed world wide and is a great advertisment for Caerphilly and has positive effects on the local economy in both the short and the long term.
OK there were road closures for the safety of the riders but only for a short period of time.
Full marks to the organisers, especially Caerphilly Council.
The event is a Britain wide event and for that reason it gives pleasure to a lot of people.
Roads need to be closed for the safety of the public and those taking part. But, to close roads without proper notice and to close roads which need not be closed is inconvenient and unjustifiable, with proper planning and helpful marshals residents need not have been effected too much.
Events like these come, and they go, on the town, the easily avoidable inconveniences need not mar them for those who have no interest whatsoever in them.
Part of the culture of cycle races especially abroad is the chance for fans to get close to the action. There were no complaints from the teams only very positive tweets etc that the crowds were fantastic in Caerphilly. The last thing you need is someone preventing you from getting into the road and close to the bikes, it spurs them on. Once again the Caerphilly 'characters' brought a smile and a laugh to the commentaters and race officials. Cllr Harry Andrews summed it up. ''I'm ready to sign up before I leave here'' (for next year). Its this kind of support that brings these high profile events to Caerphilly Borough again and again. Years ago we had very little in the way of these types of events apart from the odd Milk Race.
It appears that the race will come through Caerphilly again next year on the same date at the same time so this should be plenty of notice for anyone.
As for the crowds on Mountain road, this is the nature of cycle racing, I have been a spectator on the Tour De France and the Giro De Italia and it is exactly the same. In fact Mark Kavendish one of the riders stated after the stage that he was amazed by the quantity and quality of the spectators on the mountain route.
I have no interest in the Big Cheese, the regular markets or the firework displays but being a town centre resident, I am willing to endure the minor inconveniences as these events bring much pleasure to many people especially children.
After all this is 2012 not 1950.
If anyone has any negative (or positive)comments regarding the event then please feel free to contact the Tour of Britains Chief Executive Officer – Hugh Roberts
robertsh@thetour.co.uk
Alternatively write to them at the following address:
The Tour
Rathbone House
4a Heath Road
Weybridge
Surrey
KT13 8TB
Well isn't it fantastic for Caerphilly to be promoted so positively worldwide. Bah humbug to all those who are so negative. So what if some roads were closed for a short time? We have a beautiful county and the arial shots were a delight, a big hoorah and well done to the enthusiastic supporters who made the event so exciting and welcomed the riders so well.
It's wonderful to see Caerphilly hosting such events. There's always one in every village who complains at just about everything and everyone. We must tolerate that sort of person.
Jeff
Thank you for your tolerance
Well I for one am proud to live in Caerphilly – especially when you have amazing events like this happening! I'm looking forward to this again next year.