As the Aviva Tour of Britain gets under way, here’s are take on who you should be looking out for
With the Aviva Tour of Britain well under way, we thought that it was about time we took a quick look at the cyclists. This year, everybody wants to take home the top trophy, but who will be victorious. With many different teams competing, it’s hard to say which has the strongest members. Ahead of the tour’s climax this Sunday, we wanted to analyse the race so far. If you’ve been watching the results each day, you will know that it’s been a close race. These athletes have to push forward if they want to be the ones to win it.
Victory for Elia Viviani
Elia Viviani is a key cyclist, and so you need to know his name. He started the race strong and won the first stage. As if that was not impressive enough, he managed to leave his competitors in the dust and gain yet another win. Yes, the cyclist won stage three as well. It could be that he is well on his way to earning the top title and the trophy. Only time will tell whether he has what it takes to sustain this mesmerising performance. The third stage proved tricky enough for the young star. Despite the odds, though, he managed to beat both Juan Jose Lobato and Matteo Trentin. Right now, it is unclear whether he will make it, but we think that he has a shot.
One to watch: Petr Vakoc
The Czech National Champion has already shown a great deal of promise. Over the course of the competition, he has proved himself to be a real contender. In the second stage, he managed to gain his first victory. At this point, Petr was up against one of his biggest rivals – Edvald Boasson Hagen. Edvald has already won the competition once in the past, and so we know that he has what it takes to do it again. Petr had to gather all his strength to ensure that he could beat his rival. When he tried, though, it was clear that he could ride away and get a large lead.
Defending Champion: Dylan Van Baarle
So, what about last year’s champion, Dylan Van Baarle? Well, the 23-year-old is still worth watching. In fact, the young cyclist has shown a lot of promise in the last few stages. While he knows that he may lose the tour, he remains optimistic. Before the race began, he told the Aviva site that he is ready to lose, but will try not to do so. “We must be open that possibility [of losing] but I will be riding aggressively on terrain I enjoy,” Dylan told the press. At the moment, it is clear that he has kept his promise to us all.
Teams to watch
Finally, what teams should you watch? Well, the Sky team always does well, and so they tend to gain a lot of attention. Aside from that, it is worth paying attention to the BMC Racing team, who have presented a solid game. Who will win the trophy? Only time will tell – we’ll have to wait until Sunday.
And don’t forget, if you need trophies for your own cycling event or competition, we have a great range of cycling trophies and cycling medals to offer.