TofB
Posted on Wednesday 10 September 2008 by Camille Savory
We gathered, in dribs and drabs, to watch some surprisingly big names race – some of whom brought their own clouds. You could get close enough to hear locals Bradley Wiggins and David Millar wise-crack at the signing on, while the Europeans smiled and obliged with a few words. The course was 8 laps of what was pretty much my commute - but at least for them it stayed dry. Our chosen vantage point at the Embankment corner gave a great view of the riders as they singled out to round it safely, and Hungerford bridge a bird’s-eye view of the rainbow peloton streaming along by the river.
It was classic criterium racing - after a lap spent checking out the road surface, the pace was upped then a break of 8 got away from the bunch. Eventually they were reeled in, apart from a solo Italian bid for glory, to be quashed by the efforts of CSC. So the bunch stormed together towards the finish in the shadow of Big Ben, with star sprinter Petacchi taking it.
Then they were all whisked away to Milton Keynes ready for the next stage, and some of us piled back to Italia Uno to catch the last hour of the Vuelta a Espana on TV.