Overall OVO Energy Women’s Tour winner Lizzie Deignan admitted the two days of racing in Wales had, as she expected, been brutal. But, as Owen Morgan reports for Dai Sport, the cycling boom in Wales shows no sign of bursting as amateurs headed to the Black Mountain to test their strength on the climbs the professionals would be racing later in an area where previous heroes usually donned the famous red Welsh rugby jersey. These are indeed heady days for cycling in Wales.
Three hours before the first riders in the OVO Energy Women’s Tour were due at the summit of the Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire, the mini gazebo and trestle table were set up and ready for action.
Members of the Ammanford Triathlon and Cycling Club were offering free hot drinks and snacks to the early birds intent on claiming a prime vantage point near the famous Tro Gwcw (Cuckoo Bend) hairpin on the highest climb of Stage Six, last Saturday.
A steady stream of club cyclists from surrounding communities like Llangadog, Ammanford, Llandeilo and further afield were testing themselves against the 8km Queen of the Mountains climb the professionals would soon be tackling.
Some had ascended from the opposite side, reaching the foot of the mountain through traditional rugby and football territories like Upper Cwmtwrch, the home of Top Cat himself Clive Rowlands; Glanaman and Garnant – birthplace, of Dai Davies and Shane Williams, and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, which famously produced Gareth Edwards.
Today those oval and round ball hotbeds were welcoming another sport which has gripped the entire nation, including Brynaman, the village into which the peloton would descend; speeding down the long, scenic, mountain road which has become a favourite destination for motoring journalist and photographers after having been featured on BBC’s Top Gear.
For all its stunning and varied beauty, the Black Mountain, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park, isn’t always the most welcoming of environments. Lashing rain and stinging sleet can arrive with minimal notice even in summer.
However, despite the darkly threatening clouds hurrying overhead on a stiff breeze, hundreds of cyclists and spectators had still made their way to the 500 metre summit on a blustery Saturday morning.
Cars and camper vans filled the car parks and any available grass verge space the undulating terrain allowed. Cyclists, fans and intrigued locals, who had come out to see what all the fuss was about, lined the route.
When the leaders, followed by the multi-coloured bunch of the peloton climbed into view from the lush green valley below, they were cheered enthusiastically with an accompaniment of cow bells, despite the rain which had started to fall at the summit.
The scenes were repeated throughout Carmarthenshire, the crowds were bigger in the larger, more accessible and sun-kissed communities of the Amman Valley where the main town square in Ammanford was packed with cheering crowds as the cyclists sped through.
The Stage Six start at county town Carmarthen’s recently refurbished velodrome and the finishing line on the new closed road cycling circuit at Pembrey Country Park, near Llanelli, were particularly well populated, giving the last stage of the tour a fitting finale.
The crowds and their enthusiasm had been replicated the previous day as the field had been tested by the most difficult day in the Women’s Tour history as Stage Five from Llandrindod Wells to Builth Wells featured a series of gruelling climbs including the Epynt Mountain.
Along the route across the two days, Welsh Cycling and the host local authorities had organised an array of activities to entertain, engage and inspire youngsters.
The nation had once again proved the warmth of its welcome and the efficiency of its organisational abilities to host major cycle races.
And, of course, the ancient countryside had played its magnificent part in offering a varied and challenging route, as well as a spectacularly beautiful backdrop for the cyclists to negotiate and “enjoy”.
In her post race press conference, tour winner Lizzie Deignan said: “I found racing in Wales as brutal as I expected it to be.”
Apart from hosting two hugely successful stages of Britain’s biggest women’s cycling race, it had been a particularly good week all round for Welsh cycling.
Not only had Wales once again proved its ability and appetite for staging the sport’s biggest races, a number of its inhabitants were proving they are also rather good at competing in the sport.
A few days earlier, Jess Roberts, whose fellow Carmarthenshire rider Manon Lloyd competed in the women’s tour, had won two stages on the Tour De Bretagne Feminin. The British Champion’s fifth placed overall finish was the best of her career.
Meanwhile, Team Ineos – the latest incarnation of cycling’s most successful team – were announcing their seven-man line-up for the Tour De Suisse, which included no less than three Welshmen – Owain Doull, Luke Rowe and none other than the 2018 Tour De France winner Geraint Thomas.
With the likes of yet another Carmarthenshire rider Scott Davies having recently made his Grand Tour debut in the Giro d’italia, these are genuinely exciting times for Welsh cycling
Just to prove there is plenty more top talent coming through, Rhys Britton is currently part of the Great Britain team competing in the Under-23 edition of the Giro d’italia, where Aberystwyth pro Stevie Williams won a stage and wore the famous leader’s pink jersey in last season’s race.
And those are just some of the Welsh cyclists who have been hitting the headlines during June. the equally exciting exploits of the track cyclists will have to wait for another day.
Judging by the success of the two Women’s Tour stages and the individual performances of our riders, Welsh road cycling has never been in better health.