In April 2010, Jersey hosted the first two stages of the 2010 Tour de Bretagne. Over a hundred professional riders, with teams competing from all over the world including members of the British National cycle team, took part in the opening stage. It was the first time the event, escorted by the President of France's Garde Republicaine motorcyclecade, had left its native shores of Brittany, France. It was a spectacular day.
Tour de Bretagne Stages in Review
From the moment they rolled off the Condor Clipper until they left again for France Jersey opened its arms to the riders of the Tour de Bretagne.
The colourful cars and trucks took a few people by surprise, but the logistics of moving a professional cycling team around means that you pretty much have to carry a bike shop with you and give your riders somewhere to stretch out and relax before and after stages.
Sunday morning was bathed in sunshine in Gorey as the 'Stars of the Future' assembled to warm up the crowd for the professional spectacle to come later. It is not very often that youngsters get to race in front of a big crowd, but every one of them took it in their stride, even when the microphone was thrust at them for a post race interview.
From Under 9's, 9-11, and 12-16 everyone put on a show accompanied by the French Gendarmes, something normally only reserved for the professionals of the Tour de France and Tour de Bretagne.
The colourful cavalcade that goes along with the professional race rolled into Gorey with the riders out early checking out the course which was going to prove a lot tougher than many would have imagined.
With 142km to race made up of 10, 14.2km circuits the combined 2000 metres of climbing,exposed windy sections and twists and turns, the riders couldn't relax for a second.
The famous Rabobank team with riders such as Boy Van Poppel and Jetse Bol were hotly tipped as potential favorites along with the Brittany team from Bretagne Schuler and Channel Islander Tobyn Horton from Team Sprocket.
In the end Rabobank dominated both days in Jersey with Jetse Bol taking the first stage and 90% of the Jerseys, much to the amusement of the crowd and Martin Keizer winning the time trial on Monday.
Team Sprocket manager Magnus Backstedt reviewed the Jersey stages for us"The first BIG road race on Jersey went, according to me, absolutely brilliantly. The course shocked quite a few riders and it turned out to be a lot harder than most expected. With all the twists and turns, ups and downs the race turned out to be what I would like to call a “classic” type of race.
What ultimately made the first stage was the support from the crowd that turned out and I have to say at times when I went past the start/finish and going up the climb it was like being at a race in France or Belgium. The teams I spoke to have expressed how pleased they were with the organization of the 2 stages and the fact that they had people looking after them all the time. The time trial was another very good course. Very hard because of the climb and the fact that you could not rest at any point. A relatively short time trial but still a very selective one." Backstedt concluded.
With Jersey now firmly established on the cycling map it won't be long we are sure before more races look to grace its beautiful shores.
Martin MacDonald - Sprocket Promotions Ltd