Kim Le Court Pienaar is standing toward the back of the Tour of Britain mixed zone, her arms folded tightly across her chest as she desperately tries to keep warm.
Just over a week ago, Le Court soaked up the late-summer sun, rolling down the Promenade des Anglais as she raced to a top-10 finish at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Now, nine days later, her Mauritian national champion’s jersey is hidden beneath a rain cape as she huddles on a side road in Clitheroe, a market town east of Burnley. Cycling, as Le Court well knows, is seldom glamorous.
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The Tour of Britain is the biggest bike race held on these shores, and one of just two UCI-sanctioned events staged annually in the UK.
This year’s event carried more weight than most; for many WorldTour riders it was also a valuable chance to get a taste of British roads ahead of next summer’s Tour de France Grand Depart.
“It’s all different,” Imogen Wolff told Daily Star Sport with a smile as she sheltered from the rain. “The small roads, the steep climbs, and the steeper descents…It makes it really challenging!”
Wolff, 20, grew up just a few miles west of Barnsley and will now be dreaming of lining up in Leeds when Visma Lease a Bike takes to the start of next summer’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
If she gets her wish, it will be a full-circle moment. The route will retrace parts of the 2014 Grand Depart – the very race that Wolff says was “quite a decisive part” of why she became a cyclist.
“I was about eight years old, and I remember being on the roadside. It came through some of the climbs local to my house, and we got the chalk out and were drawing on the road…It has some really fun memories!”
Wolff isn’t the only rider hoping to shine on home roads when the Tour rolls into town. Close friend Cat Ferguson could even have a shot at yellow on stage two.
Zoe Bäckstedt is already one of the world’s best against the clock, while Tom Pidcock continues to make his mark across multiple disciplines. Oscar Onley, meanwhile, will arrive at the Grand Depart as Britain’s home GC hope.
But while Brits continue to thrive on the continent, the domestic scene tells a very different story.
Two weeks after Le Court wrapped up the women’s race with a scintillating attack up Great Orme, the men’s event exposed the problems facing British domestic cycling.
On the start line were just two British teams: INEOS Grenadiers and Team GB. Ten years ago, there were seven.
“I was around for its downfall when everything just started collapsing,” Oliver Wood told Daily Star Sport. “And then it just collapsed team by team.”
A lack of funding, COVID and the WorldTour’s ‘early-signing’ pipeline have all played a part in teams and races disappearing.
“Everyone was like: ‘I’ll give it a few years, it’ll be all right.’ But yeah, it never has…Cycling, sometimes, especially domestic cycling, you rely on people with passion for the sport who might have a bit more money than they need.
“And because sometimes there’s not much return for people, we need to figure out how to make that more appealing for businesses.”
Lewis Askey, who admitted he hasn’t really been part of the domestic scene for a long time, offered a more optimistic outlook after winning the opening stage with a daring attack on the cobbles of Michaelgate.
“I think definitely the more racing we can get in the UK, where a lot of guys who are younger now have to go abroad to find the top level of racing, the better.
“I think if you could bring that to the UK, it would definitely bring on the country!”
Askey had jumped clear of Florian Vermeersch to take the win – and with it, the leader’s green jersey. Both will be hoping to be back on these shores next July.
“I would say racing is pretty much the same,” Vermeersch told Daily Star Sport. The Belgian, who has emerged as a classics superstar over the past couple of seasons, said he loved England’s “rolling terrain”.
If Vermeersch does return in July, though, it’s likely to be in support of defending champion Tadej Pogacar. Although he did offer a cheeky “hopefully” when asked about his own chances of yellow.
Vermeersch wasn’t the only foreign star to admit they enjoyed racing in the UK. Shirin van Anrooij compared it to the “Belgian classics”, while Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig added she loved the “hard racing”.
The Europeans clearly love racing here. British riders, meanwhile, are flying the flag on the continent. And yet, somewhere between the two, there is a disconnect.
And it’s a disconnect that could matter long after the Tour has rolled back across the English Channel.
A new generation of British fans will be inspired to get on two wheels next summer, just like Wolff in 2014. And some will inevitably dream of turning that passion into a career.
Passion has never been in short supply; it’s why races up and down this country run most weekends. But passion needs somewhere to go, and the key, as Wood said, is money.
The Tour can, and will, inspire. Wolff was one of those children lining the roads in 2014. The hope is that the next generation will have the same opportunity – and somewhere to go when they get on their bikes.