Stage Seven, Carlisle to Glasgow – 96 Miles.

Only nine miles to the Scottish Border, the race was on from the flag for the prize, first to cross over into Scotland. All rose from their saddles, bum-up, heads down they headed for Gretna. The peloton held tight all the way, within fifty yards of the gold a Romford cyclist Tony Smith, opened up a small gap and won the keystane o’ the brig, carrying off the prize money. Eleven riders formed a fast-moving breakaway after Lockerbie battling it out for the prime over Beattock Summit. At over one thousand feet it is a grueling climb, still, this tight bunch kept the speed high, Gordon Thomas, the victor on the climb. As the long day of wind and drizzle drew to a close, Ian steel put in a big effort to be the first into his native city. Towing six men in his wake he caught up with the twenty-one breakaway front-runners on the outskirts of the city, but it was not to be for Ian, or the thousands of Glaswegians that had braved the elements in order to see him lead the tour into Glasgow. The Belgian Van Den Dooren was the man of the hour, he sat in the slack air of big Ian then sprinted over the line in three hours fifty-eight minutes and nineteen seconds.