Cycling’s Tour of Britain race is well under way and will be visiting many well-known tourist destinations over the next few days.
The Tour of Britain will provide holidaymakers across the country with the chance to see famous professional riders like Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in competitive action just weeks after they were carrying the nation’s hopes in the highly successful London 2012 Olympic Games.
Tomorrow, visitors to the Scottish Borders will be able to line the 161.4km route for Stage 3 between Jedburgh and Dumfries. Commencing at 11.00am, the route will include Hawick, Cappercleuch, Moffat, Johnstonebridge, New Abbey and Cargenbridge, finishing at Dumfries Whitesands at 2.30pm.
On Wednesday, Stage 4 is a 156km ride from Carlisle to the traditional seaside resort of Blackpool. Between the start at 11.00am and the finish at the tower on Blackpool’s promenade at 2.35pm, the route will include Shap Fell in the Lake District National Park.
On Thursday, Stage 5 is a circular route around Staffordshire, centring on Stoke on Trent, before Stage 6 on Friday crosses the border into Wales for a 189.8km ride between Welshpool and Caerphilly, including Builth Wells, the Brecon Beacons National Park and Caerphilly Mountain. The Welsh stage starts at 10.30am and finishes in Caerphilly at 2.48pm.
Saturday, and Stage 7 is a 170.7km ride across the southwest peninsular from Barnstaple to Dartmouth. The route visits Bideford, Tavistock and Buckfastleigh, taking in a number of Dartmoor climbs on the way. The Devon leg starts at 10.15am and finishes on Dartmouth Promenade at 2.09pm.
Sunday’s final stage is in the southeast on a winding 177.7km course between Reigate and Guildford in Surrey. This stage starts at the latter time of 12.00pm and will finish between 3.30pm and 4.12pm.
Full details are available at http://www.tourofbritain.com/
