With 40 days left until the start of the Tour of Britain, the whole country excitedly prepares for the event. There are 8 stages to the race: a start in Edinburgh on Sunday the 3rd September, the course weaving all over the country to Cardiff on the 10th September. The Tour of Britain official website predicts that throughout the course of the 8 days there will be 1.6 million spectators in total, an impressive number, with expected millions more on television due to the coverage in the UK and other parts of the world including Europe, Asia and the US.
The course length between each stage varies massively, where Stage 1 includes a 70km long circuit around Kelso and Stage 4 offers a 175km long ride through Nottinghamshire. The route covers mostly countryside scenery including the Cotswolds and also coastal areas, meandering through areas of natural beauty including the Northumberland Coast and Suffolk Heath. Look out for historic areas along the way including Sutton Hoo, renown for the ancient burial mounds which are worth a visit, and also significant areas around North Lincolnshire including Barton-upon-Humber.
A key day to watch out for is the time trial, which will be hosted in Essex. This is a tough 16km course which will help determine participants’ placement for the rest of the competition. This course is significantly similar to the short-timed lap in 2013, which saw Sir Bradley Wiggins as the winner, and it is the second time a course like this has appeared in the tour.
The tour will be broadcasted live on ITV4 for each of the 8 days for 3 hours, followed by an hour-long catch up in the evening reviewing the day’s highlights and best moments.
Check out the promo video here.