|
Anglesey will make history this September as it becomes the only island to have hosted the Aviva Tour of Britain, as Wales welcomes the opening stage of Britain's biggest race for the first time in modern history.
Sunday 6 September will see the world's top cyclists, including riders from the likes of Team Sky, BMC Racing and Etixx Quick-Step, start from Beaumaris on Anglesey, racing through all six regions of North Wales for the first time to finish in the heart of Wrexham, with ITV screening three-hours of live coverage. The evening before Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay will play host to a Team Presentation event, where all 20 competing teams and 120 riders will appear on stage in front the public. The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates said: "I am delighted that this year's Tour of Britain will take part across North Wales. The rugged terrain and spectacular scenery of this area promises to make this a particularly challenging and exciting race. "The Tour of Britain is an opportunity for us to showcase Wales' unique and beautiful landscape to the world, as well as highlighting our ability to host a variety of major events. Previous year's events have drawn huge crowds and created a fantastic atmosphere and I hope that people from across Wales come out to support the event again this year.” Cllr Ieuan Williams, Leader of Isle of Anglesey County Council said: "We are all eagerly looking forward to the Aviva Tour of Britain's Grand Depart from Beaumaris on 6th September, the first time the race has started from Wales. With its Edward 1st castle and fantastic backdrop of Snowdonia across the Menai Strait, where better to showcase Anglesey and north Wales to a world-wide TV audience "As part of this legacy, we have organised a fortnight's cycling festival www.rideanglesey.com to encourage our local communities to participate in cycling and ride the route of the Aviva Tour of Britain on Anglesey the day before the professionals arrive and take the stage”. Stage One will get underway from The Green in Beaumaris at 11:00, completing a 40-kilometre loop on the island before crossing into Gwynedd via the Menai Bridge. Llanberis will host the opening YodelDirect Sprint of the 2015 race, sponsored by parcel delivery company Yodel, with riders contesting the sprint a few metres away from where Mark Cavendish won Stage Four in 2013. Immediately afterwards riders will tackle the opening SKODA King of the Mountains climb of Llanberis Pass, rated [the top Category One] by organisers SweetSpot Group, in the shadow of England and Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon. The route will then head into Conwy County and through Capel Curig, Betws-y-Coed and Llanrwst before the four kilometre long SKODA King of the Mountains climb of Nant-y-Glyn. Denbighshire will be the fourth region the route takes in, passing through the county town of Denbigh, with a second YodelDirect Sprint at Pentre Llanhaeadr and the day's final SKODA King of the Mountains on the climb of the Bwlch out of Ruthin into the Clwydian Hills. The penultimate region for Stage One to race through is Flintshire with Mold hosting the final YodelDirect Sprint, just over 20-kilometres from the finish line. After heading through Mold, Buckley and Hope the race heads into Wrexham via New Road, looping around the town centre before turning into Tuttle Street for the finish on Chester Street. Lead Member for the Economy and Regeneration with Wrexham Council, Cllr Neil Rogers, said: "Wrexham is really looking forward to receiving the final leg of the first day of this national competition. We are currently planning a cycling celebration to ensure everyone has a fabulous day out in addition to seeing an exciting sprint finish in the heart of Wrexham town Traders have been encouraged to open for the event to take advantage of the large numbers of visitors expected to descend on the town centre and we are also offering free car parking in all council owned car parks.” Teams will appear on stage at Parc Eirias between 1800 and 2000 on Saturday 5 September, giving fans the chance to get up close to the world's top riders the evening before competition starts from Anglesey. Councillor Graham Rees, Cabinet Member for Tourism, Marketing and Leisure for Conwy County Borough Council said: "We're well accustomed to staging world class events here in Conwy County and we hope many of you can come along to the Team Presentation event and get out along the route, to show your support and to see first hand how we deliver. "Events are vitally important to Conwy. They support our economic driver for the area, the tourism industry - worth £740m per year. Events are at the heart of our corporate priorities and continue to be very high up on Conwy County Borough Council's agenda so we look forward to welcoming the team presentation to Parc Eirias.” In addition to Stage One being broadcast live on ITV, a one-hour highlights programme will also be shown that evening on ITV4, while British Eurosport will also show the race in the UK. Live coverage and highlights will also be shown worldwide in excess of 120 countries. The Aviva Tour of Britain is British Cycling's premier road cycling event giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the world's best teams and riders competing on their door step. |
|
Stage One Sunday 6 September Beaumaris, Anglesey to Wrexham, 177.7km Stage Two Monday 7 September Clitheroe to Colne, 159.3km Stage Three Tuesday 8 September Cockermouth to Floors Castle, Kelso, 216km Stage Four Wednesday 9 September Edinburgh to Blyth, 217.4km Stage Five Thursday 10 September Prudhoe to Hartside, 166.2km Stage Six Friday 11 September Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, 192.8km Stage Seven Saturday 12 September Fakenham to Ipswich, 227.4km Stage Eight Sunday 13 September London stage presented by TfL, 86.8km The full list of teams for the Aviva Tour of Britain is as follows:
|