It is very rare that we get to race on closed roads, rarer still that we have the full paraphernalia that goes with the biggest cycling race in the world at our disposal but from 14:00 on Sunday in Hyde Park, it will be all about the girls! This will include the presence of national and international television cameras, commentary from top cycling professionals and crowds to cheer us on.
London will be a hive of cycling activity all weekend and you will be amazed at how close you can get to the top cyclists for photos and sometimes autographs too.
On Saturday 7th July, the action will be kicked by the Tour Caravan at 13:00. The Caravan is a parade of 200 Tour sponsors, which will travel the prologue route, scattering free gifts and promotional material and making lots of noise along the way. The Prologue, an individual time trial, will then start at 15:00. For more details see our article on the events for
Saturday 7th June.
On Sunday the fun starts as early as 8:00 am, with the tour caravan departing at 8:40am. You can see the professional riders signing on to race from 9:25 and then they will depart from the Mall at 10:25, to ride to Canterbury, with three mid race sprints and three climbs that will count towards the King of the Mountains along the way. For more details see our article on the events for
Sunday 8th June.
Once the pro-riders have set off on the 204km route to Canterbury, the support races will take place, with the women's race at 14:00. The format is a Criterium, a short, fast, technical circuit around Hyde Park (part of the prologue course raced by the Tour) and it will be similar to the race on the Mall last year in support of the Tour of Britain. There are 41 riders entered and the start list includes many of the names that rode last year [including race winner Janet Birkmyre of Planet X-SheCycles.com - Ed].
Another rider who comes to this race with some serious pedigree is Jo Rowsell of Global Racing. Just selected to ride for GB at the Junior European Championships, Jo, has completed her studies and is now a full time cyclist. She took silver in the National Circuit Championships just a couple of weeks back and has been training hard with the GB squad based at the velodrome in Newport since then.
Louise Mahe (Team QCP) and Lucy Martin (Team Chance) are also entered and riding well this year. Both finished in the top 10 of the National Circuit Champs and they will bring the race alive as they try to get away from the field, in the hope that the short race will allow them to breakaway and give them some space from the sprinters, who include previous national circuit race champion, Helen Gutteridge (Luciano).
Last year the big attacks came from Mel Williams (Agisko Viner) and Nikki Harris (Global). Neither of these are entered to ride on Sunday, but Pippa Handley, Edinburgh RC has shown that she knows how to make the most of her time trialling skills, when she rode away from a classy field on the first day of Bedford, to win alone by several minutes.
So the scene is set for some, fast attacking racing on a tight, technical course, if you are in the area, come along and give the girls a shout.
Sarah Atkinson
