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T he Friends Life Tour of Britain is the UK’s biggest professional road race and the country’s main cycling event. The current holder of the title is

Sir Bradley Wiggins.

The Tour is broken up into eight stages, taking place over eight days, and at the completion of the Tour the riders will have covered in the region of 1,350 kilometres.

Bath is the starting point for Stage Six on Friday 12th September, and the race will start on Royal Avenue, close to the Royal Crescent, at 10.15am. Riders will race around the city’s historic centre, and pass alongside a number of world famous attractions along the way.

The route leaves Bath down the steep, winding Brassknocker Hill and into the picturesque Limpley Stoke Valley. Before heading off on the 207km route across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, ahead of a stage finish in Hemel Hempstead.

Who to look out for!The race isn’t just about who gets to the finish line first – it’s made up of several competitions all going on at once. The current leader in each competition wears a special jersey.

Race Leader The overall winner of The Friends Life Tour of Britain will be the rider who completes the race in the quickest time. The Gold Jersey is worn during the race by the current leader.

Points Leader The winner of the Points Jersey will be the rider who gains the most points throughout the course of the race. The Blue and White Jersey is worn during the race by the current points leader.

King of the Mountains Leader The Polka-Dot Jersey is worn by the rider who has been the most consistent in reaching the summits of the King of the Mountains climbs along the route.

Sprints Leader The first three riders across the line at each of the sprints receive points towards the Red, White & Blue Jersey. The rider who crosses the line first gets 3 points, the second gets 2 points, and the third gets 1 point. These Hot Spot sprints are important to the outcome of the race. n

If you plan to watch the race in Bath or on the city outskirts, please get there early. A large number of spectators are expected to line the route. The lead cars leave Royal Avenue at 10am and the race starts at 10.15am. The 114 riders will pass by the city’s iconic sites before leaving the Bath and North East Somerset area via Brassknocker Hill around 10.45am. Temporary road closures will affect pedestrians, motor vehicles and cycles but will be kept to a minimum. There may be some disruption while the race passes through Bath and out to the Limpley Stoke valley. A rolling road closure programme will operate along the route with some fixed closures at various points enforced by police and civilian motorcycles. Roads will not re-open until the final race convoy vehicle has passed. We advise that you walk, cycle or take public transport on the morning of the race or use the Park and Ride services at Lansdown, Newbridge and Odd Down. For up to date information on getting around Bath on the day visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/love2cycle For buses, please visit www.travelinesw.com, email info@travelinesw.com or call 0871 200 2233. For trains, please see www.nationalrail.co.uk or call 0845 748 4950. For more information and updates on the big day, follow us on Twitter via @bathnes

Parking & public transport

Sir Bradley Wiggins

The Tour: Stage Six sponsors

Javier Milan from KLM and Shirley Knight from Bristol Airport start a race at the Cycle Festival on Odd Down Cycle Circuit in July 2014

Four Bath businesses are sponsoring the Love2Cycle Community programme, which has been designed to inspire local school children in the lead-up to the Tour.

The community sponsors are Mogers Drewett Solicitors, Centurion Wealth Management, Geometry PR and Gradwell Communications.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is the host sponsor of the Bath Start Stage Six of the Friends Life Tour of Britain.

The Council are working in partnership with Start Stage Gold Sponsors, KLM and Bristol Airport.

www.bathnes.gov.uk | 21

www.bathnes.gov.uk/love2cycle

1 Royal Avenue (Start Point)2 Royal Crescent3 The Circus4 Milsom Street5 Bath Abbey6 Great Pulteney Street7 The Holburne Museum8 Roman Baths9 Wellsway 10 Midford Road11 Claverton Down Road12 Brassknocker Hill (leaves Bath towards Winsley)

The beauty of a city centre start stage is that it can give you more than one opportunity to witness the entourage. So you may want to plan your first vantage point carefully, in order to gain an extra view of the riders in action.

Where to watch: key vantage points

The route passes Bath Abbey

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Sulis Scorpions: Youth cyclists from cycling club Sulis Scorpions followed the official route the Friends Life Tour of Britain will take through Bath. Their journey was filmed and you can follow the excitement by watching video footage at tinyurl.com/sulis scorpions

The group ride was a great success, and as a consequence many of the young riders have asked to do more road riding in addition to their training at the Odd Down Cycle Circuit.

Help for Heroes: 15 wounded, injured and sick service men, women and veterans from the Help for Heroes recovery centre in Wiltshire took part in a training session at The Odd Down Cycle Circuit. This was part of the coaching and selection process for the Invictus Games (Sept 10-14) taking place in London.Visit invictusgames.org

For further information on cycling in our area please go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/Love2cycle

Find out more

Cycling in the newsWhether it is for sport, leisure or

commuting, if you feel inspired to get in the saddle, then there are any number of cycling opportunities in Bath and North East Somerset.

The Love2Cycle pages on the Council’s website are a great source of information for all things cycling. Go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/love2cycle

Here are some of the initiatives and resources at your disposal:

Free Adult Cycle Training: Whether you’re taking up cycling or would like some help improving your technique, expert advice is on hand. Free adult cycle training is available for you, with qualified instructors delivering one-to-one lessons, wherever and whenever you want. Instruction normally takes the form of two practical sessions of two hours. If you live, work, or study in Bath & North East Somerset you can book a lesson at www.cyclinginstructor.co.uk

Get cycling

Help for Heroes

Sulis Scorpions

Wheels For All: This offers cycling opportunities for adults and children with disabilities and differing needs. An invitation is open to come and try a selection of bikes, trikes and hand cycles that can suit a wide range of needs at the Odd Down Cycle Circuit. There’s more information available at www.bathnes.gov.wheelforall

Better By Bike: Better By Bike is an excellent online resource for cyclists in our area. It is full of information about starting cycling, suggested routes, events, bike shops, 1-2-1 cycle training and much more in Bath and Bristol. Go to www.betterbybike.co.uk

Cycling clubs: There are number of fantastic cycle clubs and groups in Bath and North East Somerset that offer a range of opportunities from social rides to full racing. n Bath Cycling Club (Bath)www.bathcc.net/n Velo Club Walcot (Bath)www.vc-walcot.com/n Somer Valley Cycling Club (MSN/Radstock)www.somervalley.org.uk/n Colliers Way Cycling Group (MSN/Radstock)www.collierswaycycling.co.uk/n Salt and Sham (Keynsham and Saltford)www.saltandsham.co.uk/n Sulis Scorpions Youth Cycling Alliance (Bath)www.sulisscorpions.org.uk/

Odd Down Cycle Circuit: Bath’s passion for cycling is exemplified by the city’s new cycling circuit. The 1.5km closed road cycling circuit at Odd Down playing fields enables enthusiasts to train and enjoy cycling without having to negotiate Bath’s busy roads.

The circuit was built by Bath & North East Somerset Council thanks to a £600,000 grant from British Cycling, and is one of only 17 specific closed road cycling circuits in England.

Regular sessions are open to members of the public and are all about getting people cycling and enjoying the experience while getting a little fitter.

Go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/odd-down-cycle-track to discover more about this fantastic facility.

Cycle Bath: Cycle Bath works to promote and encourage responsible cycling in Bath, and is active in organising events and initiatives in the area. Cycle Bath believes that cycling brings many benefits, for cyclists and also for the wider community. Go to cyclebath.org.uk for more information. nExpert advice is on hand