17 things you need to know about the Tour of Britain in Bristol

1. Bristol is hosting stage six of the Tour of Britain on Saturday, September 10. The penultimate day of racing in this year’s Tour will be a double-stage with both an individual time trial and a six-lap circuit race on the same 15km course starting and finishing on the Downs.

2. The individual time trial is due to begin at precisely 10.01am with the last rider setting off at 12.09pm.

3. The circuit race starts at 2.30pm with a finish expected soon before 4.30pm.

4. This is the morning time trial course:

5. And this is the afternoon circuit race course:

6. Key viewing points will be:

– Coronation Road and Cumberland Road
Watch the riders pass on both sides of the river. With bridges connecting the two, you may be able to catch them on both sides.

– Portway
Catch a glimpse of the riders on the A4 Portway before they reach the steep incline of Bridge Valley Road.

– Bridge Valley Road
This is where the professionals will battle it out for the King of the Mountains jersey. At the top of the climb the riders will turn a sharp left onto Ladies Mile followed by another sharp left onto Circular Road.

– Circular Road
See the conclusion of both time trial and circuit race, watch the podium ceremonies, follow the race live on the big screen and find the event promotional village.

7. Rio Olympic medalists taking part in the race include Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, racing for opposing teams.

8. As of Friday morning, the leader of the race was Julien Vermote, with Dan McLay in the points jersey, Jasper Bovenhuis heading the sprints points and Xandro Meurisse the atop the King of the Mountains classification.

9. The event village will be on The Downs, at the junction of Circular Road, Ivywell Road and Rockleaze. This promotional zone opens at 10am and the teams will also be based here.

10. The city’s official live site on race day will be at Millennium Square with footage shown live on the big screen via ITV4. 

11. There will also be a big screen in Clifton Village on Gloucester Row at the top of the Mall facing Christchurch Green. The screen has been promoted by a trail of yellow bikes around BS8:

12. Re-launched in 2004 after a five year absence from the calendar, the Tour of Britain is the UK’s highest ranked professional stage race and the country’s largest free-to-watch sporting event.

13. Its arrival into Bristol this year is in a large part thanks to one man, Peter Thompson, of Peloton Design in the Paintworks. Read an interview with Thompson here.

14. The tour’s promotional posters were designed by Bristol illustrator Will Barras.

15. Here he is creating a special piece of art at this year’s race official launch at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery:

16. On Friday before Bristol’s unique dual stage, the race heads to Devon including the race’s summit finish for this year, coming at the top of the six-kilometre climb of Haytor, above Bovey Tracey in the Dartmoor National Park.

17. Its final day will be in London on Sunday, when the winner will be crowned after a stage finish on Regent Street.

Main photo courtesy of www.tourofbritain.co.uk

Read more: Rees joins peloton up Bridge Valley Road