SweetSpot, organisers of The Tour of Britain today unveiled the route for the 2009 event at The London Transport Museum. The 2009 Tour of Britain will take place over eight days beginning in Yorkshire on Saturday 12th September and finishing in the heart of London on Saturday 19th September.
The Tour of Britain 2009 will visit a total of fourteen venues, some of which will be old favourites of the race such as London and Dumfries and Galloway, while others such as York and Bideford will be new to The Tour of Britain.
"This year's event sees The Tour of Britain race into seven new regional venues, and for the first time ever we will have two stages take place in the South West region which will take in both Devon and Somerset," said Michael Bennett, Technical Director of The Tour of Britain. "On the way from the Grand Depart to the final stage in London, riders will face and experience every kind of challenge that the UK's countryside has to offer, while taking in some breathtaking views of our wonderful country."
96 of the world's top cyclists will once again be taking on the challenge of The Tour of Britain in 2009, with a route designed to deliver a worthy overall winner to join the ranks of previous yellow jerseys such as Geoffroy Lequatre, Romain Feillu and Nick Nuyens.
The 2009 Route
The Tour of Britain 2009, which will begin with a Grand Depart in Scunthorpe for the first stage, which finishes in York, will see a combination of familiar venues and regions, as well as new exciting additions to the route.
Subsequent stages will re-visit the North East as The Tour once again travels from Darlington to NewcastleGateshead on Stage Two, while Stage Three will see the northern most point of the race, as The Tour heads to Scotland and takes in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. This is the first time The Tour of Britain will be visiting this iconic region of Scotland.
The Tour of Britain then heads south, with Stage Four featuring the North West of England and Blackpool, with Stage Five both starting and finishing in Stoke-on-Trent, via a hard day's racing through the scenic North Staffordshire countryside, including the infamous Gun Hill.
The South West, scene of some of the races biggest crowds in 2008, has two stages in 2009, with Stage Six taking the riders across Exmoor as the pass from Somerset into Devon, on their journey from Frome to Bideford. The penultimate day of the race then sees the peloton retrace its steps, from Hatherleigh in Devon to Yeovil in Somerset, on a gruelling stage that could decide the winner of this year's race.
A spectacular final day of racing will round out the 2009 Tour, as riders tackle the iconic London circuit that opened last year's race which takes in the Houses of Parliament, Victoria Embankments, The Tower of London, and starts and finishes on Whitehall.
The Prostate Cancer Charity Partnership
The Prostate Cancer Charity is a proud and exclusive charity partner of The Tour of Britain. This partnership is a key element of a brand new initiative, 'Unite ByCycling', which has been set up to raise awareness of prostate cancer, as well as generate funds to enable the Charity to improve the lives of men affected by the disease, and their families.
John Neate, Chief Executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "This partnership represents a really exciting new chapter in the life of the Charity and a great opportunity for us to raise awareness and funds and gain support on a local and national level. The Charity is excited to be involved with the fast growing sport of cycling and the UK's premier cycle event. We are also working with the Tour of Britain to announce two further mass participation events in the coming weeks. These events are designed to appeal to all levels of competitiveness, endurance and those just wanting fun and to be a part of The Tour of Britain experience."
Daily ITV coverage
For the second year running full coverage of the race will be televised on ITV, with viewers able to enjoy an hour long nightly highlights show of all the action on ITV4, between 7pm - 8pm, with repeats the following day.
New Website
In a bid to keep cycling enthusiasts around the world up-to-date with information direct from The Tour of Britain, the organisation has revamped its website to a more current look and feel. The new look website will be much clearer for users to navigate, making it easier to find out all there is to know about the country's biggest professional cycle race. One new addition to the website will be rider tracking whereby users will be able to track riders live from the race.
