CTC brings the Tour of Britain to the Chilterns

By JacquiShannon
Monday, 31 March 2014
Slopes in the Chilterns, courtesy of Cycle Chilterns, Facebook
This September, the world's top cyclists will be racing through the Chilterns largely owing to the work of Sara Randle, CTC Senior Development Officer for the Chilterns Sustainable Gateways Project.

Stage Six of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race will cross the country from the start in Bath, heading through Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire on its way to a challenging final section through the heart of the Chilterns on Friday 12 September.

CTC’s Sara Randle approached the Tour of Britain organisers, Sweetspot, and acted as liaison between the organisers and the stage 6 stakeholders in order to secure the stage for the benefit of the Chilterns.

For Cycle Chilterns to bring together a stage of the Tour alongside many of the project's stakeholders was too good to miss and the perfect opportunity to reach an audience on a scale we could never have hoped to achieve by ourselves. The benefits to the Chilterns and the project are phenomenal, with potential for a huge increase in cycle tourism.

Sara Randle, Senior Development Officer - Chilterns Sustainable Gateways Project

At just over 200km, the stage will be one of the longest of the 2014 Tour of Britain and include several testing climbs in and around Chinnor and Princes Risborough, the details of which will be confirmed in the summer.

“The final third of Stage Six through the Chilterns will be one of the toughest sections of the 2014 route, with a series of short, sharp climbs for riders to tackle,” said Race Director Mick Bennett. “The countryside and climbs provide ideal racing roads, so I am sure we will see a worthy stage winner crowned in Hemel Hempstead.”

The last time The Tour of Britain passed through the area was in 2008, when Stage Two of the race took riders from Milton Keynes to Newbury, a stage won by Australia’s Matt Goss.

The 2014 Tour of Britain will begin in Liverpool on Sunday 7 September, finishing eight days later in central London with a double-header final day featuring an individual time trial and circuit race finishing on Whitehall.

The finale of Stage Six is being made possible thanks to Dacorum Borough Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, Oxfordshire County Council, the Hertfordshire LEP and Cycle Chilterns.

 

 

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