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Tour de France comes to Bexley
This summer, Bexley will have the privilege of hosting the World’s largest annual sports event as London and Kent play host to Le Grand Départ of the Tour de France.
The Tour de France is the World’s best-known cycling event and has provided entertainment and inspiration for generations since it started over a hundred years ago. The last time the Tour visited Britain, an estimated 3 million people took to the streets to cheer on the riders.
On Saturday, 7th July Central London will experience the exciting spectacle of the 8km Prologue. Beginning on Whitehall in front of Trafalgar Square, riders will compete in a fast and furious time trial that will take them past some of London’s most iconic sites. Riders will race past Downing Street towards the Houses of Parliament, before taking a right past Westminster Abbey and up to Buckingham Palace, then pass through the middle of Wellington Arch and into Hyde Park. With a loop of the famous Serpentine complete, riders will pass back around Hyde Park Corner and along Constitution Hill, before ending up on The Mall with Buckingham Palace as their backdrop.
Prologue Route
On Sunday 8th July, Stage 1 of the Tour will see all of the riders start together in the Peleton (French for ‘group’ or ‘herd’) in a race from London to Canterbury. It is on this day that Bexley will be welcoming this world-renowned sporting event, as riders pass through Greenwich and Woolwich, before entering Bexley in the north of the Borough. Travelling along Woolwich Road, Erith Road and Fraser Road, before bearing onto Queens Road, merging into South Road and Northend Road before leaving the Borough via Thames Road.
Stage 1 Route
The Tour de France offers a fantastic opportunity for Bexley to showcase itself on the biggest stage of all, as well as giving the chance for people to witness the beginning of what proves to be an amazing feat of endurance year after year.
Bexley Council is already working closely with both local cycle groups and shops, as well as regional and national cycling campaigns and Transport for London who are leading on le Grand Départ in Britain. Together we are working to ensure that you will get the best possible experience from the Tour de France coming through Bexley. This not only includes developing a package of events in the lead up and during the Tour, but also the promotion of cycling in general, helping people to find out how, where and why people can get involved.
Also, in association with the British Cycling Federation, Tour organisers are looking for volunteer route marshals to be positioned along the length of Stage 1
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