The locations of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and sprint points for this year’s Isle of Wight stage of the Tour of Britain, the UK’s most prestigious cycle race, have been revealed.
Riders will contest 3 intermediate Sprints at Sandown (on Culver Parade opposite the beach), Yarmouth (on Bouldnor Road approaching the viewing point car park), and Cowes (along the seafront on Queen’s Road).
For the first time, the Tour of Britain will finish with an uphill finish and a categorised ŠKODA King of the Mountain climb, with the 2km climb – the final 400 metres of which feature an average gradient of 9.6% – up to the National Trust’s Needles Battery on Tennyson Down rounding out the week.
3 other ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs will come at Brading Down, Cowleaze Hill and Zig Zag Road in Ventnor.
Will Myles, Managing Director of Visit Isle of Wight, has said:
“After a week of racing in the Tour of Britain cycle race, we are looking forward to what will be a spectacular climax on the Isle of Wight. As well as gentle valleys and stunning coastline routes, the Isle of Wight has some incredibly challenging hills, where teams will be working hard for the extra points in the ŠKODA King of the Mountains at Brading Down, Cowleaze Hill near Luccombe, Zig Zag Road at Ventnor and the impressive final stretch of the day’s racing to the National Trust’s Needles Battery.
“Coupled with the sprint points at Sandown, Cowes and Yarmouth, this thrilling finale to the Tour of Britain is sure to be one not to be missed and we look forward to welcoming cycling fans to the Isle of Wight in September.”
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As well as serving as popular viewing locations for spectators, the points on offer at each location go towards determining the outcome of the hotly-contested ŠKODA King of the Mountains (KoM) and sprint jerseys.
Alongside the additional route information timings for the Isle of Wight stage have also been confirmed, with stage eight due to start from Ryde Esplanade at 11:00 on Sunday 11th September.
The 92-mile stage is expected to take riders around 4 hours to complete with the finish at The Needles scheduled for between 14:26 and 15:08.
ITV4 will broadcast live flag-to-flag coverage of every stage and nightly highlights show, allowing fans in the UK to watch wherever they are. The race will also be shown in over 150 countries worldwide, thanks to the event’s partnerships with Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network.
I like the “welcoming cycling fans to the island” bit, yeah because over here most people don’t want the island to be “invaded” by arrogant, elite lycra clad idiots causing chaos and disrupting peoples “day off” from the working week. Most of this lot don’t work (you know a proper job) they just sit most of the day polishing the precious 2 wheeled mayhem machines, oh no hang on they have a team probably to do that, can’t get oil on their hands, it will spoil the taste of the caviar and champagne. Waste of time, space and money.
An old git like you will probably drive slower than these guys can cycle, so stop whining.
Do I drive? Do I use a cycle? Do I annoy you?
Probably. Mostly under 30 and never uses indicators.
Unlikely considering how much you squeal and bleat about them.
No, more like Victor Meldrew, but more stupid and funnier.
Hardly breaking news – all this has been available on the Tour website for at least 2 weeks………
The most entertaining thing will be watching the crashes, hopefully.
As has been said before …try Hursts first. 😉
Spot on!! Morons playing on childrens toys!
Wow what comments! Come on you lot, how about thinking how exciting this will be for spectators from all walks of life to watch, it is just for one day & ITV are going to film it, we’re going to be on the telly yah! And I’m not being bias, sometimes I get cross with bikes on the road but we’ve all got to get on!