Men’s Tour of Britain Route Revealed (Stages 5 & 6)

The routes for the final pair of stages of this year’s Men’s Tour of Britain have been announced, to complete the stage details for September’s 20th edition of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race.

Men’s Tour of Britain Route Revealed (Stages 5 & 6)

Stages five and six of the race will see the men’s peloton visit West Northamptonshire for the first time, for a 147-kilometre (91-mile) stage starting out from the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus and finishing on Derngate in Northampton town centre, before concluding a day later on familiar roads in East Suffolk with a 158-kilometre (98.5-mile) leg from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.

Three intermediate sprints, each with time bonuses, on the final leg at Beccles, Aldeburgh, and Grundisburgh, will ensure riders are fighting for the bonus seconds right down to the finish line on Sea Road in Felixstowe.

Commenting on the route announcement, Men’s Tour of Britain Race Director Rod Ellingworth, said: “The penultimate stage of this year’s race is in area new to the Men’s Tour of Britain, which is always exciting as it means that the majority of the peloton will be unfamiliar with the roads that we will be using.”

“With the stage being on a Saturday and its central location, we are expecting a lot of fans to be at the roadside to cheer the riders on. With the start on the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus so close to the finish line in the town centre, it will make for a great location for fans of all ages to come down and see the start and finish of the stage and to make a day out of it.

Looking ahead to the final stage, Ellingworth added: “This year’s final stage of the Men’s Tour of Britain is deceptive, with plenty of challenges to overcome before our 2024 champion can be crowned on Sea Road in Felixstowe. Suffolk has always provided great racing in the Tour, and this year will be no different, with sections along the exposed coastline that will be a real challenge if the wind blows, while the three intermediate sprints will ensure competitive racing thanks to the time bonuses on offer, which could become very important if the overall lead is slender going into the last day.

“Our thanks go to our partners at East Suffolk Council, and in both Lowestoft and Felixstowe, for hosting the final stage of this year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men.”

STAGE FIVE

CLICK FOR A LARGER VERSION OF THE ABOVE MAP

The stage will get underway at 11:00 from the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus, where a full day of activities and entertainment is planned, including race coverage on big screens, just a short walk away from the town centre finish location.

During the stage riders will tackle the final pair of categorised King of the Mountains climbs of the 2024 race, at Newnham Hill and Bullshill, just south of Daventry, and an intermediate sprint at Holcot, at the eastern end of the Pitsford Water causeway.

Leaving the Waterside Campus the stage heads west from Northampton, through Daventry, and then onto a loop south of the town over the two King of the Mountains climbs and through Abthorpe, Wappenham, Helmdon, Culworth, Byfield and Hellidon, before looping around Northampton via Watford, West Haddon, Naseby, Kelmarsh and Brixworth for the approach to the finish via Sywell and Ecton.

The stage is expected to finish with a sprint in Northampton town centre between 14:23 and 15:05.

While it is the first time that the men’s Tour has come to Northampton, the town’s Derngate hosted the first ever stage finish of the women’s Tour, won by Swedish rider Emma Johansson, in May 2014, and Daventry in West Northamptonshire has twice also hosted the women’s race, with a start in 2017 and a stage finish in 2018, won by Coryn Labecki.

STAGE SIX
East Suffolk will hold the final stage of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race on Sunday 8 September for the first time, with a 158-kilometre (98.5-mile) stage between Lowestoft and Felixstowe.

CLICK FOR A LARGER VERSION OF THE ABOVE MAP

Stage six will get underway at 10:30 from Lowestoft’s Promenade, the first time that the town has hosted the Men’s Tour of Britain, with the stage heading inland via Beccles and Bungay, and then south through Halesworth, Framlingham, and Saxmundham, before racing along the Suffolk coast between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh.

The second half of the route takes in Snape, Wickham Market, Kesgrave, and Martlesham, before a run in and finish on Sea Road in Felixstowe familiar to riders from 12-months ago, when Wout van Aert took a stage win in Suffolk. The stage is expected to finish between 14:08 and 14:53.

The stage will feature three intermediate sprints – each with time bonuses – at Beccles, Aldeburgh, and Grundisburgh, that will help shape the outcome of who follows in the wheel tracks of Wout van Aert as Men’s Tour of Britain champion.

STAGES
Stage 1: Tuesday 3 September — Kelso to Kelso
Stage 2: Wednesday 4 September — Darlington to Redcar
Stage 3: Thursday 5 September — Sheffield to Barnsley
Stage 4: Friday 6 September — Derby to Newark-on-Trent
Stage 5: Saturday 7 September — Northampton to Northampton
Stage 6: Sunday 8 September — Lowestoft to Felixstowe