Communities across Nottinghamshire have been urged to show what the county has to offer as the Tour of Britain returns. The world famous race will make its way through Nottinghamshire on its 190-kilometre fifth stage of the event.
The Nottinghamshire leg of the journey will take place on Thursday, September 8, and will start in West Bridgford before finishing in Mansfield. It is the third time the Tour has come to our region and will pass by some of the county’s most iconic landmarks and tourist attractions, including Southwell Minster, Clumber Park and Sherwood Forest.
A detailed interactive map has been released which highlights the streets and neighbourhoods the Tour of Britain will race along, giving residents, schools, landowners, and businesses the perfect opportunity to start planning for the big day.
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Communities will be encouraged to take part in a host of events to welcome the event to Robin Hood Country, which in 2018 attracted 250,000 spectators and made it the largest free-to-attend sporting event in Nottinghamshire’s history.
Nottinghamshire County Council wants to see people transforming their towns and villages with bunting, flags, yellow bikes, and creative displays to celebrate the sporting spectacular as it passes through. Landowners can also get into the spirit of the Tour by taking part in a national land art competition, to turn fields, hills, gardens, or any open spaces into unusual art displays.
The tradition of creating huge pieces of art visible from above for television cameras during bike races has long been celebrated and race organisers have again launched a competition to find the most eye-catching.
With just over two months to go until the start of the race, a special celebration event was held at Southwell Minster on Tuesday (21 June) attended by a group of youngsters from Lowes Wong Junior School, who took part in a mini-Bikeability session organised by Via East Midlands to promote cycle safety for children.
Councillor Tom Smith, Nottinghamshire County Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “The return of the Tour of Britain to Nottinghamshire is a great opportunity for communities to come together and show their support for what is a truly global sporting event which will once again put us on the international map.
“On the two previous occasions we’ve hosted the race, we had so many examples of land art creations by schools, community groups and landowners which were highlighted by Tour organisers for inspiring them to encourage people across the route to show their support and get creative.
“Who can forget the iconic image of a bicycle made of sheep feeding created by Nottinghamshire farmer Des Allen during the 2017 stage, footage which subsequently went viral on social media.
“So, with a global TV audience of millions and the eyes of the world on Nottinghamshire again this year, let’s get creative and help make it a sporting extravaganza to remember and showcase what our great county has to offer.”
Via East Midlands, which manages highways services on behalf of the county council, delivers the Bikeability scheme to provide cycle training tips for young people in schools across Nottinghamshire.
Via East Midlands Road Safety Manager, Tracy Graham said the Tour coming to Nottinghamshire in previous years led to a spike in interest in Bikeability courses and cycling in general.
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