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Tour of Britain and Ordnance Survey launch maps of next month's race

Downloadable maps to help fans plan ahead; also available as GPX files so you can ride same routes as Cav and Wiggo

SweetSpot, organisers of the Friends Life Tour of Britain, which starts in Liverpool on Sunday 7 September and concludes in London with a split stage eight days later, have teamed up with Ordnance Survey to release detailed maps of the routes of the race’s stages.

Besides helping fans plan the ideal spots to watch the race – the maps include the locations of the YodelDirect Sprints and the Skoda King of the Mountain climbs – they’re also available as GPX files so you can test yourself on the same roads that the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish will ride next month.

Ordnance Survey’s managing director, Nick Giles, said: "We have created a complete mapping package for the Friends Life Tour of Britain allowing cyclists and fans to either download and print route maps, view the stages via interactive online OS maps or export GPX files of the stages for mobile devices."

The latter can be imported onto a smartphone using the OS MapFinder app which is available on both the Android and iOS platforms and which stores them directly to the device, meaning you don’t need a mobile signal or Wi-Fi to use them.You can find the maps, plus the GPX files, on both the Ordnance Survey and Tour of Britain websites. Here's what they look like - this is Stage 3 from Newtown to the Tumble.

Friends Life Tour of Britain 2014

Stage 1
Sunday 7th September
Liverpool city centre 104.8km

Stage 2
Monday 8th September
Knowsley to Llandudno 201km

Stage 3
Tuesday 9th September
Newtown to The Tumble 179.7km

Stage 4
Wednesday 10th September
Worcester to Bristol 184.6km

Stage 5
Thursday 11th September
Exmouth to Exeter 177.3km

Stage 6
Friday 12th September
Bath to Hemel Hempstead 205.7km

Stage 7
Saturday 13th September
Camberley to Brighton 226km

Stage 8a
Sunday 14th September
London individual time trial 8.8km

Stage 8b
Sunday 14th September
London circuit race 88.8km

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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Joel876 | 9 years ago
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I know we've just had the Tour up here in Yorkshire but, how come the ToB never comes here? It all looks a bit tame in my opinion.

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NeilG83 replied to Joel876 | 9 years ago
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Joel876 wrote:

I know we've just had the Tour up here in Yorkshire but, how come the ToB never comes here? It all looks a bit tame in my opinion.

I think it's up to local authorities to register an interest in hosting a stage. With the Tour de France and the new stage race starting next year maybe councils in Yorkshire weren't interested in hosting another race.

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mlimburn | 9 years ago
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Just download the gpx and add to an app, the pdf file for the stage 5 is missing at least one major road, I know we don't have many down here!

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NeilG83 | 9 years ago
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Looking forward to this years Tour of Britain, the route of stage 4 goes past my house in Cheltenham!  1

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jollygoodvelo | 9 years ago
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I did wonder how they were going to do two stages in London on the same day... but obviously it's a one lap TT followed by a criterium, both on the same loop. Good idea!

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zanf | 9 years ago
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That is going to a lot more clicks than it really should.

Whoever had that bright idea, should have thought to just put all the GPX files as a package that could be added to the app, or even as a standalone app itself.

Instead, you have to click into each page for every stage, download each GPX file then add them into the app......

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