Central London finale for Tour of Britain

This year’s final stage of The Tour of Britain will once again take place in central London, with The Transport for London Stage finishing in Whitehall on Sunday September 18.

The same circuit that has proven so popular with spectators in previous editions of the Tour will be used again in 2011 but  the organisers are predicting this year’s finale will be even more of an action-packed day out than ever before.

The event falls on a Sunday and also offers an opportunity to see some of the world’s top cyclists in action on London’s streets less than a year before the Olympic Games.

Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of Tour organisers SweetSpot Group said: “We are planning a full programme of events on the day surrounding The Tour of Britain, including The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, schools events and a unique corporate charity fundraising event.”

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “The Tour of Britain is a fantastic event and I am thrilled to be able to support it. I would urge Londoners and visitors to turn out and cheer on the cyclists as they whizz past some of the capital’s iconic landmarks and raise money for a really worthwhile cause.”

On each of the previous occasions that The Tour of Britain has used the Whitehall and Victoria Embankment circuit the race has come down to a battle between the top sprinters, and Race Director Mick Bennett believes that this will be the case in 2011.

He said: “As previous years have shown the circuit we are using is perfectly suited to the sprinters, so I expect to see the stage again culminate in a bunch sprint. In previous years riders of the calibre of Mark Cavendish, Matt Goss and Andre Greipel have all won sprint stages, so I’m sure that 2011 will be no different.

“With the World Championships in Copenhagen just a week after The Tour of Britain, this will be a dress rehearsal for some of the world’s top sprinters to go head-to-head before the Worlds."