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Leeds, York, and Cambridge to host 2014 Tour de France stage starts
Details of the three stages the 2014 Tour de France have been revealed by Tour organisers ASO at a press conference in Paris, as expected Stage 3 will be from Cambridge to London and will go through the Olympic Park (as predicted on road.cc earlier this month) but the finish will be a gallop down the Mall.
Yorkshire though will be the main focus of the race in the UK, the county hosts the Grand Depart and we now have route maps and a list of all the main towns and villages that the first two stages will pass through - see below. More information about the Yorkshire stages, and the Cambridge to London stage, will be revealed later at a press conference at Leeds Town Hall followed by a Grand Depart party.
Route maps courtesy of Yorkshire Grand Depart 2014
Stage 1: Saturday 5 July 190Km Leeds - Harewood - Otley - Ilkley - Skipton - Kettlewell - Aysgarth - Hawes - Reeth - Leyburn - Ripon - Harrogate. The first stage takes the riders through the Yorkshire Dales and over two categorised climbs for what is expected to be a sprint finish in the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate, although it's lumpy that you wouldn't discount someone having a go and trying to grab some time in yellow.
Route maps courtesy of Yorkshire Grand Depart 2014
Stage 2: Sunday 6 July 200Km York - Knaresborough - Silsden - Keighley - Haworth - Hebden Bridge - Elland - Huddersfield - Holmfirth - Sheffield. The riders will need their climbing legs on today. Stage two includes 1050 metres of climbing in last 60k - the last climb is just 5km from the finish and as you'd expect in that part of the world some them are steep 14% has been promised. Cragg Vale climb - Mytholmroyd (B6138) to Blackstone Edge - the longest continuous ascent in England. At 4.86 miles is amongst it's a minnow by Tour standards but it will give the riders a chance to warm up their climbing legs for later in the race as will Holme Moss which is tough no matter who you are.
Stage 3: Monday 7 July - 169Km Cambridge - Saffron Walden - Epping - Woodford Green - South Woodford - Walthamstow - Leyton - Olympic Park - Docklands - Embankment - The Mall. Start in Cambridge and finish in Central London with, if all goes to plan, what should be a mass sprint finish on the Mall at the end of a pretty flat stage. There aren't many lumps between Cambridge and London - although it isn't completely flat either - but it should be flat enough to be a welcome relief for the peloton after what are should to be a couple of punishing days in Yorkshire.
The route from Cambridge is expected to take the riders down through North Essex, interestingly the route north of the M25 is stil to be confirmed - given the stated distance it is going to have to deviate from the dotted line on the map by around 40 miles. Our best guess at the moment is that it will swing south east from Cambridge down through Linton, Haverhill, and Halstead before skirting Braintree and heading over to Bishops Stortford, then Harlow. We'd say it's pretty nailed on to go through Epping itself and from their the route is announced through Epping Forest before entering London down the long stretch of the Epping New Road and passing through the boroughs of Waltham Forest, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Westminster, taking in the Olympic Park along the way before braving the Monday rush hour for the finale on the Mall. Can't wait.
Full details of the route can be found on the Grand Depart Yorkshire website.
road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.
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32 comments
A woman at work that started cycling a year ago after getting a bike on the cycle2work scheme has booked her campsite already.
this should be somewhere near for the first stage...
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do;jsessionid=0511C80EF502DA799E83E43B2AD2BEE5...
Just put the route for stage 2 on Bikeroute toaster. I've worked out the main bit of the route but I've used a bit of artistic licence on the start and finish as I am guessing from the map on the t'internet and also allowing for one way systems.
However if you fancy doing a DIY etape here's the page on the t'internet c/w GPS files: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=493356
I'll be very surprised if the route goes through Harlow. If anything I reckon it'll be a long flat stage - out to Ely, Newmarket, then south towards Saffron Walden, Thaxted, Dunmow, Fyfield, right at Ongar, in through North Weald and down the Epping New Road, through South Woodford to avoid the North Circular roundabout, cut across from Snaresbrook to the Whipps Cross roundabout, down Lea Bridge Road, Orient Way, onto the Olympic site and then it's anyone's guess.
(deleted)
I think my biggest disappointment is the run in to Sheffield, doing this climb over by Meadowhell, rather than a much harder, and much closer to the finish climb over Crookes. https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=A6024&daddr=53.4904203,-1.642573+to...
Looks like Harrogate is the real winner with two stages. I am glad to see they are finishing stage three in a little village called Londres, I've not heard of it before, it will really put it on the map.
You can see from Stage 1 & 2 a few 'Sportive' events being formed to take on both routes, that might be interesting.
Being a northern tight-wad who never coughs up for sportives, I'm planning to do a DIY t'Etape du t'Tour on stage 2 - it would be rude not to.
Looking at that myself Badback. After the 114 mile White Rose Classic last year - with the last 14%er only 4 miles from the end - Stage 1 is definitely on my calendar for this summer. Probably skip the start at Leeds Town Hall though.
Cant wait, my bro lives 20 miles from York so will be camped at his for an early start and onto Harrogate before heading to York for the next stage
Local councillor on Look East crowing about how the Cambridge councils won't pay anything for their stage start. They're going to have a shock once the ASO see the state of their roads and demand much resurfacing.
I wonder what their tit of a police commissioner makes of it. No doubt he'll have his plods out doing the team buses for parking violations.
Cragg Vale Schmagg Vale. Holme Moss is where it's at.
Very excited, having missed the Olympic road race i can have a chance to see this stage virtually from home...if the train times work i may get a few different views. I doubt i'd be fast enough by bike to get ahead of the peloton anywhere on the Cams to London stage.
Clearly the thing to do on stage one is get to Aysgarth early doors then hammer it over to Leyburn once the peloton has passed though to catch them a second time.
brilliant!! I live in South Woodford so i'm in for a ringside seat on stage 3. Yipee!!
Fantabulous stuff, even without the rumoured Bawtry stage finish (a forlorn hope). Delighted to see Aysgarth, Hebden Bridge and a good chunk of Woodhead involved - and brilliant that these two stages are genuinely tough old rides, not mere processions.
Cannot wait for this. Feel a bit sorry for the East Riding, though.
Yes, yes, yes - Cannot wait.
(Bet the lass in the icecream van at the top of Holme Moss won't have a mortgage come mid-July
)
Oh my god I'm so excited - cannot wait. I live in York gonna pick a good spot for stage one then watch start with kids the next day! And then get to ride a stage of the tour any time you bloody well like!
This is gonna be great and the Strines will finally get resurfaced!!
What are the odds for JTL to be in yellow after day 2? Seems like his kind of terrain rather than a pure climber or a puncheur like Gilbert or Rodriguez.
Stage one 'theoretical' map and profile:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2072840
Stage two 'theoretical' map and profile:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2072847
Those are just based on stage towns and what I could gather from the proper routes
The Strines are a tough prospect even for the pros-expect some shelling before the run in to Sheffield.Stage for hard men.Love it.
The continental riders whined like hell when the Tour of Britain went over the Strines a few years ago. (I think the descent on Ewden Bank messed with their minds a bit !).
Stages one and two look excellent - who needs prologues !
Ride out to watch Le Tour... dont mind if I do.
Here's some maps: http://letour.yorkshire.com/the-route
Glad to see they've got Holme Moss on stage 2.
Cragg Vale? They're lucky. When I were a lad, we had to carry our bikes over mud and rock strewn back lanes over the highest moors...
BBC Sports web page confirms stage 1 & 2 route.
I've travelled over the water a number of years to see the TDF. Can't wait for this 'up my neck of the woods' around Reeth, Leyburn then the next day start in York, a bonus for the local economy. I may even drag the whole family outside to experience the event from Reeth or ride up with the lads.
whens the road resurfacing gonna start?
Just wondering if the local authority will charge £15 access (Olympics - ED)Lol!! Or complain about the painted roads but
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