Tour of Britain - Watch or Avoid

This Saturday, 21 September, the Tour of Britain cycle race comes to Woking.  For some it’s a chance to watch Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in action.  For others it’s an inconvenience as local roads are affected by closures.

Watch

The good news for “watchers” is that there are two opportunities to see Wiggo and Cav in Woking.  The race first comes into Woking borough from Send.  The cyclists will head through Old Woking, then past Woking Park and the Leisure Centre before coming into the town centre and along Victoria Way.  After a sprint along Chertsey Road riders will leave Woking via the Six Crossroads and past McLaren down to the Ottershaw roundabout.

The race returns to Woking after a meander around the back of St Peter’s Hospital, through Lyne and into Chobham.  From Chobham the racers pedal along Guildford Road and Chobham Road, past the end of Carthouse Lane and into Knaphill.  The race goes along Bagshot Road and then heads off to Pirbright.

The first entry of the race into Woking is around 13.55 with the Chertsey Road sprint scheduled for 2pm.  The race returns in Knaphill around 14.30.

Avoid

There is also good news for those who find road closures for cycle races an inconvenience.  Unlike RideLondon and the Tour Series this race won’t mean hours of closed roads.  Roads are closed on a rolling basis as the race passes through.  This should mean 15 to 20 minute closures.

There’s a great map (although it’s a little slow) where you can look at the race route as a whole or zoom in on any section of the race to a detailed level.  Woking Council has timings for the race coming through Woking and Surrey County Council hastimings for the whole race.