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Olympic cycle star tops big race line-up

6:00pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in


A LINE-UP of top cyclists has been announced for the televised bike race which is coming to Colchester.

Three-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins will be in the field for the Tour of Britain, which starts on Saturday and comes to town for its penultimate leg on September 17.

He will be joined by World, Olympic and Commonwealth champions, plus a whole host of stage winners from the world’s biggest races.

Leading the way are British Olympians Steve Cummings, Ed Clancy and Geraint Thomas, who boast a clutch of medals between them from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Cummings is also a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, along with Matthew Hayman, Greg Henderson and Mark Renshaw, who will also be taking part.

Excitement is building ahead of the big race, Britain’s answer to the Tour de France, highlights of which will be screened nightly from 7pm to 8pm on ITV4.

Thousands of spectators are expected to turn out in Colchester as the riders sweep into town along Maldon Road and Southway and sprint up East Hill to the finishing line, outside Castle Park gates.

Colchester Council is hosting a cycling festival in the park to coincide with the event and has now announced plans for a grass-track biking event to give residents a taste of the action.

The Colchester Rovers cycling club are organising the session, between 5pm and 7pm, and companies are invited to enter teams of three or four riders, who will need their own bikes and helmets.

Places are limited and anyone interested in taking part should e-mail acheverst@ntlworld.com

Comments(12)

hughie-s says...
8:58pm Wed 8 Sep 10

"... along Maldon Road .... ??"


I thought the route was Drury Road & Butt Road??

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Simon Taylor says...
10:43pm Wed 8 Sep 10

I think you'll find that the finish line will be outside the Minories.
Don't forget that this is a professional team sport - more like football than the Olympics. The only national team entered is Irish and the team that I'll be cheering on has entered no British cyclists for this race.

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Boris says...
12:24am Thu 9 Sep 10

Hughie, you are right. But the road from Heckford Bridge via the Zoo to the Tip is also called Maldon Road, and they will be coming along that.
In Angel Court they have a route map and estimated timings for when the riders should reach each point along the route, including various KOM points (Foxearth is one), and concluding with Tiptree 13h18, East Hill 13h40.
Daily highlights on ITV4, 7 to 8 pm, should make sense of it all.
Mark Renshaw, after his brilliant lead-out work for Mark Cavendish, who isn't riding, should be good value for a sprint finish.

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saw1970 says...
10:39am Thu 9 Sep 10

"Don't forget that this is a professional team sport - more like football than the Olympics."
More like football!?
I'm sorry, last time I saw a football match it bore absolutely no resemblance to cycling in any form. Not a wheel in sight! And I’m fairly sure there is team racing in Olympics. i.e. - Team pursuit and team sprint?!

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Simon Taylor says...
12:35pm Thu 9 Sep 10

You know what I mean.
Professional cycling and professional football are based on privately owned teams of paid athletes. The Olympics isn't - not in theory anyway!

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snoswad says...
5:48pm Thu 9 Sep 10

I think you'll find there won't be a carnival this because the police and council couldn't agree about road closures.
oh! sorry..

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saw1970 says...
10:04am Fri 10 Sep 10

Sorry, I was being too literal. :)

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Feisty CBC says...
8:37pm Fri 10 Sep 10

A great event that Colchester (and surrounding areas) have managed to attract.
Don't see why so many are ready to knock it.
My Dad said if you struggle with East Hill you've got no chance going up the North :)

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Anna Key says...
6:04pm Sat 11 Sep 10

Who are all the people knocking it? Don't see any such comments here. Think you'll find most people are very pleased the town has attracted this event. And with a little bit of decent organisation and proper notice of transport alterations we should all get to work OK (just a pity this failed to happen last year!).

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Boris says...
11:37pm Mon 13 Sep 10

ECC have published details of the bus service alterations. Let's hope the bus companies stick to them.
And let's look forward to a great day on Friday.

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romantic says...
4:41pm Tue 14 Sep 10

Feisty CBC wrote:
A great event that Colchester (and surrounding areas) have managed to attract. Don't see why so many are ready to knock it. My Dad said if you struggle with East Hill you've got no chance going up the North :)
North Hill (and East Hill) are minor bumps to these guys. The stage yesterday had a 1 in 5 hill in the wet on cobblestones, after nearly 4 hours riding through the Welsh mountains. That's savage!

East Hill will scarcely slow them down. Intrigued to see how they get round the bottom of Brook Street - could be tricky if a big bunch hit there and it's wet.

Looking forward to it!

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romantic says...
5:10pm Tue 14 Sep 10

Metcheck shows sunshine and 14 degrees, nice conditions for cycling, and not too much wind.

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