Lloyds Tour of Britain Men cycle race

The two stage routes that will open this year’s Lloyds Tour of Britain Men in East Suffolk and Mid Suffolk and Babergh, have today been revealed, that will see the world’s top cyclists pass through dozens of communities and cover more than 300 kilometres of Suffolk roads.

Tuesday 2 September will see riders getting underway from Woodbridge in East Suffolk, and facing a 161.4-kilometre (100.4-mile) stage to Southwold, the first time that the opening stage of Britain’s biggest professional men’s cycle race has been held in Suffolk since 2012.

From the start in Woodbridge at 11am, riders will initially head west, before looping back around through Grundisburgh, Wickham Market, and Rendlesham, before passing the famous Snape Maltings to reach the Suffolk coast at Aldeburgh.

Running alongside the sea to Thorpeness, the route then turns inland, weaving through Saxmundham and Framlingham, to the day’s intermediate sprint on Walpole Road in Halesworth.

The stage will reach its northernmost point at Bungay, routing back towards Southwold via Beccles, Wrentham and Reydon, for the finish on North Parade in Southwold, which is expected at around 3.05pm.

For the first time ever, Suffolk will host two stages of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men in the same edition, with Mid Suffolk District Council and neighbouring Babergh District Council hosting a stage starting and finishing in Stowmarket on Wednesday 3 September.

The 169.3-kilometre (105.3-mile) leg will depart from Ipswich Street in the town centre at 11:00, leaving towards Stowupland and Forward Green. The route takes in Debenham and Bedfield, before the intermediate sprint in Stradbroke after 40 kilometres of racing.

Crossing Mid Suffolk to Eye and Thurston, the race turns south to Felsham and into Babergh for a southern loop taking in Lavenham, Sudbury, and the Dedham Vale National Landscape, before turning back for the run towards Stowmarket and the finish on Ipswich Street around 15:15.

Stage two also includes the first designated king of the mountains climb of the race, Semer Hill, just after Hadleigh, in the closing kilometres of the race.

Following the two Suffolk stages, subsequent legs of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men take in Milton Keynes and a first visit to Ampthill in Central Bedfordshire, before a challenging Warwickshire stage ending in a hilltop finish at Burton Dassett Hills Country Park.

The race concludes with a brace of challenging stages in south Wales, the first including a double ascent of The Tumble, before a final stage between the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport to the Welsh capital, Cardiff, on Sunday 7 September.