The opening stage of the Tour of Britain will pass through the heart of Salford in its bumper 163.6km excursion through all ten Greater Manchester Boroughs this Sunday.
The 83-year-old cycling race which has grown significantly in recognition in recent years will see some of the world’s best cyclists take to the roads of Salford.
Its opening stage will see a grand départ from the hustle and bustle of Altrincham market continuing on to skirt around all of the boroughs of Greater Manchester.
The course will see its conclusion travel through the heart of Salford before its final sprint to the finish line on Deansgate.
Dashing by Wigan, the race will enter Salford around 15km from the finish line, turning onto the A6 Manchester Road at Little Hulton.
5 days to go! @TourofBritain cyclists will be riding through Salford in Stage One of the race on Sun 3 Sept. Don’t miss the chance to see this spectacular race through your city!
Find out more about the race and route here: https://t.co/4TJqhzCsPi 🚴 #Salford #TourOfBritain pic.twitter.com/IqndJo7Zab
— Visit Salford (@VisitSalford) August 29, 2023
From here the riders will see the sights of Walkden, Swinton, Pendlebury and Salford Crescent, before steaming down Albion Way and Regent Road before concluding in Manchester city center.
With the profile of the Tour of Britain on the rise for many years, it has managed to attract some of the biggest names in cycling in previous instalments and this year is no different.
This year’s provisional start-list is a ram-packed peloton of pedal-pushing talent that will not fail to wow Salfordian spectators.
The most prominent rider of the bunch being the infamous fan-favourite Wout Van Aert whose list of achievements is so long it comes with its own Wikipedia page.
The 28 year-old Belgian has already won the Tour of Britain in 2021 and counts nine Tour de France stages to his name as well as its points jersey classification in 2022.
Notable challengers to Van Aert’s supremacy come in the form of fellow green jersey winner Sam Bennett from Ireland and last year’s Tour of Britain victor Gonzalo Serrano of Spain.
Ineos Grenadier’s Leeds-born, jack of all trades and winner of the Tour de France’s 2022 Alpe d’Huez stage Tom Pidock will equally be looking to upset the apple cart on behalf of the home nation.
Other big names attending include Nils Politt, Danny Van Poppel, Luke Rowe, Steven Kruijswijk and Nathan van Hooydonck.
This opening stage is a carbon-copy of the final stage of the 2019 Tour of Britain which saw victory for the current world champion, Dutchman, Mathieu van der Poel.
Greater Manchester hosts the opening stage of the Tour of Britain for the fist time since doing so 19 years ago during its first edition of the modern incarnation of the race.
The stage features a category two climb at Grains Bar, Oldham, and a category one climb at Ramsbottom Rake, respectively.
one two three four five six SEVEN DAYS TO GO!#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/53YoPmV24c
— The Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) August 27, 2023
Hazel Grove has the honour of hosting the only intermediate sprint of the stage, an exciting chance for spectators to see some mid-race, sprint-chaos action.
Motorists and people taking public transport are advised to adjust plans on Sunday 3 September as road closures will take place across Salford and Greater Manchester.
Road closures should only last 30 minutes in any one place as stated by race organisers.
In Salford the A6 Manchester Road will see the most disruption.
The eight-stage race will take place from 3 September until 10 September, concluding in Caerphilly.
The full race route and stage profiles can be found here.
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