City to host Tour finish
The best cyclists in the world will race through the streets of Wolverhampton when the city hosts a dramatic sprint finish in the Tour of Britain later this year.
More than 100 professional cyclists will race from Worcester on September 12 in the third phase of the six-stage tour.
Last September a leg started from Market Square but this year, Wolverhampton will be the end point of the day's racing, making a more exciting spectacle for fans as the riders race frantically to be first over the finishing line.
Former four times world 5,000 metres cycling champion Hugh Porter MBE, pictured, a lifelong member of Wolverhampton Wheelers Cycling Club in Aldersley, was at the prestigious launch event in the Civic Centre today as the south-to-north route was unveiled.
He told representatives from Wolverhampton City Council and Worcestershire County Council, Advantage West Midlands and stage sponsors Birmingham Midshires that he had used many of the roads named in the route for training during his illustrious career.
"Wolverhampton is a great city for sport and for us to be given a finish here is excellent," he said. "I just hope the weather is fine."
After the riders have tackled gruelling climbs in Malvern, Worcestershire, they will race through Bewdley and Bridgnorth along the route of the Severn Valley Railway.
The last three miles of the stage will see the cyclists travelling at an average speed of 25mph and entering Wolverhampton through Compton, riding up past Wolverhampton Grammar School before turning on to the finish between Chapel Ash and the Penn Road island.
The tour starts on September 9 with time trials in Bromley and then goes from Reading to Southampton, Yeovilton to Taunton, Worcester to Wolverhampton, Rotherham to Bradford, Liverpool to Kendal, and finishes from Dumfries to Glasgow on September 15.
Councillor Peter Bilson, Wolverhampton's regeneration and enterprise boss, said it was an honour for the city to host a national sporting event.
