Some of the world’s greatest male cyclists are set to tear through Ipswich today, as thousands of spectators line the roads for the Tour of Britain.
The 187km Suffolk stage of the tour will start from Newmarket at around 10.45am, heading through Bury St Edmunds and on to Framlingham before arriving in Ipswich at around 2pm and heading off to Aldeburgh through Kesgrave, Woodbridge and Leiston.
Yesterday saw Clacton in Essex host stage five, with the time trial stage won by Lars Boom, with Victor Campenaerts in second and Vasil Kiryienka in third.
Around 110 riders will be taking part, with the current tour leader Boom taking an eight second lead over his nearest rival into the sixth stage.
Terry Baxter, chief executive of the Ipswich Central Business Improvement District, said: “Any national event such as this tour has got to be valuable for Ipswich,” he said.
“We are working incredibly hard to make sure that people are aware of Ipswich – the national media attention the tour will bring will only help raise our profile.
“We are getting a sense of momentum in the town at the moment, with the tour, Great East Run, and the Twilight races – which attracted national athletes – and we need to keep that going.
“The work of the Ipswich Borough organising the maritime festival also saw people come from all over.”
He said with the stage being entirely set in Suffolk, he hoped Ipswich will see a tourism boost in the long run.
“Some of the work we have been doing as a BID, with the setting up of the destination management organisation (DMO), is about tourism and bringing more people to our town.
“It is about promoting Ipswich as a place to come and stay and then you can visit the rest of the county from here – hopefully people will be doing exactly that to watch the tour.”
Suffolk has previously hosted parts of both the men’s and women’s Tour of Britain.
Kesgrave Town Council chairman Neal Beecroft-Smith said they excited to welcome the tour back, with a sprint section taking part in the town.
“We have got some household names coming to the town, and that is something to be proud of,” he said.
“If it is anything like last time, there will be crowds lining every street.”
Road closures
There will be several road closures in the Ipswich area as the cyclists skirt through the town at around 2pm today.
The rolling road closure will start around ten minutes before riders come through and open around five minutes afterwards.
They arrive in Ipswich from Westerfield direction along the A1214 Colchester Road, on to Woodbridge Road and Main Road towards Kesgrave.
They are expected to go through Hall Road at around 2.15pm, on to Martlesham Road and The Street.
As they reach Woodbridge they will head onto the narrow Sandy Lane, before turning onto the B1338 Ipswich Road, through Quayside, B1438 Thoroughfare, on to A1152 Wilford Bridge Road and over the level crossing before going through Melton and round Bromeswell.
• Full details of the route and timings can be found at www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-six
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