The Tour of Britain arrives in Dumfries and Galloway on Sunday. The UK’s biggest live sports event will roll through Gretna, Annan and Dumfries Whitesands before heading to Drumlanrig Castle. Interest in the event is expected to be huge, with a star studded world class cycling field given added spice by the participation of Sir Bradley Wiggins. Other box office competitors include Nairo Quintana, this year’s King of the Mountains Jersey winner at the Tour De France, and Alex Dowsett, the British Time Trial Champion for the past three years. In 2011 and 2012 Mark Cavendish thrilled local cycling fans with heroic sprint finishes at rain lashed Whitesands in Dumfries. This year he will be hard pressed to repeat the feat, as the Scottish Stage of the Tour is a mammoth, hilly 209 kilometres, which is not expected to favour sprinters. The focal point of the Tour in Dumfries and Galloway will be at Drumlanrig Castle, where a comprehensive programme of entertainment is being put on by Buccleuch Estates and Dumfries and Galloway Council, to create a carnival atmosphere for the race. Visitors are requested to arrive early, to enjoy the farmers’ market, 7stanes Display Team, the Giant Screen showing live coverage of the race and much much more. Spectators are reminded that entry to the event is free, but that the gates close at 2pm – a policy that will be strictly enforced. The race will come up the magnificent Castle Avenue before doing a loop of the local country roads before finishing in front of the forecast crowd of 8000 spectators. To commemorate Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who is regarded as the inventor of the bicycle, Buccleuch Estates commissioned the KM Trophy, which will be awarded to the winner of Sunday’s Scottish stage. The trophy is a scale model of Macmillan’s velocipede, the first ever pedal driven cycle. Dumfries and Galloway Council, with the support of the national events agency, EventScotland, has brought the Tour to our region eight times since 2005, and this investment in the race is now providing a global showcase for south west Scotland. More than one hundred and forty countries will televise the race in highlights format, Eurosport will cover it live with extended highlights on ITV4 the same evening. There will be wide spread coverage in the broadsheets and tabloid media, and online, which can promote Dumfries and Galloway’s rich cycling heritage and world class mountain bike cycling trails. Fur full event details go to tourofbritain.co.uk
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:20:06 +0000
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