The Halfords Tour Series is returning to Sunny Colch in 2013 – hurrah!
The city centre [yeah, yeah] criterium series will be returning to the streets of Britain’s Oldest Recorded on the evening of 30th May.
Huge crowds have lined the High Street / Head Street / Osborne Street / Queen Street circuit over the past three years. The scheduling of the 2013 roll out during the half term break should continue the celebration of cycling around Sunny Colch.
As well as the prestige of hosting a stage of the circuit, the town benefits with an hour of national TV coverage on ITV4. Colchester is viewed by many on the Tour as being the best venue on the circuit. The route is fast and straight with the *ahem* Col de Queen Street climb for an extra added kick.
Like last year, the BIG Boys of British cycling will also be joined by the women riders. The Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix will start the evening with a 5:30pm roll out. 7pm is the scheduled time for the men’s race.
Cllr Lyn Barton, portfolio holder for Renaissance said:
“We are delighted to be hosting The Tour Series for the fourth time, with both the women’s and men’s races returning to Colchester this year. This event and surrounding activity will attract thousands of people to Colchester again for a world class racing event. It is a great opportunity for us all to get involved and celebrate Colchester as a place where people want to live, work and visit.”
Mick Bennett, Race Director of The Tour Series added
“Colchester provides us with a testing circuit, popular with both the riders and the fans. We’ve had some great races in our past visits to Colchester, and look forward to putting on another top class event this May.”
Previous years have included a day long celebration of cycling in Castle Park leading up to the main race. Funding is tight, but any local authority serious about it’s Cycling Town status will continue this time round, right?
Here’s hoping for slightly better weather when the sixth round of the Halford’s Tour helps to continue the cycling boom around Britain’s Oldest recorded come the end of May.
Chapeau!
