4 Million see Tour of Britain

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Some of the more colourful spectators -- said to be Russell Downing's fan club! Or not....

The 2009 event attracted well over one million spectators over the course of the eight race stages as The Tour of Britain made its way from the Grand Depart in Scunthorpe on Saturday 12 September across the length and breadth of the nation, leading to the historic final stage in London on Saturday 19 September.

The streets of central London were closed for a sporting event on a Saturday for the first time ever to welcome The Tour’s Grand Finale, and the capital’s public responded in force with over 150,000 people lining the iconic race circuit which took in the sights of Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and Victoria Embankment, to welcome the race into the nation’s capital.

In addition to record live spectator numbers, through daily hour long TV coverage on ITV4, The Tour of Britain reached an audience of over three million television viewers across the eight days of the 2009 event.

These spectators and TV viewers were witness to Edvald Boasson Hagen from Team Columbia- HTC taking overall honours as the winner of the 2009 Tour of Britain while laying claim to the coveted Bikeability Yellow Jersey, as well as The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey.

Working with its event stakeholders and regional partners, The Tour of Britain engaged with many thousands of school children in 2009, giving schools and teachers across the country a platform to promote cycling as a healthy sport and sustainable pastime. These efforts were noticeable across the country, but perhaps most so in the Southwest on stage 6 – Frome to Bideford – and stage 7 – Hatherleigh to Yeovil – where a total of 62 schools attended en mass to experience the atmosphere and cheer the riders along. 

The 2009 race was a great success. The crowd numbers, and the number of school children that attended the race were a big step forward for us, and this shows that cycling as a sport is growing exponentially in its national popularity. We at The Tour of Britain are extremely pleased to be a key part of this process”, said Hugh Roberts, CEO for The Tour of Britain.

2009 also saw SweetSpot establish the hugely successful Tour Series televised city centre race series as well as The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride sportive event, which took place in Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday 6 September. Both these events add to the SweetSpot portfolio and increase the reach and potential for commercial partners who wish to benefit from the increased interest and media coverage of cycling in the UK.

The Tour of Britain travelled through towns like this in the South West where huge crowds cheered the race on.

The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, a first of its kind event in Great Britain, provided members of the public with a unique opportunity to get on their bikes and ride the official Stoke-on-Trent stage of The Tour of Britain race, all in support of a fantastic cause.

The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride proved to be a huge success with over 1300 cyclists taking part in the inaugural event,” commented Roberts. “The feedback from riders who took part has been overwhelmingly positive and we are planning, together with The Prostate Cancer Charity, to put on more mass participation rides linked to The Tour of Britain in 2010. Our aim is to bring people together on their bicycles in aid of a good cause, while also getting healthier in the process and having a fantastic day out.

The Tour of Britain organisational team is hard at work planning the 2010 Tour Series, Tour Rides and Tour of Britain race and is in discussions with partners and sponsors for next year’s event roster.