{"id":394711,"date":"2025-09-03T14:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/394711\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:09:14","slug":"tour-of-britain-comes-to-milton-keynes-and-bedfordshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/394711\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour of Britain comes to Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SWpix.comSWpix.com<\/p>\n

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men has already raced through Suffolk<\/p>\n

International cycling teams, fans and riders will descend on parts of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire as the UK’s largest free-to-spectate sporting events rolls in. <\/p>\n

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will begin its third stage in Milton Keynes at 11:30 BST and finish in Woburn Street, Ampthill, at about 14:40, on Thursday. <\/p>\n

The route includes Woburn, Toddington, Barton-le-Clay and Haynes. <\/p>\n

On day three, the pedal-pushing professionals, including Olympic, world and Tour de France champions, will cover 122.8km (76 miles). <\/p>\n

Here’s everything you need to know about what is described as one of the most prestigious events in cycling’s global calendar.<\/p>\n

What routes will the cyclists take while they are in Bucks and Beds? <\/p>\n

\"TourTour of Britain<\/p>\n

Stage three will travel through Milton Keynes and central Bedfordshire <\/p>\n

The set up of stage three on Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, starts at 05:00 and the race convoy will arrive at 09:30. <\/p>\n

Presentations start at 10:22 before the teams line up at 11:15, with the cyclists rolling forward together for the start at 11:30. <\/p>\n

The roads the tour races along in the city are: Marlborough Gate, Silbury Boulevard, Overgate, Childs Way (H6), Marlborough Street (V8), Chaffron Way (H7), Brickhill Street (V10), Station Road, Woburn Sands Road, Bow Brickhill Road, The Leys and Hardwick Road. <\/p>\n

It then arrives in Bedfordshire, via Woburn and Aspley Heath, heads south past Toddington, through Barton-le-Clay, then across to Broom and circles Old Warden, before continuing past Haynes, on its way to Woburn Street, Ampthill. <\/p>\n

Who are the cyclists taking part?<\/p>\n

\"SWpix.comSWpix.com<\/p>\n

Olav Kooij, of Team Visma, won the first stage on Tuesday <\/p>\n

The race pack comprises 114 riders, representing 19 teams and 20 nations, and features experienced and up-and-coming professionals.<\/p>\n

Great Britain’s team consists of six riders, two of which – Ben Chilton and Huw Buck-Jones \u2013 make their debuts in what is Britain’s biggest professional cycle race.<\/p>\n

They line-up alongside Ben Wiggins and Josh Golliker, with Josh Charlton and Matt Bostock completing the team.<\/p>\n

Olav Kooij won the first stage with a nail-biting uphill sprint finish.<\/p>\n

Tord Gudmestad was a surprise runner-up. Hugo Hofstetter finished third.<\/p>\n

Sam Watson was the first British rider to cross the line. He finished sixth. Geraint Thomas recovered from a late puncture to finish with the main field in his final race before retirement.<\/p>\n

Josh Golliker earned the opening stage’s combativity award. <\/p>\n

The full list of riders is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What roads will be closed? <\/p>\n

\"SWpix.comSWpix.com<\/p>\n

The race sees 114 riders from 20 different nations go wheel-to-wheel <\/p>\n

As with any cycle race of this magnitude, roads have to be closed so it can go ahead safely.<\/p>\n

It will operate a “rolling road closure” system rather than full road closures, to “minimise disruption to the local community as much as possible”.<\/p>\n

Roads should only be closed for 30 to 45 minutes at a time while the racers passes through.<\/p>\n

Where should you park in Ampthill?<\/p>\n

There will be no parking in Ampthill town centre, but Central Bedfordshire Council <\/a>says there are two chargeable car parks on Steppingly Road. <\/p>\n

There is free parking at The Rufus Centre and Flitwick Football Club. <\/p>\n

All are a short walk to Flitwick Interchange, where a free shuttle bus, to Ampthill Great Park, is laid on. <\/p>\n

It picks up on Steppingly Road (next to Flitwick Train Station, MK45 1AJ) and drops off at the junction of the A507 and Woburn Road in Ampthill. From there, it is a short walk to the stage finish on Woburn Street. <\/p>\n

It runs every 15 minutes from 10:00 until 17:12. <\/p>\n

Buses, including routes 42 and 44, will also run between Flitwick and Ampthill. <\/p>\n

What else can spectators see? <\/p>\n

Stage three starts at Milton Keynes’ Midsummer Boulevard, by the theatre, at 11:30, but entertainment is planned from 09:30. <\/p>\n

It includes stunts, free bike checks and the opportunity to decorate your bike for free with artist Kerry Lemon.<\/p>\n

There will also be information about women’s bike rides and community bike clubs. <\/p>\n

In Ampthill, a big screen will show race coverage all day and there are bike events, including demonstrations and the fire service’s virtual reality car simulator. <\/p>\n

There is also a bike swap. <\/p>\n

Where else is the race taking place?<\/p>\n

\"SWpix.comSWpix.com<\/p>\n

The first stage ended at 15:05 BST on Tuesday in Southwold, having visited Aldeburgh and Thorpeness (pictured) along the way<\/p>\n

The race started in Suffolk on Tuesday, and Wednesday’s stage starts and finishes in Stowmarket. <\/p>\n

It goes to Atherstone, Warwickshire, for stage four, which ends in Burton Dassett Hills Country Park.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the race takes the cyclists to Pontypool and then onto The Tumble, before the sporting spectacular concludes the next day with stage six, from Newport to Cardiff.<\/p>\n

‘Champions of the future’<\/p>\n

Councils have said they cannot wait to welcome the crowds. <\/p>\n

Adam Zerny, the Independent leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for residents to see world-class sport on their doorstep, and to inspire the champions of the future. <\/p>\n

“The Tour of Britain is one of the most exciting events in the sporting calendar and will showcase the beauty of Central Bedfordshire to a global audience.”<\/p>\n

Lauren Townsend, Labour’s deputy leader of Milton Keynes City Council, said it was “proud” to be hosts. <\/p>\n

She said it was “an exciting programme” of “fantastic cycling activities to family-friendly events”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SWpix.com The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men has already raced through Suffolk International cycling teams, fans and riders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-394711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115140766605328777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}