The Countrywide Great Tour is a 64-day cycle ride taking in the entire coast of Great Britain is coming your way - and anyone can get involved
A 64-day cycle ride taking in the entire coast of Great Britain is coming your way - and anyone can get involved.
It’s being billed as Britain’s ultimate cycling challenge – a chance to cycle all the way around the coast of Great Britain in 64 days. The Countrywide Great Tour begins in July and will be coming to a coastal road near you soon.
And if you enjoy seeing the world from the saddle of a bicycle you can take part – for a day, a week or even the whole 6,800 kilometres. The event begins in Holyhead on Anglesey on 4 July – the same day that the Tour de France begins.
Heading clockwise – with the sight, sounds and smell of the sea never far from the riders – the tour circumnavigates Great Britain.
It returns to Holyhead just over two months on 5 September – on the eve of the Friends Life Tour of Britain’s Grand Depart from Anglesey.
Each day of the Countrywide Great Tour will have capacity for up to 250 riders, with a core group of riders completing the entire challenge. Along the way they will be joined by members of the public wishing to ride a day or week of the route, plus riders from corporate and charity partners, using the event to raise funds for good causes.
Among the charities to have already signed up to the Countrywide Great Tour as a fundraising and awareness platform are Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, Anthony Nolan, Macmillan and the Alzheimer’s Society.
Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of organisers SweetSpot Group completed the Great Tour route in 2010. The Countrywide Great Tour is a fantastic challenge,’ he says. We want to stimulate cycle tourism by creating and formalising a route that circumnavigates Britain’s fantastic coastline, drawing attention to all of the attractions it has to offer.
We hope to firmly establish the Countrywide Great Tour as an annual event, providing a platform for charitable fundraising and promoting cycling in each of the communities it touches around the coast.’
Working with partners Ordnance Survey, each day of the Countrywide Great Tour will be mapped and shared using Ordnance Survey products, with an official route app also being published. A club will also be created for riders who have completed the entire circumnavigation, whether in one go, or over a prolonged period.
The Countrywide Great Tour is supported by Countrywide, the UK’s largest and most successful estate agency and property services group.
We are thrilled to support The Great Tour as lead sponsor and are very pleased to strengthen our involvement in supporting the local communities all along the route, says chief executive Alison Platt. We were particularly struck by the opportunity to develop extensive charitable support and as a national organisation thought that we could support the Great Tour around the entire country.’
The Countrywide Great Tour is being put on in tandem with CTC, the national cycling charity, who are the experts in helping and supporting thousands of everyday cyclists to realise the joys and benefits of cycling. CTC are supporting the riders with trained ride leaders, insurance and membership package.
CTC has been helping cyclists ride for leisure and pleasure for over 137 years and is proud to be part of such a stunning cycling event,’ enthuses the charity’s Paul Tuohy.
We want as many people as possible to join us and have a fun and enjoyable time exploring the fantastic riding the coastline of Britain has to offer.”
The Cornwall route
After leaving Plymouth, the Countrywide Great Tour crosses the border into Cornwall on 18 August .
The route continues near Fowey and goes along the coast at Gribbin Head, with its red and white striped daymark.
From there, the tour takes the riders along the Polperro Heritage Coast and inland to Bodelva, home of the Eden Project.
The team can enjoy a rest at this world-famous attraction before heading off on stage 47 of the event on 19 August.
In the morning, the riders will pedal along past several of Cornwall’s fishing communities, including Pentewan and Mevagissey, before spending the afternoon travelling along the Roseland Pennisula, passing the town of St Mawes and St Just.
The tour will arrive in the dockyard town of Falmouth, where they can stop to enjoy the sights and sounds before setting off again the following day (20 August) towards the Lizard coastline.
From here, the route travels along towards Marazion, where riders will be able to look across to St Michael’s Mount and take an overnight rest.
On 21 August, the tour will set off for Land’s End before tracking up north again towards Carbis Bay and the hustle and bustle of St Ives.
Stage 50 sees the riders head up the coast past Portreath, St Agnes, Perranporth and Holywell before heading through Newquay.
Then it’s time to enjoy a well-earned rest when they reach their destination in the fishing village of Padstow.
On 23 August, the team will follow the north coast before crossing the border back into Devon.
Find out more about Cornwall’s part
in this epic 64-leg tour at
thegreattour.co.uk
