Stowmarket the scene for the start and finish of the second stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men
All roads lead to Stowmarket this morning for avid cycling fans as the second stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men takes place.
It comes a day after the race started in Woodbridge and finished with a sprint finish in the coastal town of Southwold.
Today’s 169.3-kilometre stage will see the elite cyclists leave Stowmarket at 11am and take in villages in the Mid Suffolk and Babergh areas of Suffolk.
They include Stonham Aspal, Debenham, Stradbroke, Walsham le Willows, Lavenham, Sudbury, Stoke-by-Nayland, Hadleigh and Hitcham, before returning to finish in Stowmarket.
Having previously hosted a stage finish of the women’s race in 2019 in Stowmarket, this will be the first time that a stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men has started or finished in the Babergh or Mid Suffolk districts.
Yesterday, Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) stormed to victory on stage one after a nail-biting uphill sprint finish.
Tord Gudmestad (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) was a runner-up, while Hugo Hofstetter (Israel – Premier Tech) finished third.
Sam Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) was the first British rider to cross the line in sixth place, while his teammate Geraint Thomas recovered from a late puncture to finish with the main field in his final race before retirement.
The first stage saw a field of 114 riders sign on in Woodbridge, with crowds coming to watch the premier men’s race on the domestic calendar and to catch a glimpse of Thomas as the Welshman started his final event as a professional rider before retiring after a distinguished career on the road and on the track.
Tomorrow the six stage race, involving 886 kilometres of racing (551 miles), moves on to Milton Keynes before going to Warwickshire for the longest part of the race starting in Atherstone, then it’s on to Wales and finishing in Cardiff.
Today’s race times are:
START Ipswich Street, Stowmarket 11:00 | Stonham Aspal 11:23 | Debenham 11:31 | Stradbroke 12:13 | Walsham le Willows 12:58 | Lavenham 13:49 | Sudbury 14:08 | Stoke-by-Nayland 14:21 | Hadleigh 14:41 | Hitcham 14:58 | FINISH Ipswich Street, Stowmarket 15:16. (See route map above).