First published in Worcester News 20 June 2014.
Last Thursday, I had the great pleasure of hosting the regional launch of Stage 4 of this year’s Tour of Britain cycle race.
For those of you who have not yet heard, the Stage will start at the Hive in Worcester on the morning of Wednesday 10 September. From there it will progress around the city, leaving via St John’s and Bransford to Upton, Malvern, Evesham, Pershore and Broadway and then onwards through Gloucestershire to its final destination point of the day in Bristol. Two ‘King of the Mountains’ and one ‘Sprint’ point will feature in Worcestershire.
So why has Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership undertaken to bring the Tour to our county?
The Tour of Britain is the UK’s biggest free to attend live sporting event. It attracts widespread media attention in local, regional and national press on the TV and radio. As such it provides us with a fabulous platform to promote tourism and cycle-tourism to our area.
In fact, it has been shown that previous towns that have hosted Stage Starts have benefited from at least a seven fold return on their investment in terms of the economic impact of the Race. Added to which, evidence has shown that visiting the Tour has inspired attendees to cycle more regularly. All of which is great news for our local economy.
I do hope you get behind the Tour when it comes to Worcestershire in September. I will certainly be there and look forward to cheering on the 18 teams of world class riders who will be riding through some of the best countryside our county can offer.