Tour of Britain brings music and entertainment to Gloucestershire

Music and entertainment will come to Gloucestershire as the Tour of Britain rides into the county this month.

Stage seven of the Tour of Britain will be held in Gloucestershire on Saturday, 9 September. The 170.9km race will begin in the shadow of Tewkesbury Abbey, on Church Street in the medieval market town, and head east into the Cotswolds before heading south.

The riders will then race north through the Stroud valleys before finishing on Southgate Street in Gloucester.

To mark the prestigious race coming to the county, music and entertainment is planned for the start in Tewkesbury and the finish in Gloucester.

The race will start in Tewkesbury at 11am, with riders being introduced to the crowd from 10am on the podium in Church Street.

Circus entertainer Thomas Trilby will be entertaining crowds in Tewkesbury on his stilt bike ahead of the race, before moving to Gloucester for the finish.

The race is due to finish in Gloucester at around 3pm and big screens will be showing full ITV4 coverage of the race from the start.

There will be live music in Gloucester Docks with several performers set to entertain the crowds.

A BMX stunt team will showcase their skills in the city. They will be joined by smoothie bikes, which challenge riders to use pedal power to blend their smoothie, and Cycle Scalextric, where pedal power is used to make the cars race.

There will also be a host of community cycling stands at both the start and finish, as well as a number of events and ride that some of our junior cycle clubs have arranged that will be riding through the finish before the race arrives.

Some of the world’s best riders will be racing, with former Tour of Britain winner and nine-time Tour de France stage winner Wout van Aert taking to the start line, alongside British Olympic and World mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock, who also won a stage of the Tour de France in 2022.

Cllr David Gray, Cabinet member responsible for the environment at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The Tour of Britain provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase our beautiful county to the world.

“Events at the start and finish will feature a wide variety of bike-based entertainment and activities that crowds can engage with.

“I would encourage residents across the county to take the opportunity to come and cheer on some of the world’s best cyclists as they pass through our county, whether this be on the route or at the start and finish.”

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk