This page is one part of my preview of the 2013 Tour of Britain.
Route
The 2013 Tour of Britain takes place over eight stages:
- Stage 1 – Peebles to Drumlanrig Castle, 201km
- Stage 2 – Carlisle to Kendal, 225km
- Stage 3 – Knowsley, 16km (individual time trial)
- Stage 4 – Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis, 191km
- Stage 5 – Machynlleth to Caerphilly, 177km
- Stage 6 – Sidmouth to Haytor, 137km (summit finish)
- Stage 7 – Epsom to Guildford, 150km
- Stage 8 – London, 88km
The stage three time trial and stage six’s summit finish stand out, but in truth there are challenges throughout. It’s probably the best route yet because it properly reflects Britain’s geography, whereas previous years have tended towards being a bit flat.
First category climbs
Stage two features the first category climb of Honister Pass midway through. Honister is steep, challenging and spectacular.
Stage five features three first category climbs, one of which is repeated. Cwm Owen comes after 83km, Brecon Beacons comes after 116km and then Caerphilly Mountain is climbed after 164km and 172km with the second descent leading directly to the finish.
If I’ve got the right bit of road, the Haytor climb that serves as the summit finish of stage six is about 6km at six per cent.
Stage seven features the Barhatch Lane climb early on. As far as I can tell, it’s a typically British slope which steepens as it progresses.