Building on Glasgow’s cycling legacy, as well as stage four of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women taking place within the city centre on Sunday 8 June, as fans, families, and cyclists of all ages and abilities will have the chance to ride the same route in the afternoon, completely free of charge.
The Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival will run from 9am to 5pm on Glasgow Green, with free events and activities throughout the day for people to enjoy. The 10-lap professional race will take place on the 8.4-kilometre circuit between 10am and 12.15pm, with each lap running through the event village on Glasgow Green, where there will be big screens to follow all of the action.
From 1pm to 4pm, fans, families, and cyclists of all ages and abilities will be able to ride on the same circuit and enjoy a unique cycling experience in the heart of Glasgow. In addition to the main route, a 2.4-kilometre route around Glasgow Green will also be available during the same window for those who prefer a shorter ride.
With the race and Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival both due to start and finish from Glasgow Green, riders Arianne Holland (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) and Morven Yeoman (DAS – Hutchinson), joined representatives from event partners Glasgow Life, VisitScotland, Scottish Cycling, and race organisers British Cycling Events to celebrate the event.
It’s the first time that Scottish-based UCI Team Handsling-Alba will have raced a UCI-event on Scots roads and Arianne Holland, off the back of a silver medal at the Scottish Road Championships earlier this month is excited by the prospect:
“I raced last year when it finished in Manchester and that felt close to home, so to have it unbelievably close to home and the opportunity to race at this level, on home roads is just phenomenal.”
“It’s an amazing circuit. City centre racing is really exciting; it’s going to be a really tough stage, that eight kilometre loop, with technical corners, it requires more than just a good amount of power to get around, you’ve got to have good bike handling skills too.
“The Festival is phenomenally important. It gets people involved in a day that they might not have been involved in before. It gives people the chance to experience this closed road, safe environment, and see what we’re experiencing as professionals.
It’s been a strong season so far for Strathaven-native Morven Yeoman. The DAS-Hutchinson rider mad her WorldTour debut at the Amstel Gold Race last month, and
“This is as close to home roads as it gets for me, so it’s going to be super nice to do the circuit, but also the Scottish Borders stage around Kelso as well.
“To have a circuit where people can see you more than once is really nice, and it’s great to have friends and family come out to watch me. With the circuit around Glasgow you’ll be able to hear your name getting cheered out, spot faces in the crowd, and have that little extra motivation to get through.
Nick Rennie, Chief Executive of Scottish Cycling, said:
“The Lloyd’s Tour of Britain Women is going to add a great deal of excitement for cycling in Scotland, particularly for women and girl’s cycling, which is a real driver for us after the launch of our Women & Girls Strategy last year. We saw real enthusiasm for the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, so it’s going to be great to build on that with two fantastic days of racing in Scotland, firstly in Kelso, before the finale in Glasgow city centre.”
For more information on the Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival, please click here.
The Glasgow Stage forms part of a Scottish weekend at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women, with the race visiting Scotland for the first time. Stage three takes place in the Scottish Borders, starting and finishing in Kelso, on Saturday 7 June, before the final stage comes to Glasgow.
Among the riders scheduled to take part are current European champion Lorena Wiebes, double 2024 Olympic gold medallist Kristen Faulkner, and former race winner and world champion Lizzie Deignan, in what will be her final season of racing.