The Tour Of Britain in Eden

2021: The Tour of Britain in Eden

The Tour Of Britain came to Eden on Friday 10 September 2021 with intermediate sprints in Motherby and Penrith!

Stage Six from Carlisle to Gateshead retraced large parts of the popular Sea to Sea route.  The stage began in Carlisle and travelled to Eden through Greystoke and Motherby. It headed towards Ullswater, passing through Watermillock and Pooley Bridge before it travelled through Penrith and out to Langwathby and Melmerby. It then headed off to tackle the SKODA King of the Mountains climb at Hartside - which was used as a stage finish in the 2015 Tour - before going through Alston and Nenthead.Two further ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs followed soon after in the heart of the North Pennines AONB.  One at Killhope Cross and Burtree Fell - part of the 3,000 metres of elevation gain that features in this stage. Gateshead had previously hosted two stage finishes of the race.  This was the first to culminate alongside Sir Antony Gormley’s famed sculpture.

The parish of Alston Moor, Cumbria County Council and Alston Moor Film sponsored the making of a collage of video and stills.  Theses were from members of the community and some visitors. You can watch the video on Vimeo.

2019: Stage 4 of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain

Stage 4 of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain: Gateshead to Kendal took place on Tuesday 10 September 2019.

Stage four was one of the toughest days in modern OVO Energy Tour of Britain history.  It packed in almost 3,000 metres of climbing during its 171.5-kilometre (106-mile) east to west route.

In Eden, Stage 4 of the race, passed through Brough, Great Musgrave and Kirkby Stephen.  It then headed to Sedbergh with a finish in Kendal.

Each stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain was televised live on ITV4.  It was watched by millions of television viewers around the world.

The tour passed through Kirkby Stephen town centre with a Sprint section outside Kirkby Stephen Sports and Social Club. Kirkby Stephen held special events to mark the OVO Energy Tour of Britain.  Events included SPOKE: A Celebration of Cycling.  There were special events in Brough including land art at Brough Castle, scarecrows and antique bikes.

2016: Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain

Eden welcomed Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain (ToB) - Carlisle to Kendal on Monday 5 September 2016.

Stage 2 of the race this year was all within Cumbria.  The race started at Carlisle and finished in Kendal. In Eden the race passed through Armathwaite, Kirkoswald, Lazonby, Penrith, Eamont Bridge, Pooley Bridge.  It then ran alongside Ullswater, up to Greystoke and past Matterdale End. It continued to Millhouse before leaving Eden on its way to Cockermouth. Later in the stage, the route touched the Eden boundary again near the Kirkstone Pass Inn.  This was after having climbed The Struggle before dropping down to Windermere.

The 2015 ToB was hugely popular in Eden.  50,000 people attended the Cumbrian Stage (which was almost entirely within Eden).  They lined the route to cheer on the cyclists which included Sir Bradley Wiggins and Owain Doull.

Watch as the Tour of Britain races through Penrith

• The breakaway cyclists race through Penrith
• Stage 2 races through Penrith
  

Special Tour of Britain events

• Ullswater 'Steamers' decorated the Pier House at Pooley Bridge.  The boats were decorated with yellow bunting and staff wore inflatable bike helmets.  There were bike balloons as well. They also had the yellow flag on the boat ensign.
• Waterfoot mowed a grass bike in the field.
  
  

Eden District Council supported Tour of Britain Community Events in Lazonby and Millhouse through the Eden Community Fund:

• Friends of Lazonby School worked with local artist Nem Sarton to create a Tour of Britain themed aerial artwork.  This  featured the River Eden to reflect the flood recovery. The mural will be hung up in Lazonby School after the event
• Millhouse and District Public Room together with Millhouse Flood Action group decorated the village. Refreshments for spectators were provided in the village hall

2015: Stage 5 of the Tour of Britain

On Thursday 10 September 2015, Eden welcomed Stage 5 of the Aviva Tour of Britain.

This started from Prudhoe in Northumberland and followed Hadrian's Wall to Brampton.  It then headed down the beautiful Eden Valley and into the Lake District National Park, running alongside Ullswater. After racing through Penrith, the stage headed to Melmerby at the foot of the eight-kilometre climb to Hartside Pass. The Skoda King of the Mountains sections were at:

• Croglin (just before Lazonby)
• Brockleymoor near Plumpton
• Hartside

There was a YodelDirect Sprint along Devonshire Street, Penrith with a finish outside the George Hotel.

There was a spectacular sporting finish of the Eden stage.  The 8km climb to Hartside was the only mountain finish in the whole of the 2015 tour.  It was also the highest finish ever in the history of the tour!

We saw some fantastic photos of the Tour as it passed through Eden.  Many Eden communities held special events to celebrate the Tour in Eden.

The Aviva Tour of Britain was a televised event.  A highlights programme was shown on ITV4 in the evening.  There was also live coverage with footage from the motor-bike based camera crews.

Aerial Artworks:

There were aerial artworks to look out for if you were watching the Tour on TV.

• Ullswater 'Steamers': The Steamer named 'Raven' was highly visible on Lake Ullswater.  There was yellow bunting, Union jack flags and a yellow painted funnel
• Huge grass bike artwork at Salmon Hill, Waterfoot on the hill in the field opposite the Duke of Portland Boat House
• Yanwath School: Created a huge sculpture/artwork in the school playing field
• Lazonby School: Large field artwork on the school playing fields by artist Ben Gates working with school pupils