Biggest bike ride heads for Yarmouth

Cycling fans from more than 100 countries will have their eyes on Norfolk's coast and countryside, as Britain's biggest bike ride heads for the county and a Yarmouth finish.

Cycling fans from more than 100 countries will have their eyes on Norfolk's coast and countryside, as Britain's biggest bike ride heads for the county and a Yarmouth finish.

Footage from the Tour of Britain will be beamed around the globe, when riders set off in September. Up to a million spectators are expected to cram the roadsides for the eight-day event.

Norfolk's coastline and countryside will be centre stage on day six - Thursday, September 16 - for what may be the biggest spectator event the county has even seen.

Setting off from King's Lynn's Tuesday Market Place, riders will pass through North Norfolk and Norwich on their way to the finishing line in Yarmouth, almost 120 miles later.

Some of the world's top riders will compete for the right to wear the hallowed yellow jersey, on a route which showcases Norfolk as a cycling destination.

Talks between race organisers and councils across Norfolk have been going on for 12 months. Derrick Murphy, deputy leader of the county council and its cabinet member for cultural services, said: “The potential benefits of hosting a stage of the Tour of Britain are huge - with our tourism industry and those in related trades particularly set to gain enormously from the regional, national and international attention that the Tour brings.

“While our landscape doesn't offer an upward climb of the Alps, the cyclists will have to cover a longer distance than any other leg of the Tour, and we've used the landscape that we do possess to come up with a challenging route.”