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Spyns offers both London 2012 Summer Games packages and cycling tours to France (including the Tour de France). Spyns former clients will be thrilled to learn London 2012 organisers have unveiled the route for the men's 250-kilometre (156 miles) road race. The race takes place on the opening weekend of the Games, and will start on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace before heading south west towards Surrey Hills. Following the departure, riders will pass through the London boroughs of City of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston in what will be the biggest one-day bike race ever witnessed in Great Britain.
After heading south over Putney Bridge the route winds its way through Richmond Park before passing by Hampton Court Palace and down towards Surrey. As riders enter Surrey they will loop through Walton on Thames, Weybridge, West Byfleet, West Horsley in an anticlockwise direction before riders' climbing legs are tested at they tackle the undulating roads around Box Hill including the National Trust’s Zigzag Hill, a popular destination for amateur cyclists. Following nine 15.5km circuits – two for the women's race – including Zigzag Hill, the race will head back towards central London via Leatherhead, Esher, Hampton Court, Kingdton upn Thames and Richmond Park before speeding its way towards the finishing line.
A 15km stretch of relatively flat road is likely to provide a thrilling denouement where a packed grandstand on the Mall will be hoping for a dramatic sprint finish which would lend itself perfectly to Cavendish, the fastest sprinter in world cycling provided he is backed by a strong team.
Cavendish, memorably, was the only member of the Team GB track cycling team to return from the Beijing Games without a medal in 2008, the year he burst onto the world cycling scene with four Tour de France stage wins, and will be desperate to add an Olympic gold medal to his palmarès. The sprinter, who is currently racing at the Tour of Qatar, said he was excited about the chance to win gold. "Competing in a home Olympic Games is a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said. "To compete in the road race on the opening weekend of the London 2012 Games in front of home fans is going to be amazing."
Meanwhile, Londoner Bradley Wiggins told Telegraph Sport recently that he was unlikely to compete in the race. "Probably not with the way the scheduling is," said Wiggins. "At the moment it looks like I'll do the time trial and the team pursuit." The women's event, which will take place on the same weekend, will be raced over 140km (87 miles) along the same route. The route, could favour Team GB riders such as Emma Pooley, Nicole Cooke, the reigning Olympic champion, and Lizzie Armitstead who are all expected, barring a disaster, to provide the backbone of the women's team.
"Having ridden Box Hill many times – and also knowing the rest of the circuit pretty well – I think we are likely to see a good group form on the ascent of Box Hill. "One-day classics riders such as Cadel Evans, Heinrich Haussler, Thor Hushvod and Fabian Cancellara will all be keen to try their hand here, but there will still be a long run in back to the centre of London. "It could well come back together for someone like Tom Boonen or Cavendish if they are backed with strong teams that can work for them. "If Cavendish has a good day, who knows? He will certainly be motivated to win in front of a home crowd to become Olympic champion. He certainly has the ability to get over the climbs and stay in close contact with the best in the world to win the title."
Cavendish plans to compete in the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France trips, please visit our website (www.tdf-tours.com).
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.
