Tour of Britain Visits the Yorkshire Coast on Wednesday

Stage four of the Tour of Britain passes through Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay on Wednesday here are the timings and road closure information.

The day's racing starts in the seaside town of Redcar and finishes at Duncombe Park in Helmsley, it will be passing through Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay at lunchtime.

The start will be the first time the borough of Redcar and Cleveland has hosted the Tour of Britain, while the finish marks the race’s return to North Yorkshire in 13 years. Popular seaside towns such as Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Whitby will be raced through before the route heads into the North York Moors National Park. The unforgiving final 30 kilometres of this 149.5-kilometre stage feature the climbs of Carlton Bank (2km long, 9.8% average gradient) and Newgate Bank (2km long, 6% average gradient) before descending into the finish at Duncombe Park, one of Yorkshire’s finest historic houses and estates.

The riders will be in Whitby from 12:40pm, Robin Hood's Bay from 12:50pm, Ruswarp and Sleights from 1:10pm, Grosmont from 1:15pm and Egton from 1:20pm.

North Yorkshire County Council's executive member for highways and transportation, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“Over the past decade, many people in North Yorkshire have seized the opportunity to take in the excitement of major cycling competitions and no doubt will want to do so again for the Tour of Britain.

“We want people to come out and watch the race and to be confident that they and everyone else can do so safely, so we’re asking people to make sure they follow a few simple guidelines.”

• Anyone driving on or near the race route is reminded that there may be more pedestrians and cyclists around and to drive accordingly. Drivers should not park vehicles on the race route.
• Riders pass by very quickly, so keep children away from the edge of the road and keep pets on a lead and away from the roadside. Keep flags and items such as photography equipment out of the road.
• Always face the oncoming riders and race convoy. Turning your back on the race to take a selfie is not a good idea. For your safety, do not climb on walls along the route, particularly on Carlton Bank.

Road closures will be in place for this event. The vast majority of road closures will be managed using rolling closures, where the roads will be closed for between 30 and 45 minutes to allow the race to pass safely.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for culture, leisure and sport, Cllr Simon Myers, said:

“This promises to be a spectacular event, and I have no doubt the people of North Yorkshire will play a large part in making it so. The county’s residents are renowned for their enthusiasm in embracing cycling events.

“The Tour of Britain provides another ideal chance to showcase our beautiful county and the warm welcome it offers, and I know towns, villages and schools along the route will take advantage of that opportunity.”

Eighteen of the world’s leading teams and 108 riders will compete in the eight-day race, which began in Aberdeen on Sunday and will be watched by a roadside audience of over one million spectators, plus many more on ITV4 in the UK.

A strong Great Britain national team will feature Connor Swift, the British road race champion in 2019, recent Tour de l’Ain stage winner Jake Stewart and emerging star Sam Watson.

British track stars Charlie and Harry Tanfield will race through their home village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, on stage four of the race. The siblings have been selected to race for Ribble Weldtite.

Britain’s four domestic teams, all of whom will look for ways to showcase themselves, will also be on the start line in Aberdeen. Wiv SunGod are the most successful of the quartet, having claimed the Sportsbreaks.com sprints jersey in the past three editions. Last year’s winner, Jacob Scott, doubled up spectacularly in 2021 by also winning the ŠKODA King of the Mountains prize. He and the aforementioned Townsend headline the team’s line-up.
 
Home favourites INEOS Grenadiers will be led by Yorkshireman Tom Pidcock, Tokyo 2020 gold medallist and recent Tour de France stage winner. The second most-successful team in race history have also selected former world road race champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) and Tour de France podium finisher Richie Porte (Australia) in their line-up. Porte will end his glittering 13-year professional career at the race.
 
Alex Richardson, who placed third at the British Cycling National Road Championships in June and won the recent Ryedale GP in North Yorkshire, will lead Saint Piran’s charge in the race. TRINITY Racing, who are managed by two-time stage winner Ian Stannard, have named former American criterium champion Luke Lamperti, who came fourth at Warrington in the AJ Bell Tour of Britain last September.