Route

The Tour of Britain returns to Wales for the first time since 2004 with what will be an exciting stage that heads south from Newtown to Swansea, with the fearsome Constitution Hill, one of the steepest residential roads in the UK, featuring in the final kilometres.

Swansea, home to a rich sporting heritage that includes successful football and rugby teams plus of course St Helen’s Cricket and Rugby ground behind the Guildhall, home to Sir Garfield Sobers’ famous six sixes in an over, welcomes The Tour to town over eleven years since the PruTour visited.

Before tackling the cobbles of Constitution Hill The Tour heads down through mid-Wales from the historic market town of Newtown on the River Severn, and over Black Mountain, sapping the riders legs even further ahead of the spectacular finale.

From Newtown the route heads south on the A483, taking in the opening King of the Mountains climb at Gwynant after just over eight kilometres of racing. The opening Sprint of the day comes in Llandrindod Wells just after an hour into the stage.

The route drops into Builth Wells, past the Royal Welsh Showground and through the centre of town, which can trace its origins almost as far back as Roman times. Continuing on along the A483, skirting the northern edge of The Epynt and through the lower reaches of the Twyi and Crychan Forests and on to Llandovery.

Here The Tour leaves the A483, taking the A4069 to the second Sprint at Llangadog. From here the road begins gradually climbing into the Brecon Beacons National Park and up into the Black Mountain range. The exposed moorland and hairpin bends will make this a great viewing location to see the peloton taking on a ‘European style’ climb of over six kilometres, with fantastic views to complement the colour and excitement of The Tour.

From the summit less than 40 kilometres remain in the stage, so the King of the Mountains climb of Black Mountain could take on race shaping significance, particularly for those riders who may fancy building a race winning advantage before they reach Swansea and Constitution Hill.

Several unclassified climbs ensure the route south to the Swansea Valley isn’t straightforward, but by then attention will be focussing on the challenges that await in Swansea itself.

Arriving into Swansea along Neath Road The Tour heads into the city centre past the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, home to an impressive permanent collection and a venue for innovative touring exhibitions. The peloton won’t have time to admire this classic Italian style gallery however, as they’ll soon be making their first passage of the finish line on Kingsway.

Turning right onto Bryn-Y-Mor Road just before reaching the impressive Guidhall and Brangwyn Hall, the route continues for a few hundred metres before turning right onto Walter Road that will take the peloton to the foot of the final and decisive climb.

Making the 90 degree left turn into Humphrey Street the leading riders will face a last few metres of flat before the road veers upwards and onto over 300 metres of steep cobbles that lead them up onto the Swansea skyline. Sure to be one of the most spectacular locations on this year’s Tour, from the top of the climb that so famously featured in the Kellogg’s Tour and PruTour, just one and a half kilometres and a fast descent remains back to the line on Kingsway where the stage winner will be crowned, and possibly the yellow jersey could change hands.

With such a short run to the finish line, for anyone with ambitions of winning the stage or maybe even The Tour overall, Constitution Hill provides an ideal launch pad for an attack, just so long as they don’t go too deep into the red on the cobbles!

(All timings approximate)