Route

Beginning in the beautiful surrounds of Bury St Edmunds, riders head out of town and into the Suffolk countryside, passing by Ickworth House not long after the racing gets underway at 0km. A fine neoclassical building, top by a distinctive giant rotunda, Ickworth is just one of many attractions in the area, though one that the cyclists will only catch a brief glimpse of!

There are lots of fantastic spots along the route to watch the riders as they speed though the Suffolk Countryside including Ickworth House and Long Melford Hall where Suffolk County Council have teamed up with the National Trust to provide free parking for spectators. For directions and full details click here.

The route takes The Tour through the villages of Chedburgh, Depden and Barnardiston on its way to Haverhill. From there the route makes its first, brief, visit to Essex, dipping over the border into the villages of Sturmer and New England, before returning to Suffolk on its way through Clare and Cavendish as the first King of the Mountains climb at Foxearth approaches.

While the three climbs on Stage Seven aren’t especially steep, they are drags that will sap energy from the riders, particularly if riding into a headwind. The peloton will also tackle these obstacles at top speed, which makes them all the more harder.

The narrow exposed roads of Suffolk and Essex could also be affected by crosswinds, and with the constantly twisting and turning nature of the roads, there'll be no escape or shelter from the wind, making for quite a challenge if conditions are averse.

This central section of the stage around Long Melford and Sudbury includes all three of the days categorised climbs, plus a Sprint, making it a popular area with spectators. The loop also allows fans to catch a glimpse of their heroes on two or more occasions, with plenty of time to get the short distance from Long Melford to Sudbury before the peloton passes by once more.

There will also be plenty of time for fans to catch The Tour at the start in Bury St Edmunds, then on to one of the King of the Mountains climbs, before travelling on to Colchester for the finish on East Hill.

After sprinting through Long Melford, the stage heads to the attractive medieval village of Lavenham and on to the second King of the Mountains climb at Milden Hill. The stage then heads west once more to Sudbury, soon after which the road climbs up Ballingdon Hill and The Tour of Britain will wave goodbye to Suffolk and be welcomed by Essex.

Crossing the Colne Valley The Tour heads towards its final two Sprints of the day at Braintree and Tiptree. By the seventh day of The Tour of Britain, these sprints could well have crucial significance, as if the battle for the yellow jersey is close, the time bonuses available at each Sprint could well help swing the final destination of the jersey.

From Braintree the route heads through Witham to the outskirts of Maldon and into Heybridge. Instead of heading out to the Essex coastline though the peloton will turn inland to the final Sprint at Tiptree, one of the largest villages in England.

Just over 15 kilometres of racing remain after Tiptree, with The Tour passing one of Europe’s finest zoos, Colchester Zoo on the run in and sure to see a large number of visitors taking the chance to see Britain’s biggest professional cycle race as well as some exotic wildlife!

Into Colchester and the finish is likely to be one for the real strong men, as the drag up East Hill to the finish line close to the castle will sap the legs, and could prove the undoing of any riders trying to maintain a narrow lead over the bunch.

From the B1026 the race heads along the Southway and Magdalene Street before turning left into Brook Street and then left once more onto East Hill, where the sprint for the line will begin.

(All timings approximate)