ALDERLEY PARK TO WELCOME THE TOUR OF BRITAIN THIS SEPTEMBER

Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park, in Cheshire, will host the start of stage five of the 2021 Tour of Britain on Thursday 9th September.

The 152-kilometre (95-mile) stage will take in a loop through Cheshire and the fringes of the Peak District National Park before the finish in the heart of Warrington outside the town’s famous Golden Gates.

Situated in more than 400 acres, Alderley Park is home to a world leading science and tech campus, of over 200 innovative companies and offers over 1m sq ft of state of the art laboratory and workspace specifically designed for science and tech businesses. The Park also offers a wide range of amenities for the local community including a gym, sports pitches, and scenic woodland walking, running and cycling routes. The Churchill Tree pub opened to the public in December 2020.

Dr Kath Mackay, managing director, Bruntwood SciTech - Alderley Park, said: “Cycling is a sport renowned for innovation and pushing the realms of possibility and, as a place that is home to some of the country’s most innovative businesses, Alderley Park is a fitting host for the competition.

“The Tour of Britain is a world-class event that brings people together and we can’t wait to welcome the riders, volunteers and the local community for what is set to be a very memorable event.”

Stage five will get underway from Alderley Park at 11:30am from outside Glasshouse, a 150,000 sq ft hub for innovative, hi-tech companies, taking in a route through the impressive grounds.

The route will pass famous Cheshire landmarks such as the 18^th Century neoclassical Capesthorne Hall, Jodrell Bank - home to the iconic Grade I listed Lovell Telescope - and through the towns of Holmes Chapel and Congleton, the latter of which hosts the first intermediate sprint.

A trio of ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs follow skirting below the famous skyline of Bosley Cloud and into the Cheshire Peak District, with the main climb at Bottom-of-the-Oven, a 1.7km ascent (with an average gradient of 6.9%) to just shy of the famous Cat and Fiddle.

Macclesfied, Rainow, and Adlington will all welcome the race before a second intermediate sprint at Wilmslow. The route then heads through the town of Alderley Edge and the climb of the same name and on through Chelford, Knutsford and High Legh before entering Warrington via Appleton.

Jonathan Durling, Tour of Britain partnerships director, said: “We’re delighted to unveil Alderley Park as the location for the stage five start. Alderley Park’s reputation as being a world-leading campus for innovation ties in perfectly with the Tour of Britain, as the competing teams and riders leave no stone unturned when it comes to using the best and most up-to-date equipment out there to give them that crucial performance edge. It’s incredibly exciting for us to be working with a campus that has an unwavering desire to capitalise on all of the benefits that cycling can provide.” 

Rescheduled to 2021 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 17^th edition of the UK’s most prestigious stage race was unveiled last week including two full stages apiece in both Wales and Scotland as part of the 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) route.  The race will go ahead subject to local conditions and in line with relevant national covid guidelines and UCI protocols.

This year’s Tour of Britain will begin in Cornwall for the first time (Sunday 5 September) with the overall champion crowned in Aberdeen, eight days later on Sunday 12 September, at the end of the most northerly stage ever to feature in the Tour

About Alderley Park

Alderley Park is a place where world leading science, innovation and stylish living come together to create a place like no other.

Part of Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, Alderley Park is currently undergoing £247m investment.  Home to the internationally-recognised Mereside bioscience campus, the Park offers more than 1m sq ft of high specification lab and office space, a range of scientific services and an accelerator delivering a comprehensive programme of business support for start-ups and scale-ups.  It is also home to a vibrant and fast growing community of over 200 life science and tech businesses.

The Park also has a wide range of amenities including a conference centre complete with a 232 seat auditorium and meeting rooms, gym,outdoor sports pitches and the Churchill Tree restaurant.  It also offers unrivalled 100GB connectivity, and is part of the Cheshire Science Corridor.

Website: www.alderleypark.co.uk  https://bruntwood.co.uk/scitech/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlderleyPark

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/alderley-park

About the 2021 Tour of Britain

Stages

About the Tour of Britain

Relaunched in 2004 after a five-year absence from the calendar, the Tour of Britain is British Cycling’s premier road cycling event, held annually across eight days in September.

The free-to-watch sporting spectacular features Olympic, world and Tour de France champions, and attracts a roadside audience of over 1.5m spectators. Live coverage of the race is shown daily in the UK on ITV4, in addition to around the world. The Tour of Britain is part of the UCI ProSeries, making it one of the most prestigious sporting events in the sport’s global calendar.

Follow the Tour of Britain on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or via the event’s official website at:

tourofbritain.co.uk.