Tour of Britain Coming to Ashford Constituency

12.26.30pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 1st Sep 2006

Tenterden will welcome the penultimate stage of the cycling "Tour of Britain" on Saturday 2nd September. The Rochester to Canterbury stage heads via Tenterden to Hythe, then via Newington and Peene to Crete Road in Folkestone en route to Dover and Canterbury.

Sixteen teams of cycling's elite will battle it out over six days of gruelling riding in this years Tour of Britain. The winner will be crowned on the podium in The Mall, London on Sunday 3 September. As well as the overall winner, riders will also be competing to win the individual stages, the overall points competition and to become the race's best sprinter and King of the Mountains.

The 2006 Tour of Britain will consist of six stages starting on Tuesday 29 August in Glasgow. The Tour then takes in new routes in the Northwest, Yorkshire and the West Midlands, before a brand new fifth stage in the South-east ending in Canterbury, the finish city of the first stage of the 2007 Tour de France.

There will be a range of road closures along the route for around 20 minutes on 2nd September to allow the Tour to pass.