TOUR OF BRITAIN
Managing a 15km circuit of the world’s most illustrious road cycling race.
In September 2016, the Tour of Britain rode into town, WITH 121 of the worlds most elite cyclists, vying for position in the streets of Bristol.
The race itself may have kicked off in September but work on the project began during the previous April.
The early start was down to the sheer amount of initial stakeholder engagement around the closing down a significant part of the city’s road network. Working closely with Bristol City Council’s highways team.
Despite having decades of experience in event traffic management, hosting an event of this nature required road closures on an unprecedented scale. Creating a road loop circuit of this size, had only ever been done in London and Liverpool. This meant that we had to create our own traffic management blueprints, from scratch, to achieve the complex closures.
The main challenge here was that the circuit took in some significant roads, such as The Portway, which carries approximately 40% of traffic going out to Bristol Airport. We even had contact with a handful of brides, with concerns the route may affect their wedding route.
All in all the event attracted thousands of cycling fans from cross the country, who gathered to witness Dimension Date rider Steve Cummings take the podium. The second Briton to have won the race, since Sir Bradley Wiggins rode to victory in 2013.
Mick Bennett, Race Director, Tour of Britain
"In 33 years of tours I have not seen a better organised stage, it has been a true pleasure coming to Bristol and working with the local team."
