Allez! The Tour de France Comes to Hackney and Excites Locals.

Encouraging Cycling in Hackney. Source: Andy Goddard, East London Lines

The Grand Départ leg of the Tour de France will be speeding through Hackney later this year.

Following on from our report in January, we took a look at what is going to happen and how its going to affect you.

Described as a daylong street party for cycle sport fans, it begins in Yorkshire and passes through Cambridgeshire and Essex.

Together these three regions represent The Grand Départ leg of the tour.

Millions of people flock to the opening leg to see some of the greatest names in cycling take the gauntlet to win the famous yellow jersey.

The tour will make its way to London on July 7th, taking a route through Ruckholt Road, East Way and Waterden Road in Hackney Wick, before moving towards the finish in Westminster.

Map Showing Route Through London. Source: Tour de France

Map Showing Route Through London. Source: Tour de France

On a local level, Hackney tops the London boroughs for cycling, with the second highest number of cyclists in the UK after Cambridge.

It’s a good area in which to get around by bike, with few hills and a high density of development.

Local businesses are eagerly gearing up for the event, as it’s expected many thousands of avid spectators will descend upon the area.

Transport for London will maintain services and work to minimise any disruption caused by the event.

Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe is expecting the Tour to encourage many more to take up cycling: “Seeing cycling’s superstars race through our streets will hopefully inspire even more people to get on their bikes and lead more active lifestyles”.

Free professional cycling lessons are available through the Council for cyclists of all abilities.

Hackney schoolchildren have organised mass cycling tours through the borough for the last three years.

If you are a cyclist or are interested in cycling, Hackney has a journey planner that can be found here.

You can also join their Cyclists Organisation.

For more information on cycling in the wider London area, you can look at the mayor’s plans for Crossrail for bikes.

Leave a Reply