Prestigious Tour of Britain to start Stage Four at Sherwood Forest this week

This will be Tour’s fourth visit to Nottinghamshire in seven years and represents another chance for the sprinters.

Despite being the third longest stage of the race, the route between the Sherwood Forest visitor centre near Edwinstowe and the finish at Newark features a little over 1,200m of climbing.

The National Trust site of Clumber Park, Worksop, Retford, Southwell, Tuxford, and Collingham will feature along the route.

The peloton will also pass the Tom Simpson Memorial in Harworth, which celebrates the life of the 1965 world road race champion.

The winner of the race’s second visit to Newark will be crowned close to the banks of the River Trent and just a short distance from the town’s famous castle and spectacular St Mary Magdalene’s Church.

Last year the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced just after 6.30pm on Friday, 9th September just a couple of hours after riders had rolled in to Mansfield town centre to cheers at the end of stage five of the seven-stage race.

The final three stages were abandoned in respect of her passing and Mansfield declared the end of the Tour with Gonzalo Serrano, of Movistar Team, named the winner.

Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria triumphed when the race last finished in Newark six years ago.