Tour of Britain finale crowns Londons biggest day of cycling

The race, which is expected to attract tens of thousands of spectators, will take some of the world's best riders from Greenwich Park, over Tower Bridge, through the City and parks to a thrilling conclusion with 20 laps of St James's Park.

The free to watch race will be the most exciting cycling event staged in the Capital until the start of the Tour de France in July 2007 and it is just part of a day long celebration of cycling.

From 9am on Sunday, a packed schedule of events will entertain the crowds in St James's Park, including the Sport England Junior Trophy race, TfL Grand Prix for Juniors, Women and elite amateurs and a Hand Cyclist World Cup circuit race featuring 60 international para-Olympians.

The Tour of Britain riders will then arrive in the park at approximately 3.30pm.

In The Mall, along the finishing straight of these major events, London's biggest bike party 'Bike Fest 06' will provide entertainment and an excellent opportunity for both cyclists and non-cyclists to find out more about cycling in London.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: "The final stage of the Tour of Britain in London will be a spectacular sporting event and a fun day out for thousands of people.

"The Tour of Britain, like next year's Tour de France, is superb opportunity to encourage more people to join the growing numbers of cyclists in London."

BikeFest 06

Peter Hendy, Commissioner of Transport for London, said:"This year's Tour of Britain promises to be a fantastic race.

"There will also be a range of other races and BikeFest 06 all of which will provide a great day out for cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

"Like last year huge numbers of Londoners are expected to come along to cheer the riders on.

"The day will give people a feel for what to expect when the Tour de France comes to the capital next year.

"These events will inspire even more Londoners to get on their bikes."

Carnival atmosphere

Throughout the day, Bike Fest will provide a variety of activities and attractions for all ages including a road show on the Tour de France that comes to London in July 2007, demonstrations of extreme cycling and trials riding, displays by the 999 Cycle Response teams in a carnival atmosphere accompanied by face painters, magicians, mime artists and balloon modellers.

An all abilities test track will be set up for adults and a separate one for children for demonstrations of basic cycling skills and everyone who's interested will get a chance to try out some of the latest bicycles featured at the Festival.

Meanwhile if you need to know about fixing your bike, changing a tyre, or tightening up your brakes, experts will be on hand to explain bike maintenance techniques.

TfL's Cycling Centre of Excellence will also be at the festival and a wide variety of bicycle products will be showcased ranging from bicycles to clothing to interactive racing games.

For 24-hour information on public transport in London, please call: 020 7222 1234.

TfL's Realtime pages display live travel information on London's public transport network: www.tfl.gov.uk/realtime

Journey Planner checks the transport network's status before providing results. The best available route is shown automatically: www.tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner

Travel alerts via SMS and email can be set up at: www.tfl.gov.uk/alerts

• For more information about the Tour of Britain, visit www.tourofbritain.co.uk
• For more information about cycling in London, visit www.tfl.gov.uk/cycling
• The number of recorded cycle journeys on London's major roads have risen by 72 per cent since 2000
• Investment in cycling has risen during the past five years from £5.5m in 2000 to £20m in 2005/06. In 2006/07 TfL will invest £24m in cycling infrastructure, training, promotion and education
• The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the Capital's roads has fallen by 40 percent during the past five years, achieving the Mayor of London's target five year's ahead of schedule