🚴♀️🚴♂️ The Tour Series returns to London for 2022 with Barking hosting a round of the UK’s leading domestic cycle race series for the first time. Racing starts at 12 noon and spectating is free.
CONGRATULATIONS to Ellen McDermott (Team Boompods) and Ollie Peckover (Team Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) who claimed memorable individual victories in the women’s and men’s races respectively at Tour Series Barking. Meanwhile Torelli – Cayman Islands – Scimitar topped the women’s teams rankings in Barking while Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling claimed first place in the men’s team event. Stay tuned here for news of the 2023 Tour Series London event as soon as published.
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Taking place on Saturday 21 May, Tour Series Barking will form part of the inaugural Barking BikeFest, which will see the historic Abbey Green provide the backdrop to a full day of community fun and cycle-themed activities.
The Tour Series is a fun, fast and free cycling event that takes place annually in town and city centres across the UK. Launched in 2009, the series sees Britain’s best male and female riders compete against each other in a unique, team-based format as part of a full day of sporting and community-focused activities. The 2022 series will take place in May at Guisborough (Round 1), Galashiels (Round 2), Sunderland (Round 3), Stanraer (Round 4), Clacton (Round 5), Barking (Round 6) ahead of the Series Finale at a location to be confirmed.
Barking hosts the series in the year the event starts to alternate between staging the men’s and women’s races first and second on the schedule. Additionally, both events will take place over the same one hour and five-lap distance, with the series continuing to offer equal prize pots for the winners. Winners of the women’s race will receive the Mary Wollstonecraft Cup after the pioneering feminist who once lived in the borough.
The 1.2-kilometre (0.7-mile) circuit (see below) will run anti-clockwise around the perimeter of the Abbey Grounds. Featuring only four corners, two of which are sweeping, it is expected to be one of the quickest courses in the series’ 13-year history.
Mick Bennett, Tour Series race director, said: “I know cycling fans have been clamouring for the Tour Series to return to London, so I hope they start making plans to come to Barking on Saturday 21 May! We’re excited to be a part of the first-ever Barking BikeFest, which promises to be a fantastic community event, and I can only thank everybody involved behind-the-scenes for all of their efforts so far. It’s going to be great!”
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to witness road racing up close and personal, as some of Britain’s finest elite cyclists battle it out on the streets of east London at Tour Series Barking!
Race Day timings
Barking BikeFest begins: 11am
Men’s race start: 5:30pm ~ Men’s race finish: 6:45pm ~ Men’s podium ceremony: 7pm
Women’s race start: 7:30pm ~ Women’s race finish: 8:45pm ~ Women’s podium ceremony: 9pm
Spectating is free on the Tour Series Barking course.
Travel tips: Bikefest takes place on Abbey Green. A celebration of active travel and sustainable living, spectators are urged to leave their cars at home if possible. Park your bike for free in the special cycle parking facility on Abbey Green, Barking, provided by The Project Centre. The nearest station to Abbey Green is Barking station – a short walk away – which is an interchange station served by London Underground, Overground and National Rail services. District Line services run regularly throughout the day and frequent C2C train services run between Barking and Fenchurch Street, and destinations all over Essex. There are many bus services to Barking including numbers 5, 62, 169, 238, 287, 366, 368, 474 and 687 together with EL1, EL2 and EL3.
🚴♀️🚴♂️ Teams taking part
Reigning champions Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling and CAMS – Basso, former winners WiV SunGod, and fledgling New Zealand team Global 6 Cycling will be among the 26 teams competing in this year’s Tour Series. A full list of teams can be viewed here.
About the Tour Series: The Tour Series is a fun, fast and free annual road race event made up of 7 rounds of criterium racing (i.e. several laps around a closed circuit) each one taking place in a different city centre in Britain in May.
Launched in 2009, the series sees Britain’s best male and female riders compete against each other in a unique, team-based format as part of a full day of sporting and community-focused activities.
British sporting heroes Laura Kenny, Dani Rowe, Joanna Rowsell, Ed Clancy, Elinor Barker and Dame Sarah Storey have all competed in the series during its 10-year history, during which time nearly two million fans have watched a round.
The series is all about the teams, so when a rider crosses the line first it doesn’t necessarily follow that their team also wins the round. Yes, that rider gets the honour and glory of the individual victory, but the aim for teams is to complete the race in the lowest cumulative time.
Teams are permitted to start each race with five riders, and it is the combined time of their four highest-placed riders (three for women’s teams) that decides who is the fastest on the night. The team who consistently performs the best and scores the highest combined points tally claim the prestigious Tour Series title.
About the Barking BikeFest: The Barking BikeFest will run from 11am to 9pm on Saturday 21 May and includes a Community BikeFest (mass participation events on the race course for local people), The Green Village (community fun and entertainment on Abbey Green) and Electric Avenue (showcasing green travel technology).