The Women's Tour Visits North Essex

Yesterday my father and I decided to follow stage two of the Women's Tour from Braintree to Clacton-On-Sea, stopping at Sudbury and Great Bentley en route to catch the Queen Of The Mountains and Sprint sections of the course.


The start in Braintree town centre



Pearl Izumi Team with Team GB riders Dame Sarah Storey, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell



The peloton move through the neutralised high street

To think it's been a year since I went to see a stage of the Women's Tour in Bedford feels absolutely mental but even more so is how the popularity of the event has grown in that time. Even at the start in Braintree town centre the streets were packed with people trying to get a look at the immense spectacle that is professional road cycling. You may have thought that the absence of Lizzi Armitstead following her crash the day before would have put fans off but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Leading the race through neutral zone of the town centre and out onto the main road were children from Beckers Green Primary School, who all looked around in amazement as they saw the throng of people all paying attention to them and the world class riders they were processing. The 138km course would be going via Halstead, Sudbury, Hadleigh, Kirby Le Soken and Great Bentley before turning 180 degrees and heading for the Essex seaside resort of Clacton-On-Sea.

 

QoM finish line on Finch Hill

Once the race had left Braintree we hurried back to the car and patiently crawled through the back log of traffic left behind by the road closures. Free of the mass of traffic the road opened out towards Halstead and Sudbury. Just before Sudbury we turned off to journey through winding lanes to the point where the first QoM section would be decided on Finch Hill. This was a perfect spot for spectators because the climb was long and straight, meaning we could see the riders coming from about 300 metres away.

The race was through in seconds and we dashed off to reach our second destination, Mistley, where the second QoM section was. However, it became apparent as we crawled through yet more back log into Sudbury that we weren't going to make it as the race was matching 85-90% of it's target time. So instead my father redirected us and we cut through to Great Bentley via some of the prettiest lanes I've ever driven in my life!



The break away come through Gt Bentley 1:42 ahead of the peloton

 We arrived in Great Bentley with about 30 minutes to spare and made the most of it by getting a much needed coffee from the pub and settling down with a picnic on the village green, the largest in Great Britain by the way! Proceeding the race to perform a rolling road block was a convoy of around 10-20 motorbikes, some of which were carrying cameramen and photographers. Most of these blokes were serious and didn't even crack a smile to the crowd, however one biker broke the trend, slowing down metres from the Sprint finish line, wiping his forehead and rocking his motorbike side to side in the same way a cyclist would in a sprint to the line. Safe to say it brought a chuckle.



The peloton speed across the sprint finish




Sprint finish on Clacton seafront

The finish on the waterfront in Clacton-On-Sea was barely 10km away now but with the race averaging over 20mph we didn't have long to get there. Luckily the traffic was kind and we managed to park and walk to the bustling finishing straight with 5km for the peloton still to race.
The big giveaway that the race is close is the TV helicopter following the race. As we stood on the finishing straight we could see said helicopter above the houses and slowly making its way towards us, and sure enough as it came into line with us the front of the race came bursting into view round the corner and sprint up the hill towards us and across the finish line.

Once the race had finished we headed up the road to where the presentation ceremony was. Being used to the pomp and circumstance of the aftermath of a professional cycling event, my father and I were ready in front of podium before anyone else in the crowd knew what was going on. 

Stage two winner Jolien D'Hoore - Belgium National Road Race Champion

Overall race leader Lisa Brennauer - World Time Trial Champion

 
The atmosphere at cycling events is always fantastic and yesterday's stage was no different, and I certainly cannot wait until next year's Women's Tour!