The Tour of Britain, the standout race on the UK cycling calendar, gets under way on Sunday... and it’s coming to a place near you.

That’s because stage seven will take place exclusively in Gloucestershire, with the riders starting off at the Crescent in Tewkesbury at 11am on Saturday 9^th September.

About four hours later, the cyclists will be finishing the stage by the historic docks in Gloucester after racing just over 170 kilometres across the county.

“It’s a spectacular event,” said Ian Wareing, who is secretary of Gloucester City Cycling Club. “It’s well worth seeing although they do tend to fly past if they’re not going up a hill.”

It is the first time that the county has hosted a full stage of the Tour of Britain, which this year will end on Sunday 10^th September at the conclusion of stage eight in Caerphilly. The eight-day event starts in Altrincham at midday on Sunday.

And while the start and the finish will be special moments, there are sure to be plenty of special moments as the elite cyclists race around glorious Gloucestershire.

After leaving Tewkesbury, the riders will head to Bishop’s Cleeve and then up Cleeve Hill before heading across to Winchcombe Hill.

Then they will go out into the Cotswolds, taking in Guiting Power, Andoversford, Cirencester and Tetbury before moving into South Gloucestershire where they will ride through Yate and Wotton-under-Edge.

The ride back towards the finish line will see them head to Dursley and then up Crawley Hill before they go through Stroud and Tuffley, before reaching the finish line in Southgate Street in Gloucester.

The final 30 kilometres will feature some of the day’s toughest challenges, with the climbs of Crawley Hill and an uncategorised ascent at Painswick.

The latter, located 12 kilometres southeast of the finish line, will likely see some of the day’s most thrilling racing.

The hugely popular event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the Second World War. The current version of the Tour of Britain began in 2004 and was won by Olympic legend Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2013.

Movistar Team’s Gonzalo Serrano was the winner of last year’s race.