Tour of Britain cycle race returning to Gateshead in 2021

The Tour of Britain in Gateshead in 2019 Credit: Tour of Britain

Gateshead will return to the Tour of Britain route in 2021, race organisers SweetSpot and British Cycling have today announced, hosting the finish of Stage Six on Friday 10 September. 

It will mark the fourth time that Gateshead has featured on the route of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race and the first time that the town has held a finish of the race since 2009. 

The stage starts in Cumbria before finishing in Gateshead Credit: Tour of Britain

Stage Six will begin in Cumbria with the location of the start and more details of the route and the finish location in Gateshead will be announced in the summer.

In September 2019 a stage of the Tour of Britain began in Gateshead before crossing the Pennines to finish in Kendal.

This year’s race is scheduled to take place following an absence of 722 days since the culmination of the 2019 Tour of Britain in Greater Manchester due to the cancellation of the 2020 event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It will be the first edition of the race to be a part of the UCI ProSeries.

Together, British Cycling and organisers SweetSpot will use each stage of the Tour of Britain this September to celebrate and show their thanks to Britain’s key workers and community heroes. 

Each day will play host to a special cycle ride at the start and finish giving the chance to show our appreciation to the unsung members of Britain’s cycling community.

The full routes of all eight stages of the Tour of Britain stages will be announced in the summer including information about the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and intermediate Sprints. 

ITV4 will continue to broadcast live flag-to-flag coverage of every stage, as well as a nightly highlights show, allowing fans in the UK to watch wherever they are.