Get ready for blood, sweat and gears… The final countdown to the Woking Tour series is on!
3 June 2014
Today [3 June 2014] marks the one-week countdown until the return of the dramatic, high-speed men's Pearl Izumi Tour Series and women's Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series, which will return to Woking on Tuesday 10 June for the sixth year running.
Residents, businesses and visitors to the town are being reminded that roads in and around the town centre will be closed to motor vehicles from 10am until midnight.
The routes affected include:
- A320 Guildford Road from the Sovereigns Pub to Lockfield Drive (including Victoria Road)
- Goldsworth Road from A320 Victoria Way to Coign Church roundabout
- Church Road West from Coign Church roundabout to A320 Victoria Way.
The usual diversion routes will be in place while the road closures are in operation. Lockfield Drive – entering the Town Centre from the west – will remain open at all times, giving all-day access to the Shoppers' Car Parks within Peacocks and Wolsey Place Shopping Centres. The road closures will also impact on some travellers using bus services to and from Cawsey Way and other bus stops around the circuit.
Again this year, Woking will host Round 9, the penultimate round, of the men’s Pearl Izumi Tour Series and the grand final of the women’s Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series. Last year, the 8,000 strong crowd saw Olympic Gold Medallist, Ed Clancy, storm to victory in Woking making him the most successful rider in the Tour Series history.
In the lead up to the professional races, local schoolchildren, residents and businesses will have the opportunity to become ‘Kings and Queens of the road' by taking part in the much-loved Celebrate Woking Community Races, which will run from 1.45pm to 4.15pm.
Cllr John Kingsbury, Leader of Woking Borough Council, said: "Last year thousands of people lined the streets to watch the return of the races. Again this year, large crowds are expected to gather to watch the nail-biting, final of the women's Matrix Fitness Women's Grand Prix, followed by Round 9 of the men's Pearl Izumi Tour Series. Woking's circuit is known as one of the professionals' favourites due to the flat terrain and fast corners.
"The roads need to be closed at 10am to allow for the course to be built by a specialist technical team. Motorists are advised to plan ahead and check whether or not they will be affected by the road closures and leave a little extra time when travelling into and out of the Town Centre. Visitors to the town are urged to use trains or public transport, or in the spirit of the event, travel by bike.
Cllr Kingsbury continued: “The Council would like to extend its thanks to the sponsors of the Celebrate Woking programme of events, which incorporates the Tour Series. Without financial support from these companies, we would be unable to host such a range of exciting, free events for the Borough’s residents.”
The sponsors of the Celebrate Woking programme of events, incorporating the Pearl Izumi Tour Series (10 June), Party in the Park (5 July) and Woking Food and Drink Festival (5 to 7 September) include: Woking Shopping, Balfour Beatty, The Woking Advertiser, Travel SMART, Tante Marie Culinary Academy, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Mayer Brown and Miller Brands.
John-Paul Jackson, Centre Manager of Woking Shopping said: “Woking Shopping is extremely proud to be associated with the Celebrate Woking programme of events, and look forward to welcoming the thousands of spectators to Woking for the Pearl Izumi Tour Series.”
David Huxley, Regional Managing Director of Balfour Beatty, said: “Balfour Beatty was honoured to be asked and is proud to be a sponsor of the Celebrate Woking event. We wish all the riders taking part in the Tour Series event the very best of luck.”
For more information, view the following links: