SweetSpot, organisers of The Tour of Britain, today unveiled the route for the 2009 event at The London Transport Museum. The 2009 Tour of Britain will take place over eight days, beginning in Yorkshire on Saturday 12th September and finishing in the heart of London on Saturday 19th September.

The Tour of Britain 2009 will visit a total of 14 venues, some of which will be old favourites such as London and Dumfries and Galloway, while others such as York and Bideford will be new to the race.

“This year’s event sees The Tour of Britain race into seven new regional venues and, for the first time ever, we will have two stages take place in the South West region, which will take in both Devon and Somerset,” said Michael Bennett, Technical Director of The Tour of Britain. “On the way from the Grand Depart to the final stage in London, riders will face and experience every kind of challenge that the UK’s countryside has to offer, while taking in some breathtaking views of our wonderful country.”

96 of the world’s top cyclists will once again be taking on the challenge of The Tour of Britain in 2009 over a route designed to deliver a worthy overall winner to join the ranks of previous yellow jerseys such as Geoffroy Lequatre, Romain Feillu and Nick Nuyens.

The 2009 Route

The Tour of Britain 2009, which will begin with a Grand Depart in Scunthorpe for the first stage, will see a combination of familiar venues and regions, as well as new exciting additions to the route.

Subsequent stages will re-visit the North East as the tour once again travels from Darlington to NewcastleGateshead on Stage Two, while Stage Three will see the northern most point of the race, as The Tour heads to Scotland and takes in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. This is the first time The Tour of Britain will be visiting this iconic region of Scotland.

The Tour of Britain then heads south, with Stage Four featuring the North West of England and Blackpool, with Stage Five both starting and finishing in Stoke-on-Trent, via a hard day’s racing through the scenic North Staffordshire countryside, including the infamous Gun Hill.

The South West, scene of some of the race’s biggest crowds in 2008, has two stages in 2009, with Stage Six taking the riders across Exmoor as the pass from Somerset into Devon, on their journey from Frome to Bideford. The penultimate day of the race then sees the peloton retrace its steps, from Hatherleigh in Devon to Yeovil in Somerset, on a gruelling stage that could decide the winner of this year’s race.

A spectacular final day of racing will round out the 2009 Tour as riders tackle the iconic London circuit that opened last year’s race. Taking in the Houses of Parliament, Victoria Embankment and the Tower of London, the circuit starts and finishes on Whitehall.

Daily ITV coverage

For the second year running, full coverage of the race will be televised on ITV, with viewers able to enjoy an hour long nightly highlights show of all the action on ITV4, between 7pm – 8pm, with repeats the following day.