Option five: find a UK sportive and be home in time to read the Tour report on RCUK

Alongside the big European sportives to be held on the weekend in question, there is also no shortage of events on offer in Britain too.

The aforementioned Dare 2b Yorkshire Festival of Cycling offers a host of events in the very county in which the Grand Depart is taking place, with sportives arranged for all abilities.

For those living further south, Southern Sportive’s Reigate Rouleur offers a ride across the North Downs and out towards Kent and Hever Castle.

The Isle of Wight will also be busy over the same weekend, with the Wiggle All Wight Sportive and Wight Ferry Sportive both pencilled in for the Sunday.

Saffron Walden, in Essex, will host a sportive event following the same roads as the Tour will take when it travels from Cambridge to London in its third and final British stage.

To see more details of any of the sportives taking place over the weekend, visit http://www.cyclosport.org/events/Jul-2014/UK.html

And don’t worry about missing any of the action while you’re in the saddle – RoadCyclingUK will be your one-stop shop for daily reports, photo galleries, interviews, infographics, analysis and more.