The 2011 Tour Of Britain cycle race will finsh in Westminster, London, it has been confirmed.
The race, which ends with a criterium stage, will take in many of London's landmark's before it finishes in Westminster on Sunday September 18th.
"As Britain's biggest professional cycle race and this country's largest free-to-spectate sporting event it is important that we finish with an iconic finale, and as we showed in 2008 and 2009 there is no better place to hold the Tour of Britain than at the heart of London," said Hugh Roberts, chief executive of race organisers Sweetspot Group in a Tour Of Britain press release.
"This is a major commitment from us as organisers of the Tour of Britain, and we can now look forward to working with our partners Transport for London over the coming months to make Sunday 18th September a great celebration of cycling and a huge success for all parties."
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, is quoted as saying: "The Tour of Britain is a fantastic event and I am thrilled to be able to support it. I would urge Londoners and visitors to turn out and cheer on the cyclists as they whizz past some of the capital's iconic landmarks and raise money for a really worthwhile cause."
The race starts in Dumfries and Galloway on September 11th and the full route will be announced in April.
The Tour of Britain
Re-launched in 2004 after a five year absence from the calendar, The Tour of Britain is now the UK's biggest professional cycle race and the country's largest free-to-watch sporting event.
Ranked at the 2.1 level by the UCI, the sport's governing body, The Tour of Britain attracts some of the world's top cyclists, including Olympic and World Champions and Tour de France stage winners, to compete on British roads each September.
For details of The Tour of Britain, go to
www.tourofbritain.co.ukYou can follow The Tour of Britain on Twitter, via
www.twitter.com/tourofbritain