The organisers of RideLondon have announced the routes of the Surrey 100 sportive and Surrey Classic road race, as well as naming Prudential insurance group as title sponsor for the event.
Both the 100 mile sportive and the 140 mile UCI 1.1 road race will follow very similar routes, and won't be too far removed from the course that was used for the 2012 Olympic road race..
Starting in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the routes pass many of London’s iconic landmarks, heading through Richmond Park and out into the Surrey Hills where the riders will tackle the climbs of Box Hill and Leith Hill. They will then return to finish in the heart of the capital on The Mall. Unlike the Olympic road race, the 140 mile Surrey Classic won't do multiple ascents of Box Hill, but it will incorporate three circuits featuring Leith Hill each lap.
If you were one of the lucky ones who were picked in the ballot to gain a place in the RideLondon Surrey 100, then make sure you head over to BikeRadar Training and join our RideLondon group, where we'll be providing you with a free training plan to make sure you're fit enough to complete it.
London Mayor Boris Johnson is one of those planning on doing the sportive. "This will be a veritable feast of the velocipide," he said at the launch today. "I've been conscripted into the Prudential RideLondon Surrey 100. My training plan is currently undeveloped but I'll be a chiselled whippet by the end. Anyway, what sort of training do you need? It looks like a piece of cake."
Prudential RideLondon ambassador and double Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott told us: "When I was first asked about the legacy of the London Olympics, I always thought of stuff like having big events in the stadiums. I never imagined there'd be something like this where you could close down a major city and get 20,000 people riding their bikes!"
Cycling Plus editor Rob Spedding has already ridden the route and has penned his thoughts in this ride preview.
The Prudential RideLondon will take place over the weekend of 3-4 August 2013. It's being billed as the UK's biggest mass-participation cycling festival with over 70,000 cyclists expected to take part in four events. Aside from the Surrey 100 and Surrey Classic, there will also be a free eight mile mass-participation ride - FreeCycle- and the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix races, which will take place on a 1.3 mile closed circuit around St James’s Park.
For further information, visit www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk.
Prudential RideLondon Surrey 100 and Surrey Classic route maps (click for larger image)
