The passion of the north-east crowds keeps Tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett coming back to Aberdeen.
Bennett brought the hugely popular Tour Series events to the Granite City between 2017 and 2019, which drew huge interest from both elite and grassroots cyclists alike.
The partnership evolved last year with the Tour of Britain staging its finale along the city’s Esplanade, with some of the world’s best taking to the roads around the north-east.
This year will see the race’s Grand Depart take place in Union Street, the start of an 181km stage that takes in Inverurie, Insch, Alford, Ballater and finishing at the Glenshee Ski Centre.
It promises to be a significant test for the riders, with the stage finishing with a nine-kilometre climb into Glenshee, and Bennett is excited to see what Aberdeen has to offer once more.
“The first time I went to Aberdeen was in the 1980s for the Kellogg’s city centre races, which used to be on Channel 4,” said Bennett. “It absolutely belted it down with rain and there must have been about 400 spectators there.
“When we went back for the Tour Series, it looked more like 4,000. The contrast couldn’t have been any different.
“We said it would be brilliant to finish the Tour of Britain here and cycling has just gone from strength to strength up here. We had over a thousand riders come out for the support activities.
“It’s the first time we’ve had an opening stage as severe as this. We’ve got two category-three climbs and one category two. We’ve never had a nine-kilometre uphill climb to finish.”
The Tour of Britain comes a month after the Commonwealth Games finished, in which Team Scotland delivered 11 cycling medals.
A good proportion of them were delivered by riders from the north, including Aberdeenshire’s Neah Evans and Finn Crockett from Strathpeffer.
Both delivered road race medals on the penultimate day of competition, with Crockett riding for his team Ribble Weldtite in the Tour over the next week.
“The riders up here have got some of the best roads, surfaces and countryside for training,” said Bennett. “It helps develop the plethora of talent up here.
“Scotland did so well at the Commonwealth Games, not just in the cycling but other events as well. There’s obviously a legacy there.
“Hopefully mums and dads are encouraged by it. Once you get a bike then the world’s your oyster.”
The race gets underway at 11am on Sunday and it is the culmination of a weekend full of activities for the north-east cycling community.
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On Friday night, Aberdeen Art Gallery will host an evening with race ambassador Dan Martin, Pippa York and David Millar, hosted by ITV commentator Ned Boulting. Saturday will see the Getabout Aberdeen Cycling Festival take place, which includes stunt shows, a pump track and walkabout acts.
“We do a lot of inventive stuff with the support activity on the Saturday,” added Bennett. “We’re working with a good local authority who appear to enjoy the attention to detail that we look into. It makes their life easier.
“What would make it a successful day? Seeing thousands of schoolchildren in attendance, which is the direct educational and well-being message we try to get out.
“We hope for good weather, no accidents and a fantastic TV programme based around aggressive bike-racing.”
