Bridlington Entries Sought for Tour of Britain Land Art Competition

Thursday, 3 August 2023 06:00

By Matthew Pells

Tour of Britain organisers are encouraging communities to adorn the landscape with eye-catching land art when the UK’s most prestigious cycle race comes to the East Riding.

On Tuesday 5 September, the East Riding will host an entire stage of the race, as the competitors line up in Goole before racing through East Yorkshire, hurtling through Bridlington and finishing at the racecourse on Beverley Westwood.

Creating land art along the route has been a long-running tradition for the event, with a national competition being held for the past five years.

This year, community groups, schools, businesses and landowners across the East Riding are being invited to take part, as the search gets under way to find the successor to last year’s winner, the Spike on a Bike hedgehog in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.

The land art creations will be seen around the world, with the race broadcast live on ITV4, and shown in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:

“We’re so excited to be hosting a whole stage of the Tour of Britain here in the East Riding, and this is a fabulous opportunity for people to get involved.

“With the route passing through towns, villages, rural areas and down the coast, I’m looking forward to seeing all the weird and wonderful ways people help show off our beautiful landscape.”

Entries for the 2023 competition can be submitted at tourofbritain.co.uk/community/land-art. The closing date for submissions is Friday 18 August.

The winning entry will be decided after the race by a panel made up of tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett, members of the ITV4 broadcast team, and staff from the race organisation.

Mick Bennett said:

“Since we launched the national land art competition, we have been blown away by the standard of creations that have lined the route of the Tour.

“Following in the footsteps of last year’s champions, the truly unforgettable Spike on a Bike installation in Nottinghamshire, will not be easy, but we’ve got a good feeling that community groups, organisations, and individuals will find a way to do so!”

The third stage of the 2023 race, which will take place on Tuesday, 5 September will start from the pedestrianised area on Boothferry Road in Goole and will pass through major towns including Howden, Market Weighton, Driffield, Bridlington and Hornsea before heading to the finish line near the racecourse on Beverley Westwood.

The 153.8km stage will also see over 100 of the world’s leading cyclists, including Olympic, world and Tour de France champions, pass through a number of towns and villages including Foggathorpe, Holme on Spalding Moor, Middleton on the Wolds, North Dalton, Langtoft, Octon, Rudston, Skipsea, Withernwick and Long Riston.

There will be two King of the Mountains climbs, located at Towthorpe Lane, near Market Weighton which will be 39km into the stage while the second climb will take place on the B1249 Scarborough Road at Langtoft at 74km.

The sprint section of the race will be at 109km on the B1242 Hornsea Road, Skipsea.