The prestigious Tour of Britain cycle race is coming to Doncaster this week – and here’s everything you need to know to be able to watch the event as it passes through our city.

The Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men will return to South Yorkshire for the first time in almost 20 years on Thursday for its third stage – and the course includes Doncaster.

This page includes everything you need to know, from the route, where you can watch, and traffic management information.

Britain’s biggest professional cycle race will head from Sheffield to Barnsley, via Rotherham and Doncaster.

The Tour of Britain is coming to Doncaster.

placeholder image — The Tour of Britain is coming to Doncaster.

The Doncaster leg of the South Yorkshire route will be going through the following locations at these estimated times:

Tickhill A631 & A60: 12:53

Wadworth A60 & B6094: 13:01

Conisbrough & Denaby B6094 & A6023: 13:10

Mexborough A6023 & Pastures Road: 13:16

Cadeby Pastures Lane & Cadeby Lane: 13:22

Scawsby Sheep Walk Lane, Scawsby Lane & B6422: 13:32

Brodsworth B6422: 13:37

Hooton Pagnell B6422 & Clayton Lane: 13:41

Clayton Church Field Road: 13:46

Where to watch

The event is free to watch, with live coverage of the race shown daily in the UK on ITV4.

Follow Doncaster Council’s mydoncaster Twitter/X and Facebook channels for updates locally as the race passes through Doncaster.

Traffic Management Information

To manage the race safely and ensure that the crowds have an enjoyable experience, City of Doncaster Council has established a robust traffic management plan.

The race will be managed by a rolling road closure, which means roads on and around the race route will be closed for a short period in which it takes for the race to pass by – usually about 15 to 20 minutes around the estimated time of arrival and indicated by police escort vehicles.

The route will be marked with yellow advanced warning signs in the run up to the race and members of the public will be politely asked to refrain from parking during the hours of 10:00 – 14:00 on Thursday 5 September.

This excludes parking bays and though you are able to park in parking bays along this section, council chiefs have requested that drivers avoid doing so, to enable the route to be as clear from vehicles for the cyclists as possible

Please do not hesitate to get in touch via emailing [email protected] if you require any further information at this stage.

Tickhill

British Cycling have chosen Tickhill to be a Sprint Section and therefore require parking restrictions to be put in place from the junction of Worksop Road up to Mangham Lane.

This means no vehicles along this section will be permitted to park, including parking bays from the hours of 6am – 2pm on Thursday 5 September.

Vehicles that are parked on the race route within the clearway between 06:00 – 14:00 will be issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and may result in the vehicle being moved.

There are also restrictions on the A60 between Worksop Road and Mangham Lane, in which vehicles cannot stop or park between 06:00 – 14:00.

All other sections of road through Tickhill, members of the public will be politely asked to refrain from parking during the hours of 10am – 2pm, to enable the route to be as clear from vehicles for the cyclists as possible. The route will be marked with legal notices and yellow advanced warning signs in the run up to the race. Residents will also be notified via letter drops.

Television coverage

Joining presenter Matt Barbet will be ITV’s commentary duo of Ned Boulting and David Millar, as ITV4 broadcasts live coverage of the UK’s biggest professional cycle race for the 12th year, and the 16th edition in total that has been televised by the channel.

Coverage gets underway with stage one in Kelso and the Scottish Borders on Tuesday 3 September, going live at 10.15am with the likes of double Olympic gold medallist Remco Evenepoel, double world road race champion Julian Alaphilippe (both Soudal Quick-Step) and Olympic mountain biking star Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) all confirmed to participate.

In addition to the free-to-air live coverage on ITV4, viewers will also be able to catch a one-hour highlights programme each evening on the same channel, with live coverage and highlights also available on demand via ITVX.

The Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men begins in the Scottish Borders on Tuesday 3 September followed by stages in the Tees Valley, South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and West Northamptonshire, before concluding in Suffolk on Sunday 8 September after six stages of action-packed racing.

The 166-kilometre (103-mile) stage featuring Doncaster will start from Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre, marking the first time that the race has been to the city since 2006, with the uphill finish coming on County Way in Barnsley, the first time that the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men has visited the town.

Over 2,700 metres of ascent will face the riders, including categorised King of the Mountains climbs at Loxley (Long Lane), Oughtibridge (Jawbone Hill), and Hound Hill on the outskirts of Barnsley, the summit of which comes with just four kilometres of racing remaining, and is sure to be key to the stage victory.

Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire’s Mayor said: “I know that South Yorkshire will be out in force to cheer on the riders in the Tour of Britain on the 5th September.

“We’re a place that loves a bike race, and I know that thousands of people will be on the streets cheering them on across South Yorkshire, showing the whole world what we’re about.

“The route through our communities, which I am told is one of the toughest of the whole tour, will visit Barnsley for the first time and return to Sheffield for the first time since 2006.

City of Doncaster Council Mayor Ros Jones, said: “Having the Tour of Britain travel through Doncaster is inspiring, and indicative of our continued championing of sporting events as a city.

We are delighted to welcome the race in September, and wish all taking part the best of luck.

"I’m sure many of our residents will be cheering on the cyclists on as they pass through some of our city’s beautiful scenery.”

The route skirts Doncaster via Conisbrough and Denaby to then loop around the north of Barnsley through Royston and Darton. From Penistone a series of short climbs culminates in Hound Hill, a 1.5-kilometre ascent to Worsbrough Common, averaging nearly 7% and topping out with exactly four kilometres to go.

While the Hound Hill climb is likely to prove crucial to the victory in South Yorkshire, a final challenge for riders is the last 800 metres of the stage, which drags up along Old Mill Lane and into County Way to the finish line at around a 7% incline.

Since the last visit to South Yorkshire by the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, the area has famously hosted a stage finish of the Tour de France (2014), as well as four stages of the Tour de Yorkshire (two starts and two finishes) between 2016 and 2019.