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Streets to close as cyclists take over
Roads across Bristol will be closed to traffic this weekend as the city welcomes an elite race on Saturday and the public Sky Ride on Sunday.
Professional riders will be racing around the Bristol Grand Prix circuit which runs in a 1.3km loop down part of Park Street and behind City Hall on Saturday.
And on Sunday the Portway, Cumberland Road and parts of the city centre will be filled with cyclists of all abilities enjoying a non-competitive, leisurely ride around the city as Sky Ride comes to Bristol for the first time.
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The Grand Prix starts at 2.30pm with an inaugural Love My Bike lap for amateurs wanting to test the course.
Expect to see George Ferguson joining the crowds a they traverse their way down Park Street, Denmark Street, behind City Hall and back onto Park Street via St George’s Road.
A series of competitive races will then begin, carrying on until 8pm on the figure-of-eight track.
Sunday’s Sky Ride is replacing Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride, which has been going for 22 years and regularly falls on the final day of Big Green Week – spread over two weeks this year to coincide with Green Capital celebrations.
The 7.5km route begins in Millennium Square and takes riders through Hotwells and onto the Portway, before directing them back down Cumberland Road, across Prince Street bridge and through Queen Square.
Bristol is no stranger to closing its streets for bike races. In 2012, the Red Bull Hill Chasers race came to Park Street, while last year the Tour of Britain came through the city’s streets.
A similar route to the Bristol Grand Prix is expected to be used for the 24-hour Pedal Car Race in September this year.