London 2012 Olympics road race route details emerge

12 comments
By BikeRadar UK | Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011 1.45pm

Details have today emerged of the road race route for the 2012 London Olympics. The event looks set to end in spectacular style, with riders sprinting down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Both the men's and women's races will also start at The Mall, with riders heading from there to the City of Westminster before crossing the River Thames at Putney. As expected, they'll then head to the undulating terrain of the Surrey Hills, south-west of the English capital.

There, they'll follow a figure-of-eight course, with a diversion around Box Hill which could provide a launching pad for breakaway attempts. The peloton will then return to central London via Richmond Park, crossing back over Putney Bridge before a final race through the streets of the city centre towards The Mall. The men will cover 265km, while the women will race over 140km.

The london 2012 olympic road course:

The official route of the 2012 Olympic road race (click on the image for a larger version)

A course for Cavendish?

With a relatively flat final 15km, the race could offer Mark Cavendish a prime opportunity for an Olympic gold medal in front of a home crowd. It would be the first true sprinters' finish to an Olympic road race since 1996, when professional riders were allowed to compete for the first time. The past five Olympic road races have been decided by breakaways.

Italy's Fabio Casartelli (Barcelona, 1992), Switzerland's Pascal Richard (Atlanta, 1996), Germany's Jan Ullrich (Sydney, 2000) and Spain's Samuel Sanchez (Beijing, 2008) all took victory from small groups, while Italy's Paolo Bettini claimed his gold medal with a successful solo attack in Athens in 2004.

Similar results have been observed in the women's race, with Australia's Sara Carrigan matching Bettini's solo endeavour and Britain's Nicole Cooke winning from a small group in Beijing.

Spectator-friendly

London proved its ability to host a world-class cycling event when it hosted the Tour de France's Grand Depart in 2007. The Olympic route appears to continue that tradition with the spectator-friendly course designed for 2012.

The route looks set to avoid the controversy faced by organisers of the Beijing Olympic road race, which was criticised by riders and observers alike for the absence of spectators and atmosphere along its course. The sections through London will offer many thousands of people a chance to watch the race, with the Surrey Hills also offering a number of options for fans.

In central London, spectators will enjoy vantage points in the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston.

Points of interest on the Olympic route will include Buckingham Palace, Richmond Park, Twickenham, Teddington, Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace, as well the Surrey districts of Elmbridge, Reigate and Banstead, Guildford and Woking, and Mole Valley. The climb to the top of Box Hill is likely to be one of the most popular vantage points.

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User Comments

There are 12 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 12 of 12 comments

  • Christ! what on earth was Seb Coe and chums thinking! how on earth do you take an olympic road race across putney bridge, the surface is worse than the moon, let's hope Wandsworth pull their finger out their arse and try and settle their pathetic blame game with the water company over who's to blame before some lovely TV shots of Cav picking the gravel out of his face.

  • Some of the worst road surfaces in London and Surrey. Even the good bits are 'spray and pray' tarmac with loos stones all over the place. Ah well, it might mean some major improvements to my commute, so I'm not complaining.

  • This could be interesting. I've actually ridden a similar route and MY GOD it's bumby. The road surfaces in England are not great to say the least. It will be cool to see some all time great cyclists going past cafes I go to though :)

  • The authorities will wait until next year before carrying out the major resurfacing work, or they'll risk it coming apart in the event of another hard winter.

  • Maybe a journalist (any of those around here?) could contact Russell King the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Transportation Committee at London Borough of Wandsworth and ask him what he plans to do about Putney Bridge?

    rking@wandsworth.gov.uk

    unless we'll have to wait for some streak of piss at the Daily Mail to pick this on up?

  • Leaving aside the negative comments about the road surface (er Paris Roubaix guys?!) I think this is a fantastic route - really scenic and with some classic cycling roads - Box Hill, Richmond Park, Bushy Park. Guildford, Kingston, Richmond etc - brilliant, brilliant brilliant. Much more worthy than the x number of times up Highgate Hill that was touted previously.

    We've always had great racing in recent years with the TdF and Tour of Britain and this I'm sure will continue that trend. I for one can't wait!

  • NickHu,

    To be fair to the Paris-Roubaix, the riders are EXPECTING it to be bumpy! ;o)

  • There are so many great places to watch the race from all along the course, the numbers of spectators should be huge, especially at the finish to cheer Cav and the other British lads home!

  • Should make for a great women's race. Could be quite a cliffhanger. The smaller women's teams of 3 do not leave much capacity for chasing a break down and then finishing the race once the break is caught. Should be interesting. [Disappointed in the total lack of analysis for the women's race in the above article. Smacks of an "Andy Gray" at work. Common - you guys can do better.]

  • Why has the route photo changed to a Google Maps screengrab?

  • I beg to differ. This is not a course for a big bunch finish. The Box Hill loop is tailor made for a small selection. Aside from the inevitable early break going out as they leave London, the first selection will come as the head up Staples Land then descend Coombe Bottom. The Box Hill loop is guaranteed to favour a small group going out and the false flat home will allow it to stay out there. The climb up Star & Garter Hill on the entrance to Richmond park will cause another fracture in the small group. I see this being tailor made for a Classics style rider. Gilbert must be licking his lips.

  • I've just discovered that will go around the 8 mile Boxhill loop no less than 9 times. A third of the course round the loop without a piece of cake at the cafe at the top! It will be heaving there I'd start camping now if you want to see any of it! I wonder if they'll remove the speed bumps and resurface the road? Reckon the other area to see them will be at the top of Newlands Corner but again so busy it may be tough to see them unless you're up a tree!

    What does seem obvious though is there seems little opportunity to see them once, hop across the course on your bike to see them again unless you do that somewhere near Kingston. Be fun though hey?

    Anyone know the test race that they will have to run this year when, who, where etc?

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