Cyclists to race through Buntingford today in Friends Life Women’s Tour

Nearly 100 of the world’s top female cyclists will be racing through Crow country today (Saturday) for the fourth stage of the Friends Life Women’s Tour.

London 2012 Olympic Road Race champion Marianne Vos and runner up Lizzie Armistead will be among the high-profile names racing through the streets today for the inaugural tour’s penultimate stage, which starts in Cheshunt and finished in Welwyn GC.

Hertfordshire-born double Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott will be racing for Wiggle Honda while her sister Emma will compete for Dutch professional team Dolmans-Boels.

The cyclists will go through Buntingford at around 12.54pm and Cottered at 1.01pm before the first Sprint Stage of the race takes place in Baldock High Street from outside the library at 1.18pm.

The route has been marked with yellow advance warning signs and motorists are asked not to park along the route on the day. Spectators will need to sit or stand well back from the edge of the road, as riders will pass by very fast and sometimes use the edges of the road to overtake.

A rolling road closure will be in operation for the majority of the race meaning that roads will only be closed for the short period it takes for riders to pass by – usually for 10 to 15 minutes around the estimated time of arrival.

Ian Fullstone, North Herts District Council’s head of service for development and building control, said: “We are hoping that as many people as possible will take the opportunity to come out to support the cyclists as they pass through North Herts and that the event will inspire everyone to get active and get out and about on their bikes.”

For more information about the race – which held its first stage in Oundle, Northamptonshire, on Wednesday and concludes in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, tomorrow – visit www.womenstour.co.uk