Where to watch Britain’s Olympic cyclists hit the road

Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish (pictured left) and Chris Froome, household names following their exploits in France, will all be taking part in the Olympics men’s cycle race, with Cavendish the favourite to win Great Britain’s first gold.

Two areas, the Mall, where the cyclists will start and finish the 155-mile race, and the zig-zag climb in Boxhill, will be ticketed for the event. But at around 13 miles of the whole race, there will still be plenty of places to watch the cyclists compete.

Channel 4 News graphic artist Fabrizio Viani tried out the course for himself, and gave his insights on the best places to watch the race (see below). You can read his blog post on the course here.

Ones to watch

Quite how the pros race these distances is beyond comprehension. It is not a hard course per se, but at speed it will be extremely hard. The repetitions of the loop are mind boggling, also the roads are quite narrow so tactics will play a major part more than pure strength – Fabrizio Viani

Whilst Cavendish is expected to get the gold this year, betting shop Ladbroke’s has him at evens to win and his race will not be easy. A number of cyclists will be chasing him for the top spot, including other stars from this year’s Tour.

Mark Cavendish: His triumphant dash for the finish line at the Tour de France is another sign that Cavendish is the fastest in the world on a flat road course, and he will be looking to cement this reputation on Saturday.

Peter Sagan (pictured right): The 22-year-old Slovakian was one of the sensations of the Tour de France. His electric sprinting skills saw him win the Tour’s green jersey for the most individual points.

Tom Boonen: The 31-year-old Belgian is currently fourth in the UCI World Tour rankings, and has won five major road races this year.

Fabian Cancellara: First in the individual time trial and second in the road race at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Swiss 31-year-old, nicknamed Spartacus, was also fastest in the Tour de France prologue stage.

The best places to watch the race are:

Box Hill: Male cyclists will do nine laps of the Box Hill route before heading back towards London (the women, who cycle on Sunday, will do two laps). This makes Box Hill the best spot to see the most of the action, with those lucky enough to hold a ticket for the zig-zag incline benefiting from a slower crowd of cyclists.

However, that leaves around nine miles of course around Box Hill open to the public – with the fastest area likely to be from Reigate Road down Leatherhead bypass and on to Dorking Road – with speeds of 40 to 50mph expected.

LOCOG has warned that the entire track at Box Hill will be busy.

Staple Lane: The 1.6 mile stretch of road, starting in East Clandon, is one of the major inclines facing the riders – meaning they will be slower and easier to spot.

The start of Staple Lane is around two miles from Clandon train station, which may mean the crowds are not as deep here as in more urban areas.

Richmond Park: The park provides one of two crossing points on the course, with the cyclists heading out and making their way back to the finish. Richmond Park has longer stretches of the course than nearby Hampton Court, the other crossing point on the course.