The Tour of Britain 2012 route is set to pass through Kirkby Lonsdale today for stage four of The Tour which will take the riders from Carlisle to Blackpool.
You can take a look at today’s stage by clicking on the stage map.
Away from the city centre start, the race passes by the castle before heading south making its way out on to the A6 and through Penrith.
Generally straight, wide roads make for an easy start to the day, but after crossing under the M6 near Thrimby the road begins to rise slowly as it nears the Lake District National Park boundary.
A long main road climb, the summit at 426-metres comes on the National Park border, which the race continues along on what will be a fast descent into Kendal.
The route levels off as it passes back over the M6 before descending into Kirkby Lonsdale at around 1pm. After crossing Devil’s Bridge the stage passes via Tunstall, Melling, Hornby, Claughton and on to Caton before moving away from the main roads and onto draggy lanes that skirt the edge of the Pennines through Quernmore and then back down to the plains.
Very flat, exposed roads head across the Cockerham Marshes and Pilling Moss to Stalmine and Hambleton, where the stage crosses the River Wyre to enter the outskirts of Blackpool, out through Anchorsholme to the shore before turning left at Little Bispham to set up a fast final five kilometres along the North Shore to the finish under the watchful gaze of Blackpool Tower.
There will be little place to hide in these closing kilometres for any escapees as the pace is likely to be very high as the teams of the sprinters jostle for position to set their men up.
