BRITAIN'S biggest cycle race, the Prutour begins on Sunday when 18 teams of six top racing cyclists will take to the roads around Westminster in central London for the first stage of the week-long event.

Monday takes the massive organisation to Portsmouth and then it is northwards via Bristol, Swansea and Birmingham before the stage of Friday, May 28 when the race comes right on our own doorstep.

We have an excellent opportunity to spectate with the stage starting in Liverpool and taking in the Nick o' Pendle, Waddington Fell and the Trough of Bowland, before the stage finish on Blackpool promenade - further details and timings in next Thursday's Lancashire Evening Telegraph cycling column.

Meanwhile, we can watch the progress of star riders such as Chris Boardman and last year's inaugural Prutour winner Australian Stuart O'Grady, along with Preston based Gethin Butler of the Team Men's Health on both Channel 4 and Sky TV each day.

One local enthusiast who will have a first-hand view of our local Prutour stage is Stan Riley of Billington. He won a competition in a national newspaper with the prize of a seat in the Linda McCartney Foods team car with manager Sean Yates, for the full Liverpool to Blackpool stage.

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