29.11.12 For immediate release
Get planning now for the cycling tour sans frontieres!
If long distance cycling is your bag, start planning next year’s holiday now: 2013 marks
the official opening of a new 700km cycling route that takes in some of the most stunning
scenery on both sides of the English Channel.
The Tour de Manche will be the jewel in the crown of the ambitious £6.8m ‘CYCLE
WEST’ project - the longest of three new routes which have been created with the help
of European funding to promote sustainable tourism and capture the huge rise in
popularity of two-wheeled holidays.
It travels from Poole to Dorchester, Exeter and Okehampton, before cyclists take the
ferry to Roscoff, travelling on to St Malo and Cherbourg and then back to Poole.
Along the way it passes along quiet lanes and country roads through sites of exceptional
natural interest, including the Bay of Morlaix, the Pink Granite Coast, the Bay of Mont StMichel, the Jurassic Coast and Dartmoor National Park. This route also builds in part of
the existing European cycle route EV4 along the French coast.
Although the most challenging of the three new routes, with a selection of testing but
rewarding climbs for keen cyclists, it also offers sections of much easier riding for
cyclists to relax and appreciate the ever-changing local landscape.
The unique offer of the three new routes is that they literally know no boundaries: they
each loop through England and France, passing through the ferry ports for the crosschannel connections. Once in France, ambitious riders might even want to take a
diversion as the route links into others that go as far as Southern Spain in one direction,
and the Ukraine in another.
While cycle tourism is huge business on the Continent, it is relatively new here, and
tourist organisations in Britain expect a major boost in visitor numbers from France and
further afield, keen to test the routes and sample the delights of Southern England.
“The attraction for many riders will be that they can either try the whole 700km, perhaps
over a week or fortnight, or break it up over a series of bite-sized breaks,” says Isabelle
Parfitt, Project Lead for CYCLE WEST. “It all depends on how serious you are, and just
how much you want to savour the scenery as you cycle along.
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“The first two routes are already proving very popular, helped in great part by having
websites which help you plan your routes, and also by the fact that the tourism
organisations have really gone out of their way to make cyclists welcome.
“We know that many groups and families have been tackling the 428km Petit Tour de
Manche and 440km Velodyssey routes, organising their stays with bike-friendly B&Bs,
and even arranging for their luggage to be sent on to their next stop-over.”
Work is now being completed on the Tour de Manche to provide new infrastructure links
along safe trails and through towns and clear directions and signage right along the
route. That is expected to be completed early next summer, with an official launch
planned for July.
One of the most dramatic improvements along the way has been to create the £2.1
million Gem Bridge at Grenofen, and which spans 200 metres (the longest in the
National Cycle Network) to link Tavistock with Horrabridge, Yelverton and Plymouth.
£600,000 of this cost came from the INTERREG IVA transborder cooperation
programme.
The route planning site URL is www.tourdemanche.com, currently detailing the shorter
Petit Tour de Manche route, with additional Tour de Manche information expected to go
live in Spring 2013.
-EndsNotes to Editors:
For further information or high resolution photography please contact:
Rebecca Barratt, Tel: 01275 335911, Email: rebecca.barratt@sectormarketing.co.uk
A selection of high res photography can be downloaded from http://cyclewest.com/en/press.php
Background notes:
1: Cycle tourism
Developing the new routes and marketing them to the growing army of cycling tourists
represents a huge investment in cycle tourism across Europe, which is estimated to
grow to around £14 billion in the next few years*, with over 20 million cycle holidays
taken across Europe per year**. While the UK has seen a massive surge in popularity in
cycling, we still lag way behind our Gallic neighbours: 24 million of them cycle regularly
and more than seven million cycling holidays are taken annually***. In Britain, fewer than
a million holidays currently involve cycling, but that number is growing fast****.
*Source: Sustrans Routes for People 1999
**Source: The European Cycle Route Network Eurovelo 2012
*** Source: French national survey, Atout France 2007
****Source: LSE The British Cycling Economy – Gross Cycling Product Report 2010
2: CYCLE WEST
CYCLE WEST has been funded by INTERREG IV A France (Channel) – England
European cross-border co-operation programme, which is co-financed by the ERDF. It is
also supported by a total of 17 different partners in England and France including
Brittany Tourism, Normandy Tourist Board, Sustrans, Devon County Council, Dorset
County Council and Cornwall Council. For more information visit www.cycle-west.com.
3: The route
The Tour de Manche travels from Poole to Dorchester, Exeter and Okehampton, before
cyclists take the ferry to Roscoff, travelling on to St Malo and Cherbourg and back to
Poole.
South West England
Tour de Manche begins in Poole’s busy harbour; this dates back to the 12th century and
is close to some of the best beaches in England (including Sandbanks) and Brownsea
Island – a perfectly preserved wildlife haven and the birthplace of scouting and guiding.
Much of the route tracks the 95 miles (150km) of the truly stunning Jurassic Coast England's first natural World Heritage Site – which traces 185 million years spanning the
Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
The route also takes you to the Purbeck Peninsula as well as the dramatic ruins of Corfe
Castle before continuing through Thomas Hardy Country - the inspiration for many of his
novels, poems and short stories, with Dorchester itself featuring as ‘Casterbridge’.
Chesil Beach (all 18 miles / 29km and 18 billion pebbles worth) is one of Britain’s most
remarkable topographical features, and so too are nearby Durdle Door and Lulworth
Cove. Visit Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Gardens to see rare and exotic species from all over
the world.
Sidmouth first gained popularity in the Victorian era, and its splendid architecture
remains, while the tiny fishing village of Beer is the place to sample a typical English pub
or enjoy locally caught fish or crab.
Head further west to Exeter and its stunning cathedral, then follow the winding River
Okement to Okehampton Castle, built soon after the Norman Conquest and converted
into a sumptuous residence in the 14th century. Tavistock, on Dartmoor’s edge, is
steeped in the history of tin mining and was also the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake.
Travelling deeper into Devon’s open moorland you reach Meldon, a breath-taking
reservoir 900 feet (480 metres) above sea level, offering stunning views; nearby is the
iconic viaduct itself.
Passing through Dartmoor National Park and almost 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles) of
unspoilt moorland you’ll come to the South West’s deepest river gorge, Lydford Gorge renowned for its natural beauty. Another delight awaits at Plym Bridge: a wooded valley
that springs into life each year with a coverlet of primroses, bluebells and wild garlic.
Steeped in myth and legend is the tiny church at Brentor, perched impossibly atop its
rocky outcrop.
At last, Plymouth hoves into view, in its time one of our greatest ports, launching the fleet
that destroyed the Spanish Armada and the ships taking the Pilgrim Fathers west. Look
out from the famous Plymouth Hoe, in the shadow of Smeaton’s Tower, and you can
visualise the ships that plied these waters down through the ages.
Normandy & Brittany
Roscoff, at the heart of the ‘Pink Granite Coast’, is the perfect starting point for this leg of
your journey: a town of culture, history and home to the beautiful 16th century belfry of
Notre-Dame de Kroaz-Baz.
You make your way along the Bay of Morlaix, with its imposing Taureau Castle and
island of Callot - one of Brittany’s most important ornithology reserves. Then journey
across the magnificent 19th century viaduct, built in the iconic pink granite and over the
valley where Morlaix lies, a town of unspoilt mediaeval streets and half-timbered houses,
and on towards Phare de L’ile Vierge Morlaix.
Perros-Guirec’s grandiose landscape is strewn with amazingly shaped rocks. Trace the
coastline through the fishing town of Paimpol and onto the Bay de St Brieuc, and
through dunes and heath to Cap Fréhel, with its breath-taking views over the nearby
Channel Islands and the ‘Emerald Coast’.
Dinan is a stunning medieval town set in a hillside overlooking the River Rance. The
walled citadel houses a host of picturesque squares and historic buildings, including the
Tower of St Anne and Dinan Castle itself, offering spectacular vistas of the surrounding
landscape.
Soon, St Malo rises majestically out of the sea. Founded by the Welsh monk St Maclou,
and built on a rocky island at the mouth of the Rance estuary, the history of this ‘City of
Corsairs’ is testimony to the region’s colourful seafaring past.
The route takes you through the lush landscapes of Normandy, onto Mortain and St Lô,
before venturing through the Vire Valley with its rolling hills and spectacular gorges. In
Mortain itself, the waters of the Cance and Cancon rivers cascade to create magnificent
waterfalls amidst tranquil surroundings.
Cotentin Regional National Park and Bessin Marshes are truly magical places for
cycling. Passing through many beautiful towns and villages, you can sample the fruits of
land and sea… cheese, ciders, seafood and, of course, Calvados apple brandy.
As you travel through the ever-changing landscape of hedged fields, dunes and
moorland, look east towards the D-Day beaches and historic cities such as Caen and Le
Havre and Bayeux. The ancient port of Carentan is famed as the setting for some of the
bitterest fighting of the Normandy landings.
En route to Cherbourg, you pass through Portbail and its beautiful golden beach, before
arriving in the final French destination. Cherbourg itself boasts a wealth of culture with
restaurants and bars as well as an intriguing history, much of which is displayed at the
local museum Cité de la Mer.