Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales has encouraged residents to give a warm welcome to the Tour de France when the world’s greatest cycle race arrives in the borough on Monday.
Sir Robin said: “The Tour de France is one of the greatest annual sporting events and we are looking forward to seeing it in Newham. We’ve already successfully hosted the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and it won’t be long before Rugby World Cup 2015 and the 2017 World Athletics Championships and Paralympic Athletics World Championships are upon us. The Tour is another massive occasion for us to enjoy.
“We’re all really excited to see the world’s most coveted cyclists compete for the famous Yellow Jersey on Newham’s streets. With more than 200 riders and 2,000 supporting vehicles the Tour promises to be a wonderful event, but there will be road closures and possible diversions and where possible people should plan ahead.
“We’ve been working hard to minimise the disruption to our residents and businesses and we hope Transport for London and the Mayor of London have all their plans in place for the day.
“Our schools have really embraced this great occasion. They have taken the decision to close on Monday. Rightly they were concerned about staff, parents and pupils being able to travel safely to and from school. They wanted to avoid the disruption, yet be able to part of this great event. I’m behind them on that and as a result, I expect to see thousands of children and young people lining the streets.”
“Our community is also looking forward to celebrating this amazing event. That’s why we’ve been supporting residents with grants to host their own Tour de France parties through our Lets Get the Party Started programme. These events are a wonderful way for our community to come together and meet new people and try new things, cycling being one of them.
“I hope you all enjoy the race on Monday whether you are there in person or watching on television as the Tour races through Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, West Ham, Plaistow, the Royals Docks and Silvertown. Newham truly is the home of world class sporting events. Let’s all do our best to enjoy them.”
Road closures will be in place from 10am on Monday and may not be fully reopened until 6pm. Parking suspensions in many areas will come into effect from Sunday afternoon. For the latest information visit www.newham.gov.uk/tourdefrance
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