Southport signs up for British Tour Series

Southport has been signed as the latest venue to join The Tour Series for 2009 announced last week. The city, which hosted a sprint on the final stage of this year's Tour of Britian, joins Woking as one of the first venues to become part of the series.

The Tour Series is aiming to help the development of cycling in Southport, one of Cycling England's Cycling Towns, not just on the day of the event itself, but also throughout the year.

"Thousands of people turned out to see the Tour of Britain pass through Lord Street in September and this helped us realise that the new Tour Series could provide an exciting new opportunity for the resort," said Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton Council's Cabinet Member for Technical Services.

"Over the coming months, we will continue to work with the Tour Series organisers to make this inaugural event a night to remember."

Rather than focussing on individual athletic achievement, The Tour Series will instead focus on teams, with ten squads of five riders taking part in the series. With Britain's top domestic teams taking part, plus special guest stars, series is aiming for action-packed racing on a circuit at the heart of Southport next summer.