Tour de France London & Kent 6-8 July

Once in a while Le Tour de France comes to Britain (last time 1994), this year it starts in London (for which Mayor Ken should receive a great deal of the credit) and continues through Kent before hopping over the channel for Monday's Stage 2.
It should be a boost to cycling in Britain in general and London in particular. Let's hope so.
Whatever else, it will be heady mix of sport and razmatazz, not to be missed.

Opening Ceremony - Fri 6 July Trafalgar Square Starts at 18:00 - No racing, mainly the introduction of teams but lots of hype, atmosphere & anticipation.

Prologue - Sat 7 July - 7.9 km individual time trial - Central London: Times: Caravan 13:00: Warm up 14:00; Race runs 15:00 to 18:20 MAP HERE Easy to watch - expect a big crowd so bag your position early.

Stage 1 - Sun 8 July London to Canterbury (203 km) - From the Mall at 08:40 Real Start Greenwich at 11:00

via Gravesend, Maidstone, Tonbridge, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Tenterden, Ashford, Finish 15:37 Canterbury
If you are going to watch the stage, you need to plan your journey & select your watching position carefully.
I guess it will be easiest to watch in London so you can use public transport - but at that early stage the race will not be fully competitive.
In Kent, there's little point in taking a car within 3 miles of the course. Roads are closed early, affecting all motor traffic in the area.
Take your bike so you can complete the last few miles.
MAP HERE

Time Schedule (Horaires) when the Caravan - then nearly 2 hours later - the Race passes each place en route is HERE
It's worth using it to do your planning.

See www.letour.fr & http://www.tourdefrancelondon.com/en/event-info.asp

LIFT SHARES - if you intend to go to watch Stage 1, please indicate by adding comments to this post if you are considering sharing a lift.