Tour of Britain: how the first stage hit Lincoln

Lincoln has a bit of a cycling hangover this autumn, and for good reason. Back in September, the city played host to the opening stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, a race that brought world-class cycling right past the Cathedral and Castle before sending the riders out across the county and back again. If you missed it, it's worth knowing how it went down, because it's the kind of event that tends to return, and the route itself is a great excuse to know the roads around the Wolds.

The stage was a Lincoln-to-Lincoln loop of 187.6 kilometres, with about 120 kilometres of that within Lincolnshire. It started at 10:30am from Castle Hill, tucked between the Castle and the Cathedral, and finished in Newport around 3pm. Before the flag dropped, the teams were warming up in Minster Yard from 9am, with presentations at Castle Hill at 9:45am, so the morning was as much about the build-up as the racing.

From the start, the route headed down Bailgate and Newport, turned right at Lincoln Bishop University towards Longdales Road, and out onto Wragby Road. The riders then worked their way through Sudbrooke, Langworth and Holton cum Beckering before climbing into the Lincolnshire Wolds, passing Lissington, Market Rasen and North Willingham, with Willingham Hill providing one of the early climbs on the way to Ludford. The loop continued through Binbrook, Swinhope, Thorganby, Thoresway and Rothwell, with another climb on Caistor Road, before heading back through Caistor, North Kelsey Moor, Moortown, South Kelsey, Waddingham, Hemswell, Stow, Sturton-by-Stow and Burton-by-Lincoln.

That's where the day got interesting. At Burton-by-Lincoln, the race entered five laps of the city centre, each taking roughly 18 minutes. The riders re-entered via the A57 and Long Leys Road, dropped down Yarborough Hill and passed West Parade, Motherby Lane and Hungate before hitting Michaelgate, a short but very steep cobblestone climb that the first ascent of was expected around 3pm. The finish line sat in Newport, with the winners' presentation back at Castle Hill afterwards. The best places to watch were Castle Square, with the Cathedral and Castle as a backdrop, Michaelgate itself, and Steep Hill, one of the finest streets in Britain.

Around the race, the Tour Village at Lincoln Castle opened at 9am with a big screen, food and drink from local traders and free cycling activities, plus access to the Medieval Wall Walk, the Victorian Prison and the Magna Carta Vault. An Activity Zone in the Cornhill area added more free cycling sessions. The race as a whole covered 565 miles across its stages, with 8,814 metres of climbing, and 108 riders from 18 teams, including sprinters Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij and track and time-trial world champion Filippo Ganna. UAE Team Emirates XRG, the world's number one ranked team, brought Tour de France stage winner Nils Politt.

Former British professional Russell Downing, born in Rotherham in 1978 and National Road Race Champion in 2005, gave one piece of practical advice for anyone lining the route: bring a bell. It's a simple tip, but the kind that makes a difference when the peloton comes flying past.