Best Places to Watch the Tour de France in Chelmsford

The best places to watch the Tour de France in Chelmsford: 

The tour will be able to viewed at all points along the route but the points listed below include some of the special events being held for the event, along with viewing points nearest to car parks.

For more information about the route and timings click here.

Howe Street

There will be a pre-race event for children to decorate their bikes and then ride along a circular route. 

The River Farm at the Green Man (maybe it should be the Yellow Man as they have painted the pub yellow especially for the Toy!) will be holding a special event. Entrance is by ticket only and there is a competition running to win one of 650 tickets. 

You are encouraged to get into the spirit of the day and cycle to this amazing venue which is only 6 miles outside of Chelmsford!

Great Waltham

The Rose and Crown will be open at 9am for breakfast. The pub is on the road, which is closed at one end where it meets the route, it will therefore be a road side parking area. Weather permitting, we will be running a lunchtime and afternoon bar-b-q, with a limited outside bar, serving beer, lager, mineral water and soft drinks.

Refreshments will be provided in Duffries Close by local groups. 

Parking will be available at the Great Waltham Cricket Club.

Chignal Road

There will be a viewing area for people with disabilities on the junction of Melbourne Avenue and Chignal Road in Chelmsford. No booking is needed but you can reserve a space by emailing tourdefrance2014@chelmsford.gov.uk. Disabled parking is available at Melbourne Park while there will be disable toilets adjacent to the spectator area at St Andrews Church, Melbourne Avenue. All day Parking will be available at Melbourne Park for £5 per car. 

Roxwell Road

There will be a screen in Admirals Park showing action from the Tour all day along with  live music, refreshments, cycling and sporting activities. It is only a short walk through Admirals Park to Roxwell Road where the Tour will pass along. 

Parking is available in the High Chelmer car park at a reduced rate of £5 for all day parking. 

Roxwell

A car park is also being provided for the Tour de France in Roxwell by the Parish Council. This will cost £5 per car and will be on the Recreation Ground on Stonehill Road and accessible from the South of Roxwell. 

Have we missed anything? Will you be watching?

Tour de France in Chelmsford

The Tour de France comes to Chelmsford on Monday 7th July. To help you make you make the most of this event I've put together some useful information about le Tour and what's happening in and around Chelmsford. 

Realising that not everyone will be able to get the day of work/school on a Monday, Chelmsford County Council has organised a family fun day on Saturday 5th July. This will be held in Melbourne Park between 10am and 4pm and promises to be a great day out for the whole family.

On Monday 7th July 13 miles of the Tour de France will pass through Chelmsford. First you’ll see the race Caravan, a procession of elaborate floats and vehicles that comes before the racing action. This will be followed by the riders, with the main group being known as the peloton. A detailed road map of Tour de France route can be found here and these are these are the timings for the Chelmsford section of the route: 

	Caravan	Riders
Hartford End	11:55	1:47pm – 1:55pm
Great Waltham	12:02	1:54pm – 2:02pm
Chignal Smealy	12:07	1:58pm – 2:07pm
Chelmsford	12:11	2:02pm – 2:11pm
Roxwell	12:17	2:07pm – 2:15pm
Fyfield	12:33	2:22pm – 2:33pm

The route enters the Chelmsford City area on the Felsted Road (B1417) just south of Hertford End before joining the B1008 for a few hundred metres and then passing through Howe Street, Great Waltham and the Parish of Chignal.

It enters West Chelmsford on the Chignal Road for approximately one mile before turning right onto Roxwell Road leaving Chelmsford via the A1060 as far as the Hare Public House. It then follows country lanes via Roxwell, leaving Chelmsford towards Willingale and then on to Epping.

Road closures will be in force from 8am -5pm so you need to leave plenty of time to reach your selected viewing point. 

Click here for the best places to watch the Tour in Chelmsford.

Check out these other blogs covering other stages of the Tour:
Redbridge and Waltham Forrest