Road closure details for OVO Energy Women’s Tour in Oxfordshire
Road closure details for the Oxfordshire stage of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour professional cycling race on Wednesday 12 June:
Starting in Henley-on-Thames at 10:30am, the race will traverse the Chilterns via Pishill to Watlington, before returning via the climb of Britwell Hill to Sonning Common and Goring.
Crossing the River Thames at Wallingford, the route will pass through Didcot, Harwell and Wantage, crossing the Vale of White Horse to Faringdon, before looping through the West Oxfordshire towns of Burford, Charlbury and finally Woodstock; the finishing line will be in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. The leading cyclists are expected to cross the finishing line just after 2:15pm.
There will be nearly 100 pro-cyclists, accompanied by support vehicles. Many spectators are expected to line the route.
Road restrictions will be in place at the start point in Henley town centre involving closures, prohibitions of waiting, disabled person parking and loading, and imposing one-way traffic. Local diversions and information signs will be used to indicate the route.
Henley’s West Street (east of Kings Road junction) and Market Place will be closed to traffic between 4am and 1pm on Wednesday 12 June. One-way traffic will operate along Henley’s Kings Road, northwards only, from West Street to Waitrose Car Park.
There will be ‘rolling road closure’ system from approximately 10am at the race start area in Henley, controlled by police and route marshals.
‘Rolling road closures’ will then continue along the route. They will involve highways and junctions with access roads onto the route, closing for short periods while the race passes through. The length of closure depends on how dispersed the riders are.
Typically, the lead motorcycle instigating the closure is 15 minutes ahead of the lead rider. The closure then remains in place until all riders and race cars have passed through. The event organisers advice is to look at the route of the race and avoid that road for about one hour either side of the predicted time of the race passing through.
Road closures locations along the route are listed below.
Market Place, Henley-on-Thames
Hart Street
Thameside
New Street
A4130 Bell Street
Northfield End
Fairmile
B480 Lower Assendon to Patemore Lane
Greenfield Watlington
Hill Road
B4009
Couching Street
B480 Brook Street
B4009 Britwell Road
Britwell Hill
B481 Red Lane to Watlington Street
A4130
B481 through to Peppard Common
Gallowstree Road
Reades Lane (Horsepond Road) Sonning Common
A4074 Reading Road Reading
B4526 Deadmans Lane to Reading Road Goring
B4009 Wallingford Road Reading to Wallingford Road Mongewell
A4074 Port Way Wallingford
The Street Crowmarsh Gifford
High Street Wallingford
Station Road
Wantage Road
High Road Brightwell‐Cum‐Sotwell
A4130 Hadden Hill
Didcot & Wallingford Road
Broadway Didcot
Wantage Road
B4493 Didcot Road to Wantage Road
Burr Street
B4493 High St, Harwell
A417 Reading Road to Wallingford Street
Market Place Wantage
Mill Street
A417, Challow Road to Faringdon Road Stanford in the Vale
A417 Stanford Road Faringdon
Market Place
Church Street from Market Place to A4095
A420
A417 Park Road to Gravel Walk
A4095
Gloucester Street from A417 to Market Place
B4020 Alvescot Road Bampton
B4020 Station Road
B4477 through Kencot
A361 Broughton Poggs to A361 Lechlade Road, A361
The Hill Burford and…
High Street (except off-road bays)
A361 Fulbrook Hill
A361 Shipton Road
B4437 to Charlbury
B4437
Forest Road and…
Dyers Hill from Mill Lane to…
Thames Street
Market Street
Church Street
Park Street
Grammar School Hill to B4022 Fawler Road…
to Woodstock (from approximately 2pm)
A44 Woodstock (Manor Road, Oxford Street, Oxford Road) to The Causeway, into Blenheim Palace
Many of these roads will be subject of prohibition of waiting and loading.
Gabby Heycock, OVO Energy Women’s Tour Project Director (Oxfordshire), said: “We have worked closely with the race organisers to keep disruption to an absolute minimum.
“The ‘rolling road closure’ system has been used for many similar events, designed to keep highways open until just before competitors approach and allowing for quick re-opening once the trailing competitors pass.
“We want this prestigious race to leave a legacy for the county; a lasting economic impact, motivating people to exercise, get fit, and keep fit.
“Residents are encouraged to line the route and welcome the pro-cyclists through their towns and villages.”
About the OVO Energy Women’s Tour
Created by SweetSpot Group in 2014, the OVO Energy Women’s Tour is the UK’s first international stage race for women, bringing the world’s top riders to compete in Great Britain as a part of the UCI Women’s World Tour.
In addition to its wider aims of promoting active and healthy lifestyles to women, the event has championed equality in sport, notably offering the same prize fund pro rata as the men’s OVO Energy Tour of Britain. The race will expand to six days for the first time in its history in 2019.
The race, which has been won by the likes of Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016) and Coryn Rivera (2018), attracts an annual roadside audience of 300,000, as well as over three million fans through linear and online platforms.