Explore Cambridge and Grantchester on two wheels

Cambridge was founded 800 years before the car and is a town best seen by bike.

Set off from the Tour’s Stage Three start-off point, Parkers Piece, a large square of common land that football junkies will tell you is the birthplace of the beautiful game. From here you enter the heart of the university town, whose cobbled streets may make your ride somewhat uncomfortable. The sights are unparalleled however; you’ll ride past Trinity College, the setting for Chariots of Fire, and down King’s Parade, with its quaint gift shops opposite the majestic King’s College.

Continue down Trumpington Street, past the Botanic Gardens and into the village of Trumpington itself. From here, you’ll cross the River Cam, usually strewn with punts on a sunny afternoon, and enter Grantchester. Don’t expect anything other than high-brow conversation from the locals, this village is said to have the highest concentration of Nobel Prize winners. Many of them hang out in the Orchard Tea Garden, once the home of poet Rupert Brooke, and now a great place to get a refreshing brew before the cycle home.