Tour of Britain, Helmsley to Leyburn

Cycling returns to North Yorkshire this September for Stage Four of the 2026 Tour of Britain. On Saturday 5 September Britain’s National Stage Race will travel 179km across the county taking in some of the most iconic roads on offer to professional cycle racing. This stage will include nearly 2.5 km of climbing, X king of the mountains climbs, and Y sprint points making for an action-packed race on the Queen Stage of this five-day race.

The Race will start in Helmsley on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and cross into the Howardian Hills National Landscape and across the Vale of York before arriving for a tour around the Dales and a thrilling finish in Leyburn.

A North Yorkshire Best of

North Yorkshire has hosted the biggest cycling races in the world: The Tour de France, the UCI World Championships and the Tour de Yorkshire. This landscape is famed for pushing riders hard with an unrelenting terrain, and this is a stage to remind them.

The race will revisit climbs such as Greenhow Hill, a regular feature in the Tour de Yorkshire, and the long reaching slope of Cray which was the inaugural climb in Tour de France stage one in 2014, giving spectators a choice of location which to attend. The race then descends to Wensleydale and passes through Aysgarth, Redmire and close to its ultimate destination of Leyburn before looping away over Grinton Moor to Swaledale.

Then it’s all about the race to the finish line, the constantly undulating course continues to circle round to Wensleydale and Leyburn, entering the picturesque market town for a dramatic finish alongside the pretty marketplace.

Helmsley, Race start: 11am

Helmsley seems like it was built with big events in mind. The town surrounds an open marketplace that will become an arena to cycling as riders and teams assemble for the start. Helmsley is the only market town within the North York Moors National Park and has lots to offer including a medieval castle and pretty walled garden.

KOM Climbs for Stage 4

There are four categorised climbs on this stage, meaning we will likely see the climbing competition for 2026 decided in North Yorkshire.  The climbs are:

Greenhow Hill - Cat 1, Ave grade 7.2%, Max Grade 16%: regular climb in the Tour de Yorkshire, kicking straight up from the town of Pateley Bridge
Kidstones Pass - Cat 2, Ave grade 6%, Max grade 13.6%: The inaugural climb of the 2014 Grand Depart, this is a long climb up out of Wharfedale
Redmire - Cat 1, Ave grade 7.6%, Max grade 12.6%: This steep and winding climb takes riders up onto the moors above Wensleydale
Grinton Moor - Cat 1, Ave grade 5.3%, Max grade 14.6%: Another piece of Grand Depart history from 2014,

Leyburn, Race finish: est 15:00 - 15:45

Leyburn is one Wensleydale’s main market towns, with a busy high street and a popular market. Together with its surrounding villages Leyburn offers a real taste of Dales life and the perfect destination, competitive or leisurely. Cycling fans will enjoy the chance to see the race twice, as the race passes just two miles from the town with 40km still to go giving time for those who are keen to get back into town for the finish.

Find out more about Race Day in Leyburn

Tour of Britain Road Closures

To support a safe and successful event a program of road closures will be in place across the route on Saturday 5 September.  Along the race route these will be rolling closures around an hour in length with longer closers around the race start and finish.  The North Yorkshire Council website has detailed road closure information.

Please note: These times are projected and the race timings may vary dependant on weather and race events.