Berwick-upon-Tweed Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Stage three promises to be memorable for a range of reasons, including a brand new start town in Berwickupon-Tweed, some stunning Northumberland scenery – the route crosses an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty before passing Bamburgh and Warkworth castles – and the possibility of crosswinds as the route hugs the North Sea coast for an intermediate sprint at Seahouses. The three KoM climbs at Ford Common, Lyham Moor and Longhoughton all come during the first half of the stage. After passing through Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields and Wallsend, the race will head alongside the bank of the River Tyne on Newcastle’s Quayside before a dramatic uphill finish in the centre of a city hosting the Tour for the third time.

Director’s notes

Andy Hawes: We’ve used quite a few of these roads before. The first 20km is on all new roads and then the riders traverse quite a familiar run in through Alnwick and Morpeth. The stretch along the coast will see crosswinds, but we are not on the coast for a long time so any gains that may be made will quickly be evened up again on the more sheltered roads inland. Then it picks up some roads we haven’t done for a long time before hitting Newcastle city centre, where I’m hoping the riders have had a good look at the road book because that final kilometre up Grey Street is certainly going to sort things out. If it’s not a very strong solo sprinter it will be a reduced bunch sprint because it’s a cheeky little climb. In fact, the uphill drag is not too far off being a categorised summit finish.