Walmsley Primary School and Egerton Park in Bolton today saw a special visit from Tour of Britain mascot ToBi to present them with their trophy for winning the National Land Art competition.
The 2019 Tour of Britain finished with a spectacular Greater Manchester stage, that saw the world’s top professional cyclists race through all ten boroughs of the city, including Bolton, before the finish in the heart of the city, where Mathieu van der Poel was crowned Tour of Britain winner.
The Egerton community came together with Walmsley Primary School to create the winning cycling installation that was shown around the world on the race’s live television coverage, and came out on top in the public vote via tourofbritain.co.uk
“Once again the reception to the Tour of Britain Land Art competition was outstanding and we had some truly exceptional entries from across the country. I would like to congratulate the whole community in Egerton on their award, but also for their work in helping so many people to enjoy and be involved in the Greater Manchester stage of the Tour”, said Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett.
Bolton Council leader, Cllr David Greenhalgh, said, “I’m thrilled that Walmsley Primary School and Egerton Park have won the National Land Art competition. To come top among so many fantastic entries from across the UK is testament to the hard work and creativity of everyone involved.
“From Bromley Cross and Egerton to Horwich and Blackrod, I was so proud of the way everyone came out to support the event and cheer on the competitors. The support and enthusiasm of the local community is part of why major sporting events like the Tour of Britain want to come to Bolton.”
Commenting on the presentation, Cllr Samantha Connor from Bolton Council and Miriam Shamir from the Play team said, “We were very excited that the Tour of Britain was coming to Bolton and passing right through our village so wanted to get the whole community involved to support the cyclists.
“Along with the Play team and Walmsley Primary School we created our land art Installation on Egerton Park and Bolton Council provided T-shirts for all the children to spell out ‘Bolton’.
“This combined with the Play team’s fun activities, face painter and an ice cream van provided an exciting and memorable day for everyone as the Tour of Britain raced past.
“We were thrilled to be shortlisted and then to actually win is an honour and a credit to every single person involved within our community!”
Egerton Park and Walmsley Primary School follow in the footsteps of the South Molton Farmers from Devon that won the inaugural land art competition in 2018.
The 2020 Tour of Britain is a part of the new UCI ProSeries and will take place between Sunday 6 and Sunday 13 September, starting in Cornwall for the first time and finishing in the Granite City of Aberdeen eight days later. In October race organisers SweetSpot announced that they are looking for a new title partner for the 2020 race, following the successful conclusion of a three year partnership with OVO Energy.
The Tour of Britain is British Cycling’s premier road cycling event, giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the world’s best teams and riders competing on their doorstep and helping to build a great cycling nation.