The Grand Depart is on Friday 6 June 2014 from Leyton Orient, heading out of London through rural English countryside, and stopping off at a second ground, Colchester United’s Weston Homes Community Stadium, for refreshments.

After completing the 90-mile sojourn to Harwich by dusk, the intrepid team cross the Channel overnight, before riding a further 60 miles across the flat landscape of Dutch Zeeland. The climax sees the peloton arrive in the country’s capital and its network of canals, cobbled streets and wonderful architecture.