Stage 6: Darlington to NewcastleGateshead
Friday 12th September

Welcome to stage 6 of the 2008 Tour of Britain in which the riders will race north from Darlington before heading around Newcastle and Gateshead to enter the city from the east, following the banks of the river Tyne to finish the stage in this most striking of cities.

Darlington

A beautiful town whose heritage dates back to Anglo Saxon times, Darlington is filled with historically significant buildings that chart the many chapters of its development as one of the key industrial towns of the North East of England. Formerly one of the engines of the British textile industry and the location of the first passenger railway in the world the town has adapted in recent years to become a home for many world class companies including the mobile telecommunications giant Orange.

Darlington is also significant in cycling terms too, as one of Cycling England’s six demonstration towns there is a huge amount of activity in the town to encourage people to get on their bikes, perhaps the Tour of Britain will persuade a few more this September!

Gateshead

Dating back to Roman times Gateshead has a history that is intertwined with the development of the coal industry for a great part of its existence. The fantastic architecture and engineering feats that run the length of the river Tyne bear witness to a region that was at the heart of the industrial heyday of the UK.

When the Tour of Britain finishes its 6th stage in Gateshead in September, the race will finish close to one of the key symbols of the regeneration of the city, the Baltic Mill. Once an industrial centre that processed huge amounts of Flour for markets around the globe, the Baltic is now a world renowned gallery, exhibition space and cultural centre that leads the world in its field. The only question that remains is who will lead the field when The Tour arrives this September.

Okm	Darlington	10:00
12km	Sedgefield	10:50
33km	Durham	11:15
42km	Langley : KOM	11:30
48km	Annfield Plain	11:35
50km	Harelaw : Sprint	11:40
58km	Rowlands Gill	11:50
68km	Wylam	12:00
74km	High Barns : KOM	12:10
83km	Stamfordham	12:20
110km	Morpeth : Sprint	12:55
116km	Bedlington	13:05
129km	Seaton Sluice : Sprint	13:20
135km	Whitley Bay	13:25
156km	NewcastleGateshead	13:55