The day in 2014 when the Tour of Britain passed rapidly through Uckfield / Pictures: Ron HillThe day in 2014 when the Tour of Britain passed rapidly through Uckfield / Pictures: Ron Hill
The day in 2014 when the Tour of Britain passed rapidly through Uckfield / Pictures: Ron Hill

Picture special on day Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish came to Uckfield

On a sunny September Saturday back in 2014, large  crowds lined Uckfield High Street to see the Tour of Britain cycle race pass through. It was the first time the race had come to East Sussex.

Photographer Ron Hill recalls: "Stage seven started from Camberley in Surrey, taking in 140 miles covering West and East Sussex, entered the county near North Chailey, made its way through Uckfield and arrived at Brighton, where it finished on Madeira Drive. People in Uckfield High Street caught a glimpse of 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins and top sprinter Mark Cavendish and the yellow jersey of race leader Alex Dowsett, perfectly placed near the front of the peloton, as they came through town, at speeds estimated at 50 to 60mph.

"Belgium’s Julien Vermote won the seventh stage as overall leader Dowsett lost the yellow jersey to Dylan van Baarle. And van Baarle went on to win the Tour of Britain title in 2014, finishing ahead of Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski and Britain’s defending champion Wiggins. The 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain was an eight-stage race – the 11th running of the 2004 incarnation of the Tour of Britain and the 75th British tour in total."