The Tour of Britain - Stage 1 - Aberdeen to Chapel of Garioch

The ride starts on Union Street in the centre of Aberdeen and follows the Beach Boulevard to the Esplanade, where the North Sea haar (mist) wraps itself around you as you ride along by the shore. After crossing the River Don, you start the first of four climbs with a gentle 3km rise at an average of 1.9%, topping out at 8% near the top. After climbing through Kinmuck, there is a short kicker up to the top of the second climb, then it is downhill through Keithhall into Inverurie, looping round the town back towards the river, where you start the third climb, another gentle rise with a kick in the tail up the long straight road where you can see the summit of Bennachie, the Mither Tap, straight ahead of you. The final climb is the shortest but also the steepest, averaging 6% over 700m with a maximum of just over 15% on the way up to the final destination of Chapel of Garioch (pronounced ‘Gearie’). Ian's normalised power 165W at 2.4W/Kg, wind 10.7KpH SSE.