We are delighted to be able to include a road race in this years Wessex cycle festival. Having tried very hard for two years to bring a premier calendar road race to the South West issues with the respective Highways authorities and exceptional Policing costs again caused plans to be shelved.

The Kings of Wessex road race while not as broad in scope as the Tour of Wessex Premier Calendar is in itself an exciting and challenging event that will test the competitors while encouraging the local community to get involved in cycling - we hope we can look forward to growing the event into a leading British Race in the coming years.

The support in hosting the festival from Somerton Town Council has been superb, and we all look forward to showcasing the ancient capital of Wessex to the cycling community, with the start and finish both in Town and outside of the cycle festival HQ, competitors can expect lots of support from local residents.

We are grateful to all those persons who are involved behind the scenes: Team Tor 2000 for hosting the the event, Somerton Town Council, the Police, Red Cross, sponsors, volunteers and all who contribute to this unique and complex event.

We would especially like thank the army of volunteers that have supported the cyclosportive event over the previous years and ask that you continue to do so in future additions as the event grows. Without you the volunteers the smooth and safe running of the event would not be possible.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, and commercial partners for their continued support and commitment without whom non of this would be possible.

 In addition to the race a few thousand amateur cyclists will ride the Tour of Wessex Cyclosportive using the same routes on the same days as the race with many participants raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Since 2006 the event organisers have alone have donated ������£15,000 with tens of thousands more from the riders taking part.