The women's events, in which Britain's Nicole Cooke defends her Olympic road race title, will follow an almost identical route to the men's but cover shorter distances while the time trial will also predominantly take place on the steep hills of Surrey which makes the county an obvious training base for Britain.

Australia, Canada and the United States have already chosen to have Surrey as their Olympic training base and Denise Saliagopoulos, the Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Community Services and the 2012 Games, believes a combination of factors make the county a perfect destination for the world's best cyclists.

"These athletes demand world-class training facilities and superb accommodation to ensure they are at their physical and mental peak for the 2012 Games," said Saliagopoulos

"With this in mind, it is no surprise so many teams have chosen Surrey as their base.

"We'd be delighted to speak to more Olympic and Paralympic nations and show them the superb facilities Surrey has to offer to help prepare their athletes for London 2012."

The men's road race is scheduled to take place on Saturday July 28 on the first day of full competition at the Olympic Games while the women's event will take place on Sunday July 29 on the second day of full competition.

Both events are free to view and will start and finish on The Mall in central London, a location well used to hosting the start and finish of major cycling events.

The riders will race around a course that passes through six London Boroughs - Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames, and Kingston upon Thames - before heading into Surrey and through the districts of Elmbridge, Reigate and Banstead, Guildford, Woking and Mole Valley before returning to central London for the finish.

Should Cavendish win the men's road race, it is highly likely that the 26-year-old Manx star will take Britain's first gold medal of London 2012.

Meanwhile the time-trial route will begin at Hampton Court Palace and finish at Hampton Court Road but predominantly head through Surrey.

The men's route will be 44 kilometres and the women's will be 29km, and the single lap race will be free of charge, enabling thousands of members of the public to view the cyclists in action.

Emma Pooley will be hoping to go one better than the silver medal she won in the Beijing 2008 women's time trial race while Bradley Wiggins will be aiming for victory in the London 2012 men's time trial after the triple Olympic champion took silver in the time trial at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2011: USA cyclists to prepare for London 2012 in Surrey
June 2011: Australian cyclists to base themselves in Surrey for London 2012