CYCLING veteran Jason White has encouraged everyone to get out and support the British riders as the Tour de France comes to Essex.

The Tour will be hitting the county in only six days time and White, who owns JD Cycles in Benfleet, says this once-in-a-lifetime experience is not to be missed.

To highlights key parts of the 68 miles of the stage that run through the county, White jumped on his bike and told the Echo where he expects to see excitement next Monday.

Scroll down to see video

“It is a great occasion for the Tour to come to Essex and there will be plenty of good vantage points to enjoy the action.

“Great Waltham is a lovely little village. It is very quaint and I would expect the race to get slightly hectic at this point. The roads are narrow so don’t expect to see riders more than three or four abreast.

“This makes for an exciting stage of the race as the peloton be very condensed and will give the spectators a chance to see the riders up close.”

White added the lanes around Chelmsford would also be a good place to see the riders.

“As the route heads towards Chelmsford the roads will be much wider, but the riders will have to contend with the twists and turns of the country lanes. At this point I would expect to see the peloton more strung out and it will give people a chance to attack.

“Heading from Chelmsford towards Epping we will see a much faster part of the course and as they arrive into Epping, expect to see teams jostling for position for the intermediate sprint. If a breakaway group has already broken away from the main field then I would expect those to contest this sprint.”