Just six days after Bradley Wiggins does or doesn't roll into the Champs lyses and the history books as the first British man to win the Tour de France, the focus of a summer in which cycling fever has gripped the country like never before will be a 10-mile loop of winding road in the green hills of Surrey.

Box Hill, 15 miles east of Guildford, has for decades been a magnet for amateur cyclists drawn to the hairpin bends of its Zig Zag Road. In exactly two weeks, they will give way and watch as a five-man British team, including Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, takes on the hill in their bid to win Britain's first gold medal at the Olympic road race.

Fans of Andy Murray will never swing a racket on Centre Court. Amateur footballers will never miss a penalty at Wembley. But on a rare sunny morning last week, I pedalled my bike from London to Box Hill and back to pave the way for the pros.

What they may not appreciate as they whizz round the loop nine times on their way to the finish line on The Mall, where Cavendish is favourite to win, is what this peaceful corner of the Home Counties symbolises for a sport that has risen from niche to national obsession and what all sports can learn from its triumph.

The good news: the Zig Zag Road will be a ride in the park after Wiggins' Alpine exploits during the Tour. The newly laid tarmac takes in two hairpin bends but soon flattens out to offer breathtaking views. I was panting rather more than the pros will. Two years ago, I was cycling almost 200 miles a week. Today I consume almost that figure in biscuits.

But cycling offers a sporting stage for players of all abilities and shapes. And in the weeks in the run-up to the 156-mile road race, on 28 July, and the 87-mile women's race the next day, vast amateur pelotons have come to what will be one of the most picturesque venues at the Games.

Tony Scott is, like me, wearing Sky kit, in honour of the team that boasts Wiggins and Cavendish. The youthful 53-year-old, a Box Hill regular for 30 years, is typical of a free-wheeling demographic that has grown to such proportions it has a name. They are the "Mamils" (Middle-Aged Men In Lycra) who have 4,000 to burn on a bike and Sunday mornings to kill on rural roads.

"I've always come out here once a week," says Tony. "When I heard the Olympics were going to be on my doorstep, it was brilliant and now I'm riding more often because it's so lively."

Dave Fleming owns Cycles Dauphin, in the village of Box Hill that has benefited from the increase in traffic. "There are hundreds if not thousands of riders going past at weekends," he says. "Yesterday we had a guy with his son who'd come down from Aberdeen just to check out the course."

Thousands of spectators are expected to line the Olympic route on race day. Many will be cyclists, but the unprecedented success of British riders first in the velodrome, and now on the road is steering the sport into the mainstream.

Original post:
From the Alps to Box Hill, cycling hits summit of success