Today represents a significant milestone for LOCOG, but in particular for the Cycling team. We have finalised the last Cycling venue for London 2012, and the final venue in the Olympic and Paralympic Games masterplan.

This morning we announced that Brands Hatch will be the venue for the Paralympic Road Cycling events in September 2012.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe waves the chequered flag at the announcement event.

We were joined in Kent for the press announcement by LOCOG Chair Seb Coe, with representatives from our key partners Kent County Council, Sevenoaks District Council and Brands Hatch. Paralympic gold medallist Rachel Morris also kindly gave her time to join us.

Road Cycling is one of the more complicated disciplines in the Games, given that by definition it doesn’t take place within a defined venue. The challenges of finding the right combination of climbs and flat, twists and turns, good quality roads and spectator experience, added to the need for sufficient space for all the ‘stuff’ required to deliver a great Games, have been the focus for our team for many months.

However, Brands Hatch is a great home for these events. A total of 225 Paralympic athletes will take part, battling it out for the 32 available medals. The venue is close to London but also opens up the Games to a new audience. Kent County Council, who have a great heritage in disability sport, hope to use this event in their county to make a difference to the lives of their residents. It’s been great to see them and other partners embrace this whole project with such enthusiasm.

So there it is, the venues for all of the Olympic and Paralympic Road Cycling events confirmed:

• Olympic Road Races – The Mall start/finish heading south-west into Surrey
• Olympic Time Trials – Hampton Court Palace start/finish, course through Richmond, Kingston and Surrey
• Paralympic Road Cycling – Brands Hatch start/finish, course on motor racing circuit and local roads

Now we move on to the planning and delivery of all the Cycling events, starting with the test events this summer!