LONDON

Just a few weeks after the Rugby
World Cup final at Twickenham,
the ‘home of rugby’ welcomes
the famous Barbarians team for
their 125th anniversary match
in the Killik Cup Autumn
International (21 Nov; p. 67).
They play Argentina for only the
second time in this celebration
game. Argentina, who were World
Cup semi-finalists in 2007 and
quarter-finalists in 2011, are also
celebrating the 50th anniversary
of their first overseas tour.
englandrugby.com/twickenham
Lee Valley VeloPark hosts the
Track Cycling Revolution
Series (14 Nov; p. 67; below), where
the world’s top male and female
cyclists race to qualify for the 2016
Rio Olympics. This is the third
round of six, each of which takes
place in different British venues.
cyclingrevolution.com
See the fastest men on four wheels
as they compete in the Race of
Champions (20-21 Nov; p. 67),
a contest at the Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Stadium which sees the
greatest drivers from the worlds
of Formula 1, MotoGP and World
Rally, including Sebastian Vettel,
Felipe Massa, Jorge Lorenzo and
David Coulthard. Get ready for
some high-octane drama!
raceofchampions.com
ere in England, we are
accustomed to seeing
the lush green courts
of south-west London
host the prestigious
Wimbledon Championships.
But this month, there is
tennis in a very different
type of venue as The O2
arena, which is more used to
staging mega-gigs, puts on the
Barclays ATP World Tour
Finals (15-22 Nov; p. 67).
The culmination of the ATP
World Tour is now the biggest
indoor tennis tournament in
the world. It brings together
the best of men’s
tennis: only the
top eight in the
world qualify.
To reach the
Barclays ATP
World Tour
Finals, tennis
players earn
qualifying
points in
tournaments
played during the tennis
season. By the time the
ATP event comes to the
capital, the men’s tennis
world is whittled down
to an elite field.
First to qualify for the
event was Novak Djokovic,
who is the world’s number
one, current Wimbledon
champion and winner of the
ATP World Tour trophy for
the past three years. Andy
Murray also confirmed his
place: ‘It’s good to [qualify]
with a long time to spare,’
the British number one said.
Added to the list of
players is Swiss
superstar Roger
Federer who, at the age
of 34, is looking better
than ever. He is set to
break his own record
with an impressive
14th successive
appearance at
this tournament.
– Emma Levine
ALL TENNIS IMAGES COURTESY OF ATP WORLD TOUR; CYCLING © DAVID PEARCE
66 | LONDON PLANNER