By Lara Holmes
London 2012 Olympic Games organizers have flagged the charging of tickets for two prime viewing areas along 2.2 km (1.4miles) of Box Hill - the tough Zigzag road component of the course - and at the top of the mountain at Donkey's Green, which is where any breakaways and attacking manoeuvres are likely to occur.
Locog has also secured permission to trim overhanging tree canopies to prevent line of sight obstruction from helicopters broadcasting the race, and they will lay broadband cables before resurfacing the road.
An internal briefing document from Locog shows just over 20km of the men's 250km road race may be off-limits to anyone other than the 15,000 paying customers, as the male cyclists race the loop of Box Hill nine times and the women twice.
The Locog document, dated Jan 24, 2012, says that while the total length of the roads for the race is 140km, the majority of the rest of the 120km route - which travels through six London boroughs, four Royal Parks and the Surrey countryside, before heading back into central London for a sprint finish on the Mall - is free for spectators to watch.
Spectators can also view the descent of the loop from the other Box Hill roads like Headley Lane and Headley Heath.
Implementing a charge for spectators is a u-turn from Locog's previous policy of having the road cycle route for both men and women free for spectators, apart from the grandstand areas at the race finish on The Mall. Those tickets were priced at £20-£60.
Indeed, watching the road races for free was offered as a consolation for the 1.2 million ticket applicants who missed out on securing Olympic tickets in the ballot last year.
Brian Cookson, British Cycling president, told the Telegraph Sport he understood the natural beauty of the Box Hill area, and the need for a limit on spectators, but wanted the spectators to be able to watch the race for free, which is what had been mooted all along.
Cycling fans, and even the cyclists, aren't too impressed, though, claiming this is the first time an Olympic organizing committee has ticketed a mountain climb.
Locog insiders say they are still considering how much to charge for the tickets, but they would reflect the cost of the erection of grandstand seating and providing toilets and food outlets in the área
