The bike gear to set you need to set you up for the big cycling event.

There are faster races, but no fixture lights up the Formula 1 calendar quite like the Monaco Grand Prix. A closed circuit laid out on the illustrious principality’s streets, it affords spectators the chance to see the race up close, in a setting so intimate you could almost touch competitors as they tear around the tight corners (although we really wouldn’t recommend that).

For the past decade, cycling has had its own closed-circuit event in the beating heart of a major European city. In that time, bicycles have become ever more present in the British capital, but never more so than for the MR PORTER Nocturne London, the annual cycling showcase that sees a 1.1km course carved out of the City’s streets around St Paul’s Cathedral, with motor vehicles kept well out of the picture.

In fact, the Nocturne is run very much in the vein of a Formula 1 event, with pit lanes, hospitality suites and big screens to keep spectators buzzing. It all centres around the Elite Criterium, a contest that has in previous years attracted cyclists from the very top tier of the professional circuit, including Messrs Mark Cavendish, David Millar and Geraint Thomas. But ahead of this finale, the schedule is crammed with spectacles to keep visitors on their toes: events with riders on folding bikes, penny farthings and the Concours d’Elegance, a race where entrants are judged on form, road etiquette and attire (think English gentleman) rather than just the order in which they cross the finish line.

If you plan to enter the Concours d’Elegance, we can help – MR PORTER offers no end of smart clothing sure to have you in the running for the best-in-show prize. However, if the Elite Criterium is more your goal, you better start training. To bring you up to speed, try this outfit assembled from our on-site cycling selection. It includes a brazen flash of pink, in the hope that claiming the Giro d’Italia winner’s maglia rosa (or at least looking like you have) spurs you on.

Of course, you don’t even need a bike to get near to the action at the MR PORTER Nocturne London – see you there at the Event Village by St Paul’s Cathedral from 2.00pm on 9 June 2018.

For more information on this year’s MR PORTER Nocturne London click here.