If all the thrilling coverage of the Tour de France has you hankering to get up close to cycle excitement, you don’t need to book a last-minute overseas trip.

Rather than heading to Nice, France, you can just head to the North Shore on Aug. 10 when the The Old Planters Gran Prix of Beverly, presented by TEMP Rise, returns to the downtown streets.

This long-popular criterium race (call it a “crit” and everyone will know you’re a true fan), has been on hiatus since roadwork canceled it back in 2018 and then the pandemic pushed it off longer. This year, it is back in all its glory as part of Beverly’s annual Homecoming Celebration.

That means that while the race excitement alone is reason enough to visit Beverly, there’s so much more, like great coffee shops and restaurants, cool side events and beautiful beaches to see.

The Old Planters Grand Prix crit is a high-speed chess match of a race held on a short-circuit course, with competitors constantly jockeying for position at speeds of up to 35 miles an hour, and closer to 45 mph during the final furious sprint to the finish line. It’s seat-of-your-pants excitement for the fans as much as for the riders.

The town itself loves the race and the fans; locals pushed to bring it back. Riders love the locale as well, which means it should draw many top athletes.

Gran Prix veteran Timothy Shea said the race’s location was paramount. A New Hampshire resident, Shea represents the event’s broad appeal in the racing community throughout the region.

“The Gran Prix is a throwback to the wonderful downtown crits we use to have in New England, which are now mostly gone,” said Shea. “Racing in a downtown setting, where you can draw a local non-cycling audience, support the local businesses, and provide for exciting racing, is just great. Beverly exemplifies this.”

It packs all the excitement, too.

“A criterium, for me, takes the best parts of a 6-hour road race and crams it all into an hour,” said racer Sam Rosenholtz, who finished second in the 2017 Pro Men’s race. “The speed, tactics, critical thinking, endurance – everything is turned up to 11. If road racing is a world-class chess match, a criterium is speed chess in the park.”

This year, the counter-clockwise course will start and finish on Cabot Street, in front of St. Mary’s Church, with different races taking off all afternoon.

The Amateur Men’s race is set for 2:10 p.m., the Masters Men’s race at 3 p.m., the Elite Women’s race at 4 p.m. and the Men’s Elite race at 5 p.m. The event will also revive the popular Kids Race on Beverly Common, with a 3:10 p.m. start. You can register your child at www.gpbeverly.com.

Start your visit with a stop at Atomic Café (http://www.atomicafe.com) one of the city’s favorite coffee spots. You can grab coffees, fresh made juices, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and more. If you’re lucky, owner John Mahoney will be on site to give you race viewing tips: as a former Gran Prix racer himself, he knows the ins and outs.

You can take those goodies to a beach for a walk, swim or just to gaze. Dane Street, Independence Park and Lynch Park are popular and lovely.

If you want to fuel up more for lunch, Beverly has a host of great places along the race route, you’ve got a wealth of choices, from classic American fare at A&B Burgers, seafood at Bonefish Harry’s, an eclectic array at Ellis Square Social, Irish fare at Fibber McGee’s and much more.

There’s also the Old Planters Beer Tent, featuring the Beverly-based brewery’s suds and great food – always a classic choice for this event. Located on the race course, it’s also the start line for the kid’s race.

The race route is easy to navigate, since it’s short on distance but huge on thrills, you can pick a spot and see all the great action or move around for different angles as you cheer.

All that is woven into Beverley Homecoming (https://www.beverlyhomecoming.org), a week-long celebration. On race day they host everything from kids crafts to high tea; brewery tours to a dog party.

And at day’s end you can stay longer for both a live concert and a family movie night outside at Lynch Park.

Thrills, speed, champions and a beautiful setting. Nice has nothing on Beverly on Aug. 10.