| OCEANSIDE | Coastal Californian city, starting point of the Race Across America bicycle race |
| ANNAPOLIS | The capital of the US state of Maryland, end point for the 3,000-mile annual Race Across America bicycle race (9) |
| BASLE | European city, starting point to tour Liechtenstein, principally |
| REDWOOD | Coastal Californian tree (7) |
| GOLDENGATE | ___ Bridge was designated part of US. Bicycle Route 95 (6,4) |
| CHAMONIX | Short name for the resort on the north side of Mont Blanc that hosted the first Winter Olympics and is the starting point of the Haute Route ski touring trail ending in Zermatt (8) |
| EDALE | Village in the High Peak of Derbyshire; the starting point of the Pennine Way (5) |
| LANE | Location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, the supposed starting point of the Great Fire of London in 1666 (7,4) |
| PUDDING | Location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, the supposed starting point of the Great Fire of London in 1666 (7,4) |
| TROY | Start of a word ladder (and the starting point of the journey) |
| INDEPENDENCE | City in Missouri; starting point of the Santa Fe Trail in the 19th century (12) |
| XIAN | Chinese city that was the starting point of the Silk Road |
| LIEGE | Belgian city, the starting point of the gruelling Marathon de la Route classic rally, first run in 1931 (5) |
| BRAEMAR | Scottish village, the starting point of the 1715 Jacobite rising (7) |
| FOLKESTONE | The English starting point of the Channel Tunnel is near this Kent town |
| FARNHAM | Town in North West Surrey, the western starting point of the North Downs Way (7) |
| STJOSEPH | City in NW Missouri, US; starting point of the Pony Express in 1860 |
| ROSERED | Colourful description of City, starting after half-time |
| ELICIT | Lie about the city starting to evoke it (6) |
| ITALIA | Giro d'-; bicycle race where the leader of the general classification is identified by a pink jersey, or maglia rosa (6) |
