Tomorrow: Tour of Britain Starts in Cornwall

The AJ Bell Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race, is poised to get underway in Penzance tomorrow (Sunday 5 September) with a star studded line including Mark Cavendish and Dan Martin.

Tomorrow: Tour of Britain Starts in Cornwall

The AJ Bell Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race, is poised to get underway in Penzance tomorrow (Sunday 5 September) with a star studded line including Mark Cavendish.

The race returns after an absence of 722 days following the cancellation of the 2020 event due to the pandemic with a star studded field headlined by Mark Cavendish, reigning World Champion Julian Alaphilippe and Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Wout van Aert and Ethan Hayter.

Speaking ahead of the race Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) said; “I’m here at Tour of Britain to race at home and get results for Deceuninck – Quick Step. The team we have here at the race is very strong. There’s a lot of natural beauty here in the south west and frankly we’ve got good weather, but it’s different racing in Britain on heavy roads and they build fatigue so starting down here puts fatigue in the legs.”

“I think there are chances of victory perhaps in Warrington, perhaps the final stage [in Aberdeen]. There are teams of six so small team numbers, and these eight stages suit different styles of racing, so there are perhaps two chances, but it’s unlikely to be bunch sprints.”

The star studded 107-rider line-up contains five reigning national road race champions and a total of seventeen different nationalities represented. Among the riders is Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) – who announced on Saturday that he will retire at the end of the season – making the AJ Bell Tour of Britain his final appearance on British roads. “Even just arriving in the UK felt special as we so rarely get to race here. It’s been four years since I last did the race and I’m excited to race on the roads that I competed on growing up. It’s always a tough test with a high-quality field and tough terrain. Hopefully we get to experience the crowds that used to come out as pre-Covid it was always one of the best atmospheres we raced with.

“We have a strong team and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do everyday. Some stages really suit me and I hope we can be aggressive throughout the week. Form is always a bit unknown this time of year after a long season but I felt good at Plouay so we will do our best and enjoy my last Tour of Britain”.

Commenting on the race, AJ Bell Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett said; “The fact that we were unable to run the Tour of Britain in 2020 was enough to raise the excitement level going into this year’s event. Yet, combined with the truly spectacular and challenging route we’ve designed, the quality of this year’s start list makes me believe that we’re about to witness one of the most exciting editions of the modern race to date.

“We look forward to seeing the roads of Great Britain lined with spectators all the way from Penzance to Aberdeen, and I would encourage everybody planning to attend the race to respect their fellow spectators and, of course, the riders, as well as following local COVID-19 guidance. See you all next week – I can’t wait!”

The race gets underway with an opening 180.8-kilometre (112.4-mile) stage through Cornwall from Penzance to Bodmin on Sunday 5 September, culminating with a challenging uphill finish on St Nicholas Street outside Bodmin Keep. After a second stage in the south west – between Sherford and Exeter in Devon – the AJ Bell Tour of Britain includes two stages in Wales, the first an 18.2-kilometre team time trial to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, and the second a testing 210 kilometres ending atop the Great Orme on the North Wales coast.

Stages Five and Six take the race to Cheshire and Warrington, and then across the Pennines from Carlisle to Gateshead with a finish in the shadow of the Angel of the North. The final pair of stages take place in Scotland, between Hawick and Edinburgh, and then culminating with the final stage from Stonehaven to Aberdeen on Sunday 12 September.

The AJ Bell Tour of Britain is sponsored by AJ Bell, one of the UK’s leading online investment platforms, helping people invest for the long term via ISAs, pensions and general investment accounts. It has a rich history of supporting elite level sport including badminton, cricket, rugby, squash and triathlon.

Alpecin – Fenix
1 Xandro Meurisse BEL
2 Silvan Dilllier SUI
3 Jimmy Janssens BEL
4 Ben Tulett GBR
5 Alexandar Richardson GBR
6 Kristian Sbaragli ITA

Deceuninck – Quick-Step
11 Mark Cavendish GBR
12 Julian Alaphilippe FRA
13 Davide Ballerini ITA
14 Tim Declercq BEL
15 Mikkel Honoré DEN
16 Yves Lampaert BEL

INEOS Grenadiers
21 Ethan Hayter GBR
22 Rohan Dennis AUS
23 Owain Doull GBR
24 Michal Kwiatowski POL
25 Carlos Rodriguez ESP
26 Richie Porte AUS

Team Jumbo – Visma
31 Wout Van Aert BEL
32 George Bennett NZL
33 Chris Harper AUS
34 Pascal Eenkhoorn NED
35 Gijs Leemreize NED
36 Tony Martin GER

Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
41 Jokin Murguialday ESP
42 Jon Barrenetxea ESP
43 Josu Etxeberria ESP
44 David González ESP
45 Sergio Roman Martín ESP
46 Joel Nicolau ESP

Great Britain
51 Rhys Britton GBR
52 Robert Donaldson GBR
53 Max Rushby GBR
54 William Tidball GBR
55 Ethan Vernon GBR
56 Oliver Stockwell GBR

Global 6 Cycling
61 Tim Edvard Pettersen NOR
62 Hans Becking NED
63 Dan Erik Hansen NOR
64 James Mitri NZL
65 Michal Paluta POL
66 Nicolas Sessler BRA

Rally Cycling
71 Joey Rosskopf USA
72 Robin Carpenter USA
73 Colin Joyce USA
74 Gavin Mannion USA
75 Kyle Murphy USA
76 Nickolas Zukowsky CAN

Canyon dhb SunGod
81 Rory Townsend IRL
82 Matt Bostock GBR
83 Ryan Christensen NZL
84 Thomas Mein GBR
85 Jacob Scott GBR
86 Max Stedman GBR

Israel Start – Up Nation
91 Dan Martin IRL
92 André Greipel GER
93 Reto Holllenstein SUI
94 Mason Hollyman GBR
95 Alex Dowsett GBR
96 Michael Woods CAN

Team Arkéa – Samsic
101 Connor Swift GBR
102 Maxime Bouet FRA
103 – –
104 Dan McLay GBR
105 Lukasz Owsian POL
106 Bram Welten NED

Movistar Team
111 Marc Soler ESP
112 Dario Cataldo ITA
113 Juri Hollmann GER
114 Gabriel Cullaigh GBR
115 Matteo Jorgenson USA
116 Gonzalo Serrano ESP

Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
121 James Shaw GBR
122 Dan Bingham GBR
123 Matt Gibson GBR
124 Gruff Lewis GBR
125 Charles Page GBR
126 Simon Wilson GBR

Team DSM
131 Mark Donovan GBR
132 Romain Combaud FRA
133 Nils Eekhoff NED
134 Max Kanter GER
135 Tim Naberman NED
136 Nicholas Roche IRL

Saint Piran
141 Steve Lampier GBR
142 Ross Holland GBR
143 Oliver Maxwell GBR
144 Tom Mazzone GBR
145 Bradley Symonds GBR
146 Leon Mazzone GBR

Team Qhubeka NextHash
151 Nic Dlamini RSA
152 Carlos Barbero ESP
153 Sean Bennett USA
154 Simon Clarke AUS
155 Mauro Schmid SUI
156 Giacomo Nizzolo ITA

SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling

161 Chris Latham GBR
162 Will Bjergfelt GBR
163 Ross Lamb GBR
164 Andrew Turner GBR
165 Oliver Peckover GBR
166 Alex Peters GBR

TRINITY Racing
171 Thomas Gloag GBR
172 Christopher Blevins USA
173 Ben Healy IRL
174 Luke Lamperti USA
175 Rudy Porter AUS
176 Max Walker GBR