Tour of Britain: Provisional Startlist

Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallists Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), headline the 108-rider provisional start list for the Lloyds Bank Men’s Tour of Britain Men, which gets underway in Kelso, Scottish Borders on Tuesday (3 September).

Tour of Britain: Provisional Startlist

“I am looking forward to returning to racing at the Tour of Britain, after my post-Olympics break,” said Evenepoel. “My last period of racing was very special for me and it was great that I could recharge a little afterwards, but it’s time to pin on a number again as I look forward to the big races of this autumn. It is especially nice that I can start in Scotland, where I have the memories of winning the Worlds ITT race last summer.”

Olympic road race and time-trial champion Evenepoel, and cross-country mountain bike champion Pidcock, will be joined by a brace of British silver medallists from the team pursuit squad in Ethan Hayter and Ethan Vernon.

Hayter, who is also the current Lloyds Bank British national road race champion, is part of an INEOS line-up who will feel well at home on stage three in South Yorkshire, with team members Ben Swift, Connor Swift, and Ben Turner, hailing from Rotherham, Thorne, and Doncaster respectively in that region.

Connor and Ben arrive at the Lloyds Bank Men’s Tour of Britain having finished first and third respectively at the British national gravel championships in Scotland this weekend. The INEOS line-up is completed by race debutant Tobias Foss, the 2022 world time-trial champion.

Vernon will be joined by a trio of Brits in his team with Jake Stewart, Stevie Williams, and recent history maker Joseph Blackmore, who last weekend became the first British rider to win the Tour de l’Avenir. Australian pair Nick Schultz and Simon Clarke, twice a top 10 overall finisher from his seven participations, complete that line-up.

Commenting on the race, Williams said; “This will be my third Tour of Britain and, after coming close to getting a really good result last year, I’m even more motivated to do well. I love racing in the UK and going there with three other British riders, it doesn’t get much better than that. Hopefully it’ll be a good week with the boys.”

Teammate Stewart added; “It’s the first time I’ll have done the race with my trade team as opposed to a national one, and we’re coming with a really strong squad that can be competitive across all the stages and the GC, especially with Stevie and Joe.

“I’m going to bring everything I’ve learned from the lead-outs in the Tour de France for the link up with Ethan. Also, I was so close to a stage win in 2022, so if the opportunity arises it would be amazing to get my hands up in the air. With the strength of the squad we’ve got it’s going to be a good week.”

The Bahrain Victorious team will make their race debut, but with a familiar name to British fans leading them in Wout Poels, who has one a stage on each of his four appearances in the race, and twice finished as runner-up overall (2015 & 2018). Among his teammates will be Pello Bilbao, who has five top 10 overall finishes across the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, with stage wins in both races.

Former Men’s Tour of Britain winner Julian Alaphilippe joins Evenepoel in the Soudal Quick-Step team, with the duo will be joined by Bretagne Classic runner-up and GiroNextGen points jersey winner Paul Magnier, neo-pro Gil Gelders, who recently finished top ten at the Deutschland Tour, Martin Svrcek, and Gianni Moscon, whose last appearance in the race in 2019 saw him finish sixth overall.

A quartet of reigning national road race champions join Hayter in displaying their special jerseys at the race, with Rasmus Pedersen (Denmark), Markus Hoelgaard (Norway), Emīls Liepiņš (Latvia), and Norman Vahtra (Estonia).

Liepiņš will have hometown hero Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) at his side as the Tour begins on stage one, with Onley enjoying the distinction of starting his national race in his hometown of Kelso, while teammate and fellow Scot Sean Flynn, and TRINITY Racing’s Callum Thornley, from Peebles, will also enjoy home support in the Scottish Borders on day one.

Adding to INEOS South Yorkshire contingent on home roads on day three will be Saint Piran’s James McKay, who lives in Sheffield where the race starts. Other Brits like him making their Men’s Tour of Britain debuts include Joe Pidcock, younger brother of Tom, Ben Wiggins and Ben Askey (Groupama-FDJ Continental).

Among the other British riders lining up in Scotland will be Matt Holmes and Mark Donovan who have both won the Best British Rider prize in the Men’s Tour of Britain Men, in 2019 and 2023 respectively.

“I’m very excited for my home race,” said Donovan. “Last year was great, with Damo [Damien Howson] and I finishing 3rd and 5th in the GC. This year, I’m aiming to take it a step further, either by winning the overall or at least securing a podium spot. Winning my home race would be incredible! The first stages will be tough, likely followed by a few sprint stages towards the end. As a team, we’re coming in with the ambition to win, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Other riders to look out for include Jonas Abrahamsen who wore the mountains jersey at the Tour de France for ten days this summer, Damien Howson who finished third overall in 2023, Jacob Scott, a double winner of the King of the Mountains jersey (2019 and 2021) in the race, and Tour of Austria prologue winner Cameron Rogers.

Commenting on the provisional start list, Rod Ellingworth, Men’s Tour of Britain Men Race Director, said; “We are very excited by the line-up of teams and riders who will be on the start line in Kelso on Tuesday, headlined by our 2024 Paris Olympic Games medallists.

“The publication of the provisional start list adds to the sense of excitement building around the Men’s Tour of Britain Men, and we now can’t wait to get racing underway, and for six days of action packed racing for fans to look forward to.”

In total 18 teams, including six that participated in this summer’s Tour de France, from 12 countries will line-up in Scotland for stage one on Tuesday 3 September for a field of 108 riders.

The Scottish Borders stage is followed by legs in the Tees Valley, South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and West Northamptonshire, before concluding in Suffolk on Sunday 8 September after six stages of action-packed racing.

RIDERS (Provisional)

Ineos
1. Tobias Foss NOR
2. Ethan Hayter GBR
3. Tom Pidcock GBR
4. Ben Swift GBR
5. Connor Swift GBR
6. Ben Turner GBR

Soudal Quick-Step
11. Julian Alaphilippe FRA
12. Remco Evenepoel BEL
13. Gil Gelders* BEL
14. Paul Magnier* FRA
15. Gianni Moscon ITA
16. Martin Svrcek* SVK

Bahrain Victorious
21. Pello Bilbao ESP
22. Nicolo’ Buratti ITA
23. Matevž Govekar SLO
24. Wout Poels NED
25. Edoardo Zambanini ITA
26. Vlad Van Mechelen* BEL

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
31. Sean Flynn GBR
32. Bjoern Koerdt* GBR
33. Emīls Liepiņš LAT
34. Oscar Onley* GBR
35. Casper Van Uden NED
36. Oliver Peace* GBR

Groupama FDJ Continental
41. Noah Hobbs* GBR
42. Ben Askey* GBR
43. Lewis Bower* NZL
44. Maxime Decomble* FRA
45. Ronan Augé* FRA
46. Josh Golliker* GBR

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale DT
51. Tom Donnenwirth FRA
52. Noa Isidore* FRA
53. Antoine L’Hote* FRA
54. Rasmus Pedersen* DEN
55. Baptiste Veistroffer* FRA
56. Killian Verschuren* FRA

Israel – Premier Tech
61. Joseph Blackmore* GBR
62. Simon Clarke AUS
63. Nick Schultz AUS
64. Jake Stewart GBR
65. Ethan Vernon GBR
66. Stevie Williams GBR

71. Jonas Abrahamsen NOR
72. Erlend Bljkra NOR
73. Odd Christian Eiking NOR
74. Erik Resell NOR
75. Markus Hoelgaard NOR
76. Anders Halland Johanssen NOR

Q36.5 Pro Cycling
81. Mark Donovan GBR
82. Damien Howson AUS
83. Jelte Krijnsen NED
84. Joey Rosskopf USA
85. Rory Townsend IRL
86. Nickolas Zukowsky CAN

Lidl-Trek Future Racing
91. Nils Abersold* SUI
92. Kristian Egholm* DEN
93. Cole Kessler* USA
94. Liam O’Brien* IRL
95. Cameron Rogers* AUS
96. Paul Verbnjak AUT

Van Rysel – Roubaix
101. Kevin Avoine FRA
102. Remi Capron FRA
103. Samuel Leroux FRA
104. Emmanuel Morin FRA
105. Norman Vahtra EST
106. Oscar Nilsson-Julien* FRA

Project Echelon Racing
111. Cade Bickmore USA
112. Laurent Gervais CAN
113. Ethan Craine* NZL
114. Colby Lange USA
115. Hugo Scala Jr USA
116. Scott McGill USA

TRINITY Racing
121. Robert Donaldson* GBR
122. Callum Thornley* GBR
123. Joseph Pidcock* GBR
124. Fergus Browning* AUS
125. Dean Harvey* IRL
126. Alex Beldon* GBR

Sabgal / Anicolor
131. Mathias Bregnhoj DEN
132. Julius Johansen DEN
133. Andre Carvalho POR
134. Oliver Rees GBR
135. Duarte Domingues* POR
136. José Sousa POR

Saint Piran
141. Rowan Baker* GBR
142. James McKay GBR
143. Josh Ludman* AUS
144. Bradley Symonds GBR
145. Oliver Wood GBR
146. Dylan Westley GBR

Global 6 United
151. Giacomo Ballabio ITA
152. Ronan O’Connor* IRL
153. Callum Ormiston RSA
154. Wesley Mol NED
155. James Jobber GBR
156. Edouard Bonnefoix FRA

REMBE PCT Sauerland
161. Jacob Scott GBR
162. Paul Wright NZL
163. Lennart Voege GER
164. Yago Aguirre* ESP
165. Jonathan Rottmann* GER
166. Silas Köch* GER

Great Britain
171. Max Greensill* GBR
172. Jed Smithson* GBR
173. Ben Wiggins* GBR
174. Matt Holmes GBR
175. Michael Gill GBR
176. Tomos Pattinson* GBR

STAGES
Stage 1: Tuesday 3 September — Kelso to Kelso
Stage 2: Wednesday 4 September — Darlington to Redcar
Stage 3: Thursday 5 September — Sheffield to Barnsley
Stage 4: Friday 6 September — Derby to Newark-on-Trent
Stage 5: Saturday 7 September — Northampton to Northampton
Stage 6: Sunday 8 September — Lowestoft to Felixstowe