35 British riders will experience something unique in the sport this week: the feeling attached to riding your home tour. From seasoned professionals aiming for the top step of the podium to young young riders hoping to make a name for themselves, home crowds cheering their every pedal stroke makes it an experience few will forget.
This year, the Tour of Britain Men returns under new ownership, with British Cycling legend Rod Ellingworth taking over the reins as Race Director. Starting in Kelso on Tuesday; Felixstowe is the destination via an exciting route destined to shake up the general classification from the very first day.
The British Continental takes a look at the British riders and teams who will entertain the fans in one of only two men’s UCI races on these shores.
The British Teams
Ineos Grenadiers
Ineos Grenadiers have been ever present at their home race in their various guises since 2010, when the Team Sky project was launched, but have only taken the overall victory once courtesy of Bradley Wiggins in 2013. Tom Pidcock will aim to correct that this year, the Yorkshireman fresh off the back of a bronze medal in XCO Mountain Bike world championships in Andorra.
Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com – 03/09/2023 – Cycling – 2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 1: Altrincham to Manchester (163.6km) – Tom Pidcock of Team INEOS Grenadiers
All-rounder Pidcock is something of an enigma in the professional peloton, a rider with endless potential who has yet to truly find his way at the top level. However, the Strade Bianche and Tour de France stage winner will start the race as one of the favourites, having finished second in the 2022 edition that was curtailed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and can count on a strong team to support him.
Ethan Hayter, who won two stages in 2021 on his way to a fine second place overall, will have eyes on success himself, as well as supporting his teammate Pidcock’s ambitions. The National Road Race Champion is a versatile all-rounder and will find the 2024 route to his liking. Excelling in reduced bunch sprints, where he can rival the very best, the Londoner will be aiming to cap his time at Ineos in style as he prepares to join Soudal-QuickStep next season.
Alongside Pidcock and Hayter are cousins Ben and Connor Swift. Ben will make his 11th appearance at the race, while Connor made his race debut in 2017 for the Madison-Genesis team on his journey to the sport’s top level. Classics specialist Ben Turner rounds out the team having made the top ten at the Renewi Tour of the Benelux, which finished on Sunday.
Great Britain national team
The Great Britain national team have been ever present in the modern version of the Tour of Britain, usually consisting of talented U23 riders gaining valuable experience of a top level UCI race with some more experienced riders to guide them. The squad have taken some impressive wins over the years with Roger Hammond famously beating world champion Tom Boonen in a bunch sprint into Blackpool back in 2006, Paul Manning soloing into Glasgow a year later and a young Simon Yates announcing himself to the world by winning atop Haytor Vale in 2013 on the way to a GC podium.
Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com – 12/05/2024 – Cycling – British Cycling Open National Road Series 2024 – Rapha Men’s Lincoln Grand Prix – Matthew Holmes wins The Lincoln Grand Prix
This year, the team is led by former WorldTour rider Matt Holmes, who returned to road racing with a brilliant Lincoln GP win after a winter on the track with the national team. The Lancastrian climber is joined by some of the most promising riders in the country, chief among them, Max Walker. The Manxman hasn’t looked back since joining the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team in February after impressing on their training camp. Medals in the road race and time trial at the National Road Championships demonstrated he is capable of riding at WorldTour level and this week gives him the chance to prove that.
Gifted time triallist Ben Wiggins, a first year U23 with the Hagens Berman Jayco team, will follow in his father, Bradley’s, footsteps in riding his home tour; Wiggins senior winning the race overall in 2013.
Louis Sutton gets the chance to ride his home tour after spending the past two years in France with AVC Aix-en-Provence. Recently third in a mountainous stage of the Tour de L’Avenir, Sutton should arrive in good form. Max Greensill is a surprise addition to the startlist, the 19-year-old more accustomed to cyclocross and mountain biking, where he has just competed for Great Britain at the World Championships in Andorra.
Rounding out the lineup is Michael Gill, the Richardsons Trek-DAS rider achieving a dream call up to the race. A local to stage two, time trial specialist Gill has previously competed for the national team on the track and will be a strong rouleur over the six stages.
Saint Piran
Saint Piran are one of only two Continental teams registered in Britain and have caught the eye in their appearances at the race so far, taking 6th overall with Zeb Kyffin last year, earning a host of fans through their social media presence and open approach to spectators at the race.
Although a top placing on GC may be out of touch this year after an indifferent season, expect the Cornish outfit, under the guise of DS pairing Chris Lawless and Julian Winn, to race aggressively and push for their maiden stage win.
Picture by Andrew Smith/SWpix.com – 14/04/2024 – Cycling – British Cycling Open Men’s National Road Series – 2024 East Cleveland Classic – Redcar and Cleveland and Saltburn by the Sea – Rowan Baker – Saint Piran
Rowan Baker and James McKay are in line for their Tour of Britain debuts, the former the winner of the East Cleveland Classic back in April, while McKay has been consistent across the season, picking up podiums in three out of the four National Road Series races so far. The pair completed a 1-2 at the recent Victor Berlemont Road Race, one of the toughest National B races on the calendar, ideal preparation for the step up ahead of them.
Rouleur Dylan Westley will also be riding the race for the first time, the Yorkshireman starting the season with Saint Piran’s USKIS development team before it was absorbed by the Continental team. Track star Ollie Wood returns for a fifth participation, his first for the team, while Bradley Symonds completes the British contingent after riding the race last year.
The British team includes one foreign import, Australian Josh Ludman, another USKIS alumnus, who claimed a stage win in the Tour of Japan earlier in the season.
TRINITY Racing
Registered in Britain, TRINITY Racing have carved a reputation as one of the best development teams in the world, with a truly international line up. They make another appearance in their home tour and are no stranger to winning on British roads, Luke Lamperti winning the CiCLE Classic and Lincoln GP before moving to WorldTour giants Soudal-QuickStep.
Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com – 23/06/2024 – British Cycling – 2024 Lloyds Bank National Road Championships – Men’s Road Race – Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England – Bob Donaldson of Trinity Racing takes the U23 National Title
They include four Brits in their team including Bob Donaldson, the 22-year-old sprinter who will join the WorldTour ranks next year with Jayco-Alula. Donaldson is the only one of the Trinity team with experience of the race, with Tom Pidcock’s younger brother Joe, Kelso native Callum Thornley, and first year U23 Alex Beldon all set to make their debuts.
The WorldTour and ProTour contingent
Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) will have the honour of leading his team as the race kicks off in his hometown of Kelso. The climber is one of the WorldTour’s hottest prospects and despite breaking his collarbone twice this season has made quite an impact, winning a stage of the Tour Down Under and making his Tour de France debut.
Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com – 20/01/2024 – Cycling – 2024 Tour Down Under – Stage 5: Christies Beach to Willunga Hill (129.3km) – Oscar Onley, Team DSM Firmeninch Post NL, wins Stage 5.
A potential winner of the race overall, Only can rely on the support of three fellow Brits, including Scot Sean Flynn, himself an excellent climber, and Oliver Peace, the first year U23 who steps up from the development team. Bjoern Keordt has had a meteoric rise since moving to the competitive French amateur scene at the start of last year, earning a stagiaire ride with the team. He rides his third race for the Dutch outfit this week.
One of the headline riders for the race will be Joe Blackmore, the first British rider to win the Tour de L’Avenir, the prestigious U23 version of the Tour de France. He has enjoyed a rapid rise since signing with the Israel-PremierTech Development Team over the winter, arriving off the back of a career mostly focusing on cyclocross and mountain biking. Winning three stage races as well as a magnificent 4th place at the Brabantse Pijl earned the 21-year-old a step up to the WorldTour team in May. A real all-rounder with a talent for climbing, Blackmore should arrive in prime form and ready to mix it with some of the sport’s best known names.
Picture by Will Palmer/SWpix.com – 01/09/2024 – Cycling – 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships – Pal Arinsal, Arinsal, Andorra – Men Under 23 Cross-country Olympic Final – Joseph Blackmore (Great Britain) after the race
Stevie Williams is enjoying a renaissance at Israel-PremierTech since joining the team at the start of 2023, the Welsh climber winning the Arctic Race of Norway last year followed by the Tour Down Under and a memorable Fleche Wallonne this season. Third in Stage 7 last year, riding for the Great Britain National Team, Williams will have his sights on much greater things with a hillier route likely to suit him.
Joining them will be sprinter Ethan Vernon who was part of the Team GB track squad in the Paris Olympic Games, coming home with a silver medal. With bunch sprints likely in Newark and Felixstowe, he will have his sights set on a stage win, where he will be led out by Jake Stewart.
Mark Donovan heads back to his home tour following an impressive 5th place overall last year. The climber has had a new lease of life with Doug Ryder’s Q36.5 outfit and has been in good form recently with GC top tens at the Czech and Sibiu Tours. Although riding under an Irish licence, Rory Townsend will be no stranger to British fans, having spent a number of years on the domestic circuit. Now a fully fledged pro, he offers the Swiss team an option in the more selective bunch sprints.
Continental raiders
The Tour of Britain plays host to ten third tier UCI Continental teams this year, giving British riders racing abroad the chance to impress on home roads.
Ollie Rees joined the Portuguese Sabgal / Anicolor team last winter after four seasons with Trinity Racing and has raced a varied programme from the highly competitive Volta ao Algarve to National A races in the UK. He told The British Continental back in February he hoped to impress in 2.Pro races by animating the race in breakaways, so look out for the Yorkshireman at the front of the race.
Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com – 28/06/2024 – Cycling – British Cycling 2024 Lloyds Bank National Circuit Series – Ilkley Cycle Races – Lister Horsfall Men’s Grand Prix – Ilkley, England – Oliver Rees of Sabgal/Anicolor
REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland include Jacob Scott on their roster, who first rode the race in 2016 and has twice won the Mountains Classification. Can he make it a third, or will the experienced rider be hunting a lucrative stage win for the German team.
Equipe Continentale Groupama-FDJ have proved a fruitful breeding ground for British riders heading to the WorldTour, Lewis Askey and new Ineos Grenadiers signing Sam Watson among those starting their career with the French development team.
Askey’s younger brother Ben lines up for Marc Madiot’s squad alongside one of the brightest talents in the sport Noah Hobbs. Hobbs wore the leader’s jersey at thr Arctic Race of Norway last year, the highlight of a short but impressive career. He told The British Continental he is a sprinter, albeit one who can get over climbs, and will be eyeing a stage win which is very much in his grasp.
Picture Olly Hassell/SWpix.com – 19/06/2024 – Road Cycling – British Cycling 2024 Lloyds Bank National Individual Time Trial Championships – Elite and U23 Men – Catterick, North Yorkshire – Groupama-FDJ La Conti’s Joshua Golliker
Climber Josh Golliker also rides the race for the first time having joined the team last year. After an impressive 2023, Golliker will be hoping to finish 2024 on a high note with the stage in South Yorkshire perhaps his best chance to impact the race.
James Jobber has spent a career on the books of various UCI Continental teams and the 30-year-old journeyman will make his Tour of Britain debut for the Global 6 United team. Jobber has proved his ability with 8th overall in the Tour de Taiwan previously, and, along with his team, will hope to ignite the race, taking it to the WorldTour teams in the breakaways.
35 British riders will experience something unique in the sport this week: the feeling attached to riding your home tour. From seasoned professionals aiming for the top step of the podium to young young riders hoping to make a name for themselves, home crowds cheering their every pedal stroke makes it an experience few will forget.
This year, the Tour of Britain Men returns under new ownership, with British Cycling legend Rod Ellingworth taking over the reins as Race Director. Starting in Kelso on Tuesday; Felixstowe is the destination via an exciting route destined to shake up the general classification from the very first day.
The British Continental takes a look at the British riders and teams who will entertain the fans in one of only two men’s UCI races on these shores.
The British Teams
Ineos Grenadiers
Ineos Grenadiers have been ever present at their home race in their various guises since 2010, when the Team Sky project was launched, but have only taken the overall victory once courtesy of Bradley Wiggins in 2013. Tom Pidcock will aim to correct that this year, the Yorkshireman fresh off the back of a bronze medal in XCO Mountain Bike world championships in Andorra.
All-rounder Pidcock is something of an enigma in the professional peloton, a rider with endless potential who has yet to truly find his way at the top level. However, the Strade Bianche and Tour de France stage winner will start the race as one of the favourites, having finished second in the 2022 edition that was curtailed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and can count on a strong team to support him.
Ethan Hayter, who won two stages in 2021 on his way to a fine second place overall, will have eyes on success himself, as well as supporting his teammate Pidcock’s ambitions. The National Road Race Champion is a versatile all-rounder and will find the 2024 route to his liking. Excelling in reduced bunch sprints, where he can rival the very best, the Londoner will be aiming to cap his time at Ineos in style as he prepares to join Soudal-QuickStep next season.
Alongside Pidcock and Hayter are cousins Ben and Connor Swift. Ben will make his 11th appearance at the race, while Connor made his race debut in 2017 for the Madison-Genesis team on his journey to the sport’s top level. Classics specialist Ben Turner rounds out the team having made the top ten at the Renewi Tour of the Benelux, which finished on Sunday.
Great Britain national team
The Great Britain national team have been ever present in the modern version of the Tour of Britain, usually consisting of talented U23 riders gaining valuable experience of a top level UCI race with some more experienced riders to guide them. The squad have taken some impressive wins over the years with Roger Hammond famously beating world champion Tom Boonen in a bunch sprint into Blackpool back in 2006, Paul Manning soloing into Glasgow a year later and a young Simon Yates announcing himself to the world by winning atop Haytor Vale in 2013 on the way to a GC podium.
This year, the team is led by former WorldTour rider Matt Holmes, who returned to road racing with a brilliant Lincoln GP win after a winter on the track with the national team. The Lancastrian climber is joined by some of the most promising riders in the country, chief among them, Max Walker. The Manxman hasn’t looked back since joining the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team in February after impressing on their training camp. Medals in the road race and time trial at the National Road Championships demonstrated he is capable of riding at WorldTour level and this week gives him the chance to prove that.
Gifted time triallist Ben Wiggins, a first year U23 with the Hagens Berman Jayco team, will follow in his father, Bradley’s, footsteps in riding his home tour; Wiggins senior winning the race overall in 2013.
Louis Sutton gets the chance to ride his home tour after spending the past two years in France with AVC Aix-en-Provence. Recently third in a mountainous stage of the Tour de L’Avenir, Sutton should arrive in good form. Max Greensill is a surprise addition to the startlist, the 19-year-old more accustomed to cyclocross and mountain biking, where he has just competed for Great Britain at the World Championships in Andorra.
Rounding out the lineup is Michael Gill, the Richardsons Trek-DAS rider achieving a dream call up to the race. A local to stage two, time trial specialist Gill has previously competed for the national team on the track and will be a strong rouleur over the six stages.
Saint Piran
Saint Piran are one of only two Continental teams registered in Britain and have caught the eye in their appearances at the race so far, taking 6th overall with Zeb Kyffin last year, earning a host of fans through their social media presence and open approach to spectators at the race.
Although a top placing on GC may be out of touch this year after an indifferent season, expect the Cornish outfit, under the guise of DS pairing Chris Lawless and Julian Winn, to race aggressively and push for their maiden stage win.
Rowan Baker and James McKay are in line for their Tour of Britain debuts, the former the winner of the East Cleveland Classic back in April, while McKay has been consistent across the season, picking up podiums in three out of the four National Road Series races so far. The pair completed a 1-2 at the recent Victor Berlemont Road Race, one of the toughest National B races on the calendar, ideal preparation for the step up ahead of them.
Rouleur Dylan Westley will also be riding the race for the first time, the Yorkshireman starting the season with Saint Piran’s USKIS development team before it was absorbed by the Continental team. Track star Ollie Wood returns for a fifth participation, his first for the team, while Bradley Symonds completes the British contingent after riding the race last year.
The British team includes one foreign import, Australian Josh Ludman, another USKIS alumnus, who claimed a stage win in the Tour of Japan earlier in the season.
TRINITY Racing
Registered in Britain, TRINITY Racing have carved a reputation as one of the best development teams in the world, with a truly international line up. They make another appearance in their home tour and are no stranger to winning on British roads, Luke Lamperti winning the CiCLE Classic and Lincoln GP before moving to WorldTour giants Soudal-QuickStep.
They include four Brits in their team including Bob Donaldson, the 22-year-old sprinter who will join the WorldTour ranks next year with Jayco-Alula. Donaldson is the only one of the Trinity team with experience of the race, with Tom Pidcock’s younger brother Joe, Kelso native Callum Thornley, and first year U23 Alex Beldon all set to make their debuts.
The WorldTour and ProTour contingent
Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) will have the honour of leading his team as the race kicks off in his hometown of Kelso. The climber is one of the WorldTour’s hottest prospects and despite breaking his collarbone twice this season has made quite an impact, winning a stage of the Tour Down Under and making his Tour de France debut.
A potential winner of the race overall, Only can rely on the support of three fellow Brits, including Scot Sean Flynn, himself an excellent climber, and Oliver Peace, the first year U23 who steps up from the development team. Bjoern Keordt has had a meteoric rise since moving to the competitive French amateur scene at the start of last year, earning a stagiaire ride with the team. He rides his third race for the Dutch outfit this week.
One of the headline riders for the race will be Joe Blackmore, the first British rider to win the Tour de L’Avenir, the prestigious U23 version of the Tour de France. He has enjoyed a rapid rise since signing with the Israel-PremierTech Development Team over the winter, arriving off the back of a career mostly focusing on cyclocross and mountain biking. Winning three stage races as well as a magnificent 4th place at the Brabantse Pijl earned the 21-year-old a step up to the WorldTour team in May. A real all-rounder with a talent for climbing, Blackmore should arrive in prime form and ready to mix it with some of the sport’s best known names.
Stevie Williams is enjoying a renaissance at Israel-PremierTech since joining the team at the start of 2023, the Welsh climber winning the Arctic Race of Norway last year followed by the Tour Down Under and a memorable Fleche Wallonne this season. Third in Stage 7 last year, riding for the Great Britain National Team, Williams will have his sights on much greater things with a hillier route likely to suit him.
Joining them will be sprinter Ethan Vernon who was part of the Team GB track squad in the Paris Olympic Games, coming home with a silver medal. With bunch sprints likely in Newark and Felixstowe, he will have his sights set on a stage win, where he will be led out by Jake Stewart.
Mark Donovan heads back to his home tour following an impressive 5th place overall last year. The climber has had a new lease of life with Doug Ryder’s Q36.5 outfit and has been in good form recently with GC top tens at the Czech and Sibiu Tours. Although riding under an Irish licence, Rory Townsend will be no stranger to British fans, having spent a number of years on the domestic circuit. Now a fully fledged pro, he offers the Swiss team an option in the more selective bunch sprints.
Continental raiders
The Tour of Britain plays host to ten third tier UCI Continental teams this year, giving British riders racing abroad the chance to impress on home roads.
Ollie Rees joined the Portuguese Sabgal / Anicolor team last winter after four seasons with Trinity Racing and has raced a varied programme from the highly competitive Volta ao Algarve to National A races in the UK. He told The British Continental back in February he hoped to impress in 2.Pro races by animating the race in breakaways, so look out for the Yorkshireman at the front of the race.
REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland include Jacob Scott on their roster, who first rode the race in 2016 and has twice won the Mountains Classification. Can he make it a third, or will the experienced rider be hunting a lucrative stage win for the German team.
Equipe Continentale Groupama-FDJ have proved a fruitful breeding ground for British riders heading to the WorldTour, Lewis Askey and new Ineos Grenadiers signing Sam Watson among those starting their career with the French development team.
Askey’s younger brother Ben lines up for Marc Madiot’s squad alongside one of the brightest talents in the sport Noah Hobbs. Hobbs wore the leader’s jersey at thr Arctic Race of Norway last year, the highlight of a short but impressive career. He told The British Continental he is a sprinter, albeit one who can get over climbs, and will be eyeing a stage win which is very much in his grasp.
Climber Josh Golliker also rides the race for the first time having joined the team last year. After an impressive 2023, Golliker will be hoping to finish 2024 on a high note with the stage in South Yorkshire perhaps his best chance to impact the race.
James Jobber has spent a career on the books of various UCI Continental teams and the 30-year-old journeyman will make his Tour of Britain debut for the Global 6 United team. Jobber has proved his ability with 8th overall in the Tour de Taiwan previously, and, along with his team, will hope to ignite the race, taking it to the WorldTour teams in the breakaways.
Featured image: SWpix.com
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