Five times up Michaelgate: the 2026 Tour of Britain Men route is confirmed
British Cycling has confirmed the roads that will shape September's Lloyds Tour of Britain Men - 910.3 kilometres from Lincoln to the Scottish Borders, beginning over the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix circuit and likely to hinge on a hard Yorkshire Dales stage to Leyburn.
The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will open on one of the most familiar stretches of road in British racing. When the race starts in Lincoln on Wednesday 2 September, the opening stage will climb Michaelgate five times on the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix circuit—the cobbled ramp that defines one of the set-piece days of the National Road Series each May—before the race turns north, following the eastern side of Britain towards a final weekend in the Dales and the Scottish Borders.
British Cycling has now published the full stage routes, confirming the parcours behind the host venues revealed last month. The five stages cover 910.3 kilometres and 8,814 metres of climbing, starting in Lincolnshire, tracking the coast through East Yorkshire and into North Yorkshire, then crossing to the Borders for the final stage. The race is part of the UCI ProSeries. Jonathan Day, Director of Events for British Cycling Ventures, said the route had been designed to bring “unique challenges to the riders” across the five days.
Stage one
Stage one runs 187.6 kilometres out into the Lincolnshire Wolds—through Market Rasen and Caistor, the route’s northernmost point—before returning to a city-centre finishing circuit and the Michaelgate climb. The riders will take on the Lincoln Grand Prix course after roughly 120 kilometres of racing.
Stage 2
The race turns to the coast on Thursday 3 September. Stage two runs 185.2 kilometres from Boston to Skegness, passing RAF Coningsby before heading back into the Wolds, where it crosses the opening stage’s route at Binbrook. From there, the race drops through Louth and the resorts of Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea towards what looks likely to be a sprint finish in Skegness.
Stage 3
Friday’s stage three is the longest of the race at 200.6 kilometres. Leaving Hull, the route follows the Holderness coast through Withernsea, Hornsea and Skipsea before a run of climbs around Burton Agnes and Driffield. It finishes on a 16-kilometre circuit in Beverley, ridden four times, with each lap closing on an uphill drag to the racecourse.
Stage 4
Stage four is the day most likely to decide the race, and confirms the climbers’ stage The British Continental flagged when the host venues were named. The 170.5-kilometre run from Helmsley to Leyburn on Saturday 5 September carries 2,459 metres of climbing through the Yorkshire Dales. Greenhow Bank comes first out of Pateley Bridge—4 kilometres at 7.2%—before Kidstones, 2.9 kilometres at 6.3% and ramping to 12.6%, on roads familiar from the opening stage of the 2014 Tour de France and the 2019 World Championships road race.
Greets Moss and Grinton Moor follow in quick succession before the drop to Leyburn, which hosts a Tour finish for the first time. If the first three days are about positioning, patience and staying out of trouble, this is where the race should be pulled open.
Stage 5
The race crosses into Scotland for Sunday’s finale, with Earlston hosting both the start and finish of a Tour stage for the first time. Stage five heads out through Kelso, Greenlaw and Duns before a testing sector in the Lammermuir Hills—Whiteadder Water, Redstone Rig and Duddy Bank—and two finishing laps of a 19-kilometre circuit.
The Borders host the climax a year before the region plays a central role in the opening stage of the 2027 Tour de France, giving the final day a neat piece of foreshadowing as well as a demanding route in its own right.
The routes for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will follow soon, British Cycling said.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will open on one of the most familiar stretches of road in British racing. When the race starts in Lincoln on Wednesday 2 September, the opening stage will climb Michaelgate five times on the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix circuit—the cobbled ramp that defines one of the set-piece days of the National Road Series each May—before the race turns north, following the eastern side of Britain towards a final weekend in the Dales and the Scottish Borders.
British Cycling has now published the full stage routes, confirming the parcours behind the host venues revealed last month. The five stages cover 910.3 kilometres and 8,814 metres of climbing, starting in Lincolnshire, tracking the coast through East Yorkshire and into North Yorkshire, then crossing to the Borders for the final stage. The race is part of the UCI ProSeries. Jonathan Day, Director of Events for British Cycling Ventures, said the route had been designed to bring “unique challenges to the riders” across the five days.
Stage one
Stage one runs 187.6 kilometres out into the Lincolnshire Wolds—through Market Rasen and Caistor, the route’s northernmost point—before returning to a city-centre finishing circuit and the Michaelgate climb. The riders will take on the Lincoln Grand Prix course after roughly 120 kilometres of racing.
Stage 2
The race turns to the coast on Thursday 3 September. Stage two runs 185.2 kilometres from Boston to Skegness, passing RAF Coningsby before heading back into the Wolds, where it crosses the opening stage’s route at Binbrook. From there, the race drops through Louth and the resorts of Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea towards what looks likely to be a sprint finish in Skegness.
Stage 3
Friday’s stage three is the longest of the race at 200.6 kilometres. Leaving Hull, the route follows the Holderness coast through Withernsea, Hornsea and Skipsea before a run of climbs around Burton Agnes and Driffield. It finishes on a 16-kilometre circuit in Beverley, ridden four times, with each lap closing on an uphill drag to the racecourse.
Stage 4
Stage four is the day most likely to decide the race, and confirms the climbers’ stage The British Continental flagged when the host venues were named. The 170.5-kilometre run from Helmsley to Leyburn on Saturday 5 September carries 2,459 metres of climbing through the Yorkshire Dales. Greenhow Bank comes first out of Pateley Bridge—4 kilometres at 7.2%—before Kidstones, 2.9 kilometres at 6.3% and ramping to 12.6%, on roads familiar from the opening stage of the 2014 Tour de France and the 2019 World Championships road race.
Greets Moss and Grinton Moor follow in quick succession before the drop to Leyburn, which hosts a Tour finish for the first time. If the first three days are about positioning, patience and staying out of trouble, this is where the race should be pulled open.
Stage 5
The race crosses into Scotland for Sunday’s finale, with Earlston hosting both the start and finish of a Tour stage for the first time. Stage five heads out through Kelso, Greenlaw and Duns before a testing sector in the Lammermuir Hills—Whiteadder Water, Redstone Rig and Duddy Bank—and two finishing laps of a 19-kilometre circuit.
The Borders host the climax a year before the region plays a central role in the opening stage of the 2027 Tour de France, giving the final day a neat piece of foreshadowing as well as a demanding route in its own right.
The routes for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will follow soon, British Cycling said.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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