Boonen to ride Tour of Britain

World Champion Tom Boonen (Quickstep-Innergetic) has confirmed he will ride the six-stage Tour of Britain starting on July 29. Boonen claimed a stage win in Nottingham in 2004.

Quickstep claimed the team prize last year and Nick Nuyens won the overall prize. Other ProTour teams that will take part include CSC, T-Mobile, Phonak-iShares and Davitamon-Lotto.

Tony Doyle event director said of Boonen's participation, "It's great that he wants to ride the Tour of Britain again. Having the current Road Race World Champion and holder of the Tour de France yellow jersey for three days riding the Tour will be fantastic for the British public.

"Add this to the fact that several of the top teams, including CSC and T-Mobile have confirmed their participation, the field for the 2006 race will be the strongest yet."

Boonen and the other cyclists will attend the Tour of Britain dinner, being held on Friday 1 September at the Café Royal in London. Other guests include the former General Director of the Tour de France - Jean-Marie Leblanc.

The 2006 Tour of Britain will consist of six stages starting on Tuesday 29 August in Glasgow. The Tour then takes in new routes in the Northwest, Yorkshire and The West Midlands, before a new fifth stage in the Southeast ending in Canterbury, the finish city of the first stage of the 2007 Tour De France.

The stages

Stage 1 - August 29: Scotland, Glasgow to Castle Douglas
Stage 2 - August 30: Northwest, Blackpool to Liverpool
Stage 3 - August 31: Yorkshire (to be confirmed)
Stage 4 - September 1: West Midlands, Starting in Wolverhampton
Stage 5 - September 2: Southeast, Rochester to Canterbury
Stage 6 - September 3: London, Greenwich to The Mall