The Quick Step Floors wolf pack did it again(Image credit: Getty Images)
The riders pass the lights of Piccadilly Circus(Image credit: Getty Images)
Team Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and Team Sunweb headline the 20-team Tour of Britain start list, with Mathieu van der Poel's Corendon-Circus team also invited to the weeklong stage race as the Dutchman heads to Britain early to prepare for the road World Championships in Yorkshire.
Ten WorldTour teams have been invited, with French squad AG2R La Mondiale back in Britain for the first time since 2009. The ten WorldTour teams are Dimension Data, EF Education First, Lotto Soudal, Mitchelton-Scott, Katusha-Alpecin and Movistar. Joining them are Professional Continental teams Corendon-Circus, Israel Cycling Academy, Wanty-Gobert, Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise and the Danish Riwal Readynez team.
The British Continental teams Canyon dhb, Madison Genesis, Wiggins Le Col, SwiftCarbon all get a place after qualifying via the Tour Series criteriums, and a Great Britain team will complete the start list.
The Tour of Britain gets underway in George Square in Glasgow on Saturday, September 7 and finishes Manchester city centre on Saturday, September 14.
Last year, Julian Alaphilippe won the overall classification in London after his team finished second in the team time trial and he was second on the key hilly stage to Whinlatter Pass in the Lake District. However the Frenchman's Deceuninck-QuickStep are not among the participating teams in 2019.
The Tour of Britain have still to confirm the leading riders but Mathieu van der Poel has already said that he will ride.
The 24-year-old world cyclo-cross champion is mixing mountain biking and road racing this summer and is expected to lead the Dutch team at the road Worlds after missing the mountain bike World Championships in Canada at the end of August. He won the Grand Prix of Denain and Dwars door Vlaanderen in the spring, finished fourth at the Tour of Flanders and then won the Amstel Gold Race.
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"I'm happy to go to the Worlds and to have the occasion to get to know the OVO Energy Tour of Britain in the weeks before. I'm really happy that the organiser gives our team the chance to participate for the first time and at the same time helps me preparing for the Worlds in the best possible way," Van der Poel said.
"We'll study the roadbook in order to decide in which stages we will try to go for a stage win."
Team Ineos traditionally field a strong team for the British national tour but it is unclear if Geraint Thomas will ride. He has set his sights on riding for Great Britain in the time trial at the Worlds. Primoz Roglic rode the 2018 Tour of Britain but is likely to target the Vuelta a España this year.
There are no Tour of Britain stages in Yorkshire, where the Worlds will take place, but the race route will allow Van der Poel and others to get used to Britain's grippy, rolling roads, along with getting back into the flow of road racing.
The 1,250-kilometre route visits Scotland, England's North East and North West and the Midlands before the final stage in Manchester. The eight days of racing include uphill finishes at in Newcastle-upon-Tyne city centre, Kendal in Cumbria and Burton Dassett Country Park in Warwickshire, as well as a 14.5km individual time trial in Pershore in Worcestershire.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage from the Tour of Britain, with full stage reports, photo galleries, news and exclusive interviews.
AG2R La Mondiale (France) Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes (Great Britain) Corendon – Circus Cycling Team (Belgium) EF Education First Pro Cycling (USA) Great Britain Cycling Team (Great Britain) Israel Cycling Academy (Israel) Lotto Soudal (Belgium) Madison Genesis (Great Britain) Mitchelton – SCOTT (Australia) Movistar Team (Spain) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team (Denmark) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise (Belgium) SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling (Great Britain) Team Dimension Data (South Africa) Team INEOS (Great Britain) Team Jumbo – Visma Cycling (Netherlands) Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (Switzerland) Team Sunweb (Germany) Team WIGGINS Le Col (Great Britain) Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team (Belgium).
