Team INEOS, Team Jumbo – Visma and Team Sunweb headline the 20 teams confirmed for this September’s OVO Energy Tour of Britain, which starts with two stages in Scotland.
Eleven teams fresh from competing in the Tour de France will take part in the 16th edition of the modern Tour (Saturday 7 – 14 September), including the French AG2R La Mondiale squad of Romain Bardet, who make their first appearance since 2009.
In total the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will welcome 10 UCI World Tour teams in 2019 including Team Dimension Data of Mark Cavendish, EF Education First Pro Cycling, Lotto Soudal, Mitchelton - SCOTT, Team KATUSHA ALPECIN and the Movistar Team who won the team classification at the Tour de France last month.
Five UCI ProContinental squads will compete, led by Corendon – Circus Cycling Team, who are already confirmed as bringing rising star Mathieu van der Poel to the race, while the Israel Cycling Academy team will make their debut with a potential line-up including the last back-to-back stage winner in the Tour of Britain Matthias Brändle and former Irish national champion Connor Dunne.
Joining them will be Belgian squads Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team and Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise, who have both previously enjoyed riders winning jerseys in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, and the Danish Riwal Readynez Cycling Team team who impressed on British roads this spring with a stage win in the Tour de Yorkshire for Alexander Kamp.
British fans will also be able to cheer on the Great Britain cycling team once again, with the line again expected to feature the best British professionals from outside of the teams competing, combined with the next generation of home stars, such as Ethan Hayter who took four top 10 stage finishes during the 2018 race for Great Britain.
Four British UCI Continental squads will complete the field, having earned their places through a season long qualification criteria. OVO Energy Tour Series champions Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes will be joined by Madison Genesis, Team WIGGINS Le Col and making their race debut SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling.
Further announcements about the provisional rider list for the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be made throughout August.
OVO Energy Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett said: “Once again we’re delighted to welcome such a strong line-up of teams to the OVO Energy Tour of Britain. From fan favourites such as Team INEOS, Mitchelton-SCOTT and Team Jumbo Visma, alongside notable returnees AG2R La Mondiale, to the four British domestic teams who gained selection following a season-long qualification process, I think we’re in for an exciting eight days of racing in September.”
The OVO Energy Tour of Britain gets underway from George Square in Glasgow on Saturday 7 September, finishing on Deansgate in Manchester city centre on Saturday 14 September.
