Glittering line-up for The Tour of Britain
Posted: 07/09/10
World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champions prepare for Britain's biggest professional cycle race including Wales own Geraint Thomas and Rob Partridge
This year's Tour of Britain, which begins in less than a week's time on Saturday 11th September, is due to have a glittering line-up of World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champions, plus a whole host of stage winners from the world's biggest races.
Leading the way are British Olympians Steve Cummings, Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins, who boast nine Olympic medals between them, with the latter trio all Gold medallists from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Cummings is also a Commonwealth Games Gold medallist, along with Matthew Hayman, Greg Henderson and Mark Renshaw, while the entire provisional line-up can boast a total of 14 Commonwealth medals amongst them.
Hayman and Renshaw will both be heading to Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games later this year where they will be joined in the Australian team by Richie Porte, Cameron Meyer and Travis Meyer, who are also riding The Tour of Britain, while Henderson has been named in the New Zealand team for the Games.
Also heading to India this October for the Games will be Russell Downing and Jeremy Hunt with Team England, while Rob Partridge and Thomas will be in action for Wales.
Geraint Thomas in action last weekend at the National TT Championships
The 17 teams taking part in the 2010 Tour of Britain also list a number of World Champions from the road and velodrome among their provisional line-ups. Nine former senior World Champions are currently due to take to the start line in Rochdale, with 25 World titles amassed between them.
This includes former World Time Trial Champions Michael Rogers and Bert Grabsch, and a quartet of British World Champions in Clancy, Cummings, Thomas and Wiggins.
Current National Champions are well represented too, with the Road Race Champions jerseys from Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Brazil and Australia all due to be on show in the peloton, while the Time Trial Champions of Australia, Germany and Italy are also riding The Tour of Britain.
A number of former British National Champions will also ride, including former British Road Race Champions Hunt, Matt Stephens, Kristian House and Russell Downing, while Roger Hammond is expected to join this number.
The provisional rider line-up also boasts stage winners from all three Grand Tours, with HTC - Columbia's André Greipel the most successful, having won four stages in the Vuelta a España and two in the Giro d'Italia, while Robbie Hunter, Baden Cooke and Heinrich Haussler are all Tour de France stage winners.
Another nine riders have also graced the top step of the podium at a Great Tour, including Britain's Bradley Wiggins at the Giro d'Italia this May.
The Tour of Britain begins in Rochdale on Saturday 11th September for Stage One to Blackpool in England's Northwest, with riders of 18 different nationalities due to take part. ITV4 will once again be screening highlights of The Tour, from 19:00 - 20:00 every evening during the race.
The Tour of Britain is proud to be partnered with The Prostate Cancer Charity. Don't forget this September your chance to follow in the wheel tracks of the professionals and ride three stages from The Tour of Britain. Go to www.tourride.co.uk to find out more!
For details of this September's Tour of Britain, go to www.tourofbritain.co.uk
You can also follow The Tour of Britain via Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/tourofbritain
ITV4 will be broadcasting daily highlights from The Tour of Britain, each night between 19:00 and 20:00
The Tour of Britain Stages 2010
Stage One Saturday 11th September Rochdale to Blackpool
Stage Two Sunday 12th September The Stoke-on-Trent Stage
Stage Three Monday 13th September Newtown to Swansea
Stage Four Tuesday 14th September Minehead to Teignmouth
Stage Five Wednesday 15th September Tavistock to Glastonbury
Stage Six Thursday 16th September King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth
Stage Seven Friday 17th September Bury St Edmunds to Colchester
Stage Eight Saturday 18th September The TfL London Stage
The Tour of Britain
Re-launched in 2004 after a five year absence from the calendar, The Tour of Britain is now the UK's biggest professional cycle race and the country's largest free-to-watch sporting event.
Ranked at the 2.1 level by the UCI, the sport's governing body, The Tour of Britain attracts some of the world's top cyclists, including Olympic and World Champions and Tour de France stage winners, to compete on British roads each September.
