Tour of Britain Men 2024: Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallists Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock to headline start list as Sir Mark Cavendish to be celebrated in Felixstowe
Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallists Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) will headline the 108-rider start list for this year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men.
East Suffolk will host the final stage of the event, that starts today, on Sunday, and cyclists will pass through Framlingham (12.50pm approx) on their way to Felixstowe as the race reaches its conclusion – which will begin in Lowestoft at 11am.
Olympic road race and time-trial champion Evenepoel and cross-country mountain bike champion Pidcock, will be joined by a brace of British silver medallists from the team pursuit squad in Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) and Ethan Vernon (Israel – Premier Tech).
“I am looking forward to returning to racing at the Tour of Britain, after my post-Olympics break,” said Evenepoel.
“My last period of racing was very special for me and it was great that I could recharge a little afterwards, but it’s time to pin on a number again as I look forward to the big races of this autumn.
“It is especially nice that I can start in Scotland, where I have the memories of winning the Worlds ITT race last summer.”
Hayter, who is also the current Lloyds Bank British national road race champion, is part of an INEOS Grenadiers line-up who will feel well at home on stage three in South Yorkshire, with team members Ben Swift, Connor Swift, and Ben Turner, hailing from Rotherham, Thorne, and Doncaster respectively in that region.
Swift and Turner arrive at the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men having finished first and third respectively at the British National Gravel Championships in Scotland this weekend.
The INEOS Grenadiers line-up is completed by race debutant Tobias Foss, the 2022 world time-trial champion.
Meanwhile, Bradley Wiggins’ son, Ben (Great Britain Cycling Team), will make his Tour of Britain debut alongside fellow Brits Joseph Pidcock (TRINITY Racing), younger brother of Tom, and Ben Askey (Groupama-FDJ Continental).
Among the other British riders lining up in Scotland will be Matt Holmes (Great Britain Cycling Team) and Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), who have both won the Best British Rider prize in the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, in 2019 and 2023 respectively.
Speaking on the provisional start list, Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men race director Rod Ellingworth, said: “We are very excited by the line-up of teams and riders who will be on the start line in Kelso on Tuesday, headlined by our 2024 Paris Olympic Games medallists.
“The publication of the provisional start list adds to the sense of excitement building around the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, and we now can’t wait to get racing underway, and for six days of action packed racing for fans to look forward to.”
Live coverage of the race, that begins in Kelso (Scottish borders) will be shown daily across the UK on ITV 4.
The final stage is expected to finish between 2.08 and 2.53pm in Felixstowe.
Sir Mark Cavendish's career to be celebrated in Felixstowe
Sir Mark Cavendish, the Tour de France’s all-time record holder for stage wins and cycling’s greatest sprinter, will attend the final stage of this year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men in Felixstowe, on Sunday.
The homecoming will be a chance for home fans to celebrate Cavendish’s career and recognise his incredible achievements, headlined by his 35th Tour de France stage win this summer, which saw him break the record he held jointly with Eddy Merckx.
Cavendish extended his career by a further year after being forced to abandon the 2023 Tour de France with a broken collar-bone and sealed his record-breaking feat on stage five this July – 16 years after his first victory at the world’s biggest race.
After starting his career on the Great Britain Cycling Team Junior Academy programme in 2003, he has entertained millions and inspired a generation of young British cyclists to follow in his tracks. A formidable racer on both road and track, his palmares also include a world road race title, three world titles on the track and an Olympic silver medal.
Cavendish also holds the record for stage wins in the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, having taken 10 victories in the race between 2007 and 2013, and will attend the final stage of this year’s race with his family, allowing fans and British Cycling to mark his contribution to the sport.
“We have been proud to support Mark from his early days on the Great Britain Cycling Team academy to his final Tour de France,” said Jon Dutton, British Cycling chief executive.
“His passion for the sport has been a real inspiration to so many, not least the next generation of road and track champions.
“It is truly special to have him return with his family to celebrate his remarkable career at a race where he has left such a significant mark, and we hope he enjoys what is set to be an incredibly exciting final stage, from the other side of the barriers.”
