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The provisional start list contains stage winners from all three Grand Tours, including seven Tour de France stage winners, with 31 victories to their name, 23 of them falling to the world’s number one sprinter and current world road race champion Mark Cavendish.

The rider list also contains four Tour de France jersey winners – Ivan Basso (2002 Best Young Rider), Mark Cavendish (2011 Green Jersey), Samuel Sanchez (2011 King of the Mountains) and Bradley Wiggins (2012 Yellow Jersey).

Six Giro d’Italia stage winners and six Vuelta a Espana stage winners are also on the list, while five of the riders lining up for this year’s Tour of Britain are Olympic medallists, including 2012 Individual Time Trial Champion Bradley Wiggins.

Seven teams line-up for The Tour having competed in this summer’s Tour de France, while Orica GreenEDGE, Liquigas – Cannondale, Saur Sojasun and Team UK Youth all make their Tour of Britain debuts.

Riders from 16 teams and of 23 different nationalities make up the start list for this year’s Tour of Britain, which gets underway in Ipswich on Sunday 9th September, for Stage One through Suffolk and Norfolk to the Norfolk Showground.

Amateur cyclists can take on the same challenges as the professionals via five different Tour Ride sportives this September, in East Anglia, Scotland, Wales, Stoke-on-Trent and at the Birmingham NEC Cycle Show. To sign-up and to take on the challenge of a route inspired by The Tour of Britain, to enter, please visit www.tourride.co.uk.