The Great Britain Cycling Team have been confirmed as one of the 20 teams set to compete in the 2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain.
The eight-stage event takes place in September, with the Great Britain Cycling Team joining the current top five teams in the UCI WorldTour rankings - Quick-Step Floors, Team Sky, BMC Racing, Movistar Team and Orica Scott.
The 20 teams for the 2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain have today (Monday 7 August) been announced, in a line-up that will feature ten UCI WorldTour teams, plus a further three squads that have competed in one of the two Grand Tours so far in 2017.
All of the top five teams in the current UCI WorldTour rankings – Quick-Step Floors; Team Sky; BMC Racing; Movistar Team and Orica Scott – will be at the OVO Energy Tour of Britain.
Some of the biggest British names in cycling could feature for their teams at the OVO Energy Tour of Britain with Team Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish targeting the Tour to return from his Tour de France injury while Team Sky's Geraint Thomas has already vowed in interviews to race the OVO Energy Tour of Britain for the first time since 2011, with the overall finish of the Tour in his home city of Cardiff for the first time on Sunday 10 September.
Commenting on the line-up, OVO Energy Tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett said;
“We are delighted with this year’s line-up of teams for the OVO Energy Tour of Britain and with riders of the calibre of Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish coming out to say they will be targeting the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, this bodes for a fantastic spectacle for fans at the roadside and watching at home on television.
“The combination of teams from all three levels of the sport, plus the presence of a Great Britain national team and the continuation of six-man teams will continue to make for open and aggressive racing. While our four domestic UCI Continental squads have worked hard to qualify for their national Tour and to have the opportunity to race against the world’s best in front of their home support.”
Selections for the Great Britain Cycling Team will be made nearer to the race itself and a provisional rider list featuring all 120-riders for the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be published towards the end of August.
The OVO Energy Tour of Britain gets underway in Edinburgh on Sunday 3 September, beginning from the city’s iconic Royal Mile outside St Giles’ Cathedral. Following the depart of the world’s top teams and riders in Stage One, amateur cyclists will have the chance to ride around Edinburgh on traffic-free roads in the HSBC UK City Ride.
Spectators are encouraged to register in advance for their free place at the HSBC UK CIty Ride.
Jonny Clay, British Cycling’s director of cycling, said:
“This stellar line-up of riders again reinforces the regard in which the OVO Energy Tour of Britain is held among the world’s best riders and teams. We are extremely proud that, yet again, some of the most recognisable faces in our sport will be racing on British roads, inspiring the next generation of cyclists.
“This year, that inspiration to participation message is taken a step further with the staging of the HSBC UK City Ride in Edinburgh on the same day that the Tour departs the city. Giving people the opportunity to ride on traffic-free streets and also watch the best in the world compete perfectly encapsulates our major event strategy, and we’re looking forward to seeing thousands of people line the streets of Edinburgh and the other locations on the Tour route.”
2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain teams:
An Post Chain Reaction (Ireland)
Bardiani CSF (Italy)
BIKE Channel Canyon (Great Britain)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Cannondale Drapac Pro Cycling (USA)
CCC Sprandi Polkowice (Poland)
Cylance Pro Cycling (USA)
Great Britain national team (Great Britain)
JLT Condor (Great Britain)
Lotto Soudal (Belgium)
Madison Genesis (Great Britain)
Movistar Team (Spain)
ONE Pro Cycling (Great Britain)
Orica Scott (Australia)
Quick-Step Floors (Belgium)
Team Dimension Data (South Africa)
Team Katusha Alpecin (Germany)
Team Lotto NL – Jumbo (Netherlands)
Team Sky (Great Britain)
Wanty Groupe Gobert (Belgium)
