Cycling stars ready for Tour of Britain 2023 as provisional start list is announced

The Tour of Britain provisional start list has been announced in the lead up to the race starting on September 3.

Former Tour of Britain champions Wout van Aert and Gonzalo Serrano, alongside home fan favourite Tom Pidcock, will all compete in next week’s race, which starts in Greater Manchester on Sunday (3 September) with the announcement of the provisional rider list for the Tour.

Having wowed the British crowds by taking four stages en route to overall victory two years ago, van Aert’s return headlines the provisional start list. The Belgian will spearhead a Jumbo – Visma team that is one of the strongest to ever compete in the race. Alongside him will be Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij, already a winner of seven races in 2023, Grand Tour podium finisher Steven Kruijswijk, time trial specialists Jos van Emden and Edoardo Affini, and Nathan Van Hooydonck.

Spaniard Serrano (Movistar Team) will seek to do what no rider has accomplished in the modern era of the race and defend the title he claimed 12 months ago.

Van Aert and Serrano are among the historic stage winners set to compete in this year’s race.

Further home interest comes in the form of Jacob Scott (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), the Pinarello king of the mountains competition winner in 2019 and 2021; newly-crowned track world champion Ethan Vernon (Great Britain), Tour de Yorkshire stage winner Harry Tanfield (TDT –Unibet Cycling Team); and Stevie Williams (Great Britain), who won a stage and the general classification at the recent Arctic Race of Norway.

Here are the road closures in Bridlington during the Tour of Britain race

While spectators can watch all the action by the roadside for free, race day hospitality packages offering guaranteed prime views of stage starts and finishes, as well as unforgettable experiences featuring Tour de France stage winner Dan Martin are now available. Visit sportsbreaks.com/Cycling and destinationsportexperiences.com/Cycling/Hospitality for more information.

The Tour of Britain 2023 covers eight stages and over 1,200 kilometres of racing around the country. Following the Greater Manchester Grand Départ, the race will visit North Wales, East Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, Essex, and Gloucestershire.

Stage three, which will take place on Tuesday September 5, will start in Goole, go through Bridlington and ends at Beverley.

This year’s champion will be crowned in historic Caerphilly following an undulating stage in South Wales that takes in some of the country’s most famous climbs, including the Bwlch, Rhigos, Bryn Du, and Caerphilly Mountain.

This is the 19th edition of the race, and it forms part of the prestigious UCI ProSeries. A predicted 1.5 million spectators are expected to watch the 16 teams in action, capitalising on the free-to-attend nature of the event.