British Cycling

October 7, 2025

LANDMARK THREE-WEEK CYCLING SPECTACLE SET FOR 2026 LLOYDS TOUR OF BRITAIN

Late August and early September dates for Britain’s biggest cycle events confirmed.
19-23 August for the women’s race; 2-6 September for the men’s race.
British cycling greats back the organisation’s move to host back-to-back races which will create an ‘unmatched buzz’.

— The dates have been confirmed for the Lloyds Tour of Britain women and men in 2026, with the UK’s largest free-to-attend sporting event bringing ten spectacular stages to the roads of Britain across a three-week period in late August and early September next year.

The move, driven by organiser’s British Cycling Events, builds on the unparallelled success of the 2025 editions, and will bring a three-week cycling celebration across the country and is the latest in a string of actions to grow the event for years to come.

For the first time, both of Britain’s biggest professional races will be contested across an equal number of stages, with each race to host five spectacular days of racing featuring the very best riders in the world.

The ten stages will see the world’s best cycling talent fighting to take home the prestigious jerseys at the event: the women’s race on 19-23 August, and the men’s on 2-6 September]. The women’s race moves to a new calendar position and increases to five days, remaining part of the prestigious UCI Women’s WorldTour.

In 2025, both races saw an increase in the size and quality of the field of competing teams and riders, with June’s Lloyds Tour of Britain Women event featuring its largest ever field (19 teams and 110 riders), including 12 top tier UCI Women’s WorldTour teams. The men’s saw the largest field for the race since before the Covid-19 pandemic, and nine UCI WorldTour teams racing, with debuts for the likes of the world’s number one ranked team UAE Team Emirates XRG, and Groupama FDJ, who won the race overall with Romain Grégoire.

British Cycling Events Managing Director, Jonathan Day said:

“Aligning these two major, showpiece events within a matter of weeks will enable us to increase visibility and amplify the extraordinary buzz around each individual race, to continue to build the Lloyds Tour of Britain and engage a growing audience through the joy of cycling.”

“Bringing an equal number of stages across the Lloyds Tour of Britain women and men’s races for the first time is a bold move we are extremely proud of and part of our strategic commitment to achieving gender parity, having already immediately increasing prize money for the women’s race last year.

“We are very excited to seeing many more people from communities across the UK taking to the roadsides in 2026 and beyond for this cycling extravaganza of world-class racing which rides past their front doors.”

Lizzie Deignan, recently retired Olympic silver medallist, commented on the move:

“Throughout my career I’ve always championed women’s sport and races, so it is brilliant to see British Cycling has pushed for full parity in the number of stages at the Lloyds Tour of Britain women and men. I have seen the impact the event has had in communities across the country, and the role it has for inspiring the next generation, especially young girls who want to get out and ride a bike, whether it is competitively or recreationally.

“I have seen gradual change during my career, and this is another positive step for women’s cycling. A move like this to bring the joy of cycling to more people is incredibly encouraging, and I am excited to see the world-class racing at the Tour in 2026.”

Geraint Thomas, who bowed out from racing at the Lloyds Tour of Britain recently, added,

“The Lloyds Tour of Britain is such a high-quality race- you only have to look at the standard of racing and the atmosphere across the stages this year to see why it’s getting a reputation globally amongst the best teams in the world. The crowds in Britain are the best in the world, so having the women’s and men’s races so close together will bring an unmatched buzz and create a carnival atmosphere to roadsides across the UK, building on the incredible experiences I have enjoyed at the race throughout my career.”

– ENDS –

About British Cycling

British Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling in Great Britain. We govern and develop the sport from grassroots participation through to supporting the riders representing Great Britain on the international stage.

Our purpose is to bring the joy of cycling to everyone, and we’re fulfilling this by building on the elite success of the Great Britain Cycling Team and enabling more people to discover the joys of our sport. Our 145,000 members, over 2,000 affiliated clubs, and 12,500 volunteers are at the heart of what we do and the impact we achieve.

For more information, visit www.britishcycling.org.uk.

Contact details:  

Emma Hope, Head of Communications 

+44 (0) 7384 214079

emmahope@britishcycling.org.uk

Ellie Stott, Great Britain Cycling Team Communications Manager 

+44 (0) 7718 570341 

elliestott@britishcycling.org.uk  

Gareth Burrell, Communications and PR Manager

+44 (0) 7718 394386

garethburrell@britishcycling.org.uk

 Will Kirkpatrick, Communications and PR Officer