British Cycling
Final start list confirmed for 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men
—- The final start lists for the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, part of the UCI ProSeries, are now available on the eve of the event. Racing gets underway on Wednesday 2 September 2026, beginning in Lincoln ahead of five days of exciting action.
The Riders
108 riders from 18 teams are set to compete in the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, with plenty of world-class riders and British stars for crowds to watch.
Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) will be looking to make history at this year’s race. The Dutch man only needs three more stage wins to equal Mark Cavendish’s men’s stage victory record of ten.
Former European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) will appear in his first Lloyds Tour of Britain, and will be looking to stop Kooij’s quest for success. Both riders were triumphant with stage victories at the Tour de France 2026, but Merlier reigned supreme with a hat trick of wins in comparison to Kooij’s one.
Merlier is supported by a strong Soudal Quick-Step team, including 2014 champion Dylan van Baarle and former Milano-Sanremo winner Jasper Stuyven.
Former stage winner Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) will also be searching for another victory, alongside assisting Kooij in his quest for history.
Italian time-trial specialist Filippo Ganna (Netcompany – INEOS) will be riding for the British outfit on British soil. The former time-trial world champion boasts ten grand tour stage victories to his name and will be looking to replicate similar form across all five stages.
He is joined by teammates Connor Swift (Netcompany – INEOS) and Ben Swift (Netcompany – INEOS), who will be looking for good results on home roads through stages three and four in Yorkshire, where the two were raised.
Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) joins compatriot Ganna on the start line in Lincoln. Former double stage winner Trentin will be hunting success once again, alongside teammate Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) who looks to build on his top-15 finish in the 2026 Tour de France.
The world’s number one ranked team, UAE Team Emirates XRG, will bring an impressive lineup to Britain, including Tour de France stage winner Nils Politt, four-time grand tour stage winner Tim Wellens, 2021 Paris-Roubaix runner-up Florian Vermeersch, and former Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec winner Benoit Cosnefroy.
NSN Cycling team has named a wealth of British talent in their squad, who will all be looking to make a mark on home roads. Ethan Vernon will be looking for victory this week after several second and third place finishes, the recent Commonwealth Games champion will be aiming for his first stage victory. Lewis Askey, runner up at the Lloyds National Road Race Championship, and Jake Stewart will return to British soil after racing in the recent Tour de France.
Commonwealth Games champion Matt Bostock leads the Great Britain Cycling Team, alongside Olympic medallist Ollie Wood, under-23 national road race champion Elliot Rowe, under-23 national time-trial champion Ben Wiggins, 2026 national criterium championship silver medallist Jacob Bush, and 2025 Tour of South Bohemia winner William Smith.
Mark Donovan (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Mark Stewart (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) will also start in Lincoln. Both can boast recent good results in previous editions, with Donovan securing top-five finishes in both 2023 and 2024 whilst Stewart’s best came with a top-20 result in 2023.
Multiple national champions will also lineup at the start in Lincoln. Greek national road race champion Nikifros Arvanitou (Team United Shipping), Serbian national road race champion Veljko Stojnic (Team United Shipping), Estonian national road race champion Frank Aron Raglio (Lucky Sport Cycling Team) and Latvian national time-trial champion Kristians Belohvosciks (BIKE AID) will all be racing in Britain this week.
The Stages
Riders will battle through 879.6km (546.5 miles) of British roads, ascending a total of 6885m, over the course of five thrilling stages. The riders will take in some of Britain’s most beautiful yet technically challenging landscapes, through the counties of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Scottish Borders.
Stage one on Wednesday 2 September will see riders face 182.5km around Lincolnshire, starting and finishing in the city of Lincoln. The riders will start by heading out into the Lincolnshire Wolds, making their way through Market Rasen and Caistor, before tackling the iconic 11.3% average gradient climb of Michaelgate five times on a final circuit in Lincoln city centre.
The second stage stays in Lincolnshire on Thursday 3 September, starting in Boston. Riders will face a 181.1km race to the finish in Skegness. The peloton will head through Woodhall Spa, Horncastle, before facing the Wolds once more. The race will hit one final ascent near Langton Hill, before a ferocious sprint into Skegness. The riders can also look forward to a send-off from the iconic Red Arrows as they start in Boston, and a fly by from a Spitfire in Skegness.
Yorkshire and East Riding hosts stages three and four. Day three on Friday 4 September will see a 194.1km race to the finish in Beverley from the start in Hull. The riders will head down the east coast, before traversing into a series of climbs in Burton Agnes. Once they reach Beverley, the peloton will face a 16km circuit with four passages.
Families are encouraged to come down to East Park in Hull on Friday 4 September 2026 between 11am and 2pm and enjoy the Family Cycling Festival, with the Tour village opening from 9am. The festival gives people of all ages and abilities, including families, the chance to enjoy cycling-themed activities on the day and the opportunity to ride in a safe, fun traffic free environment, all free of charge.
Stage four on Saturday 5 September begins in Helmsley, where riders will power through 165.8km and 2,699m of ascent of the North Yorkshire and North York Moors countryside. The peloton will head towards a thrilling conclusion in Leyburn.
The final stage will start and finish in Earlston on the Scottish Borders on Sunday 6 September. The peloton will ride towards Kelso, before facing a challenging section of the Lammermuir Hills, before two circuits of a 19km loop of Earlston to decide who will be crowned the next Lloyds Tour of Britain Men’s champion.
Where to watch
Live coverage of stages one to four will be broadcast on ITV4 and ITVX, with stage five shown on ITVX. A daily highlights package will also be available on ITV4 and ITVX.
TNT Sports and HBO Max will also broadcast every stage live, with fans able to enjoy comprehensive coverage across linear, digital, and social platforms.
All five stages of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will also be broadcast on Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube Channel.
Find out more about the Lloyds Tour of Britain here.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
When reporting, please carry the full event title ‘The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men’.
About the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men
The Lloyds Tour of Britain is the largest free-to-attend sporting spectacle in the UK and is delivered under the mantel of two races, one Tour of Britain.
The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men is part of the UCI ProSeries, making it one of the most prestigious sporting events in the sport’s global calendar.
Follow the Lloyds Tour of Britain on X (Twitter), Tiktok, YouTube, Strava, Facebook and Instagram.
For further media information about the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women and Men, please contact:
Gareth Burrell | garethburrell@britishcycling.org.uk
Ellie Ruskin | ellieruskin@britishcycling.org.uk
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 joy of riding a bike.
We are proud to represent a community of members, 2,000 affiliated clubs, and the 27 million people who ride a bike nationwide – whether riding for fun, racing competitively, or simply getting from A to B. We exist to support and represent anyone who participates or wants to participate in our activities.
For more information, visit www.britishcycling.org.uk.
About Lloyds
For over 250 years, Lloyds is proud to have served the people, businesses and communities of Britain. Lloyds is one of the UK’s leading retail and commercial banks serving millions of customers every day, through our mobile, online, telephone banking and branch services. We offer a comprehensive range of financial products and services shaped to suit individual needs, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, loans and credit cards, to private banking and wealth management services. And through our network of commercial banking offices, we provide support to UK businesses – from SMEs to large corporates and financial institutions.
Gareth Burrell
Communications and PR Manager
07718394386
garethburrell@britishcycling.org.uk
britishcycling.org.uk
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