The Tour of Britain Cycle Race organisers have given a broad hint that they will be bringing the event back to Mid Wales this year following the success of last year's Newtown stage.
Preparations for the 2011 Tour of Britain, the final Tour to be held before the 2012 Olympic Games, are gearing up, with race organisers SweetSpot Group revealing an increased interest from teams looking to ride Britain’s national cycling tour this September and a near-certain return to the county.
More than eight UCI ProTeams have indicated that they wish to ride The Tour of Britain, including the four ProTeams who rode the 2010 event, plus the newly formed Leopard Trek squad, who boast former Tour of Britain King of the Mountains winner and Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and 2006 Tour of Britain winner Martin Pedersen among their ranks.
A number of UCI Professional Continental and UCI Continental teams have also approached SweetSpot to try and secure a place in Britain’s biggest professional cycle race.
“As ever we’ve had far more teams approach us with a view to riding The Tour of Britain than we could ever hope to accommodate”, said Race Director Mick Bennett.
“It is rewarding for everyone here in the team at SweetSpot to have so many ProTeam squads wanting to be a part of The Tour of Britain, and we are certainly aiming to have 50% of the field in September made up of ProTeams.
“The fact that The Tour of Britain is ideally situated less than a week before the World Championships take place in Denmark means we will continue to attract world-class riders targeting the Worlds and looking for a tough race in which to hone their form.”
The Tour of Britain will also be inviting the leading three UCI Continental teams as per the amended UCI regulation 2.1.007bis. This states that organisers of UCI Europe Tour events must invite (and accept) entries from ‘the first three UCI Continental teams in the classification…for the relevant continental circuit’, ‘drawn up on the basis of individual points for the end of the 2009-2010 season.’
Re-launched in 2004 after a five year absence from the calendar, The Tour of Britain is now the UK’s biggest professional cycle race and the country’s largest free-to-watch sporting event.
Ranked at the 2.1 level by the UCI, the sport’s governing body, The Tour of Britain attracts some of the world’s top cyclists, including Olympic and World Champions and Tour de France stage winners, to compete on British roads each September.
