Dowsett, Cummings and Edmondson in Tour of Beijing

Alex Dowsett, Tour of Britain 2013, stage six

British riders Alex Dowsett (Movistar), Steve Cummings (BMC Racing) and Josh Edmondson (Sky) are all in China for the final WorldTour event of the 2013 season, the Tour of Beijing, which starts tomorrow (Friday, October 11).

All three riders will be there in support of their team leaders: newly crowned road race world champion Rui Costa (Movistar); Mathias Frank/Thor Hushovd (BMC); and Richie Porte/David Lopez (Sky) respectively. They will come up against stiff competition from the likes of 2012 winner Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) and Ivan Basso (Cannondale).

Cummings won the final stage of last year's Tour of Beijing, beating fellow escapee Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) to the line.

Dan Martin will be aiming for the overall win having won the King of the Mountains classification at the race in 2012 and placing fourth overall, just 50 seconds behind Tony Martin.

The five-day race features a mix of flat stages and mountains, with a key summit finish on stage four at Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain.

Tour of Beijing 2013: Stages

Stage one: Friday October 11 - Shunyi to Huairou Studio City, 190.5km

Stage two: Saturday October 12 - Huairou Studio City to Yanqing, 126km

Stage three: Sunday October 13 - Yanqing to Qiandiajian, 176km

Stage four: Monday October 14 - Yanqing to Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain, 150.5km

Stage five: Tuesday October 15 - Tian'anmen Square to Bird's Next Piazza, 117km

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