The T-Mobile team is a late addition to the start list of the Tour of Britain after an agreement between race organisers and the team was reached on Wednesday.
T-Mobile will join CSC as the second big-name team in the race, and means 17 teams of six riders will contest the seven days of racing that begin in Crystal Palace on September 9 and end in Glasgow on September 15
According to race organisers the provisional T-Mobile line-up includes talented German Linus Gerdermann who won stage 7 of the Tour de France in the Alps and wore the yellow jersey for a day. British sprinter Mark Cavendish is also set to ride as he tries to add more wins to his record breaking first season tally. He will have the support and leadership from Roger Hammond, while young British stagiaire Ian Stannard may also ride. The final T-Mobile line-up for the Tour of Britain will be announced nearer the start.
Amongst the other teams competing in this year's race are Agritubel, Team CSC and Barloworld. CSC have penciled-in world time trial champion and London Tour de France prologue winner Fabian Cancellara, while Barloworld sprinter and Tour stage winner Robbie Hunter of South Africa is also expected to ride. He will be backed by Geraint Thomas and perhaps British stagiaire Ben Swift.
This year the Tour of Britain jumps around the country with stages in the South of England, Somerset, the West Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire before heading into Scotland.
The 17 teams selected for the race are as follows:
- Agritubel
- Barloworld
- Chocolade Jacques - Topsport Vlaanderen
- DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed
- Duja - Tavira
- Fuerteventura - Canarias
- Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
- Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing
- Rabobank (Continental)
- Recycling.co.uk
- Skil - Shimano
- South Australia.com - AIS
- Team CSC
- Team Great Britain
- Team Konica Minolta
- Tinkoff Credit Systems
- Team T-Mobile
There will be detailed coverage from the Tour of Britain every day here at www.cyclingweekly.com
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