‘We want to build the fourth biggest stage race in the world’: Tour of Britain reveals plans to expand to nine days

The organisers of the Tour of Britain have revealed their plans to expand to nine days and “build the fourth biggest race in the world.”

Capitalising on a successful 2019 edition of the race and a home World Championships, the Tour of Britain organisers and British Cycling have also confirmed they have applied to be part of the new UCI ProSeries race status, which will be introduced next year.

Hugh Roberts from race organiser SweetSpot said: “Together with British Cycling we want to build the Tour of Britain into the fourth biggest race in the world, and as such are looking for new commercial partners to join us on this exciting journey.

“The fantastic crowds and exciting action we have seen across the country over the past eight days show that the appeal of the Tour of Britain continues to grow, and the fact that this year we achieved truly global television coverage shows how the race can continue to celebrate Britain and our fantastic culture, heritage and natural landscapes at home and abroad.”

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Organisers of the HC categorised Tour of Britain hope to be a UCI ProSeries level race from next season, the new category which will replace the current HC and Class One events.

They also aim to increase the number of stages from eight to nine, in order to cover more of the country each edition.

The 2019 edition saw 20 teams and 120 riders racing over eight stages from Glasgow to Manchester, with an estimated 500,000 fans watching the final stage from the side of the road.

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) emerged victorious, with stages also won by Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott).

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British Cycling chief executive Julie Harrington said: “The 2019 OVO Energy Tour of Britain confirmed its status once again as a landmark of the British sporting summer and gave us the perfect platform from which to look forward to the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire.

“For British Cycling, working with SweetSpot on events like the Tour of Britain and with local authority partners like Manchester City Council mean we can reach even more people and encourage everyone to get active by getting on their bikes.”