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Tour of Britain 2024

Latest news from the race.

Rod Ellingworth appointed Tour of Britain race director in first post-Ineos role

Wout van Aert still owed Tour of Britain prize money five months after victory

Ineos Grenadiers committed to ensure 'home race' Tour of Britain returns

• Stage 1 2024-09-01
• Stage 2 2024-09-02
• Stage 3 2024-09-03
• Stage 4 2024-09-04
• Stage 5 2024-09-05
• Stage 6 2024-09-06
• Stage 7 2024-09-07
• Stage 8 2024-09-08

Latest Content on the Race

By Barry Ryan published 12 March 24

News 51-year-old appointed to new position as British Cycling steps in to organise women's and men's races in 2024

By James Moultrie published 6 February 24

News Collapse of former organiser SweetSpot sees riders go unpaid from €113,080 prize pot

By James Moultrie published 27 January 24

News 'A gap on the calendar like that is not good for the sport' says CEO as British team works with governing body to save home race

Future of Women's Tour, Tour of Britain in doubt as organiser enters liquidation

By James Moultrie published 19 January 24

News SweetSpot appoint recovery experts to deal with legal claims totalling close to £1 million after losing Tour of Britain licence

Future of Tour of Britain in doubt after British Cycling ends deal with race organiser

By Daniel Ostanek published 7 November 23

News Race promoters Sweetspot allegedly owes £700,000 in rights fees

Jumbo-Visma rip up the Tour of Britain script with Van Aert's 'surprise' late attack

By Daniel Ostanek published 7 September 23

News Dutch team win fifth stage in a row as Van Aert takes GC lead with plan which 'came up as a joke/idea'

Wout van Aert - 'Olav Kooij has potential to be the best sprinter in the world'

By James Moultrie published 6 September 23

News 21-year-old sprinter is unbeaten through four stages at the Tour of Britain

Wout van Aert, Sam Bennett confirmed to start Tour of Britain

By Kirsten Frattini published 22 August 23

News Ineos Grenadiers expected to bring Tom Pidcock while Movistar returns with defending champion Gonzalo Serrano

Tour of Britain cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II

By Kirsten Frattini last updated 8 September 22

News 'We would like to send our deepest condolences to the whole of the Royal Family' says organiser SweetSpot

Michal Kwiatkowski: It’s been the worst season ever

By Andy McGrath published 8 September 22

News The Polish former World Champion looks forward to a better 2023

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2024 Tour of Britain to Be Shorten for Gender Parity, Women’s Tour Renamed

I n an effort to achieve parity between the men’s and women’s events in the years to come, the men’s Tour of Britain will be reduced in length.

The race, typically run over eight stages, will now consist of six stages. Race organizers recently announced the change, citing a need for complete parity between the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, which will be known as the Women’s Tour of Britain going forward.

“We’ve taken the decision to run the 2024 edition of the Tour of Britain Men over six days rather than the current eight, and we intend to seek permission from the UCI to extend the Tour of Britain Women to six days from 2025,” said British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton. “This would bring full parity to the events after our decision to align the event names this year—which is fundamental to our vision for major cycling events in Britain.”

Due to the liquidation of SweetSpot, the races’ former organizers, both the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, spent the last few seasons on unstable ground.

The Women’s Tour spent last year on a rollercoaster, as it was first reported the race was in danger of being canceled due to a funding shortfall. Shortly after, a crowdfunding campaign was announced , which fell short of its goal, leading to the race’s cancelation .

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, domestic superteam Ineos Grenadiers announced they would do what they could to help save the Tour of Britain. Both races were removed from the UCI calendar earlier this year.

However, as both races are recognized as some of the crown jewels of British cycling, the nation’s governing body stepped in to ensure both can continue into the future. In February, the UCI announced that it agreed to sanction the men’s race, which is run in September. Then, British Cycling rebranded the Women’s Tour as the Tour of Britain Women and recently announced that a shorter iteration will, in fact, run this June.

“Our host towns and cities for the Tour of Britain Women will be announced within the next two weeks, and we are also very close to finalizing our hosts for the Tour of Britain Men,” Dutton said. “Our team has worked around the clock to safeguard the future of the races in a concise timeframe, and we’re also hugely thankful for the commitment of those who have stepped forward to support us this year and those who have pledged their support for 2025 and beyond.”

The move toward parity between the two races makes perfect sense, as the Women’s Tour was typically at the vanguard of equality between the men’s and women’s pelotons. The race was once one of the most prominent in the fight for women’s equal prize money. It was often broadcast live on the British ITV network, which brought eyeballs and money to the women’s WorldTour.

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Laura Kenny: Britain's most decorated female Olympian retires from cycling ahead of Paris 2024 Games

Olympic cycling legend Laura Kenny has retired and will not compete at this year's Paris Games; Kenny won five Olympic golds, seven European titles and 14 World Championships over 13 years; she is married to Britain's outright most decorated Olympian, Jason Kenny

Sports Journalist

Tuesday 19 March 2024 06:07, UK

Laura Kenny, Britain's most decorated female Olympian, has announced her retirement from cycling just four months before the Paris 2024 Games.

Kenny won five Olympic golds and seven world titles in her incredible career and is married to former cyclist Jason Kenny, who is the most successful British Olympian.

The 31-year-old gave birth to her second daughter last July and will not compete at this year's Olympics in Paris, which begins on July 26.

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"Thank you cycling for everything you've given me - including a husband and our growing family!" Kenny wrote on Instagram.

"Having people say I have inspired women and girls to get active and get on a bike means the world to me. Thanks to Team GB, British Cycling and all the partners who have supported my journey.

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"A special thanks to every team-mate I have had over the years and of course to my family for being the best support unit I could ever have wished for. It's now time to move on but stay following for the next chapter."

She added to BBC Breakfast : "It's been in my head a little while, the sacrifices of leaving the children and your family at home is really quite big and it really is a big decision to make.

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"More and more, I was struggling to do that. More people asking me what races was I doing, what training camps was I going on - I didn't want to go ultimately and that's what it came down to.

"I knew the minute I was getting those feelings. Once I said to Jase, 'I don't think I want to ride a bike anymore', I started to feel relief."

A glittering career

Kenny won the women's omnium and team pursuit events at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics before giving birth in 2017. No other British woman has won four Olympic gold medals, with dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin next on the list with three golds.

In 2019, Kenny was back on form as she won several events across the Track Cycling World Cup and at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she won silver in the women's team pursuit.

In the madison event, she teamed up with Katie Archibald to take a dominant gold and became the first British woman to win gold medals over three consecutive Olympics.

"I never thought I would go to a home Games, let alone go on to win two gold medals," said Kenny.

"When I look back, I'm like 'wow, those two weeks did really change my life'."

Kenny had a miscarriage at nine weeks in November 2021 following the Olympics, and in January 2022, she underwent surgery due to ectopic pregnancy.

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to cycling before winning a second Commonwealth Games gold in the scratch race in Birmingham that summer, her last major honour.

The 14-time European champion was hoping to make a fourth Olympics appearance this summer but hadn't returned to training for Great Britain this year and April's Track Nations Cup in Canada would have been her last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

"There's nothing set in stone but there are things I'm so interested in doing," said Kenny on her future after retirement.

"Something to help the younger generation, whether that could be some kind of academy.

"I could never be a coach because that's just too much pressure for me, but maybe something in the background that would help the youngsters have the opportunities I had."

British Cycling pay tribute

Laura and Jason Kenny have remained relatively quiet away from cycling but will go down as two of Britain's greatest sportspeople.

Jason retired after the Tokyo Olympics and Laura has followed in her husband's footsteps over two years later.

Great Britain's cycling performance director, Stephen Park, oversaw the final part of Kenny's career including her return from giving birth to her first child.

"Laura hangs up her wheels as not just one of the sport's greatest riders, but as one of the greatest sporting talents our country has ever produced," said Park.

"All who have had the pleasure of watching Laura compete will pay witness to her peerless combination of craft and determination, which propelled her to become Britain's most successful female Olympian and the first British woman to win gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games.

"Just as impressive, however, is the impact which Laura has had on her fellow riders on the Great Britain Cycling Team and the next generation of Olympic hopefuls. She has been a beacon of inspiration for so many, young and old, and I'm sure that the entire British cycling community will join me in wishing her the very best in the next chapter of her life.

"From Welwyn Wheelers and our talent pathway to the very top of the sport, we're so proud of everything that she has achieved, and I'm sure she will continue to be one of our team's biggest supporters for many years to come."

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Amstel Gold Race 2024 preview, schedule, how to watch live: Mathieu van der Poel goes for third win in three weeks

Mathieu van der Poel will look for a remarkable road cycling treble this weekend as he aims to regain the Amstel Gold Race crown he last won in 2019.

The Dutchman has won the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix Monument classics back-to-back, and has the chance to make it three wins in as many weeks in the first of the Ardennes classics on Sunday (14 April).

This race was one of the 29-year-old's first major breakthrough wins back in 2019, and it's no surprise he is one of the favourites.

But how can you watch the races? What is the route? What time does it begin? Find out below.

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With many other big names missing through injury , and defending champion Tadej Pogacar focusing on the Giro d'Italia, perhaps Van der Poel's biggest challenges will come from INEOS Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock – incidentally also a rival of his in mountain bike and cyclo-cross – and France's Benoît Cosnefroy .

Belgium's Jasper Philipsen , who was second to Van der Poel last week in Roubaix and won Milano–Sanremo earlier this season, is also a perennial threat in the one-day races.

American Matteo Jorgenson of Team Visma - Lease A Bike has also shown he can be someone to watch, having won the semi-classic Dwars door Vlaanderen at the end of March.

On the women's side, Demi Vollering of SD Worx is the defending champion; her teammate Lotte Kopecky – Van der Poel's road race world champion counterpart – enters as the winner from last weekend's Paris–Roubaix Femmes.

Another SD Worx rider, Vollering's fellow Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes , has five wins to her name this season and is also in good form.

Other challengers include the veteran Marianne Vos , Tour of Flanders winner Elisa Longo Borghini , and Katarzyna Niewiadoma – who was runner-up behind Longo Borghini in Flanders.

Amstel Gold Race 2024: Race routes

Both the men's and women's races begin in Maastricht and end in Berg en Terblijt. However, the women's race goes around a circuit following the first passage of the famed Cauberg climb – which is summitted four times in a 157.6km (97.9mi) race. There will be a total of 1812m (5945ft) of climbing.

Meanwhile, the men's route heads further south, reaching the German border at Aachen before doubling back north. The Cauberg is only climbed twice in the race, but there is far more ascending across the many punchy hills – the peloton will gain 3290m (10,794ft) of elevation across 253.6km (157.6mi) of racing.

Amstel Gold Race 2024: Women's and men's race schedules

The women's 2024 Amstel Gold Race begins at 10:00 local time (08:00 UTC). The first ascent of the daunting Cauberg is estimated at 12:12 local time (assuming an average speed of 37 km/h), with the final climb at 14:10 and the finish at 14:15.

Meanwhile, the men's peloton sets off at 10:45 local time (08:45). The first climb of the Cauberg comes 171.8km into the race, estimated at 14:50 local time (at an average speed of 42 km/h); it is only climbed one more time at 16:20 with 18.6km to go. The expected finish time is at 16:47.

How to watch Amstel Gold Race 2024 live

The men's and women's Amstel Gold Races will be broadcast live around the world, including on Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch on Flobikes .

Check local listings for more information.

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Tour of Britain future plunged into doubt over £700,000 legal battle

British Cycling alleges race organiser SweetSpot will owe £700,000 in unpaid race licence fees by the end of 2023

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The future of the UK’s premier cycle race, the Tour of Britain , has been plunged into doubt over an alleged unpaid race licence fee.   Cycling Weekly has learned that British Cycling has withdrawn “with immediate effect” from a long-term deal with race promoter SweetSpot, alleging the firm owes hundreds of thousands in licence fees. A spokesperson for British Cycling told Cycling Weekly : "We can confirm that we have terminated our agreement with Sweetspot Group Limited to deliver the Tour of Britain." The sports governing body has always held the rights to the Tour of Britain brand but licences it out to a race organiser. SweetSpot has held the licence since the modern race’s inception in 2004. A fresh agreement between the two parties was inked in 2019 and was due to expire in 2029.

It's understood that BC contends that by the end of the year SweetSpot will owe around £700,000. SweetSpot declined to comment on the amount involved.

The BC Spokesperson added: "British Cycling remains fully committed to the delivery of the Tour of Britain in 2024, and will share further details in due course.”

Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma won the Tour of Britain for a second time in September

Cycling Weekly can reveal that both parties have now instructed legal teams to resolve the matter. In September the Tour of Britain took place without a headline sponsor as well as several other key partners. The race also lacked a sponsor for its leader’s jersey. SweetSpot were forced to axe the 2023 Women’s Tour in March due to being unable to find the sponsorship cash to make the race financially viable. Hugh Roberts, SweetSpot director told The Guardian that he was confident the issues with British Cycling would be resolved amicably. "I am optimistic that the issues with British Cycling can be overcome,” Roberts said. “We have to resolve our differences." Roberts later told Cycling Weekly that he feels the Women’s Tour will be in a position to return next year. “The women's tour for 2024 is looking in good shape,” he said. “We're having interesting and productive discussions with numerous various stakeholders around the country. “We are very confident that after having had to postpone it in June 2023, that we will be in a better position to put it back on the calendar again next year in 2024.”

Concerns in Manchester

Prior to announcing that the Women’s Tour would not take place, the organiser also announced that the Tour Series, Britain’s largest annual racing series, would also not be held due to financial constraints. It's understood that the cancellation of both events - as well as the Tour of Britain taking place without a headline sponsor - has raised concerns in BC’s Manchester HQ regarding SweetSpot’s ability to successfully stage Britain’s main cycling events in the years ahead. The move to revoke the Tour of Britain licence comes as British Cycling has seen its finances squeezed. In accounts leaked to Cycling Weekly last week, the governing body reported a loss of £1.3 million in commercial income and a decline in membership of 7%. 

With its finances under pressure this summer BC made eleven redundancies after a major staffing restructure. “As a result of a combination of lower than forecast sponsorship and rights fee income growth, declining membership and increasing cost pressure, a review of the organisational structure is taking place in 2023/24, with a number of roles being put at risk,” the report said. At the time BC CEO Jon Dutton told Cycling Weekly that the figures covered in the document were reflective of the wider economic climate in the UK and not solely British Cycling. 

He said: “I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anybody to see that the global economic climate and cost-of-living crisis have made our work to attract new members and commercial investment incredibly challenging. It is a challenge shared across sport, and one which households up and down the country will recognise just as keenly.”

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Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine. 

He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders including Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, Primož Roglič and Lizzie Deignan. 

When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast. 

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Vingegaard breaks collarbone in major crash at Tour of the Basque Country

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The calendar says the Stanley Cup playoffs haven't started yet, but the standings indicate that the game Thursday between the Pittsburgh Penguins and visiting Detroit Red Wings might as well be a postseason affair.

Not only were the New York Rangers unable to clinch the Metropolitan Division title Tuesday night, but they also emerged from a rough performance against the New York Islanders slightly less healthy.

Tour de France in doubt for Jonas Vingegaard and Jay Vine after horrific crash during the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain

Sport Tour de France in doubt for Jonas Vingegaard and Jay Vine after horrific crash during the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain

Jonas Vingegaard has been taken to hospital along with leading Australian rider Jay Vine after some of the world's best cyclists suffered injuries in a mass crash at high speed in the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain. 

The reigning double Tour de France champion Vingegaard was reported to have suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs but was "conscious" after the alarming crash that threatens his hopes of a famous treble in July.

Vine, last year's Tour Down Under winner, also ended up crashing heavily in a concrete ditch and was taken away by ambulance.

The 28-year-old was later diagnosed with a fractured cervical vertebra and two fractures in his thoracic spine, with no other major injuries or head trauma. 

It was a disastrous day for another modern-day great too, with Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 world champion, managing to walk away from the crash despite suffering what his Soudal-Quick Step later confirmed was a fracture to his right collarbone and to his right shoulder blade.

He will need surgery on Friday in Belgium.

Giro d'Italia champ Primoz Roglic, who had been the overnight leader, also abandoned the race after giving a thumbs-up to cameras from the team car to show he was OK.

In all, 12 riders near the front of the peloton were involved in the crash, which happened with about 35 kilometres left of the fourth stage between Etxarri Aranatz and Legutio, in northern Spain.

The leaders were making a sweeping right-hand turn on a slight but swift descent, with some sliding off, sending others off the road into the ditch.

Denmark's Vingegaard, who has been in spectacular form and was favourite for the 2024 Tour de France, had to be carried to the ambulance in a neck brace and needed oxygen after treatment at roadside by doctors.

The race was then neutralised until the finish, with only the six riders who had been at the front being allowed to sprint for the finish to try to win the stage, with victory eventually going to the underwhelmed South African Louis Meintjes, who admitted it was a hollow triumph.

"It's a sad day. I wish all the guys who crashed all the best and wish them a fast recovery," Mattias Skjelmose, who took the overall race lead from Roglic, said at the finish.

"My mind is with the guys who crashed, and right now I am not thinking about the leader's jersey."

The crash, which featured three of the world's most outstanding riders in Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Roglic, was also a huge blow for 25-year-old Vine, who has graduated from riding a turbo trainer in his living room to being a peloton star.

He had begun the week-long race on Monday with an exceptional time trial that had left him second behind only Roglic at that stage and revealed afterwards that the Itzulia had been only a late addition to his schedule.

Earlier on Thursday, Roglic's teammate at BORA-Hansgrohe, Lennard Kamna, was reported to be in a "stable condition" in intensive care after he had collided with a car during a training ride in Tenerife.

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Emma Raducanu welcomed back with 'open arms' to Great Britain team says Katie Boulter - 'We've missed her'

Published 10/04/2024 at 10:34 GMT

Emma Raducanu will be making her Billie Jean King Cup return for Great Britain this weekend against France. Raducanu hasn't played for her country for two years, but British No. 1 Katie Boulter says she will be welcomed back with “open arms”. Boulter also says Great Britain are "completely the underdogs" against France, who are led by world No. 23 Caroline Garcia.

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Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France defence in doubt after Basque crash

• 2022 and 2023 winner fractures collarbone and scapula
• Twelve riders crash on fourth stage of Basque tour

The Tour de France champion, Jonas Vingegaard, was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone after a serious crash on stage four of the Itzulia Basque Country.

Vingegaard also suffered several broken ribs from the high-speed accident that also included Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic among a group of 12 affected riders. “It was a nasty crash, but fortunately he is stable and conscious. He remains in hospital as a precaution. Thank you for all your messages,” Vingegaard’s team Visma-Lease a Bike said in a statement.

Six riders went to hospital after the incident, including the Australian Jay Vine, who was diagnosed with a fractured cervical vertebra and two fractures in his thoracic spine. “Fortunately, there were no neurological problems and there are no other serious injuries or skull injuries,” Vine’s UAE Team Emirates said in a statement.

Evenepoel’s team Soudal-QuickStep revealed the Belgian must undergo surgery on a fractured collarbone and fractured scapula. Roglic was the least affected of the big-name trio involved and he headed for the team car having received medical attention. The incident took place when the peloton was descending around a tight right-hand bend with less than 40km of the stage to go, one riding sliding out of the road and on to the bank, sparking a chain reaction as more followed.

The race was then neutralised until the finish, with only the six riders who had been at the front being allowed to sprint for the finish to try to win the stage, victory eventually going to the underwhelmed South African Louis Meintjes, who admitted it was a hollow triumph.

“It’s a sad day. I wish all the guys who crashed all the best and wish them a fast recovery,” Mattias Skjelmose, who took the overall race lead from Roglic, said at the finish. “My mind is with the guys who crashed, and right now I am not thinking about the leader’s jersey.”

Vingegaard won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023 but with this year’s event starting on 29 June, doubt now hangs over his ability to defend his crown.

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