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Mark Cavendish, the man with the most modern Aviva Tour of Britain stage wins to his name will lead a strong Etixx Quick-Step team at the race this September, which will also include three-time World Cyclo-Cross Champion Zdeněk Štybar.
The former World and British Champion, who has 10 stage wins in the race to his name will make his eighth appearance in his home Tour. Joining him will be Štybar, who won a stage of the Tour de France this Summer. Commenting on the confirmation of his participation, the 26-time Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish said; "I'm excited to ride the Tour of Britain. It's my home tour and it's always something special to ride in front of your national crowd. It's already my 8th time at the race and year-by-year I can see how cycling is growing in this nation. We are at the start to try to be successful as we were last year. We have a strong team and we are ready to race. This year the course is extremely difficult. It will be also a good final preparation for the UCI World Championships in Richmond.” Alongside Cavendish will be Štybar who won Stage Six of the Tour de France to Le Havre, as well as the Italian one-day classic Strade Bianche earlier this year. Štybar made the switch to road racing in 2011 going on to win a multitude of stages and single day races, plus the overall Eneco Tour in 2013. "This is the first time that I ride this race,” Štybar said. "I'm pretty curious about it. My teammates told me that it's a tough race, without a metre of flat road, designed in great scenarios. It will be even more difficult because the teams are formed by only six riders, so it's not easy to control the race. The atmosphere will be great, I'm sure. I have never raced on the road in United Kingdom, but I remember the great images of the Olympics and the Grand Depart of the Tour de France last year. It will be nice to be part of this race. As for my condition, I think I'm okay and I'm looking forward to participate in the race.” Etixx Quick-Step will announce their full six-rider roster for the Aviva Tour of Britain in the coming days. "This is excellent news from Etixx Quick-Step showing the importance that UCI WorldTeams place on the Aviva Tour of Britain,” said Race Director Mick Bennett. "We are always pleased to see Mark Cavendish racing in his home Tour and he will have a very strong Etixx Quick-Step team riding alongside him, particularly in Zdeněk Štybar. Last year we saw the team win three stages of the race and a similar result would not surprise me this September.” Cavendish and Štybar join the likes of Edvald Boasson Hagen, Gerald Ciolek, Andre Greipel and 2014 overall Tour of Britain winner Dylan Van Baarle as already confirmed for the 2015 Aviva Tour of Britain. Stage One of the Aviva Tour of Britain will be shown live on ITV between 1pm and 4pm, with subsequent stages shown live on ITV4. ITV4 will also broadcast a one hour highlights programme the evening of every stage. British Eurosport will also show live coverage and highlights of the race in the UK. Live coverage and highlights will also be shown worldwide in excess of 120 countries. The Aviva Tour of Britain is British Cycling's premier road cycling event giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the world's best teams and riders competing on their door step. |
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Stage One Sunday 6 September Beaumaris, Anglesey to Wrexham, 177.7km Stage Two Monday 7 September Clitheroe to Colne, 159.3km Stage Three Tuesday 8 September Cockermouth to Floors Castle, Kelso, 216km Stage Four Wednesday 9 September Edinburgh to Blyth, 217.4km Stage Five Thursday 10 September Prudhoe to Hartside, 166.2km Stage Six Friday 11 September Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, 192.8km Stage Seven Saturday 12 September Fakenham to Ipswich, 227.4km Stage Eight Sunday 13 September London stage presented by TfL, 86.8km The full list of 20 teams for the Aviva Tour of Britain is as follows: An Post Chain Reaction (Ireland); BMC Racing (USA); Cult Energy Pro Cycling (Denmark); Etixx Quick-Step (Belgium); Great Britain national team; IAM Cycling (Switzerland); Lotto Soudal (Belgium); JLT Condor presented by Mavic (Great Britain); Madison Genesis (Great Britain); Movistar Team (Spain); MTN Qhubeka (South Africa); NFTO (Great Britain); ONE Pro Cycling (Great Britain); Team Cannondale – Garmin (USA); Team Lotto NL Jumbo (Netherlands); Team Novo Nordisk (USA); Team Raleigh – GAC (Great Britain); Team Sky (Great Britain); Team WIGGINS (Great Britain); Tinkoff – Saxo (Russia) |