Male Team 02 - 09 Sep
Tour of Britain
1132 Kilometers 8 Stages
Far away from the tremendously flat course designed for its 2017 edition, looking to have as much riders preparing for the Bergen Worlds as possible into its peloton, the Tour of Britain is back to its roots in 2018, featuring a course similar to what the event has always offered since returning to the calendar in 2005: lumpy routes, steep ramps and technical roads where controlling a race is difficult, since teams are down one man to six per squad compared to the usual seven.
The race will start in Wales (Sunday 2nd) with a 174km stage through the Brecon Beacons National Park, even if the key elevation won’t come until eight kilometers before the line, with the ascent to Belmont Hill. A day later (Monday 3rd), the climb to Challacombe Hill will be further from the finish, 21km before Barnstaple, yet its 1.3km at 13% average are certain to break the peloton into several pieces. The bunch sprint in Bristol (Tuesday 4th) is not certain either, since stage three will be short (127km) and feature two little ascents in the last three kilometers. A clearer chance for the fastest men on the peloton will be available at Royal Leamington Spa (Wednesday 5th, 183km), back to the Midlands after a visit to Southwest the days before.
The climb to Whinlatter, in the North West of England -near Scotland, at the Lake District National Park-, will be the main protagonist of the race. Stage five (Thursday 6th) will be a very peculiar TTT, 14km finishing on its demanding slopes, and stage six (viernes 7th) will bring the only mountain-top finish of the race, again on its summit (3.2km at 7%) after four other categorized ascents. Before the final, classic urban circuit in London (Sunday 9th), the race will take on its longest stage, 216km towards Mansfield on more rolling terrain, making for an unpredictable result.