Reigning Giro d’Italia champion Richard Carapaz and four-time Grand Tour stage winner Mikel Landa will make their OVO Energy Tour of Britain debuts this weekend when they lead a strong Movistar Team in the UK’s most prestigious cycle race.
Ecuadorian Carapaz made history in May when he became the first rider from his country to win one of cycling’s three Grand Tours. Set to join Team INEOS in 2020, the 26-year-old climber recently finished third overall in the five-day Tour of Burgos in Spain.
Landa (29), who has finished fourth, seventh and sixth in the last three editions of the Tour de France, has never previously raced a single day as a professional on British soil.
Also famed for his climbing abilities, the Spaniard has previously claimed overall honours in the Giro del Trentino (2016) and Tour of Burgos (2017) stage races.
Joining them for this year’s OVO Energy Tour of Britain are Andrey Amador (twice a top-10 finisher in the Giro d’Italia), Carlos Barbero, Eduardo Sepulveda and Carlos Verona in what forms the strongest line-up the long-standing Spanish team have ever selected for the race.
Already confirmed for the race are the likes of Mark Cavendish, Dylan Groenewegen, Matteo Trentin and Mathieu van der Poel, while former Tour winners Dylan van Baarle (2014) and Steve Cummings (2016) will also be returning.
The OVO Energy Tour of Britain begins from George Square in Glasgow on Saturday 7 September and concludes for the first time in Greater Manchester on Saturday 14 September.
The OVO Energy 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 doorstep and helping to build a great cycling nation.
ITV4 will once again screen live free-to-air coverage flag-to-flag of each stage in the UK, along with a nightly highlights programme of the best of the action.
