The designs for three of the Tour of Britain’s key jerseys have today been revealed ahead of this September’s race, which comes to Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway on Sunday 4 September.
The new designs are for the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey, ŠKODA King of the Mountains Jersey and Yodel Sprints Jersey, all of which are produced by Official Partner Dare2b.
Chain Reaction Cycles, the world’s largest online bike store, will continue to partner the Tour of Britain’s Points Jersey for the fifth year, with previous winners including Michal Kwiatkowski and Owain Doull last year.
Commenting on the Tour of Britain, Grant Norris, Head of Events for Chain Reaction Cycles said; “We at Chain Reaction Cycles are looking forward to supporting the Tour of Britain and watching the battle unfold for the Points Jersey in what will be another great race across some of the best cycling and breath taking terrain Britain has to offer.”
During the course of the 1,200 plus kilometres of this year’s Tour of Britain routes riders will contest 22 intermediate Yodel Sprints, sponsored by UK parcel delivery company Yodel. In addition to time bonuses, points awarded at the Yodel Sprints will count towards the Yodel Sprints Jersey, won last year by ONE Pro Cycling’s Peter Williams.
Dick Stead, executive chairman, Yodel, commented: “The Tour of Britain is a well-loved fixture in the UK’s sporting calendar and we’re delighted to be a sponsor for the sixth consecutive year. Like Yodel, the Tour is all about teamwork, pace and precision and we’re looking forward to some exciting sprint action in this special Olympic year. We’re proud to unveil our striking design for 2016’s sprint jersey, and hope to see rider’s fresh from Rio competing to wear it.”
This year’s Tour of Britain route will include some of the toughest ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs in the history of the modern race including The Struggle in the Lake District on Stage Two and the summit finish of Haytor on Stage Six in Devon. The climb of the Cat and Fiddle in Cheshire’s Peak District on Stage Three is the longest of the race at over 10-kilometres and with the summit at 515-metres will be the highest point on the 2016 route.
In total riders will face 20 ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs, with the final categorised climb of Bridge Valley Road in Bristol coming on the penultimate stage of the race on Saturday 10 September.
The 2016 Tour will see a completely new design for the ŠKODA King of the Mountains Jersey, with followers of the ŠKODA UK Facebook page helping to select the design.
“ŠKODA are delighted to be the official partner of the King of the Mountain once again. The response to this year’s jersey design has been extremely positive and we look forward to seeing it in action during the Tour in September,” said Erica Vernon, National Communications Manager, ŠKODA.
All three jerseys are produced by Official Partner Dare2b, whose Head of Marketing Helen Monks commented; “As Official Merchandise Supplier we’re excited as ever to be involved in producing and selling the jerseys throughout The Tour. These are some of the strongest designs we have seen to date and we look forward to launching them on our website in August and selling them at each stage of the event.”
In addition to the three jerseys Adnams will present a daily award to the leading British Rider in the general classification while official nutrition partners HIGH5 will present the daily combativity award.
Emma Hibbert, Adnams’ Marketing Director commented, “Adnams is proud to support the Tour of Britain and has been the official beer of the tour since 2011. We are delighted that this year we will also be presenting the Best British Rider Award at each stage of the race. Cycling is a growing sport and we know it’s particularly popular with our customers.”
“Carrying the fight, taking a chance where others won’t, and pushing the boundaries are all things we as a company strive to do which is why we are proud to sponsor the Combativity award at the Tour of Britain,” said Matt Hall from HIGH5.
120 riders from 20 teams will contest the 2016 Tour of Britain including ten UCI WorldTour teams, recently seen in action at the Tour de France. It will be the largest number of UCI WorldTour teams to compete in Britain at any point since the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014.
The 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.
