{"id":114982,"date":"2026-09-01T10:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/114982\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:26:17","slug":"tour-of-britain-2026-gc-and-stage-1-preview-profiles-favourites-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/114982\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour of Britain 2026 GC and stage 1 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nStages Tour of Britain 2026\u00a0StageDateStarting locationFinishing locationDistance (km)TypeEst. startEst. finish1Wed 2 SepLincolnLincoln182.5Hilly10:30~14:502Thu 3 SepBostonSkegness181.1Flat10:30~14:403Fri 4 SepHullBeverley196Flat10:30~14:434Sat 5 SepHelmsleyLeyburn164Hilly11:00~14:475Sun 6 SepEarlstonEarlston159Flat11:00~14:45Preview Tour of Britain 2026 overall classification<\/p>\n

The overall classification should be decided on only two stages, the first being the opening day in which there are not tactics, only good positioning towards the end. Then stage 4 has one relatively long climb where differences can still be made.<\/p>\n

Tom Pidcock<\/a> is the perfect fit for the race and he doesn’t really risk getting overwhelmed with tactical attacks in this race, right after the MTB World Championships win he should be the main favourite.<\/p>\n

UAE have Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, Felix Grossschartner and Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy all as contenders for the GC and they must use their depth if they want to win this race.<\/p>\n

Ilan van WIlder, Yannis Voisard and Aur\u00e9lien Paret-Peintre are more guided towards the longer efforts and can be part of the battle whilst on the faster type of riders we’ve got figures such as Filippo Ganna, Connor Swift and Laurenz Rex who may be a threat.<\/p>\n

Prediction Tour of Britain 2026 overall classification:\u00a0<\/p>\n

*** Tom Pidcock<\/p>\n

** Tim Wellens, Ilan van Wilder, Yannis Voisard<\/p>\n

* Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy, Felix Grossschartner, Aur\u00e9lien Paret-Peintre, Filippo Ganna<\/p>\n

Pick: Tom Pidcock<\/p>\n

Preview Tour of Britain 2026 stage 1<\/p>\n

The opening stage will be all about positioning into the climb. Sprinters can win it, puncheurs can win it too. Riders such as Olav Kooij and Tom Crabbe, who can ordinarily do these ramps very well, are prime favourites.<\/p>\n

But the puncheurs stand just as good chances, men like Tom Pidcock and Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy are some of the best in the world on this kind of effort.<\/p>\n

Laurenz Rex, Tim Wellens, Aur\u00e9lien Paret-Peintre, Ethan Vernon, Matteo Trentin, Rick Pluimers and Filippo Ganna are all outsiders for this stage.<\/p>\n

Prediction Tour of Britain 2026 stage 1:<\/p>\n

*** Tom Pidcock, Olav Kooij<\/p>\n

** Tom Crabbe, Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy, Laurenz Rex<\/p>\n

* Tim Wellens, Aur\u00e9lien Paret-Peintre, Tim Merlier, Filippo Ganna, Ethan Vernon, Jake Stewart, Matteo Trentin, Rick Pluimers<\/p>\n

Pick: Tom Pidcock<\/p>\n

How: Reduced bunch sprint<\/p>\n

Profile stage 1: Lincoln – Lincoln\"Profile<\/p>\n

Lincoln – Lincoln, 182 kilometers<\/p>\n

The race begins in Lincoln, perhaps with its most important stage of all. The race won’t feature any big climbs this year, and so the overall classification will be decided in a matter of seconds, and bonifications most likely.<\/p>\n

In the iconic British city there will be a decision on the opening day atop one of the most famous finales in the country.<\/p>\n

In Lincoln, the riders will do a circuit around Michaelgate, the 400-meter long climb that averages just over 10% which brings the first stage to a closing. The riders will go up it on five occasions in the finish circuit, and the end of the climb is placed 500 meters away from the finish line.<\/p>\n

Profile stage 2: Boston – Skegness\"Profile<\/p>\n

Boston – Skegness, 181 kilometers<\/p>\n

Stage 2 begins in Boston and will take the riders through a flat day in the east of the country. It will be a day for the sprinters, with nothing that should prevent it, bringing the stage to a close after 181 kilometers in Skgness.<\/p>\n

Profile stage 3: Hull – Beverley\"Profile<\/p>\n

Hull – Beverley, 196 kilometers<\/p>\n

Stage 3 begins in Hull and will be another day for the sprinters. This time around there are a few small categorized climbs throughout the day, although none are actually real climbs.<\/p>\n

The riders arrive in Beverley and then take on a three-lap circuit, which ends with a small uphill dash to the line.<\/p>\n

Profile stage 4: Helmsley – Leyburn\"Profile<\/p>\n

Helmsley – Helmsley, 164 kilometers<\/p>\n

Perhaps the queen stage of the race, the fourth day of the Tour of Britain starts and finishes in the town of Helmsley. A few climbs throughout the day make be decisive for the outcome of the race.<\/p>\n

In particular, those in the final 65 kilometers. 2.4Km at 6.3% (64Km to go); the climb to Redmire (3.5Km; 8.2%; 40.5Km to go) and a hilltop right after which is 2.2Km long at 5.6%, ending with 35 kilometers to go.<\/p>\n

On this sequence of two climbs damage will have to be made by those who climb best, hoping to take advantage and improve their chances of winning.<\/p>\n

If the difference is not made there, there is a 400-meter ramp at 7% with 1.5 kilometers to go which can do it, before a slight uphill drag to the line.<\/p>\n

Profile stage 5: Earlston – Earlston\"Profile<\/p>\n

Earlston – Earlston, 159 kilometers<\/p>\n

The final stage of the race goes through some rolling terrain, but in the 159-kilometer loop around Earlston, there won’t be any meaningful climbs in which differences can be made. A breakaway can succeed, but a bunch sprint is still the likely scenario at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

List of winners Tour of Britain\u00a0Year1st2nd3rd2025Romain Gr\u00e9goireRemco EvenepoelJulian Alaphilippe2024Stephen WilliamsOscar OnleyTom Donnenwirth2023Wout van AertTobias Halland JohannessenDamien Howson2022Gonzalo SerranoTom PidcockOmar Fraile2021Wout van AertEthan HayterJulian Alaphilippe2020\u2014\u2014\u20142019Mathieu van der PoelMatteo TrentinJasper De Buyst2018Julian AlaphilippeWout PoelsPrimo\u017e Rogli\u010d2017Lars BoomEdvald Boasson HagenStefan K\u00fcng2016Steve CummingsRohan DennisTom Dumoulin2015Edvald Boasson HagenWout PoelsOwain Doull2014Dylan van BaarleMicha\u0142 KwiatkowskiBradley Wiggins2013Bradley WigginsMartin ElmigerSimon Yates2012Nathan HaasDamiano CarusoLeigh Howard2011Lars BoomSteve CummingsJan B\u00e1rta2010Michael AlbasiniBorut Bo\u017ei\u010dGregory Henderson2009Edvald Boasson HagenChris SuttonMartin Reimer2008Geoffroy LequatreSteve CummingsIan Stannard2007Romain FeilluAdri\u00e1n PalomaresLuke Roberts2006Martin PedersenLuis PasamontesFilippo Pozzato2005Nick NuyensMichael BlaudzunJavier Cherro2004Mauricio Alberto ArdilaJulian DeanNick Nuyens1999Marc WautersBeno\u00eet JoachimBj\u00f8rnar Vest\u00f8l1998Stuart O’GradyChris BoardmanDariusz Baranowski1994Maurizio FondriestViatcheslav EkimovOlaf Ludwig1993Phil AndersonWladimir BelliBo Andr\u00e9 Namtvedt1992Maximilian SciandriAdrie van der PoelHendrik Redant1991Phil AndersonRudy VerdonckHeinz Imboden1990Michel DerniesRobert MillarMaurizio Fondriest1989Robert MillarMauro GianettiRemig Stumpf1988Malcolm ElliottJoey McLoughlinSean Kelly1987Joey McLoughlinSteven RooksSergio Finazzi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stages Tour of Britain 2026\u00a0StageDateStarting locationFinishing locationDistance (km)TypeEst. startEst. finish1Wed 2 SepLincolnLincoln182.5Hilly10:30~14:502Thu 3 SepBostonSkegness181.1Flat10:30~14:403Fri 4 SepHullBeverley196Flat10:30~14:434Sat 5…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,2919,2050,46730,1790,47096],"class_list":["post-114982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-cycling","tag-preview","tag-tom-pidcock","tag-tour-of-britain","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117195308173432786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}