Some of the top stars in world cycling alongside stage winners in Britain’s biggest professional cycle race are among the first names to be officially confirmed for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, which gets underway on 2 September.

Former Lloyds Tour of Britain Men race winner Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) returns to the race for a fourth time, alongside fellow stage winners Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility) and Matteo Trentin (also Tudor Pro Cycling).

Joining them on the startline in Woodbridge, East Suffolk, on Tuesday 2 September and returning to Britain for the second successive season is reigning Olympic Games road race and time trial champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Evenepoel, who is also the reigning Belgian and World time trial champion, won stage five of the Tour de France this summer, as well as time trial stages of both the Tour de Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné.

Making his debut in 2024, the Soudal Quick-Step rider animated the race from the outset, with attacks on the climbs of day one in the Scottish Borders, before coming fifth on stage two to Redcar, in the stage that shaped the overall general classification.

Fan favourite and 2018 race winner Alaphilippe has never failed to entertain, winning a stage in Bristol on his way to the race overall on his debut in 2018, before returning in 2021 to finish third overall, a race which included a thrilling duel on the slopes of the Great Orme with Wout van Aert.

Last year saw Alaphilippe once again in the thick of the action and animating the race, particularly on the decisive second stage where he finished second behind Williams. In total the double world road race champion has finished in the top 10 in half of the stages he has raced in Britain.

Alaphilippe’s Tudor Pro Cycling teammate Matteo Trentin won stages in the 2015 and 2019 editions in Nottingham and Kelso respectively, taking 11 top ten stage finishes from his two appearances, as well as the runner up spot six years ago.

Norwegian Rasmus Tiller claim his first stage win, and the first at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men for Uno-X Mobility at the end of a thrilling stage through Gloucestershire in 2023, with the 29-year-old going on to finish 12th overall in his second appearance in the race.

The final two riders to be announced took their stage wins more than a decade ago, the most recent, Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) taking his memorable victory in Caerphilly in 2013, resulting in a camera in the team care capturing his then team manager Kurt Bogaerts in floods of tears.

Since then Bennett has gone on to win ten stages in Grand Tours, including a brace of Tour de France stages in 2020, when he also won the race’s green jersey overall.

For former British road race champion Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers), his first professional win came in the Lloyds Tour of Britain, when he sprinted to victory on stage seven at Yeovil in 2009. The Yorkshireman holds the joint record for the most finishes in the race – 11 – that he has achieved alongside five other riders, although Swift is the only one still racing.

Further rider announcements will follow ahead of the publication of the provisional rider list in the build-up to the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men begins on Tuesday 2 September with a pair of stages in Suffolk, the first from Woodbridge to Southwold, before a leg starting and finishing in Stowmarket. Following stages take in Milton Keynes and a first visit to Ampthill in Central Bedfordshire, before a challenging Warwickshire stage ending in a hilltop finish at Burton Dassett Hills Country Park.

The race concludes with a brace of challenging stages in south Wales, the first including a double ascent of The Tumble, before a final stage between the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport to the Welsh capital, Cardiff, on Sunday 7 September.

Fans can also watch and engage with the race across digital platforms, by following the Lloyds Tour of Britain on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (Twitter) and Strava as well as signing up to receive daily insights in their inbox.

Photo Credit - @cyclingimages as supplied by British Cycling.