Is the Tour of Britain hosting a mythical Olympic champion battle? "We’d love to see Tom Pidcock against Remco Evenepoel"

In recent years the Tour of Britain has been struggling to keep it's current form due to financial difficulties, but the Great Britain's main cycling event has managed to keep it upright and find itself in a much better position this year. With new financial resources and a route that remains attractive for the sprinters and classics riders, race organizers are looking to convince Olympic Champions Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock to the race this year.

The race will feature six stages from the 3rd to 8th of September, ahead of the autumn classics where there will be a few World Tour events, European and World Championships. “We’d love to see Tom Pidcock against Remco Evenepoel at the Tour of Britain. It'd be cool to see two Olympic champions up against each other,” race director Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews. “I think the route would suit Remco really well and it’d be great for British cycling fans to see Tom race on home roads after he won gold in the mountain bike race in Paris.”

The exact route and profiles are not yet known, and neither is the startlist with a month to go. But so far, there are positive signs for the heads of the race regarding what the event should look like. “I don’t have any confirmation on riders yet but we’ve been talking to teams. I saw that Remco’s team manager Patrick Lefevere indicated that the Tour of Britain could be his first ride back after the Olympics. He’d be very welcome,” Ellingworth said.

Although it clashes with the Vuelta a España in the calendar, the race used to and remains an important preparation race for plenty riders. Last year Wout van Aert won the overall classification and a stage whilst teammate Olav Kooij dominated the sprints and INEOS Grenadiers climber Carlos Rodríguez won the queen stage with a long-range attack.

“Some of the teams have started to send in their entry list, so we can see who's coming, but there's no confirmation on anybody yet," Ellingworth concludes. "A lot of riders have ridden the Tour of Britain in the past to prepare for the World Championships and I think this year’s hilly course world again.”