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Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel is set to headline the Tour of Britain as the Belgian returns to road racing for the first time since Paris 2024.
Evenepoel secured time trial gold on the opening weekend of competition in the French capital before returning to add a spectacular road race win later in the Games.
It continued an excellent summer for the 24-year-old after finishing third overall on Tour de France debut, winning the white jersey as the Grand Tour’s best young rider.
He is now set to spearhead a strong Soudal-QuickStep squad at the Tour of Britain, which begins in the Scottish Borders on Tuesday 3 September.
Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe will co-lead the six-strong unit at a race he won in 2018, with former Team Sky stalwart Gianni Moscon also part of the team.
“I am looking forward to returning to racing at the Tour of Britain, after my post-Olympics break,” Evenepoel said. “My last period of racing was very special for me and it was great that I could recharge a little afterwards, but it’s time to pin on a number again as I look forward to the big races of this autumn.
“It is especially nice that I can start in Scotland, where I have the memories of winning the Worlds ITT race last summer.”
Evenepoel and Alaphilippe are likely to battle for overall victory across the six stages with Tom Pidcock, who is expected to lead the Ineos Grenadiers after his own Olympic success in August.
Pidcock defended his mountain bike gold medal with a brilliant cross country victory in Paris and will compete in his home race for the fourth time.
“The Tour of Britain is a really special race for me,” Pidcock said. Returning to the UK after a such busy year of racing and to pin on numbers in front of the passionate home fans, always provides great motivation.
“I can’t wait to get out there with my Ineos Grenadier teammates in our home race and we look forward to seeing you all out along the road.”
After an opening stage starting and finishing in Kelso, the race heads south across the border for five stages in England.
It concludes on Sunday 8 September with a 158.4km route down the East Anglian coast from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.
