The organisers of the men's Tour of Britain have confirmed that both Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be on the start line of the Pro Series event held from September 3-9.
Van Aert will lead his Jumbo-Visma team in an attempt to win back the overall title he secured in the 2021 edition, when he also won four stages into Bodmin, Llandudno, Gateshead and Aberdeen.
Van Aert arrives at the Tour of Britain having just finished the UCI World Championships in Glasgow, where he was second in the road race and fifth in the time trial.
Jumbo-Visma have been the most successful team competing at the Tour of Britain. The Dutch team have claimed 14 stage victories to date and in addition to Van Aert’s overall win, Lars Boom was also crowned the overall champion in the 2011 and 2017 editions.
A nine-time Tour de France stage winner, Van Aert left the French Grand Tour early this year ahead of the birth of his second child.
Following the World Championships, Van Aert said he had mixed feelings about how the season had gone, but that he would take some time to recover before picking up his road season again at the Tour of Britain.
"A lot of time, I had good legs and had decent form but came up too short a bit too much, talking about results. It's time to move on and try it again in the future."
The Tour of Britain will host 16 teams, including Movistar with defending champion Gonzalo Serrano, Ineos Grenadiers with speculation that Olympic and World cross-country mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock would be racing, along with Bora-Hansgrohe and their sprinter Sam Bennett.
Bennett returns to the race 10 years after securing the stage 5 win during the 2013 edition into Caerphilly. He also raced in the 2014 edition but abandoned ahead of stage 7.
In more recent years, Bennett has opted to compete at the Vuelta a España, where he has won five stages. He has also won two stages and the points jersey at the Tour de France and three at the Giro d'Italia.
"I'm delighted to be back at the Tour of Britain this year. I think the race has a lot of opportunities for sprinters, and we should have a strong team there with BORA - hansgrohe," Bennett said.
"I have great memories of Caerphilly. The last time I raced there it was at a make or break point in my career. If I didn't get the win that day I would have been going back to college in Ireland. But I got my stage win, which allowed me to turn pro with NetApp - Endura the following year. Without that stage, I wouldn't be here today."
