Tour of Britain announces its first four teams

The Tour of Britain has today announced the first four teams that will be contesting the 2007 edition of the race, Team Great Britain, Barloworld, Tinkoff Credit Systems and DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed.

Barloworld is coming off the back of a successful Tour de France for the team. The team won Stages 9 and 11 of the race, the latter of these making Robbie Hunter the first South African to win a stage of the Tour de France, while Colombian Mauricio Soler won in Briançon, on his way to taking the King of the Mountains Jersey.

UK based Professional Continental team, DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed will be back for their third Tour of Britain, and will be hoping for a good result for Dan Lloyd. Lloyd recently came second overall at The Tour of Qinghai Lake in China.

Team Great Britain will also be riding and looking for more success in the race after two stage wins in previous editions thanks to Roger Hammond, and The Tour of Britain is pleased to welcome a new participant in the race, Tinkoff Credit Systems.

Tinkoff have had some impressive results so far this season, including wins at the Tour of Langkawi, Tour of Georgia and the Tour of the Méditerranéen Tour. Its rider Evgeni Petrov finished seventh overall in the Giro d'Italia earlier this year.

Sixteen teams of six riders will be on the start line for the prologue in Crystal Palace on Sunday, September 9.

This year the race covers over 950 kilometres, passing through the South of England, Somerset, the West Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire before finishing in Glasgow on Saturday, September 15. Technical Director Mick Bennett explained, "This year's race will be the best yet, and the teams have been carefully chosen to make the most competitive and exciting race possible. We're looking forward to seven days of close racing, and the teams selected will provide that.

"We're also delighted to welcome Tinkoff Credit Systems to The Tour of Britain, and also pleased to welcome Barloworld, DFL and Team Great Britain back to race."