The organisers of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men have announced the 19 teams for the 2025 edition of the race, with the world's number one team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG on the entry list.
UAE are a new team for 2025 as the Tour of Britain rebuilds after a difficult change of the race organisation and British Cycling taking control.
Nine WorldTour teams will line-up in Woodbridge in East Suffolk, in the southeast of England on Tuesday 2 September. They include Lidl-Trek, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Groupama FDJ, Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike.
Israel-Premier Tech return as defending champions after Stevie Williams victory in 2024, one of eight UCI ProTeams competing in the event. The Tour of Britain organisers claimed that 12 of the world’s top 17 ranked teams will be in action on British roads in September.
The announcement of UAE amongst the nine WorldTour teams, sparked speculation that Tadej Pogačar could use the race as a tune-up for the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, where he will defend his rainbow jersey.
However UAE have already announced that Pogačar will return to competition at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (September 12 & 14).
Adam Yates' race programme has still to be confirmed, with Isaac del Toro also a possible leader for UAE on British roads.
The Tour of Britain Men will start in Suffolk on September 2 with two stages, and ends in Cardiff on September 7.
Geraint Thomas will end his career at the Tour of Britain and on his home roads in Wales.
"It'll be my last day of racing ever. To be on home roads, where it all started, makes a full circle. It'll be a great way to finish," Thomas said.
Nine UCI World Teams will contest the race: Lidl-Trek, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Groupama FDJ, Bahrain Victorious, Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-Quickstep, Picnic-PostNL, Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Six ProTeams will be on the start line: Kern Pharma, Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto, Q36.5, Flanders-Baloise, Tudor, Unibet Tietema Rockets and Uno-X Mobility, along with the Anicolor-Tien 21 continental team and the British national team..
"This year's line-up of teams for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men is one of the best that we have ever seen assembled for the race, and shows the status with which the event is held by UCI WorldTour and Pro Teams," Tour of Britain managing director Jonathan Day said.
"Excitement is building for September, and what will be a highly competitive Lloyds Tour of Britain Men. We cannot wait to see these teams in action and racing through communities across England and Wales on our six stages."
Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the 2025 Tour of Britain Men.
