Tour of Britain 2022 Preview - A hilly profile for home favourite Pidcock

The 18th edition of the modern Tour of Britain kicks off with its northernmost start on Sunday, with 108 riders setting off from Aberdeen ahead of eight stages that will culminate in a first-ever visit to the Isle of Wight.

There's no time trial at this year's race but an opening day summit finish, as well as several hilly stages including the final day, look set to determine the destination of the new-look leader's jersey.

Chief among the contenders for that red jersey will be Ineos Grenadiers, the home team who boast what is on paper easily the strongest squad at this year's race. The Tour of Britain marks the final race of Richie Porte's career. The 37-year-old, who has Paris-Nice, the Tour de Suisse, and the Critérium du Dauphiné among his career palmarès, is part of a powerful lineup this week.

Tom Pidcock will lead the British team. The 23-year-old, who won on L'Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France, is among the major favourites for the overall win at the race. As well as Porte, he'll be able to rely on Amstel Gold Race winner Michał Kwiatkowski and Brabantse Pijl winner Magnus Sheffield in his bid for glory.

The other major name in contention for the red jersey is Israel-Premier Tech newcomer Dylan Teuns, who undertakes his first stage race for the team since his mid-season transfer. The Belgian, who won Le Flèche Wallonne this spring, has three race days under his belt since the August 5 move.

Having won the Tour de Pologne, Tour de Wallonie, and Arctic Race of Norway in the past, Teuns is well-suited to this style of race and will be a major contender for the win. Climber Michael Woods is also on the ISN team following his early Vuelta a España abandon, with the duo set to make a formidable pairing as the team searches for valuable UCI points.

Bora-Hansgrohe are the next of the five WorldTour teams lining up at the race. 2019 Tour of Turkey winner Felix Großschartner lines up as the leader at the German squad, the pair also among the favourites for overall glory on the Isle of Man.

Shane Archbold, Jordi Meeus, and Marco Haller will spearhead the team's lead-out train, while Nils Politt is another option to contest for stage victories.

At Team DSM, sprinter Cees Bol will be looking to add to his five-win haul during his time at the squad, which is set to come to a close with him moving on for 2023. The 27-year-old is among the strongest sprinters on the start list and will be confident of a victory, while Chris Hamilton is an option on the hilly stages among a young squad.

Movistar, meanwhile, come equipped with the versatile Matteo Jorgenson, who finished fourth at the Tour de la Provence and was a breakaway staple at the Tour de France. He and Oscar Rodríguez will lead the team's charge as they seek a UCI points haul to stave off the relegation threat.

Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè will be led by the highly rated Filippo Zana, who moves to BikeExchange-Jayco next year, while Sacha Modolo is their man for the sprints. Uno-X have young duo Anthon Charmig and Anders Halland Johannessen to rely on for an overall bid. Trinity Racing, meanwhile, will be led by Thomas Gloag, the young British climber soon to turn pro with Jumbo-Visma.

Walls, Bol, and Modolo are among the top sprinters at the race, look out too for Jake Stewart (Great Britain), Kenneth Van Rooy (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), and Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros SGA) in the bid for the blue points jersey.

With red and blue taken, those hoping to compete for the mountain classification will be taking aim at green, while the white intermediate sprint jersey is something extra for the breakaway men to fight for.

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Those riders and the rest of the peloton will be doing battle on a varied terrain over the next week, starting with the queen stage of the race in a bold move from the organisers. The opener, 181.3km from 2021 finish host Aberdeen to the Glenshee Ski Centre, will take in three smaller hills before a long drag towards the final climb.

There, the GC hopefuls should do battle on the 8.3km, 3.1% slopes. The toughest test of the day, though, and likely the best place to watch the riders suffer, is the Suie Hill climb at 82.5km. The peloton will be taking on double-digit gradients on the 1.9km, 8.6% hill.

Stage 2 brings more hills, with a cluster of them coming towards the end of the 175.2km run from Hawick to Duns in the Scottish Borders. The day will be marked by rolling roads for the most part, before packing three third-category climbs into the final 25km, the last of which comes just 6km from the line. A day for punchy sprinters and the hilly specialists.

The next day brings the peloton into England for the first time as the race loops around the north-east from Durham to Sunderland. The first-category climb of Chapel Fell (4.1km at 7.8%) is the biggest challenge of the day, but the 163.6km stage is set to be one for the sprinters with a rolling run to the line.

Stage 4 moves further down the North Sea coast as the peloton heads 149.5km from Redcar to Duncombe Park. Despite two first-category climbs along the way – including the Robin Hood's Bay climb lifted from the Tour de Yorkshire – before a downhill run over the last 10km which could suit any late attackers who jump away on the road to the late final intermediate sprint of the day.

The race's fifth stage to Mansfield is set to play host to another sprint finish, with just two third-category climbs dotted along the route of the 186.8km stage. Once again, there are some small lumps and rises in the final kilometres, but not enough to provoke any race-altering attacks.

The peloton races around the south-west of England on stage 6 as they head 170.9km from Tewkesbury to Gloucester. Three small classified climbs are placed throughout the stage but none are close enough to the finish to launch any major attacks. One unclassified 2.2km, 5.7% climb lies 10km from the line, though, which is a chance for someone to disrupt the sprinters.

It's another day, another sprint on stage 7. The race to Ferndown near Bournemouth on the south coast. Again, there are three classified climbs on the route, but none look set to affect the finish, which features the flattest run-in of the race ahead of an uphill dash to the line.

As the race started with a summit finish, it's only right that it concludes with another uphill test. Though not as tough as the Glenshee Ski Centre climb, there are some harsh double-digit gradients on the 400-metre uphill run to The Needles on the Isle of Wight.

The 148.9km stage on the historic first visit to the island criss-crosses all over the Isle of Wight and brings two first-category and two second-category hills (including the finish) as the race draws to a close. The mountain classification could be decided on this final day and, if the GC race is close, that could be settled on the challenging finish at The Needles, too.