The 2026 Tour of Britain Men reaches its final stage on Sunday 6 September, with Tim Wellens carrying a 21-second lead over Lewis Askey into a 156.1km loop through the Scottish Borders from Earlston back to Earlston.
Stage 5 starts at 11:15 BST, with the finish expected at approximately 14:58 BST. The important television change for Sunday is that the finale will not be shown live on ITV4. Free coverage remains available through ITVX and the official Tour of Britain YouTube stream, while TNT Sports and HBO Max also carry the stage live.
The official YouTube broadcast is scheduled to begin shortly before the race start and can be watched below.
Tour of Britain Stage 5 key UK viewing times
| Stage 5 point | Approximate UK time |
|---|---|
| TNT Sports/HBO Max coverage | From around 10:45 BST |
| YouTube stream | From around 10:50 BST |
| Official race start | 11:15 BST |
| ITVX coverage | From around 11:30 BST |
| Lammermuir Hills | Early afternoon |
| Final return towards Earlston | From around 13:45 BST |
| Earlston finishing circuits | Around 14:00 BST onwards |
| Recommended tune-in | 13:45 BST |
| Expected finish | Around 14:58 BST |
The stage contains 2,236 metres of climbing, with much of the difficult terrain packed into the middle of the route before two 19km finishing circuits around Earlston.
It leaves enough time after the main climbs for a regrouping, but with Wellens defending only 21 seconds and Askey needing to attack, there is no guarantee the final day settles into a conventional sprint.
How to watch Tour of Britain Stage 5 free in the UK
Sunday has two main free options for UK viewers.
The official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel is showing the complete stage, with the Stage 5 stream available here:
Watch Stage 5 live free on YouTube
ITVX also carries live coverage of the final stage.
The distinction from the previous four days is worth remembering. Stages 1 to 4 were shown live on ITV4 and ITVX, but Stage 5 is an ITVX-only live broadcast from ITV. ITV4 will still carry highlights.
TNT Sports and HBO Max provide the subscription alternatives and are showing every stage of the men’s race.
For anyone who has followed the Tour through ITV4 all week, Sunday is therefore the day to switch to ITVX or YouTube.
What time does Tour of Britain Stage 5 start?
The official race start in Earlston is scheduled for 11:15 BST.
The peloton initially heads east towards Smailholm and the Kelso area before turning north through Hume, Greenlaw, Charterhall and Duns.
From there the character of the stage changes.
The race enters the Lammermuir Hills, passes Whiteadder Reservoir and takes on the main climbing section around Redstone Rig and Duddy Bank before eventually turning south again through Greenlaw and Gordon.
Hardens Hill provides another climbing test before the long return towards Earlston.
Once back in the finishing area, the riders still have two laps of a 19km circuit through Smailholm before the final finish.
Stage 5 has enough climbing to keep the GC alive
The profile is easier than Saturday’s decisive Yorkshire stage, but it is not a ceremonial final day.
Redstone Rig is approximately 3.8km at 4.3%, Duddy Bank is around 3.1km at 3.3%, while Hardens Hill adds another 2.2km at roughly 4.5%.
None is difficult enough to suggest Wellens should lose 21 seconds simply through climbing strength. Together, though, they provide several places where NSN Cycling Team can make the race uncomfortable.
That distinction matters because Askey no longer has anything to protect.
He spent the opening three stages defending the lead he took with his Stage 1 victory on Michaelgate. On Sunday, his only realistic route back into green is to attack.
Wellens turned the Tour around in Yorkshire
Saturday finally produced the GC battle UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been trying to create all week.
Wellens began Stage 4 from Helmsley to Leyburn 12 seconds behind Askey, but the race changed on the final major climbing section.
UAE had spent much of the day increasing the pressure before Wellens attacked with more than 40km remaining. He bridged across to the survivors of the breakaway and eventually found himself alongside Cees Bol at the front.
Bol won the stage in Leyburn, while Wellens finished second and took enough time out of the chasing group to move into the overall lead.
Askey crossed the line 27 seconds behind Wellens. Once the time bonuses were included, the British rider went from leading the Tour by 12 seconds to trailing by 21 seconds with one stage remaining.
It vindicated the tactical threat identified in our Stage 4 live viewing guide. UAE did not need Wellens to attack on the first serious climb. They needed to keep applying pressure until Askey was vulnerable.
Sunday begins with those roles reversed.
Can Lewis Askey still win the Tour of Britain?
Twenty-one seconds is a difficult gap to recover on this route, but the final stage gives Askey enough terrain to try.
The problem is not simply dropping Wellens.
If Askey attacks in the Lammermuir Hills, there is still a long way to Earlston. UAE have a strong team and Wellens is particularly effective on rolling terrain where small groups have to cooperate.
Askey therefore needs more than one acceleration followed by a solo ride to the finish.
NSN’s better route may be to make the entire stage difficult to control. Send riders into dangerous groups, force UAE to chase, attack again when Wellens has fewer teammates and try to reach the finishing circuits with the race still fragmented.
That is a very different proposition from waiting for one decisive climb.
The 21-second deficit also means bonus seconds alone are unlikely to rescue Askey. They could become important if he has already taken time on the road, but he needs to create a genuine split somewhere before Earlston.
The final circuits give Askey one last tactical option
The two 19km circuits around Earlston may become more important than the climbing numbers suggest.
By then Redstone Rig, Duddy Bank and the harder Lammermuir roads are behind the riders. A group that has survived the earlier attacks can begin to organise for the finish, while anyone still trying to overturn the GC has very little road left.
That creates a clear threshold for Askey.
If he reaches the circuits with Wellens still on his wheel and a strong UAE group around the race leader, his chances of recovering 21 seconds become small.
If the stage reaches Earlston with Wellens isolated, however, the repeated circuit gives NSN and other attacking teams somewhere to continue applying pressure rather than immediately settling for a sprint.
Wellens does not need to chase every move himself. He only needs to prevent Askey from gaining the sort of gap that turns the final kilometres into a GC calculation.
Kooij and Merlier have one final sprint battle
The general classification is only part of Sunday’s race.
Olav Kooij and Tim Merlier have split the two clearest sprint stages between them and arrive in Earlston with one final opportunity to settle their head-to-head.
Merlier struck first in Skegness on Stage 2. Kooij answered 24 hours later, coming around the Belgian in the final metres of the Stage 3 sprint in Beverley.
Stage 5 is less straightforward.
Merlier will want Soudal Quick-Step to help control the race once the Lammermuir climbs are completed. His best scenario is a reasonably large group reaching the Earlston circuits together, allowing the sprint teams to take over.
Kooij has more ways to survive if the racing becomes selective. The Dutchman can handle a harder stage than most pure sprinters and should remain dangerous if the climbs reduce the peloton without creating a decisive break.
Cees Bol gives Decathlon CMA CGM another option after his Stage 4 victory, while Ethan Vernon, Matteo Moschetti, Sam Bennett and Sam Welsford provide further sprint threats if a sizeable group makes it back to Earlston.
The wider sprint battle was one of the strongest parts of the Tour of Britain Men 2026 preview, and it remains unresolved going into the final afternoon.
What time should you start watching Stage 5?
For viewers interested mainly in the decisive part of the race, 13:45 BST is the safest time to start watching.
By then the race should be moving out of the main Lammermuir section and towards the final phase around Earlston.
That leaves enough time to see whether Askey has managed to put Wellens under pressure before the finishing circuits, while also covering the point where Kooij, Merlier and the other sprinters will discover whether they are still racing for the stage.
Waiting until 14:30 BST is much riskier.
If Askey is going to threaten the overall, the important move could already have happened. Stage 5 does not finish on a climb where the main contenders are guaranteed to stay together until the final ten minutes.
For anyone interested in the complete GC battle, watching from the main climbing section onwards is the better option.
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Photo Credit: Arkea-B&B Hotels
Why Sunday could be difficult for UAE to control
UAE’s position looks comfortable, but the tactical demands of a final stage are different from a normal day with a 21-second lead.
Several teams have little reason to help them.
NSN want the race to be aggressive.
Teams without a realistic GC objective want a breakaway to survive.
The sprint teams want the race controlled, but not necessarily so hard that their fastest riders are removed in the Lammermuir Hills.
That leaves UAE trying to protect Wellens while deciding which attacks genuinely matter.
An isolated rider five minutes down on GC can be allowed freedom. Askey cannot.
A move containing several strong Classics riders could become awkward even without Askey if it forces UAE to spend riders earlier than planned.
The race leader has enough advantage that he should still begin as the clear favourite to win the Tour, but Sunday’s route gives his rivals plenty of opportunities to make him work for it.
Tour of Britain Stage 5 live viewing summary
Date: Sunday 6 September 2026
Route: Earlston to Earlston
Distance: 156.1km
Elevation: 2,236m
Stage type: Hilly / possible reduced sprint
Official start: 11:15 BST
YouTube stream: From around 10:50 BST
ITVX: Live
ITV4 live coverage: No
TNT Sports/HBO Max: Live
Main climbing: Redstone Rig, Duddy Bank and Hardens Hill
Finale: Two 19km circuits around Earlston and Smailholm
Recommended tune-in: 13:45 BST
Expected finish: Around 14:58 BST
Race leader: Tim Wellens
Lewis Askey: +21 seconds
Watch Tour of Britain Men Stage 5 live free on YouTube
Wellens has 156.1km left to convert his Yorkshire attack into overall victory. Askey has the same distance to find 21 seconds on a route where waiting for the final kilometre will not be enough.
Behind that contest, Kooij and Merlier still have another stage victory to fight over.
For viewers, the main change is straightforward: Sunday’s final stage is not live on ITV4. ITVX carries ITV’s live coverage, while the official Tour of Britain YouTube stream provides a free alternative from before the 11:15 BST start.
