Five UCI WorldTour teams will contest the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men after organisers confirmed an 18-team field for the five-stage race from 2 to 6 September.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Netcompany INEOS, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, NSN Cycling Team and Soudal Quick-Step headline a line-up that also contains four UCI ProTeams, eight Continental squads and the Great Britain Cycling Team.
The race begins in Lincoln before travelling through Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders. With flatter opportunities during the opening three stages followed by more demanding terrain between Helmsley and Leyburn and around Earlston, the field includes teams capable of targeting both sprint victories and the overall green jersey.
Individual rider selections will be announced closer to the start. The presence of teams containing Tom Pidcock, Fred Wright, Julian Alaphilippe, Olav Kooij and Lewis Askey does not yet confirm that any of those riders will compete.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG return after Tour de France success
UAE Team Emirates-XRG will make their second Tour of Britain appearance after debuting in 2025, when Pavel Sivakov finished tenth overall.
The world’s top-ranked team as of 3 August arrive following another successful Tour de France and immediately give the British race one of the strongest organisations available on the international calendar.
Their inclusion also reflects how quickly the race has become established within the team’s late-season programme. UAE had never entered the modern Tour of Britain before 2025 but will now return for a second consecutive edition.
The final squad will determine whether the team target the general classification, stage victories or development opportunities. Their depth means they can construct a competitive seven-rider selection without relying on the Tour de France leaders who delivered their success in July.
Photo Credit: SWPix.comNetcompany INEOS preserve an ever-present record
Netcompany INEOS will maintain their unbroken run of Tour of Britain appearances dating back to 2010.
The British WorldTour team have won the modern race once, through Bradley Wiggins in 2013, but their home Tour has also provided opportunities for young British riders, returning Grand Tour contenders and established leaders preparing for the late-season championships.
Their participation carries particular importance in a field containing fewer WorldTour teams than the 2025 edition. They remain the only British-registered squad at the highest level and will be expected to race prominently across home roads.
The team’s wider history, from its beginnings as Team Sky to its current identity, is covered in our history of the Team Sky cycling project.
Decathlon arrive with the Tour of Britain’s most prolific modern sprinter
Decathlon CMA CGM Team return with a particularly strong connection to the race through Olav Kooij.
Kooij has won seven Tour of Britain stages, including four consecutive victories in 2023 and three more during the 2025 edition. He also secured the overall classification last year after demonstrating that his consistency and bonus-second accumulation could turn repeated sprint success into a GC victory.
The Dutchman has since moved to Decathlon CMA CGM, signing a three-year contract from 2026. His participation has not yet been confirmed, but his new team’s selection creates the possibility of another Tour of Britain built around one of the race’s most successful sprinters.
Kooij’s move and the role he is expected to hold within the French team are detailed in our report on Olav Kooij joining Decathlon CMA CGM.
Soudal Quick-Step bring the strongest team record
Soudal Quick-Step are the most successful organisation of the modern Tour of Britain era.
The Belgian team have won at least one stage in every edition they have entered since 2004, collecting 27 stage victories and two overall titles. Their ability to bring both elite sprinters and aggressive Classics riders has repeatedly made them one of the hardest teams to control on British roads.
They also arrive after winning three stages of the 2026 Tour de France through Tim Merlier. As with the other headline names attached to the participating teams, Merlier’s presence in September should not be assumed until the provisional start list is released.
Even without their leading Tour sprinter, Soudal Quick-Step possess the depth to target several different stages. The flatter opening days suit their fast riders, while the final two stages offer opportunities for the puncheurs and all-rounders who have historically thrived at this race.
Photo Credit: GettyNSN Cycling add further British interest
NSN Cycling complete the five-team WorldTour selection.
The Swiss-registered squad include British rider Lewis Askey, whose aggressive racing and strength across rolling terrain would make him particularly well suited to the route. His place is not yet confirmed, but the team’s presence creates another potential source of home interest alongside Netcompany INEOS and the Great Britain squad.
NSN’s selection may also be shaped around stage hunting rather than one protected GC leader. The Tour of Britain regularly rewards riders willing to enter breakaways, contest exposed stages and attack on short climbs rather than waiting for one decisive mountain finish.
Pidcock and Wright’s Pinarello Q36.5 team return
Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team lead the four-team ProTeam selection.
The Swiss squad includes 2022 Tour of Britain runner-up Tom Pidcock and British national road race champion Fred Wright. Both would be major attractions if selected, but the team announcement confirms only their organisation’s participation at this stage.
Pidcock has a long relationship with the race and has repeatedly identified the opportunity to compete in Britain as an important part of his calendar. He came close to the overall victory in 2022 and has the explosive climbing strength required for the more demanding stages in Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders.
The team won the Tour of Britain teams classification in 2023 and will again have the depth to pursue both individual stages and the overall result.
Photo Credit: SWPix.comTudor return after Alaphilippe’s 2025 podium
Tudor Pro Cycling Team will make their second Tour of Britain appearance after an impressive debut in 2025.
Julian Alaphilippe finished third overall last year, behind Romain Grégoire and Remco Evenepoel, having previously won the race in 2018. His attacking style and popularity with British crowds made him one of the central figures of the edition.
The Frenchman has not yet been confirmed for 2026, but Tudor’s inclusion raises the prospect of another Tour of Britain built around a rider capable of combining stage wins with the overall classification.
The team’s growing depth means it could also arrive with several alternative leaders. The final two stages should suit its collection of Classics riders and aggressive all-rounders particularly well.
The conclusion of last year’s race, including Alaphilippe’s podium and Grégoire’s two-second overall victory, is covered in our 2025 Tour of Britain final-stage report.
Team Flanders-Baloise return for a 13th edition
Team Flanders-Baloise will make their 13th appearance at the modern Tour of Britain.
The Belgian development team hold a distinctive place in the race’s history after Nick Nuyens won the first modern edition in 2004. Since then, the team have regularly used the event to expose emerging riders to aggressive racing against WorldTour opposition.
Victor Vercouillie won the mountains classification for the team in 2025, continuing a tradition of using breakaways and intermediate competitions to build a successful race.
Their squad may lack the resources of the leading WorldTour teams, but the Tour of Britain’s route and tactical uncertainty often create opportunities for teams willing to attack before the final kilometres.
Modern Adventure Pro Cycling complete the ProTeam selection and will make their race debut.
Eight Continental teams receive debut invitations
All eight Continental teams selected for 2026 will be appearing at the Tour of Britain for the first time.
The most established name is St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93. The French team have more than three decades of history, including previous participation in the Tour de France, and bring considerably more experience than their current Continental status may suggest.
German squad BIKE AID combine professional racing with humanitarian and social projects intended to promote cycling in developing countries. Their invitation adds another team with an identity extending beyond race results alone.
The Continental field also includes:
- APS Pro Cycling Team by Team Cadence Cyclery
- BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
- Lucky Sport Cycling
- Team Storck-MRW Bau
- Tarteletto-Isorex
- Team United Shipping
The inclusion of eight Continental teams creates a different balance from the WorldTour-heavy 2025 race. It should provide more opportunities for emerging riders and smaller teams to gain visibility through breakaways and classification battles.
Great Britain Cycling Team make a 19th appearance
The Great Britain Cycling Team will compete for the 19th time, continuing the race’s role as an important bridge between development racing and the professional peloton.
The national selection regularly gives young British riders their first opportunity to compete in a major home stage race against WorldTour opposition. Matthew Brennan, Josh Tarling, Ethan Hayter and several other leading professionals have previously appeared in British national colours during the earlier stages of their careers.
The final selection is likely to contain a combination of academy riders and established professionals without a trade team invitation. That flexibility makes Great Britain one of the most interesting squads to assess once the start list is published.
Full Tour of Britain Men 2026 team line-up
UCI WorldTour teams
- Decathlon CMA CGM Team, France
- Netcompany INEOS, Great Britain
- NSN Cycling Team, Switzerland
- Soudal Quick-Step, Belgium
- UAE Team Emirates-XRG, UAE
UCI ProTeams
- Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, USA
- Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Switzerland
- Team Flanders-Baloise, Belgium
- Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Switzerland
UCI Continental teams
- APS Pro Cycling Team by Team Cadence Cyclery, USA
- BIKE AID, Germany
- BHS-PL Beton Bornholm, Denmark
- Lucky Sport Cycling, Sweden
- St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, France
- Team Storck-MRW Bau, Germany
- Tarteletto-Isorex, Belgium
- Team United Shipping, Hungary
National team
- Great Britain Cycling Team
Five stages from Lincoln to Earlston
The race opens on Wednesday 2 September with a stage beginning and finishing in Lincoln. The city hosts the modern Tour of Britain for the first time, bringing the race into an area strongly associated with the Lincoln Grand Prix and its Michaelgate climb.
Stage 2 travels from Boston to Skegness, providing a largely flat route where coastal winds may prove as important as the terrain. The following day takes the peloton from Hull to Beverley, offering another possible sprint but with the exposed roads of East Yorkshire capable of creating a more selective race.
The overall contest should become clearer during Stage 4 from Helmsley to Leyburn. The route travels from the North York Moors into the Yorkshire Dales and is expected to be one of the toughest days of the race.
Stage 5 begins and finishes in Earlston, which hosts the event for the first time. The Scottish Borders route provides the final opportunity to overturn the general classification after two demanding closing stages.
The five-day format forms part of a wider expansion of the national race programme, with the men’s and women’s Tours both taking place across a three-week period. The background is explained in our feature on the 2026 Tour of Britain becoming the event’s biggest combined edition.
A field built around several different levels of ambition
“With experienced teams and exciting emerging talent all represented, fans coming to watch can look forward to five days of world-class, competitive racing at the Lloyds Tour of Britain,” race director Jonny Clay said.
“The line-up will showcase what makes Britain such a special place to race, producing some entertaining racing across five challenging stages.”
The 2026 field is smaller at WorldTour level than the previous edition, but its composition should create a more open race.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Soudal Quick-Step bring the strongest recent Tour de France pedigree. Netcompany INEOS provide the leading home WorldTour presence, while Decathlon CMA CGM arrive with the possibility of selecting the most successful sprinter in the race’s recent history.
Pinarello Q36.5 and Tudor possess potential headline contenders through Pidcock, Wright and Alaphilippe, although none should be treated as confirmed until the rider list is released. The eight Continental debutants and Great Britain selection provide the riders most likely to animate the breakaways.
The history of the Tour of Britain has repeatedly been shaped by that mixture of established international teams and riders using British roads to announce themselves at a higher level.
The team announcement provides the framework for the 2026 race. The next major question is which riders those 18 squads choose to bring to Lincoln.
