Some of the world’s top cyclists return to Great Britain to tackle the demands of the 2012 Tour of Britain, and fans can watch live coverage of the event for the very first time on ITV.
Following on from an unprecedented summer of success for British cycling, the Tour of Britain promises to round off a sensational summer of sport in the UK with Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and world road race champion Mark Cavendish spearheading Team Sky’s line-up.
Every stage will be shown live on television for the first time in the event’s history, with ITV4 screening comprehensive coverage across all eight days.
Viewers can enjoy up to two hours of live coverage each day from September 9-16, in addition to the continuation of the hour long daily highlights, providing the event’s most extensive TV coverage ever.
The Tour of Britain is the UK’s biggest professional bike race and one of the centrepieces of the British sporting calendar as the country’s largest free-to-watch live sporting event.
It returned after a five-year absence in 2004, but quickly re-establishing itself as the main event in the British cycling calendar.
Ranked as a second category race by the UCI and initially held over five days, by 2008 the Tour of Britain had grown to become an eight-day event, allowing it to visit more parts of the UK than ever before.
For the 2012 event, two of Britain’s most successful and revered sportsmen will compete in their home race together for the first time.
Less than a month after adding Olympic gold to his historic Tour de France yellow jersey win, Bradley Wiggins will be joined by world road race champion Mark Cavendish, a two-stage winner in the race last year and the first British rider to win the green jersey in the Tour de France in 2011.
As well of taking Olympic time trial and Tour glory, Wiggins has also had success in Paris Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Criterium Dauphine stage races.
Organisers are looking forward to most watched and highly anticipated Tour of Britain ever seen since the race was reprised in 2004.
Team Sky have also confirmed Jeremy Hunt in their line-up, along with Bernhard Eisel, Christian Knees and Thomas Lofkvist.
In recent years, other home favourites like Olympic gold medallists Geraint Thomas and Ed Clancy have been regular fixtures; while the likes of Thor Hushovd, Tom Boonen, Andre Greipel, Nick Nuyens and Edvald Boasson Hagen have all been stage winners in The Tour.
The Tour of Britain has also seen the development of many household British names, with the likes of Cavendish, Thomas and Ben Swift all riding early editions of the Tour of Britain, exposing them to high quality professional cycling on home roads.
Cavendish is just one of a number of young riders, like Swift, Boasson Hagen and Andy Schleck who have been successful in the Tour of Britain before going on to have even greater success in some of the world’s biggest races, showing the importance of the race in the world cycling calendar.
The 2012 race starts in Ipswich on September 9 and takes in Norfolk, Nottingham, Knowsley, Jedburgh, Dumfries, Carlisle, Blackpool, Stoke, Welshpool, Caerphilly, Barnstaple, Dartmouth and Reigate before ending in Guildford on September 16.
Follow all the action from the 2012 Tour of Britain on ITV4. SOTB’s viewing guide below:
ITV4 will provide cycling fans with the most comprehensive Tour of Britain coverage ever seen.
Up to 16 hours of live coverage of the 2012 event, equating to two hours per day, along with nightly highlights will be shown on ITV4, as well as in high-definition on ITV4 HD and online via ITV.com (scroll down for full TV schedule).
The one-hour highlights programmes will also be repeated the following morning, and available online via the ITV Player for 30 days after transmission.
Jill Douglas will host ITV4’s coverage on the opening day of race in Norfolk, with Ned Boulting, who has been part of Channel 4’s Paralympics reporting team, taking over presenting duties from stage two onwards.
Expert analysis and comment will come from former professional rider Matthew Stephens, and commentary from Hugh Porter and Rob Hayles.
Niall Sloane, ITV’s director of sport, said: “Following our hugely popular coverage of the Tour de France as well as the Vuelta, we’re delighted to be able to bring ITV4 viewers a third major cycling event this year with all the key action from The Tour of Britain.”
Century TV will continue to produce all ITV’s Tour of Britain coverage, as they have done for the past five editions of Britain’s biggest professional cycle race.
Commenting on the announcement, Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of SweetSpot Group, the Tour of Britain organisers and promoters said: “This is a great step forward for The Tour of Britain in what has been a fantastic year for cycling in this country, in a sport that continues to grow year-on-year.
“We look forward to rounding off the year in spectacular style with the best ever Tour of Britain.
“We have worked tirelessly with our stakeholders and partners around the country to make this happen, and are delighted that for the first time ever cycling fans can watch each day of The Tour live, wherever they are in Britain.”
Live action will get underway on Sunday 9th September for stage one from Ipswich to Norfolk Showground, continuing throughout the eight day race, giving cycling fans the chance to see more of the Tour of Britain than ever before.
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Official Tour of Britain 2012 website: CLICK HERE
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