Tour of Britain 2014 live on ITV & Eurosport

A momentous summer of cycling in the UK draws to an enthralling finale in September with the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain and fans can watch every stage live on ITV Sport and British Eurosport.

Some of cycling’s biggest names, including the reigning champion and 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins and the ‘Manx Missile’ Mark Cavendish, will be competing in this eight-day race, which has been elevated by the UCI, the world’s governing body, to a second-category stage race for the first time this year.

The 11th edition of the race in its current guise is set to feature its biggest ever field with 120 riders from 20 teams competing, including the familiar faces from Team Sky and Omega Pharma-Quick Step, as well as many other major international professional teams.

There will be plenty of strong British representation in this year’s field, headlined by the defending champion Wiggins, who dominated the race 12 months ago en route to his maiden Tour of Britain title, in what was generally considered the most successful Tour of Britain ever.

Huge crowds turned out for every stage in a demonstration of the remarkable growth in popularity of cycling in this country and more of the same is expected in 2014.

Fans will be watching out for the ‘Manx Missile’ Mark Cavendish as he makes his return to the major stage race for the first time since falling heavily in the opening stage of the Tour de France, breaking his collarbone during the frantic bunch sprint in Harrogate and ending his hopes of claiming the yellow jersey in his mother’s home town.

He will be looking for a similar performance to last year when he picked up three stage wins including the penultimate and final stage in central London.

This year’s Tour of Britain will start in Liverpool and finish in the capital a week with a split final stage, after visiting various towns and cities across the UK, predominantly in the south west of the country, including Knowsley, Llandudno, Newtown, the Tumble, Worcester, Bristol, Exeter, Bath, Hemel Hempstead and Brighton.

Stage three in Wales and starting from Newtown will feature a summit finish on The Tumble, while stage five visits Dartmoor, where it will take in the key climb of Haytor as it did last year – although not as a summit finish.

Stage seven from Camberley to Brighton will have the distinction of being the longest in the modern history of the Tour of Britain at 220km, as the race expands and grows in stature year on year.

The final stage will feature the now almost traditional finale around the streets and landmarks of London on Sunday, September 14, which will be a split stage, with a morning time trial followed by an afternoon stage race, rounding eight more unforgettable days of cycling in the UK.

The 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain marks perfect conclusion to a memorable summer for the sport of cycling, which was headlined by the visit of the Tour de France to Yorkshire and followed by the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and RideLondon.

Watch every stage unfold of the 2014 Tour of Britain live on ITV Sport and British Eurosport. Full TV details below.

ITV Sport will broadcast live coverage of every stage from the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain to free-to-air audiences.

Following on from the its extensive coverage of Tour de France in Yorkshire and the ongoing Vuelta a Espana, the channel will screen extensive coverage of all eight days of the race, including daily live coverage and nightly highlights on ITV4.

For the first time since the channel started covering the event in 2008, live coverage of the opening stage in Liverpool will be shown on the main ITV network, getting Britain’s biggest professional cycle race underway in front of the biggest possible audience.

Three hours of live action from the opening stage around Liverpool city centre starts at 2.00pm on Sunday, September 7, as the race starts and finishes on The Strand, in the shadow of the iconic Liver Building, and follows a route which takes in landmarks like the Albert Dock and the spectacular Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

After the opening day’s action, live coverage continues for the rest of the race on ITV4, which after Liverpool moves on through Wales, Bristol, Exeter, Hemel Hempstead and Brighton, before finishing on Sunday, September 14, on Whitehall in London.

Ned Boulting presents ITV’s coverage throughout the week, which will produced by the Tour of Britain’s host broadcaster Century TV.

He will be joined for expert analysis by former professional road racer Rob Hayles, while commentary is led by the veteran cycling broadcaster Hugh Porter and Brian Smith.

ITV and ITV4’s coverage can be viewed online for free via ITV Player on all devices, while each nightly highlights programme can also be found on the site for up to 30 days after transmission.

In addition, ITV Sport’s dedicated Tour of Britain website has all the latest news, race updates, standings and video from the race.

Niall Sloane, ITV’s director of sport, said: “Following our extremely popular coverage of this year’s Tour de France, we’re delighted for the first time to bring ITV viewers live coverage of the first day of country’s major cycling event.

“The fact the rest of the event is on ITV4 complements the channel’s extensive cycling offer.”

Mick Bennett, Tour of Britain race director, added: “The addition of the ITV coverage for Stage One is a great boost for the race, our partners and of course the many hundreds of thousands of spectators who tune in to watch the race each day.

“We hope that being on ITV for the Liverpool stage will expose the race to new audiences, who will continue to tune in across the subsequent seven stages.

“With the route, and the line-up of teams and riders we will have on the start line in Liverpool, there is sure to be great action, in some fantastic locations, for ITV viewers to enjoy.”

British Eurosport will also provide extensive coverage of the 2014 Tour of Britain as the pan-European channel covers the race for the second time.

Every stage from Liverpool to London will be broadcast on British Eurosport as well as in high-definition on British Eurosport HD, plus there will be extended highlights shows at various times.

Commentary comes from former British Road Race champion Matt Stephens and 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt.

Live online streaming of British Eurosport’s coverage can be accessed via Eurosport Player (subscription required), plus there will also be additional reports and features via the British Eurosport cycling website.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE 2014 ROUTE START LIST

Sunday 7th September

STAGE 1: Liverpool City Centre – 130km / Flat Stage

LIVE: 2.00pm-5.00pm ITV / 2.15pm-5.00pm British Eurosport

Highlights: 9.00pm-10.00pm ITV4

Monday 8th September

STAGE 2: Knowsley > Llandudno – 197km / Flat Stage