2021 Tour of Britain explained

2021 Tour of Britain
Series:	2021 UCI Europe Tour 2021 UCI ProSeries
Date:	5 – 12 September 2021
Stages:	8
Distance:	1310.9
Unit:	km
Time:	31h 42' 22"
First:	Wout van Aert
First Nat:	BEL
First Color:	Tour of Britain 2021
Second:	Ethan Hayter
Second Nat:	GBR
Third:	Julian Alaphilippe
Third Nat:	FRA
Points:	Ethan Hayter
Points Nat:	GBR
Points Color:	cyan
Mountains:	Jacob Scott
Mountains Nat:	GBR
Mountains Color:	green
Sprints:	Jacob Scott
Sprints Nat:	GBR
Sprints Color:	red
Combativity:	Jacob Scott^[1]
Combativity Nat:	GBR
Previous:	2019
Next:	2022

The 2021 Tour of Britain was an eight-stage men's professional road cycling stage race. It was the seventeenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 80th British tour in total. The race started on 5 September in Penzance, Cornwall, and finished on 12 September in Aberdeen, Scotland.^[2]

The 2.Pro-category race was initially scheduled to be a part of the inaugural edition of the UCI ProSeries, but after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[3] it made its UCI ProSeries debut in 2021, while also still being a part of the 2021 UCI Europe Tour.^[4]

Teams

On 22 April 2021, race organizers announced the first confirmed teams that would be participating in the race, with those being all five British UCI Continental teams and a British national team.^[5] On 10 August 2021, the rest of the invited teams were announced. Seven UCI WorldTeams, four UCI ProTeams, six UCI Continental teams, and the British national team made up the eighteen teams that participated in the race.^[6], with five riders, was the only team to not enter a full squad of six riders. In total, 107 riders started the race, of which 94 finished.^[7]

UCI WorldTeams

UCI ProTeams

UCI Continental Teams

National Teams

• Great Britain

Route

On 17 March 2021, the start and finish venues, along with partial route details, were unveiled, with some of the route from the cancelled 2020 edition carried over to this year's edition. Cornwall made its race debut as it hosted the Grand Départ and the first stage, before the race continued north into Devon for stage 2. Wales then hosted two full stages for the first time in race history. From there, the race entered North West England, as Cheshire hosted stage 5, while stage 6 started in Cumbria and headed east into North East England. The last two stages took place in Scotland, with Hawick and Aberdeen making their race debuts, while Edinburgh was a first-time finish location.^[8] On 20 July, the rest of the route was released.^{[9] [10] [11]}

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	5 September	Penzance to Bodmin	180.8km (112.3miles)		Flat stage
2	6 September	Sherford to Exeter	183.9km (114.3miles)		Hilly stage
3	7 September	Llandeilo to National Botanic Garden of Wales	18.2km (11.3miles)		Team time trial
4	8 September	Aberaeron to Great Orme (Llandudno)	210km (130miles)		Mountain stage
5	9 September	Alderley Park to Warrington	152.2km (94.6miles)		Flat stage
6	10 September	Carlisle to Gateshead	198km (123miles)		Mountain stage
7	11 September	Hawick to Edinburgh	194.8km (121miles)		Hilly stage
8	12 September	Stonehaven to Aberdeen	173km (107miles)		Hilly stage
Total			1310.9km (814.6miles)

Stages

Stage 1

5 September 2021 — Penzance to Bodmin, 180.8km (112.3miles)^{[12] [13]}

Stage 2

6 September 2021 — Sherford to Exeter, 183.9km (114.3miles)^{[14] [15]}

Stage 3

7 September 2021 — Llandeilo to National Botanic Garden of Wales, 18.2km (11.3miles) (TTT)^{[16] [17]}

Stage 4

8 September 2021 — Aberaeron to Great Orme (Llandudno), 210km (130miles)^{[18] [19]}

Stage 5

9 September 2021 — Alderley Park to Warrington, 152.2km (94.6miles)^{[20] [21]}

Stage 6

10 September 2021 — Carlisle to Gateshead, 198km (123miles)^{[22] [23]}

Stage 7

11 September 2021 — Hawick to Edinburgh, 194.8km (121miles)^{[24] [25]}

Stage 8

12 September 2021 — Stonehaven to Aberdeen, 173km (107miles)^{[26] [27]}

Classification leadership table

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Sprints classification	Team classification
1	Wout van Aert	Wout van Aert	Wout van Aert	Jacob Scott	Jacob Scott
2	Robin Carpenter	Robin Carpenter	Ethan Hayter
3		Ethan Hayter
4	Wout van Aert	Wout van Aert
5	Ethan Hayter	Ethan Hayter
6	Wout van Aert
7	Yves Lampaert
8	Wout van Aert	Wout van Aert
Final				Jacob Scott	Jacob Scott

• On stage 2, Nils Eekhoff, who was second in the points classification, wore the cyan jersey, because first-placed Wout van Aert wore the blue jersey as the leader of the general classification.
• On stage 2, Max Walker, who was second in the sprints classification, wore the red jersey, because first-placed Jacob Scott wore the green jersey as the leader of the mountains classification. On stage 3, Walker, who dropped down to third, continued to wear the red jersey, in place of first-placed Scott and second-placed Robin Carpenter, who wore the blue jersey as the leader of the general classification.
• On stage 4, Rory Townsend, who was second in the points classification, wore the cyan jersey, because first-placed Ethan Hayter wore the blue jersey as the leader of the general classification.
• On stages 4–8, Robin Carpenter, who was second in the sprints classification, wore the red jersey, because first-placed Jacob Scott wore the green jersey as the leader of the mountains classification.
• On stage 6, Kristian Sbaragli, who was fifth in the points classification, wore the cyan jersey, because first-placed Ethan Hayter wore the blue jersey as the leader of the general classification, second-placed Julian Alaphilippe wore the rainbow jersey as the defending world road race champion, third-placed Wout van Aert wore the Belgian jersey as the defending Belgian road race champion, and fourth-placed Giacomo Nizzolo wore the European jersey as the defending European road race champion.
• On stage 7, Michael Woods, who was fourth in the points classification, wore the cyan jersey, because first-placed Ethan Hayter wore the blue jersey as the leader of the general classification, second-placed Julian Alaphilippe wore the rainbow jersey as the defending world road race champion, and third-placed Wout van Aert wore the Belgian jersey as the defending Belgian road race champion. For the same reason, Gonzalo Serrano wore the cyan jersey on stage 8.

Final classification standings

Team classification

References

Sources

• Book: Tour of Britain Race Manual. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 2021. . https://web.archive.org/web/20210829171410/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/download-the-2021-tour-of-britain-race-manual/. 29 August 2021.

Notes and References

1. Web site: ROLL OF HONOR 8th STAGE STONEHAVEN TO ABERDEEN. Tour of Britain. Matsport. 12 September 2021. 12 September 2021.
2. Web site: Tour of Britain 2021 route: Start and finish locations unveiled for 18th edition. Richard. Windsor. CyclingWeekly. 22 April 2021. 22 April 2021.
3. Web site: Tour of Britain cancelled with planned 2020 route used in 2021. BBC Sport. BBC. 14 May 2020. 22 April 2021.
4. Web site: Tour of Britain. UCI. 12 September 2021.
5. Web site: First teams unveiled for 2021 Tour of Britain. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 22 April 2021. 22 April 2021.
6. Web site: Deceuninck-QuickStep, Jumbo-Visma and Alpecin-Fenix confirmed for 2021 Tour of Britain. CyclingNews. 10 August 2021. 10 August 2021.
7. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021 Start List. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 4 September 2021. 5 September 2021.
8. Web site: 2021 Tour of Britain start and finish venues unveiled. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 17 March 2021. 22 April 2021.
9. Web site: 2021 Tour of Britain route unveiled. Daniel. Ostanek. CyclingNews. 20 July 2021. 20 July 2021.
10. Web site: 2021 Tour. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 20 July 2021.
11. Web site: Tour of Britain 2021: Race Preview. Daniel. Benson. CyclingNews. 3 September 2021. 3 September 2021.
12. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage One. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210905083118/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-one/. 5 September 2021.
13. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Penzance to Bodmin, stage one preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 4 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
14. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Two. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210906110125/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-two/. 6 September 2021.
15. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Sherford to Exeter, stage two preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 5 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
16. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Three. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210814112655/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-three/. 14 August 2021.
17. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain: Carmarthenshire team time trial start times. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 7 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
18. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Four. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210908202528/https://tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-four/. 8 September 2021.
19. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Aberaeron to Great Orme, stage four preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 8 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
20. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Five. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210908211928/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-five/. 8 September 2021.
21. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Alderley Park to Warrington, stage five preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 8 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
22. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Six. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210910064414/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-six/. 10 September 2021.
23. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Carlisle to Gateshead, stage six preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 9 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
24. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Seven. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210912121201/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-seven/. 12 September 2021.
25. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Hawick to Edinburgh, stage seven preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 10 September 2021. 11 September 2021.
26. Web site: Tour of Britain Stage Eight. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 29 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210911090800/https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/stage-eight/. 11 September 2021.
27. Web site: AJ Bell Tour of Britain 2021: Stonehaven to Aberdeen, stage eight preview. Nick. Bull. Tour of Britain. SweetSpot Group Limited. 11 September 2021. 12 September 2021.