Welcome to The Tour of Britain, the country’s biggest professional cycling event and Britain’s biggest live sporting event.

The 2008 race was the biggest and best yet, with eight exciting days of racing taking the peloton north from London to Liverpool, with Agritubel’s Geoffroy Lequatre being crowned The Tour’s final yellow jersey on the banks of the River Mersey.

On the way Alessandro Petacchi and Edvald Boasson Hagen each took three stage wins, while the race saw the best yet overall performance by British riders, with Steve Cummings and Ian Stannard finishing second and third.

Plans are currently underway for the 2009 edition of the race, which will run for eight days from Saturday 12th September until Saturday 19th September, as a 2.1 category event.

Next year, and in 2010 and 2011, The Tour of Britain will finish in the centre of London on the circuit used for the opening stage of this year’s race, meaning the race will culminate in our capital, the venue for the 2012 Olympic Games.