Sixteen of the world's leading teams, including Tour de France champions Jumbo – Visma and home fan favourites INEOS Grenadiers, will compete in this year's Tour of Britain.

This elite group will whizz through the Shotley peninsula, taking on two hill challenges in Holbrook and Freston on Thursday, September 7. (full story here)

They are two of the five UCI WorldTeams who will take the start in the 19th edition of the UK's most prestigious race, which begins in Greater Manchester on Sunday 3 September, and culminates with what promises to be a spectacular finale in South Wales eight stages later.

BORA – hansgrohe, Movistar Team, and Team dsm – firmenich – all of whom won stages in last year's abridged event - and the Uno-X Pro Cycling Team will also be in action just six weeks on from competing at the Tour de France. 

The 16 teams competing in the Tour of Britain 2023 are: 

• Bingoal WB (Belgium)
• Bolton Equities Black Spoke (New Zealand)
• BORA – hansgrohe (Germany)
• Equipo Kern Pharma (Spain)
• Global 6 Cycling (New Zealand)
• Great Britain Cycling Team (Great Britain)
• INEOS Grenadiers (Great Britain)
• Jumbo – Visma (Netherlands)
• Movistar Team (Spain)
• Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland)
• Saint Piran (Great Britain)
• TDT – Unibet Cycling Team (Netherlands)
• Team dsm – firmenich (Netherlands)
• Team Flanders – Baloise (Belgium)
• TRINITY Racing (Great Britain)
• Uno-X Pro Cycling Team (Norway) 

A predicted 1.5 million spectators are expected to watch these teams in action at this year's race, capitalising on the free-to-attend nature of the event.

INEOS Grenadiers, the second most successful team in modern race history, will look to go one better than the previous two editions of the Tour, in which British stars Ethan Hayter (2021) and Olympic champion Tom Pidcock (2022) finished as runners-up. 

The return of Jumbo – Visma to the race will further whet the appetite, given the Dutch team have won the Tour of Britain on three occasions – twice with Lars Boom (2011, 2017) and once with Belgian star Wout Van Aert (2021). The team also sits fourth in the all-time list of stage wins, having had their riders cross the line first on 14 occasions.  

Boom is one of just two riders to win multiple editions of the race, although no rider has ever claimed back-to-back titles. That run could end in September, as Movistar – the team of the 2022 champion Gonzalo Serrano – are set to compete in their 10th consecutive Tour of Britain, with this year's route suiting last year's winner. 

Bolton Equities Black Spoke (New Zealand), Equipo Kern Pharma (Spain), Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland), and the TDT – Unibet Cycling Team (Netherlands) will all appear in the UK's leading cycle race for the first time in September. The participation of three teams – a Great British national squad and the country's two leading domestic squads (Saint Piran and TRINITY Racing) – was announced in May.

Mick Bennett, Tour of Britain race director, said: "We've assembled a really exciting and eclectic mix of teams for this year's Tour of Britain. From Movistar, the team of defending champion Gonzalo Serrano, and the world's number two and three-ranked squads to some of the sport's most promising up-and-coming outfits, we're counting down the days until they begin racing on British roads!" 

The 2023 race starts in Greater Manchester and finishes eight days later in South Wales. Along the way, riders will race through North Wales, East Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, Essex, and Gloucestershire.

ITV4 will continue to broadcast live flag-to-flag coverage of every stage and nightly highlights show, allowing fans in the UK to watch wherever they are.

The race will also be shown in over 150 countries worldwide, thanks to the event's partnerships with Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network. 

While spectators can watch all the action by the roadside for free, race day hospitality packages offering guaranteed prime views of stage starts and finishes, as well as unforgettable experiences featuring Tour de France stage winner Dan Martin are now available. Visit sportsbreaks.com/Cycling and destinationsportexperiences.com/Cycling/Hospitality for more information.

The Tour of Britain has an illustrious list of former winners, including two-time world champion Julian Alahpillipe (2018), Dutch fan favourite Mathieu van der Poel (2019), and Belgian star Wout Van Aert (2021).

Since 2016, the race has been watched by an average of 1.3m roadside spectators and has generated £27.6m of yearly net economic benefit for the UK economy, according to research by Frontline.