THE LINE-UP of cycling stars set to compete in the 2023 Tour of Britain race - which involves a full stage in Wrexham - has now been revealed.

Stage two of the popular event will take place in Wrexham, starting and finishing there on September 4.

The city has never previously hosted a stage start of the race; its only other appearance in the Tour coming eight years ago, when it co-hosted the Grand Départ.

Italian Olympic champion Elia Viviani claimed a memorable victory that day, ahead of home favourite Mark Cavendish and André Greipel in front of an estimated 10,000 spectators.

More recently, Wrexham hosted a stage start of the Women’s Tour, the Tour of Britain’s sister event, last June.

But now, the men's equivalent is set to land on Wrexham residents' doorsteps - and the list of competitors has now been revealed.

Former Tour of Britain champions Wout van Aert and Gonzalo Serrano, alongside home fan favourite Tom Pidcock, will all compete in next week’s race, which starts in Greater Manchester on Sunday (3 September).

Having wowed the British crowds by taking four stages en route to overall victory two years ago, van Aert’s return headlines the provisional startlist.

The Belgian will spearhead a Jumbo – Visma team that is one of the strongest to ever compete in the race.

READ MORE:​ Former Tour of Britain winner can't wait to welcome event back to his home town

Alongside him will be Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij, already a winner of seven races in 2023, Grand Tour podium finisher Steven Kruijswijk, time trial specialists Jos van Emden and Edoardo Affini, and Nathan Van Hooydonck.

Spaniard Serrano (Movistar Team) will seek to do what no rider has accomplished in the modern era of the race and defend the title he claimed 12 months ago.

Van Aert and Serrano are among the seven historic stage winners set to compete in this year’s race.

Welshman Luke Rowe (INEOS Grenadiers) won on the Tour’s opening day in 2012, the last time he competed in his home tour.

Affini (Italy), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team, winner in Blyth in 2015 and Newark-on-Trent in 2017), Sam Bennett (Ireland, BORA – hansgrohe, winner in Caerphilly in 2013), and Kamiel Bonneu (Belgium, Team Flanders – Baloise, who took a surprise victory in Sunderland last year) complete the list. 

Team dsm – firmenich‘s line-up includes Patrick Bevin, who won the points competition in 2018.

Further home interest comes in the form of Jacob Scott (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), the Pinarello king of the mountains competition winner in 2019 and 2021; newly-crowned track world champion Ethan Vernon (Great Britain), Tour de Yorkshire stage winner Harry Tanfield (TDT – Unibet Cycling Team); and Stevie Williams (Great Britain), who won a stage and the general classification at the recent Arctic Race of Norway.

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Rising American star Luke Lamperti (TRINITY Racing), who won the Rutland – Melton CiCLE Classic international one-day race in April; reigning Austrian road race champion Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team), and German all-rounders Maximilian Schachmann and Nils Politt (both BORA – hansgrohe) are also set to compete.

This is the 19th edition of the race, and it forms part of the prestigious UCI ProSeries. A predicted 1.5 million spectators are expected to watch the 16 teams in action, capitalising on the free-to-attend nature of the event. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The Wrexham stage is scheduled to take place as follows: 

  • Wrexham – Chester Street 11:45am
  • Llay - 12:06pm
  • Gresford - 12:10pm
  • Rossett - 12:15pm
  • Holt - 12:25pm
  • Malpas - 1:14pm
  • Bangor-on-Dee - 1:30pm
  • Penley - 1:52pm
  • Overton - 2:00pm
  • Eyton (category three) - 2:10pm
  • Johnstown - 2:15pm
  • Ruabon - 2:17pm
  • Rhos - 2:24pm
  • Wrexham – Chester Street 2:37pm