The 20 teams for the 2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain have been announced in a line-up that will feature 10 UCI WorldTour teams, plus a further three squads that have competed in one of the two Grand Tours so far in 2017.

All of the top five teams in the current UCI WorldTour rankings – Quick-Step Floors, Team Sky, BMC Racing, Movistar Team and Orica Scott – will be at the Tour of Britain.

Returning to the race will be Team Katusha Alpecin, who have confirmed Alexander Kristoff, winner of the European Championship Road Race and Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic on consecutive weekends, and his team-mate world time trial champion Tony Martin, who won the Bristol stage last year, as part of their provisional line-up.

“The Tour of Britain is not only a perfect race in my build-up to the world championships, I will also try to win some stages”, said Kristoff.

“For me it is a return to this race after eight-years. I still have good memories of my participation in 2009. Moreover, I always perform well on British soil. I took my Olympic medal in London as well as the victory in last week’s RideLondon-Surrey Classic WorldTour race. I really look forward participating in the Tour of Britain.”

The 185km seventh stage of the Tour starts in Hemel Hempstead and comes through the Cotswolds on Saturday 9th September before finishing in The Prom in Cheltenham in mid-afternoon.

Alongside Kristoff the race looks set to attract the world’s top sprinters, with Team Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish targeting the Tour to return from his Tour de France injury, and Sky’s Elia Viviani aiming to add to his four stage wins in the race.

Viviani’s Team Sky teammate Geraint Thomas has already vowed to race the Tour of Britain for the first time since 2011, with the overall finish of the Tour in his home city of Cardiff for the first time on Sunday 10th September.

Tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett said: “We are delighted with this year’s line-up of teams for the Tour of Britain and with riders of the calibre of Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish and Alexander Kristoff coming out to say they will be targeting the Tour of Britain, this bodes for a fantastic spectacle for fans at the roadside and watching at home on television.

“The combination of teams from all three levels of the sport, plus the presence of a Great Britain national team and the continuation of six-man teams will continue to make for open and aggressive racing. Our four domestic UCI Continental squads have worked hard to qualify for their national Tour and to have the opportunity to race against the world’s best in front of their home support.”

A trio of teams will make their Tour of Britain debuts in CCC Sprandi Polkowice from Poland, America’s Cylance Pro Cycling and BIKE Channel Canyon.

The latter are one of four domestic UCI Continental teams to have qualified for the Tour following their performances in British events during the course of 2017.

The qualification process saw teams score points in British Cycling’s Spring Cup and Grand Prix Series, plus UCI events held in the UK, with JLT Condor heading the table ahead of ONE Pro Cycling, BIKE Channel Canyon and Madison Genesis.

The Tour of Britain gets under way in Edinburgh on Sunday 3rd September, beginning from the city’s iconic Royal Mile outside St Giles’ Cathedral.

Jonny Clay, British Cycling’s director of cycling, said: “This stellar line-up of riders again reinforces the regard in which the Tour of Britain is held among the world’s best riders and teams.

“We are extremely proud that, yet again, some of the most recognisable faces in our sport will be racing on British roads, inspiring the next generation of cyclists.”

The full list of teams for the OVO Energy Tour of Britain is as follows:

• An Post Chain Reaction (Ireland)
• Bardiani CSF (Italy)
• BIKE Channel Canyon (Great Britain)
• BMC Racing Team (USA)
• Cannondale Drapac Pro Cycling (USA)
• CCC Sprandi Polkowice (Poland)
• Cylance Pro Cycling (USA)
• Great Britain national team (Great Britain)
• JLT Condor (Great Britain)
• Lotto Soudal (Belgium)
• Madison Genesis (Great Britain)
• Movistar Team (Spain)
• ONE Pro Cycling (Great Britain)
• Orica Scott (Australia)
• Quick-Step Floors (Belgium)
• Team Dimension Data (South Africa)
• Team Katusha Alpecin (Germany)
• Team Lotto NL – Jumbo (Netherlands)
• Team Sky (Great Britain)
• Wanty Groupe Gobert (Belgium)