Tour of Britain 2026: Route, Stages, Results and How to Watch
- The race runs 2–6 September 2026 over five stages, from Lincoln to Earlston in the Scottish Borders.
- It is live as this is written: stages one to three are done, stage four is being ridden today and stage five closes it tomorrow.
- Lewis Askey leads after three stages — and he rides for a Continental team, the lowest of the three professional tiers in the field.
- Tim Wellens is second at 12 seconds and Matteo Trentin third at 19.
- Stages one to four are live and free on ITV4 and ITVX, with stage five on ITVX. Highlights are at 8pm each night, except stage four at 9pm.
- The first three stages were flat and went to sprinters. The last two are hilly, which is where the race gets decided.
- 18 teams from 10 countries, spanning WorldTeams down to a Great Britain national squad.
A British rider on one of the smallest teams in the race is leading it with two stages to go — and both of those stages are hilly.
The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain runs 2–6 September, five stages from Lincoln to the Scottish Borders. It is happening right now: stage four is on the road today.
Where the race is right now
Stage four, Helmsley to Leyburn, is being ridden as this is published. Three stages are done, one closes the race tomorrow.
The general classification after stage three:
| Rider | Team | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Askey (GBR) | NSN Cycling Team | — |
| 2 | Tim Wellens (BEL) | UAE Team Emirates XRG | +12" |
| 3 | Matteo Trentin (ITA) | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | +19" |
That top line is the story. Askey rides for a Continental team — the third tier of the professional structure — and he is ahead of a WorldTeam rider and a ProTeam rider on a race where the hard stages have not happened yet.
Twelve seconds is not much of a cushion going into two hilly days.
All five stages
| # | Date | Route | Distance | Terrain | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Sept | Lincoln → Lincoln | 187.4 km | Flat | Lewis Askey |
| 2 | 3 Sept | Boston → Skegness | 184.9 km | Flat | Tim Merlier |
| 3 | 4 Sept | Hull → Beverley | 202.7 km | Flat | Olav Kooij |
| 4 | 5 Sept | Helmsley → Leyburn | 186.9 km | Hilly | racing today |
| 5 | 6 Sept | Earlston → Earlston | 160.4 km | Hilly | to come |
The shape is deliberate. Three flat days through Lincolnshire and into Yorkshire, ridden at sprinters’ pace, then the race turns north and goes up.
Stage four crosses the North York Moors between Helmsley and Leyburn. Stage five is a loop from Earlston in the Scottish Borders. On a five-day race, that is where the winner is decided — a sprinter’s lead built on flat roads has to survive two days that were designed to break it.
Results so far
Stage 1 — Lincoln to Lincoln: Lewis Askey, who took the leader’s jersey and has held it since.
Stage 2 — Boston to Skegness: Tim Merlier.
Stage 3 — Hull to Beverley: Olav Kooij.
Two of the three went to established sprinters. The first went to the rider now leading the race, which is why he still is.
How to watch in the UK
Most of it is free.
| What | Where | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| Stages 1–4, live | ITV4 and ITVX | Yes |
| Stage 5 | ITVX | Yes |
| Daily highlights, 8pm | ITV4 and ITVX | Yes |
| Additional coverage | The race’s own YouTube channel | Yes |
| Every stage, live | TNT Sports and HBO Max | Subscription |
| Across Europe | Eurosport, excluding France | Subscription |
One scheduling detail worth knowing: highlights go out at 8pm each night — except stage four, which moves to 9pm. If you are catching up on today’s stage, that is the one that is not where you expect it.
A correction worth making explicitly. There is a claim circulating that this year’s race is essentially untelevised, with only part of stage one shown. That is wrong. ITV announced free-to-air live coverage of four of the five stages, and British Cycling announced the same thing.
The teams
Eighteen teams from ten countries, across four levels:
| Tier | Teams |
|---|---|
| UCI WorldTeam | 5 |
| UCI ProTeam | 4 |
| UCI Continental | 8 |
| National team (Great Britain) | 1 |
The race sits in the UCI ProSeries, a rung below the WorldTour, which is why the field mixes five WorldTeams with eight Continental squads and a national team.
And the leader is in that Continental group — which is the whole reason the general classification is interesting rather than routine.
One number that doesn’t add up
The five stage distances total 922.3 km. The overall distance published alongside them is 886.1 km.
That is a gap of 36.2 km, and both numbers come from the same source. It is the sort of thing that usually means a stage was re-measured or shortened after the total was written, but nothing read for this page says which.
The per-stage figures are the ones used here, because they are the ones that describe actual roads. The total is reported as published, with the caveat attached.
The bottom line
Askey leads by twelve seconds with two hilly stages left, and you can watch both for free on ITV.
Stage four finishes in Leyburn today. Stage five loops around Earlston tomorrow and settles it.
Route, results and team data from published race information. Coverage details from ITV’s press centre and British Cycling. Written on 5 September with stage four in progress — the classification will have moved by the time you read this.