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Tour Explained

The Tour of Britain 2008 takes place over eight days from Sunday, 7th to Sunday 14th September. The race starts in London and finishes in Liverpool.

This is a team event, with each team identified by their jersey, often that of their sponsor. Teams try to control the speed of the peloton to allow their number one rider to break at the right time and win the stage.

The race is won over eight stages, each starting and finishing at different locations in eight different regions. Riders accrue points from time taken over the route, hill climbs and sprints. The best riders are awarded jerseys for each of these specialised areas.

Riders average an incredible 40km/h (27mph), which means that a 100-mile ride will only take them a little over four hours.

Jerseys

Riders are competing for an individual standing denoted by different colour jerseys. After every stage, the times of the first three riders to finish from each team are aggregated and the team with the lowest overall time wins.

Teams

Teams comprise of six riders and there are usually sixteen teams. Past races have included teams such as T-Mobile (GER), Agritubel (FRA), Barloworld (UK) and Team CSC (DEN) and the Great Britain national team.