Tour of Britain gets underway in Borders

The strongest field in the modern day incarnation of the Tour of Britain will assemble in Peebles tomorrow morning for what is widely regarded as the toughest edition in the decade since the event returned to the racing calendar.

Mark Cavendish: Sprint king. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

The opening stage rolls out from the Borders town at 10.15am and covers a lumpy 130.5 mile route to Drumlanrig Castle that will offer a decent test for the climbers on the 186-strong start list before a potential sprint finish in the castle grounds. Such a conclusion could play into the hands of Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma QuickStep), a winner of seven Tour of Britain stages.

The Manxman’s sporting director Brian Holm has picked a squad he believes capable of overall victory. “We will go there with Mark Cavendish and Alessandro Petacchi for the sprints. I don’t think, however, we will have too many bunch sprints because it is a hilly, difficult parcours”, he said.

A tougher test awaits in the Lake District on Day Two when the climbs become steeper and a short time trial on Tuesday precedes a trip on stage four from Stoke on Trent into Wales, where the tough fifth leg – potentially the race decider – will be contested.

Stage six will play out in Devon and the race transfers to Surrey for the penultimate day before concluding with 10 laps of a circuit in central London that is likely to end in a sprint.

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, whose victory last year sealed a contract with Team Sky, has suffered from illness for much of the year and will not defend the title. However, his absence is offset by the appearance of 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins whose best chance of a stage success could come in Tuesday’s time trial at Knowsley.

He is brimming with confidence, saying, “I’m coming into the race feeling good. It finishes in close proximity to the world time trial championships which is my main late-season goal.”

Wiggins is joined in the squad by former British champion Ian Stannard, talented youngster Josh Edmondson and three of Sky’s strong foreign contingent in the shape of Bernhard Eisel, Mathew Hayman and David Lopez.

Tiernan-Locke preceded last year’s win by taking the King of the Mountains category in 2011, and it would be a shock if the Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar does not add that title to the polka dot climber’s jersey he clinched when finishing runner-up in this summer’s Tour de France.

Scottish interest rests on the shoulders of in-form Evan Oliphant, who features in the six-strong Team Raleigh squad, and Fife-based Ben Greenwood, who will line up for IG Sigma Sport. Oliphant has been in winning form throughout the domestic campaign.

This will be his eighth appearance in the race – his best performance coming when he was runner-up on stage four of the 2005 edition. Greenwood rode as a guest for Scotland earlier this season and will qualify for the Commonwealth Games on residential grounds.