TOUR de France winner Geraint Thomas will be riding a giant 174.8km (109 miles) lap of honour in his home country in Sunday’s opening stage of the Tour of Britain.

The Welshman is one of a number of leading names from the world of professional road cycling who will be riding through Brecon during stage one of the OVO Energy-sponsored tour on September 2.

Huge crowds are likely to greet the Team Sky rider as he and about 150 other riders charge through the south and mid Wales landscape.

Thomas, the winner of this year’s Tour de France, will be joined by his Sky teammate Chris Froome, himself a four-time winner of the Tour de France and third placer in this year’s event, Lotto-Jumbo’s Primoz Roglic, a top time triallist who finished fourth in Paris, Katusha Alpecin’s ace German sprinter Marcus Kittel and British time triallist Alex Dowsett, and many more as the race sets off on the first of eight stages.

The tour will finish in London on Sunday, September 9 and every stage of the race will be broadcast live on ITV4, with highlights being shown every evening.

Thomas said: “As soon as I’d finished the Tour I knew I wanted to ride the Tour of Britain and race on home roads. It starts in Wales which will be special, and then I get to go and race across the whole of the UK. I can’t wait.

“I want to go to the race in the shape to compete and enjoy it. We’ll have to see how the next few weeks go but I’m looking forward to it and I know we will have a strong team there. Wout is looking really good at the moment too.”

Welshman Thomas is a regular at the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, having ridden it eight times since his debut with a Great British national team in 2005. He finished sixth overall in 2009 and wore the British Road Race Champion’s jersey during the race in 2010 (Team Sky’s debut in the event), while his seventh-placed finish in the 2017 edition also saw him crowned the Adnams Best British Rider.

Froome’s two participations to date came in 2007, when he rode for the Barloworld-Bianchi team and 2009 with Team Sky.

Since then he has established himself as the leading Grand Tour rider of his generation, having won four Tours de France, the 2017 Vuelta a Espana and the 2018 Giro d’Italia.

Froome said: “It’s been a long time since I’ve raced the Tour of Britain,” said Froome. “The Vuelta a Espana has always been such a big goal and sadly coincided with the Tour of Britain, but not doing La Vuelta this year gives me the chance to come back to the UK and race on what looks like a great parcours.

“I’m really looking forward to riding. I always remember there being a great atmosphere at the Tour of Britain and the race has only got bigger over the years. I’m really looking forward to coming back.”

A late entry to the race is Team Wiggins who have been added to the line-up following the withdrawal of Irish team Aqua Blue Sport.

Leading the team will be 19-year-old Tom Pidcock,the current Junior World Time Trial Champion and multiple cyclo-cross champion, and 22-year old Gabriel Cullaigh, who won the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic this Spring, one of only two single-day UCI-level races in the UK.

The opening stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain starts in Pembrey Country Park in Camarthenshire at 11am. It then heads along the A40 to the west of the Brecon Beacons climbing up Bethlehem Hill and passing through Llangadog before reaching Llandovery, where there is the first of three intermediate Eisberg red jersey sprint points. From Llandovery, the race will continue along the A40, passing through Pentre-ty-gwyn and Trecastle to Sennybridge, where the bunch will make a sharp right-hand at the post office into Defynnog Road before rising up to merge with the A4067.

At Defynnog, the riders will fork left along the A4215 before battling it out for points in the Skoda King of the Mountains jersey classification at the summit. The road then sweeps down to Libanus where it will join the A470 heading towards Brecon.

Negotiating the roundabout next to Homebase and Brecon Golf Course, the peloton will swing into town along Newgate Street, crossing the Afon Tarrell and passing Drovers Arms, before reaching the town centre via Llanfaes Bridge. The riders will sweep through the traffic lights at the bottom of Ship Street, bear left on to Market Street and rise up on to Heol Gouesnou, sweeping past the bus stop and Morrisons.

A sharp left-hand turn will put the long line of riders onto the Watton where they pass Brecon Barracks and ride straight on over the mini roundabout towards Dering Lines training camp. At the main roundabout the peloton will briefly join the A40 before taking the slip road on the left that ducks back under the dual carriageway and through the tight bottleneck presented by the bridge that crosses the Usk at Brynich Lock. The riders will then head along the B4558 through Pencelli, Talybont and Llangynidr before passing Glanusk Estate. At Crickhowell the riders will remain on the southern side of the river Usk, taking the A4077 through Gilwern. The race will then bypass Abergavenny on the B4246 and B4269 before the next sprint point at Usk. After Usk the bunch will dip south towards the finish line in Newport city centre.

Great vantage poins include the sprint spot in Llandovery, the King of the Mountains point after Defynnog and Ship Street and the Watton in Brecon town centre. After the 11am start at Pembrey Country Park, the earliest the riders are expected at the following points is: Llandovery sprint point (12.40), Trecastle (12.58), Sennybridge (13.04), Defynnog (13.06), Defynnog KoM point (13.09), Brecon – Market Street (13.26), Pencelli (13.35), Talybont on Usk (13.39), Llangynidr ((13.46), Gilwern (14.02), Newport – finish (14.59). These times are dependent on the peloton maintaining an average speed of 46kmph during the race. It is likely the riders will be slower but it’s possible they could be even earlier, so get to your chosen viewing place as early as possible.

Parking is likely to be non-existent near the most popular points of the course, so allow time to walk a significant distance. Traffic jams are expected where the route passes along or crosses major roads.