Rod Ellingworth named as Tour of Britain race director

British Cycling have appointed former Ineos Grenadiers deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth as race director of their Tour of Britain events.

The governing body recently took over the running of the men’s and women’s Tours of Britain following the collapse of organisers SweetSpot, and intend to run the women’s Tour of Britain in June, which will be Ellingworth’s first race in the role.

The move marks a return for Ellingworth who has a long history with British Cycling, having set up their Academy programme where he oversaw the early careers of riders like Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish. He left BC in 2017 to focus solely on his role at what was then Team Sky.

“British Cycling has been a huge part of my life and is in many ways like a second family for me,” Ellingworth said. “The sport has changed so much since we launched the academy in 2004, but I’m excited by the level of ambition and energy around the events, and want to play my part in protecting and growing them for the next generation.

Read more: Rod Ellingworth resigns from Ineos Grenadiers

“This is a new role and a new set of skills for me, but I’ve been encouraged and supported by other Race Directors in the sport. I’ve spent a good portion of my life on the road at the sport’s biggest races, and will be drawing on all of that experience to make the Tours of Britain the very best they can be.”

British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton also expressed his happiness at recruiting a man who was behind much of Great Britain’s cycling success in the past 20 years.

“Rod returns to British Cycling with an enormous amount of knowledge and experience, and I know that he is fiercely passionate about helping the races to grow and succeed in the future. We’re looking forward to supporting his development in the role, as part of our commitment to providing opportunities for British talent through our flagship events,” he said.

British Cycling also named the team that will work with Ellingworth – Andy Hawes (Route Director), Mark Leyland (Start Director), Paul Knight (Finish Director) and Lucy Jones (Major Events Consultant) – who bring more than four decades of experience on the Tour of Britain.

When British Cycling announced in January that it would be taking over the Tours of Britain, they admitted that it would be a race against time to stage the women’s race in June, but progress appears to be coming along.

Read more: Four-day Tour of Britain Women appears on UCI calendar for 2024

The dates were set with the UCI a few weeks ago, and BC confirmed on Tuesday that “work is continuing to finalise the route details” for the four-day women’s race, with news expected soon.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work our team has done in a short space of time to progress plans for the events, and we look forward to sharing further details of the Tour of Britain Women route over the coming weeks,” Dutton said. “It continues to be a real race against time, but we remain excited by the opportunity and overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and support being shown towards the events.”