Rod Ellingworth, the new race director of the Tour of Britain, hopes to have Olympic gold medalists Lemko Evenpoel and Tom Pidcock run this year's race, which takes place in early September.

The British stage race has been revived by British Cycling after the previous organizer declared bankruptcy. Lloyds Bank provides significant sponsorship for the race and British Cycling, and the men's and women's versions of the Tour of Britain are seen as an important part of a broader cycling strategy in the UK.

The women's Tour of Britain, held in June, was won by Lotte Kopecky over four days. The men's race will take place in six stages from September 3-8.

The men's Tour of Britain has traditionally provided an ideal route to the road race world championships, with past winners including Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Pol and Julien Alaphilippe.

Ellingworth hopes to join Evenpole, Pidcock, and others on the Scottish start line.

"I would love to see Tom Pidcock and Lemko Evenpoel go head-to-head at the Tour of Britain, it would be cool to see two Olympic champions go head-to-head," he told Cycling News.

"I think the route would suit Lemko very well and it would be great for British cycling fans to see Tom, who won gold in the Paris mountain bike race, racing on his home roads.

Ellingworth worked for many years as performance director and then team manager for Team Sky, Bahrain, and Ineos Grenadiers before working as a consultant for the Tour of Britain.

He has visited several races and spoken with teams in an effort to restore the Tour of Britain's reputation after the failure of the previous organizer, Sweetspot. Some teams are planning a race schedule without the Tour of Britain, while others are interested in returning to the British roads. The Tour of Britain has not yet revealed which teams will be competing this year.

"We haven't finalized the riders yet, but we are talking to the teams. Remco team manager Patrick Lefebvre suggested that the Tour of Britain could be his first race back after the Olympics. He would be very welcome," Ellingworth said.

"Some teams are starting to send in their entry lists. A lot of riders have been riding the Tour of Britain in preparation for the World Championships.