The Tour of Britain will take its place among some of the most prestigious and long-running events in cycling for 2014, as the UK's flagship race was awarded 2.HC status by the UCI.
This upgrade will see the race sitting on a par with the likes of the Criterium International and the Tour of California, as well as one-day races such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Paris-Tours, only one level below the World Tour.
SweetSpot Group, the race organisers, were understandably delighted with the decision, especially as the achieving of HC status had been one of their key targets when bidding for the renewal of their contract last year.
"We are delighted by today's announcement, which comes as a culmination of ten years' hard work by the SweetSpot team," said race director Mick Bennett.
"The award of 2.HC status is another step forward for The Tour of Britain, and we look forward to this September's edition of the race being the best yet."
Since its resurrection in 2004, the Tour of Britain has gone from strength to strength, expanding from five to eight stages, and being ridden, and won, by some of the best riders in the world, such as Edvald Boasson Hagen, Lars Boom, and, most recently, Bradley Wiggins.
With the success of British cyclists at the Tour de France and Olympics, recent editions have seen huge crowds line the route, with an estimated 250,000 people on the roadside for last year's stage to Haytor.
This year's race will take place between the 7th and 14th September with full stage details expected to be announced in the spring.
After the success of last year's inaugural edition, the Prudential RideLondon has also been upgraded to HC status, and will take place on the 10th August, while the only other UCI accredited race in the UK, the Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic will be on 27th April, retaining its 2.1 classification.
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