British biking star bidding to channel inspiration from footballing grandfather at Lloyds Tour of Britain

The 23-year-old from Coton in the Elms has just returned from France but will don the Great Britain Cycling Team to tackle the five-day WorldTour stage race with an unknown team

Alice Towers may be returning from the famed roads of Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France Femmes, but football-fuelled family connections on the Lloyds Tour of Britain create their own special attraction.

The 23-year-old from Coton in the Elms has just returned from France but will don the Great Britain Cycling Team to tackle the five-day WorldTour stage race with an unknown team.

And stages through Clitheroe and Leamington Spa will bring a sense of familiarity for Towers, whose grandfather Ian Towers made 44 appearances for Burnley.

“My nan is from Burnley, and he played for them in the ‘60s so maybe I can find some home road vibes going around there,” said Towers.

“I’m also really looking forward to the last stage in Leamington Spa, not necessarily because of the profile but because it’s quite close to where my parents are.

“I’m going to have lots of family out there that day, my grandparents, my aunt and my dog. So, I’m really looking forward to that.”

And while the West Midlands spa town might not deliver the punchy climbs that Towers favours, there will be plenty of that in the other four stages.

Towers finished 38th in the first stage in Cockermouth, which ended in a sprint, crossing the line two minutes and 28 seconds off the lead group.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain will be expanded to five stages for the first time, bring it to parity with the men, and for Towers it means more opportunities to tackle profiles that suit her to a tee.

“One thing about racing in the UK is that on paper it never looks crazy hard, although some stages do, but it’s always harder than it seems,” she explained.

“It suits me because you don’t really break away from the front, you just drop from the back. It’s quite abrasive kind of racing. It wears everyone down.”

Towers has had to recover from nine stages of the prestigious Tour de France Femmes with EF Education-Oatly, but with the American team not racing in Britain, she will have the opportunity to take on more of a leadership role in a young GB Cycling Team.

“Coming off of the back of the Tour, I was very much riding in a support role for my trade team, which I really enjoy, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing that,” she said.

“But it is different when you can ride for yourself and you have to be responsible for yourself and put yourself in the right places.

“Success for me in the tour would be consistently being in the right moves, in the right place at the right time and just giving myself the opportunity to do well by being in the right place.”

British Cycling is inspiring riders and fans across the country through the Lloyds Tour of Britain, bringing the sport to life and celebrating the joy of cycling through Britain’s biggest free-to-spectate cycling event. Visit britishcycling.org.uk