Danilo Di Luca racing in the 2008 Tour of Britain

ITV has announced it is to broadcast both the Tour of Britain and the Tour Series this year.

ITV4 will broadcast one-hour nightly highlights of the Tour of Britain race on 12 – 19 September, while ITV will air highlights from the brand new Tour Series taking placing between 21 May and 25 June.

“The Tour of Britain is a great fit for ITV4,” says ITV4 controller Dave Fewings, “complementing our portfolio of sport including the Tour de France. The Tour of Britain was very well received by viewers last year, and I’m delighted that we are broadcasting highlights of the 2009 event.

“It is great to continue this partnership with ITV this year, building upon the success and momentum achieved in 2008. The appreciation from viewers has been extremely encouraging,” added Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of The Tour of Britain. “This is also a great opportunity for us, together with ITV, to help promote the interests of our regional partners especially now that we have a daily, hour long platform on which to do this.”

In 2008, an average of 310,000 viewers tuned in for The Tour of Britain highlights each evening on ITV4. The programme compared strongly with the Tour de France highlights on the same channel, with a peak reach of 376,000 for the highlights of Stage Five in Yorkshire.

www.tourofbritain.co.uk