A NATIONAL cycling magazine has revealed what it claims is the leaked 2016 Tour of Britain route.

Cycling Weekly has pieced together a route that it says cyclists will follow on the eight-day race from September 4 to 11.

It says this year’s national tour will take place largely on the western side of Britain, with the first stage from Glasgow to Dumfries to get the event underway.

Stage two, it says, will take place on Monday, September 5 from Carlisle to Kendal. Bath, Dartmoor and Bristol all look set to star in the race this year.

A spokesperson for race organiser SweetSpot told Cycling Weekly : “The 2016 Tour of Britain will be launched at the end of February when we’ll announce this year’s venues and route as well as further news about this September’s race.”

Last year, cheering crowds created an electric atmosphere as the Tour of Britain returned to Cumbria – twice – in spectacular style.

Some of the world’s best cyclists – former Tour de France and Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins, and ex-world champion Mark Cavendish among them – raced a 103-mile route that took them through the streets of Brampton, around the edge of Ullswater and to the top of Hartside Pass.

Towns and villages were turned into a sea of yellow – the tour’s colour – as the peloton weaved through the county.

T he most stunning scenes came as the pack made its way up to Hartside, with thousands of people lining the road for the stage’s end.

The Tour of Britain brought with it two massive paydays for the county. Economic experts believed the cash boost was in excess of £4.2m.

The 2016 official route will be announced on February 25.