The final stage of the Women's Tour will take place in Wales for the first time, from Dolgellau to Colwyn Bay.
The reigning World, European and Commonwealth Road Race Champions Chantal Blaak, Marianne Vos and Chloe Hosking headline the provisional line-up for the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, which gets underway on Wednesday (13 June) in Suffolk.
The provisional rider list is headed by defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma, who memorably took victory in the OVO Energy Women’s Tour 12 months ago, and will wear the number one placard, leading a Canyon//SRAM line-up that also includes Hannah and Alice Barnes, and former World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, making her debut in the race.
World Road Race Champion Blaak leads a strong Boels Dolmans line-up with a pair of former stage winners in the race – Amy Pieters and Christine Majerus – plus another former World Champion in Dane Amalie Dideriksen.
Dideriksen, Blaak and Ferrand-Prevot and joined by three further former World Road Race Champions in Giorgia Bronzini (Cylance Pro Cycling), Marta Bastianelli (Ale Cipollini) and Marianne Vos (WaowDeals Pro Cycling), plus a pair of former World Time Trial Champions in Ellen van Dijk (Team Sunweb), and Lisa Brennauer (Wiggle HIGH5), who won the race overall in 2015.
Hosking, who was crowned Commonwealth Games Champion in April, returns to the race for Ale Cipollini having won Stage Three in Royal Leamington Spa last June, as do the riders who finished second and third behind her on the Gold Coast, Georgia Williams (Mitchelton Scott) and Dani Rowe (WaowDeals Pro Cycling)
Fellow 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists Hayley Simmonds (WNT Rotor), Katie Archibald, Annette Edmondson (both Wiggle HIGH5) and Neah Evans (Storey Racing) will also be on the start line in the Suffolk town of Framlingham for Stage One.
Among the line-up for the race are 12 current National Road Race Champions, notable among them are Finnish champion Lotta Lepistö (Cervelo Bigla), who won the final stage in 2016; Italian Champion and 2016 podium finisher Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle HIGH5); and last year’s runner-up Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans), the current Luxembourg champion, while double stage winner and Belgian national champion Jolien D’Hoore (Mitchelton Scott) may ride, as she recovers from a training crash last month.
In total 102 riders from 17 teams feature on the provisional rider list, with athletes from 22 different nations due to amass in Suffolk for the opening stage from Framlingham to Southwold.
Subsequent stages will take the race to Northamptonshire (Thursday 14 June), Warwickshire (Friday 15 June) and Worcestershire (Saturday 16 June) before the final stage from Dolgellau to Colwyn Bay as the race visits Wales for the first time.
The final rider list will be confirmed on Tuesday (12 June) afternoon at around 18:00.
A one-hour highlights programme of every stage will be broadcast daily on ITV4 and available on demand via the ITV Hub. The OVO Energy Women’s Tour is a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, comprising 23 events around the world in 10 different countries.
Ride in the wheel tracks of the world’s best and take on the challenge. Enter the OVO Energy Tour Ride supporting Breast Cancer Care on Sunday 1 July and ride a route inspired by Stage One of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, starting and finishing in Southwold, Suffolk. To find out more and how to enter please click here.
– Ends –
Notes to Editors
- A map pack with stage maps and profiles can be download here.
- A logo pack including the race jersey graphics can be downloaded here.
Ride in the wheel tracks of the world’s best and take on the challenge. Enter the OVO Energy Tour Ride supporting Breast Cancer Care on Sunday 1 July and ride a route inspired by Stage One of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, starting and finishing in Southwold, Suffolk. To find out more and how to enter please click here.
The OVO Energy Women’s Tour
Created by SweetSpot Group in 2014, The OVO Energy Women’s Tour is the UK’s first ever international stage-race for women, bringing the world’s top riders to compete over five days in Great Britain as a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
SweetSpot are an event organiser and sports marketing company behind the organisation of the Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race and the country’s largest free-to-watch sporting event, and the creation of the unique Tour Series town and city centre televised races.
The four editions to date, won by Marianne Vos in 2014, Lisa Brennauer in 2015, Lizzie Armitstead in 2016 and Kasia Niewiadoma in 2017, have seen hundreds of thousands of spectators turn out at the roadside with many more around the UK watching the ITV4 highlights every evening.
For further media information, please visit www.thetour.co.uk/press or contact Peter Hodges (peterh@thetour.co.uk / 07970 526 519) or Nick Bull (nickb@thetour.co.uk / 07977 151 184)
