Today, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has announced that a brand new annual global female cycling event will be hosted across Scotland in 2019. The Women’s Tour of Scotland will be a new and permanent fixture on the professional cycling calendar from next year, which will see both elite and mass participation elements included as part of the event.
The event, which is to take place from the 9th to 11th August, will be divided into two parts; a world class cycling race with female pro teams from all corners of the globe as well as a public cycling event with 5,000 participants from across Scotland and beyond.
The 350km route that the professional athletes will take on will show off Scotland’s stunning landscape to a global TV audience. The event has been created to show off the importance of female cycling in sport and engage a new audience.
Darren Clayton, Managing Director at Zeus Sports, the company driving the event forward with cycling specialists, Sport For Television, said: “Scotland’s reputation as a destination for hosting international sporting events just keeps on growing and we’re confident that The Women’s Tour of Scotland will only help to strengthen and build on this. We want to raise awareness of female cycling on a global scale and there’s no better backdrop than the Scottish landscape to show off the sport at its best.
“We’ll be working with stakeholders across the next few months from Event Scotland, to Scottish Cycling and local businesses to ensure the event sets a strong precedent for years to come. We look forward to revealing the full race route through Scotland over the coming months and getting local communities behind the event ahead of next August.”
Craig Burn, CEO at Scottish Cycling, said: “We're incredibly proud to be working with the team at The Women's Tour of Scotland to make this become an iconic race on the professional cycling calendar. The event will provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase the talent and passion that exists within the sport here in Scotland.
As well as the elite level competition, the mass participation element provides a great platform for those involved with the sport at a grassroots level to sample a unique atmosphere and to be inspired for the future."
Julie Harrington, chief executive of British Cycling, said: "We are proud to have worked with our colleagues at Scottish Cycling to support the development of an event which will inspire people across Scotland and beyond to get active by getting on their bikes. We are delighted to be associated with a race which will give some of the world’s best riders a fantastic stage on which to showcase our sport.”
Further information around The Women’s Tour of Scotland will be available in due course.
