As Kate Courtney sprinted to fourth place on stage four of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women last week, fans watching along the barriers would have been forgiven for thinking she had been road racing all her life. In fact, it was only her 14th day on the road, and her fourth in a WorldTour bunch.

Last month, Courtney parked her world-title-winning career as a mountain biker and transitioned to the tarmac. It’s a move, she says, that has felt like a “huge leap”, but has already borne fruits: in June, she won the US national title on just her fourth ever road race day.

The 30-year-old now wears the stars and stripes for FDJ United-SUEZ, one of the top women’s teams in the world, who she signed a deal with last month until the end of 2028.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the recent Tour of Britain, Courtney reflected on her first pedal strokes in the pro peloton.

“It’s been a steep learning curve, for sure, but I’m really enjoying it,” she said.

“The biggest thing is really navigating the bunch and just being able to be a safe but confident rider out on these roads. That’s easier said than done, but I think I’ve made a lot of progress this week, and I’ve certainly gotten thrown in the deep end with British roads and British weather. It’s been a really good start and I know what I need to work on.”

Keen to learn the old-school way, Courtney travelled to Belgium last month to race kermesses, fast-paced town centre criteriums popular in the amateur scene. “It’s all about positioning and managing the bunch,” she said. She came away with two wins and a second place, carrying her form into the Tour of Britain, where she finished eleventh overall.

Courtney's aim in each race is try to stretch the limits of her comfort zone. Stage four's finish last week to Hay-on-Wye, for example, was the first bunch sprint she has ever contested.

“I think, for me, the technical sections are probably the parts where I feel most comfortable, which is ironic, but in general a lot of it is quite new, and so much of it is mental,” she said.

“Knowing that we’re heading down a hill at 60kph with 100 girls is such a different experience and feeling, and it’s something that you really have to get used to and start to learn where those limits are and push yourself, but also be safe.

“I think the other thing about the bunch is we all rely on each other – you need the other girls to be safe in order to protect you. Learning those dynamics and settling in and observing and figuring out where I need to be when is all part of that process.”

Born and raised in California, Courtney was 22 when she won the cross-country mountain bike world title in 2018, becoming the first American woman to do so in 17 years.

She’s still the reigning champion in the marathon distance, but will forgo her title defence this weekend in favour of training for her debut at September’s UCI Road World Championships in Canada. “Montréal will be hopefully my next race in four weeks,” she confirmed.

What are her goals there? “I think it’s too early for me to necessarily know what my ambitions are in these types of races,” she said. “Actually, the freedom to just compete is a really great freedom that I’m looking forward to taking advantage of all season.”

Still, it feels natural to ask what the overarching goal is of Courtney's move to the road. When Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made her peloton comeback in 2025, she set herself the target of winning the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift within three years, and ended up doing it in eight months.

For Courtney, the “bigger picture” is the LA Olympics in 2028. “But I would say I’m in a much different position [to Ferrand-Prévot], just because I’ve never raced on the road before this season,” she said.

“It’s been a really, really rapid rise in the level, and a lot to adapt to. I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to remind me that I can make mistakes and learn.

“When FDJ United-SUEZ cracked that door [in offering a contract], I was ready to walk right through. I’m really excited that we’ve been able to make it happen on such a crazy timeline. At the end of the day, when you get an opportunity like that, you’ve got to jump, go for it, and take it all the way.”

Ida Krickau danced to the chorus of Jason Derulo's 'Ridin' Solo' as she walked onto the team presentation podium on the final day of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.

She waved to the fans, who clapped harder for her than anyone else, and laughed at the DJ's song choice. The previous day, when the Dane still had one team-mate by her side, she did the same when the speakers played 'Just the Two of Us'.

But after all five of her O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes companions abandoned, Krickau was left to fend for herself on Sunday in Leamington Spa.

“It’s weird, but I’ve got plenty of staff now to look after me,” the 20-year-old told Cycling Weekly ahead of the final stage. “All of my team-mates are supporting me. Even though I’m standing here alone, I’ve got plenty of people behind me.”

Krickau set out on stage five with the aim to “represent the jersey in the best possible way”.

She went on to finish the race 69th overall, almost 32 minutes down on the winner Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal).

"I was really looking forward to being here with my team, and the whole experience. But in the end, it's been a good race, and I take it as it is," Krickau smiled.

O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes were one of four British Continental teams competing at last week's Tour of Britain Women, alongside DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development and Smurfit Westrock.

Last autumn, all four outfits feared they would no longer be allowed to take part in their home race, after the UCI revised its rules to limit WorldTour events to WorldTour and ProTour squads. They were later invited to start due to unfulfilled team slots.

"We're making the most out of it," said Krickau, who was racing her first multi-day WorldTour event.

Half of the 24 riders on British Continental teams that began the race in Cockermouth on Wednesday went on to finish Sunday's stage in Leamington Spa.

One team manager put the abandons down to the gulf between the WorldTour and Continental teams, which continues to swell as budgets at the top of the sport grow.

Still, marquee races like the Tour of Britain Women provide a crucial platform for third-tier riders to gain race experience, and for teams to show off their sponsors.

That's why, when Krickau took the start line alone in Leamington Spa, she did so with the determination to prove that teams like hers "belong in this race".

Her solo ride may not have won her any medals, but it showed heart and tenacity, and gained her a host of new fans.

Lorena Wiebes won her fourth stage of the Tour of Britain Women as Kim le Court- Pienaar wrapped up the overall title.

On a twisty finish the SD Worx-Protime sprinter benefited from a slick and dedicated lead-out from her team to enter the finishing straight in prime position.

As she launched out of the final corner Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) came off her team-mate Zoe Bäckstedt’s tried to contest the win but couldn’t come close to Wiebes and ended up being pipped by Lara Gilespie (UAE Team L’Imad) for second.

The Dutchwoman, who has dominated any stage that didn’t finish up a climb in this year’s race, produced another vintage performance to cement her place as the best sprinter in the race, if not the world.

Further back in the pack Le Court- Pienaar finished safely to preserve the green leader's jersey, which she snatched with an attacking ride on stage three’s finish up The Great Orme.

Wiebes’s win also had the effect of lifting her up the GC into second place, knocking Liane Lippert (Movistar) down to third. Unsurprisingly she claimed the red points jersey too.

Wiebes is putting together another blistering season with 19 wins in just 37 race days so far. That includes two stage wins at the Tour de France, which provided the foundation for her green points jersey win.

It’s possible she could yet eclipse her most winning season, which was last year, in which she won 25 races.

It was not certain Wiebes would get a chance to contest the win as the break held on until just under the flamme rouge.

A trio of Alice Towers (Great Britain), Eva van Agt (FDJ-United Suez) and Sara Martín (Movistar) had gone off the front in the early kilometres outside Royal Leamington Spa and built a lead of over two minutes.

That lead held until after the race’s final climb up Burton Dassett. Following that climb Wiebes’s SD Worx-Protime team came to the front of the peloton and set about reducing the gap.

With 20km left to race the gap had dropped to 1.30 and the three out-front were starting to show signs of fatigue.

However, they fought valiantly and had a gap of over a minute at the 10km to go mark.

With more teams including Human Powered Health putting riders to work on the chase the break’s chances were dwindling and they were eventually caught just as the race reached its final kilometre.

From there, Bäckstedt swiftly hit the front to set up Canyon-SRAM’s sprinter but as soon as the sprint opened there was no matching Wiebes.

Result

Tour of Britain Women, stage 5: Royal Leamington Spa > Royal Leamington Spa (123km)

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 3:02:29
2. Lara Gilespie (Irl) UAE Team L’Imad
3. Chiara Consonnni (Ita) Canyon-SRAM
4. Zoe Bäckstedt (GBr) Canyon-SRAM
5. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Picnic-PostNL
6. Nienke Veenhoven (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
7. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picni-PostNL
8. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco
9. Millie Couzens (GBr) Fenix-Premier Tech
10. Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Human Powered Health

General classification

1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 17:02:04
2. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +19s
3. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, +24s
4. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco, +39s.
5. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad, +46s
7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
8. Cecile Uttrup Ludwid (Den) Canyon-SRAM, both s.t.
9. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic-PostNL, +56s
10. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +1:06

Two-thirds up the penultimate climb of stage four of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women FDJ United-SUEZ were taking the race to the rest of the field, looking to set up British leader Lauren Dickson. However an unusual uphill crash put an end to the French team’s assault.

It was reigning Tour of Britain Women champion Ally Wollaston who invested the initial work at the foot of the 2.7km Hengoed climb, unleashing an electric pace to stretch out the bunch on the shallow lower slopes.

As things got steeper, the much-talked-about Kate Courtney took over, making her WorldTour debut following her switch to road racing from the mountain bike.

The American champion thinned the group further. However, as the road pitched-up Courtney stood out of the saddle, moving to the left. As she did so, Dickson, on Courtney’s wheel, moved slightly to the right.

The pair made contact and Dickson, sitting ninth coming into the stage and leading the Queen of the Mountains competition, came down alongside several others. Race leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) was among more than a dozen held up.

Dickson and the rest who were delayed in the crash made it back to the leaders quickly ahead of the final climb of the stage, Clyro Hill. An attack from Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Le Court-Pienaar had Dickson in trouble.

Chasing back on the descent, Dickson crashed hard on a right-hand bend. Appearing in some pain, the 26-year-old decided to give up the pursuit and dropped out of contention for the General Classification top-10. She finished the stage in 50th place, 3:06 down on the victor Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime), who secured her third win of the race.

Thanks to her aggressive racing in the first three stages, Dickson retains the lead in the Queen of the Mountains competition ahead of the final stage.

“We’d executed the plan perfectly, the girls had led me out into the climb, and we were just about to make contact with the breakaway when there was an unfortunate touch of wheels and we came down," Dickson said after the stage.

“It’s frustrating and slightly sore, but that happens sometimes. Over the last climb we were in a good position, I came down into one of the corners and there was gravel on the exit, and I hit it without seeing it and came straight off.”

“That kind of thing happens but it’s pretty disappointing after the work we’d put in.”

Dickson’s FDJ United SUEZ team-mate Courtney did make it into the front group in Hay-on-Wye. The American sprinted to an impressive fourth place behind winner Wiebes, Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Le Court-Pienaar.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women concludes on Sunday with a 123.8km stage starting and finishing in Royal Leamington Spa.

No other rider has been able to match Lorena Wiebes in the bunch sprints for some time, but the SD Worx-ProTime rider had to work for her third stage win of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.

On an aggressive, undulating stage through central Wales, Wiebes did just enough to stay in contention, infiltrating a leading group of seven on the final run-in to Hay-on-Wye which also included race leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar.

As the group swelled in the concluding kilometres, Wiebes fended off the challenge of the AG Insurance-Soudal rider in the sprint as she once again won with clear air between herself and her rivals.

Movistar's Liane Lippert came through for second place with Le Court-Pienaar in third. With a 24-second lead over Lippert, the Mauritian champion looks to have all-but-secured her first WorldTour stage race victory, becoming just the third African rider in history achieve that feat.

The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will conclude on Sunday with a sprint stage in Leamington Spa, an opportunity for Wiebes to add to her win tally.

Stage four was characterised by two categorised climbs in the final 30km, which were targeted as launchpads for attacks. However, the most decisive split happened due to a crash, as FDJ United-SUEZ Lauren Dickson came down after crossing wheels with team-mate Kate Courtney.

The incident meant that around 20 riders were held up, including Le Court-Pienaar. A furious chase and further attacks followed, but in the end it all finished just as Wiebes would have wanted, allowing the Dutchwoman to use her unrivalled sprint to take her 136th career victory.

“The win is out of sight for the GC but we keep on fighting and try to build for another stage victory tomorrow," Wiebes said after the stage.

“It’s already a successful Tour of Britain for us with three stage wins. We of course aim for the GC podium now. I gained four seconds today, so I need to fight for six more.”

How it happened

The 138km fourth stage of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women between Llanidloes and Hay-on-Wye was among the toughest of the race, with a constantly undulating course through central Wales.

Starting the day with five riders within 1:30 of Le Court-Pienaar’s lead, Lidl-Trek were keen to use their numbers, sending white jersey Fleur Moors on the attack early on. She was caught by Dilyxine Miermont (Picnic-PostNL) and Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility) with 42km left on an aggressive day of racing.

Going into the final pair of climbs which would provide the decisive test of the stage, the gap to the leaders was down under a minute. FDJ United-SUEZ drilled the pace from the bottom of the climb of Hendoed through reigning champion Ally Wollaston, before American champion Kate Courtney took over in support of Lauren Dickson.

With the peloton stretched out and under pressure there was a crash in the final 500 metres as Dickson crossed wheels with Courtney, holding up Le Court-Pienaar among more than a dozen others. The incident caused a split in the bunch which Le Court-Pienaar quickly closed, but several key riders, including Dickson, Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team l’Imad) and Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-ProTime), were caught behind.

After a furious chase, the group came back together with 26km and one final climb to go. Attacks flew over the following kilometres, but Le Court-Pienaar appeared serene, effortlessly closing gaps by herself without team-mates to support her.

On the final climb of Clyro Hill, Movistar led out Liane Lippert for an attack, with the race leader in her wheel. Bredewold chased behind for Wiebes to keep the gap honest. Over the top, the chase group had splintered, with a group of five joining the leading pair on the flat run to Hay-on-Wye. Behind, QoM leader Dickson crashed again and gave up the chase in some pain, dropping out of the top-10 overall.

The front seven were working well together but were caught by a pursuing quintet with 5km to go. Another group came back in the final kilometre, making a large front group at the finish.

Wiebes launched her sprint from the front and was initially challenged by Le Court-Pienaar, but there was no stopping the Dutchwoman, who once again proved herself to be the fastest.

Results

Tour of Britain Women 2026, stage 4: Llanidloes > Hay-on-Wye, 138.3km

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 3:41:13
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal
4. Kate Courtney (USA) FDJ United-SUEZ
5. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Picnic-PostNL
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad
7. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
8. Millie Couzens (GBr) Fenix-Premier Tech
9. Fleur Moors (Bel) Lidl-Trek
10. Josie Talbot (Aus) Liv-AlUla-Jayco, all same time

General Classification after stage 4

1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 13:59:35
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, +24s
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +29s
4. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco, +39s.
5. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad, +46s
7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
8. Cecile Uttrup Ludwid (Den) Canyon-SRAM, both s.t.
9. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic-PostNL, +56s
10. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +1:06

Former South African road champion S’annara Grove left the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women on Friday after she was provisionally suspended by the International Testing Agency (ITA).

The 32-year-old did not start stage three of the Women's WorldTour race after she was handed an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for Ipamorelin, a peptide, by the ITA.

The test was conducted during the Commonwealth Games, where Grove represented South Africa on the track. She was racing this week's Tour of Britain for Smurfit Westrock, a British Continental squad.

The statement from the ITA reads: "The ITA reports that a sample collected during an out-of-competition testing mission conducted by the Commonwealth Sport on 28 July 2026 from S’annara Grove, a rider from South Africa, has returned an AAF for ipamorelin. The test was carried out in the scope of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 2 August 2026.

"Ipamorelin is prohibited under the 2026 WADA Prohibited List as S2. Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances and Mimetics. It is prohibited at all times (in- and out-of-competition) and is a non-specified substance. Ipamorelin is a synthetic peptide used to stimulate the body’s natural production of growth hormone.

"The rider has been informed of the case and, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and Article 6.2.1 of the UCI Regulations for Results Management, a mandatory provisional suspension has been imposed on the rider. The rider has the right to challenge the provisional suspension and ask for its lifting.

"Given that the case is underway, there will be no further comments made."

Smurfit Westrock team manager Rick Lister shared a statement with Cycling Weekly confirming that Grove was notified of an adverse analytical finding from during her time with her national team.

"As a result, S’annara has been suspended from the team with immediate effect pending the outcome of the relevant testing and appeals process," the statement read.

"The team operates a strict anti-doping policy and is fully committed to promoting clean sport.

"As this is an ongoing process, we are unable comment further at this stage."

The stage that Grove did not start was won by Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) atop the Great Orme on Friday, which moved the Mauritian champion into the race lead.

An untouchable attack on the Great Orme by Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) netted her the stage victory and the GC lead on stage three of the Tour of Britain Women.

Erstwhile leader Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) was unable to live with the pace and slipped backwards on the steepest part of the climb. Second place went to Liane Lippert (Movistar) at 13 seconds, and Caroline Andersson (Liv AlUla Jayco) came in third, another seven seconds back.

Wiebes, who finished 10th, 37 seconds back, is now in third place, though retains her green points jersey.

"It was hard. I wasn't expecting to come so fast into it, we almost had to brake around the corners," said Le Court-Pienaar after the race. "But yeah, it was the plan to go from the bottom and I got a perfect leadout from my teammate Letizia [Borghesi], so I'm really thankful she was here.

"I rode my heart for Gladys [Verhulst-Wild] my teammate, because she crashed out from the race, which was really sad. We came to this race together to redeem ourselves – we crashed out last year together. She's my roommate. I'm very sad she's not here – today was for her.

Asked whether she was confident she could defend her lead over the final two stages, Le Court replied:

"I think you can never be too confident. Last year I had the leader's jersey on day one and day two I crashed out, so I think we have to keep our head on our shoulders, keep positive and keep fighting till the end."

Le Court mounted her attack at the foot of the 2.5km climb, coming out of a severe hairpin that led straight into some of its steepest slopes. It was clearly a pre-planned move, and one which nobody could come close to matching.

Velon stats post-race revealed that Le Court had averaged an impressive 390 watts for the 5:48 duration of her attack. She also averaged 24.2kph on the 6% slopes and posted a maximum power of 820 watts.

Tomorrow's stage four sees the race tackle a meandering, 138km route through mid-Wales, from Llanidloes to Hay-on-Wye. While the final six kilometre run-in is flat, the rest of the day is incessantly lumpy, and Le Court will have to stay on her toes throughout.

Tour of Britain Women 2026, stage 3: Mold > The Great Orme, 104.7km

1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 2:46:10
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, +13s
3. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco, +20s
4. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +21s
5. Cecile Uttrup Ludwid (Den) Canyon-SRAM, +23s
6. Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ), +26s
7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +28s
8. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad, at s.t.
9. Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE L'Imad), +32s
10. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +37s

General Classification after stage 3

1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 10:18:26
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, +26s
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +35s
4. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco, at s.t.
5. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +40s
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad, +42s
7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
8. Cecile Uttrup Ludwid (Den) Canyon-SRAM, both s.t.
9. Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ), +45s
10. Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE L'Imad), +51s

With a peace sign gesture across the line, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) toasted her second victory in as many days at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women on Thursday.

Stage two from Clitheroe to Blackpool was neutralised for an hour after just 35km of racing due to a road traffic accident further up the route. It restarted with 66km to go, and finished in a bunch sprint on the seafront.

Wiebes opened her winning kick with 250m to go, lashing into a headwind. She held off Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) to extend her lead in the general classification.

The Dutchwoman, who also won the opening two stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift earlier this month, now carries a 14-second advantage over Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) and Le Court-Pienaar into stage three's uphill finish on the Great Orme.

How it happened

A blockage on the route out of Clitheroe meant the riders faced a half-hour delay in the rain at the start of stage two. The first 7.7km were then neutralised, as the peloton followed alternative roads, before rejoining the original course at around 20km, ahead of the 3.3km-long categorised climb of Waddington Fell.

In search of QOM points, Alberte Greve (Uno-X Mobility) and Marta Jaskulska (Human Powered Health) dared to attack the bunch early. The pair were eventually swallowed up just short of the summit, where SD Worx-Protime’s Steffi Häberlin took full honours.

Greve’s team-mate Katrine Aalerud then went solo on the approach to the second categorised climb, Nick o’ Pendle. Nearing the top, however, the Norwegian was met with a red flag, as the stage was halted due to a road traffic accident further up the route.

The stoppage lasted half an hour, during which time the riders waited on the road in the rain, wearing jackets given to them by their team staff.

The stage restarted under an escort from the lead race vehicle, with both the QOM on Nick o’ Pendle, and the intermediate sprint in Whalley neutralised.

An hour on from the initial stoppage, Aalerud was then allowed to restore her 50-second lead, and racing got underway again with 66km to go.

The Uno-X rider continued on her own for another 23km. As the race barrelled towards the coast, she was reeled in by the peloton, and attacks began flying; blows came courtesy of Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL), Alice Towers (Great Britain) and Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility), until 19-year-old Oda Aune Gissinger (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) managed to strike hard enough to distance the bunch in the pouring rain.

Drawing on the time trial prowess that earned her a bronze medal at the Junior Road World Championships last year, Gissinger grew her gap out to 50 seconds with 10km to go. The sprint trains then accelerated along the Lancashire coast, and halved the Norwegian’s advantage in 4km.

Inside 5km from the line, Gissinger was swept up by the bunch, and the sprint finale began.

Consonni's Canyon-SRAM, Lara Gillespie's UAE Team L'IMAD, and Clara Copponi's Lidl-Trek all tried to force their way to the front for their sprinters, but no team could match the well-drilled finish of SD Worx-Protime, who towed Wiebes away to claim her 17th victory of the season.

Results

Lloyds Tour of Britain Women, stage two: Clitheroe > Blackpool (110km)

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 3:29:26
2. Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Human Powered Health
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal
4. Nienke Veenhoven (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Lara Gillespie (Irl) UAE Team L'IMAD
6. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-Sram
7. Clara Copponi (Fra) Lidl-Trek
8. Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Uno-X Mobility
9. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ United-Suez
10. Juliana Londoño (Col) Picnic PostNL, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 7:32:15
2. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-Sram, +14s
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal, at same time
4. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'IMAD, +15s
5. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +16s

Stage two of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women was neutralised for an hour on Thursday due to a road traffic accident further up the race route.

The stage was stopped with 73.5km to go, as the riders approached the summit of the second climb of the day, Nick o' Pendle, where Uno-X Mobility's Katrine Aalerud led solo with a 50-second advantage.

The Norwegian rider was shown a red flag on the road by a member of the race organisation, and ground to a halt. The same message then reached the chasing bunch, allowing the peloton to come back together so riders could receive jackets from their team cars.

After half an hour waiting in the rain, the stage continued under an escort from the lead race vehicle. It was announced that both the QOM on Nick o' Pendle and the intermediate sprint that followed would be neutralised, with no points given.

The race restarted with 66km to go, on the line of the intermediate sprint in Whalley, an hour after the initial stoppage. Aalerud was allowed to leave ahead of the peloton to restore her 50-second lead.

In a statement published on social media, the Lloyds Tour of Britain said: "A road traffic accident which happened ahead of the convoy has led to the race [being] neutralised. As a result, the second Queen of the Mountain climb has been cancelled.

"Organisers would like to thank the teams, riders, police and local authorities for their assistance and cooperation during the disruption to the race."

Rolling road closures are in place at the Tour of Britain Women, meaning police motorcyclists secure the route for the convoy to pass through. No riders were affected by the road traffic accident, which occurred on an open stretch of the route ahead of the race.

The start of Thursday's stage two was also delayed half an hour due to a "blockage" on the race route. The riders took a diversion out of Clitheroe, before rejoining the original course around 20km in.

Stage two is now due to finish in Blackpool around 4pm.

Australian rider Maeve Plouffe said she was “nearly hit” by a non-race car driver on Wednesday’s opening stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.

The 27-year-old, who rides for British Continental team O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes, said the incident happened as she was chasing back to the peloton after she was dropped following a puncture.

She wrote on Instagram that she was less than two minutes adrift of the race convoy when non-race vehicles started “coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout”.

Plouffe’s comments come less than a week after 19-year-old British rider Finlay Tarling was killed at the Volta a Portugal when he was struck by a non-race vehicle driver that had entered the course.

Tarling was one of three riders at the back of the race when the collision happened on a downhill bend. The circumstances of his death triggered widespread outcry, with the riders’ union, the CPA, saying they were “furious that even today it is still not possible to prevent such serious accidents”.

Plouffe did not finish stage one of the Tour of Britain Women, and has now had to withdraw from the race. Her post on Instagram stories read: “A badly timed puncture ended up becoming a 30+ minute chase. I fought and I fought really, really hard, but you can only do so much alone on a course like that.

“On a side note, while the race convoy was still in sight, and I was less than two minutes down, there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout.

“Later on, the moto escort was wonderful and I felt much safer. But considering the recent devastating events in our cycling community, it’s scary to see situations like this, when we know that this can have horrific consequences, especially so soon after suffering such a tragedy.”

Like most UCI-sanctioned road races, the Tour of Britain Women operates rolling road closures, whereby a police escort is meant to secure the route until all riders and race cars have passed through.

In a statement provided to Cycling Weekly, Jonathan Day, events director of British Cycling Ventures, said: "We note Maeve Plouffe's comments about her experience during yesterday's race, and we're taking these extremely seriously.

"Rider safety is paramount and will always be treated as a priority in our planning and how we operate any race. We're reviewing what happened with Maeve and her team O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes with the seriousness and empathy these comments demand.

"We recognise this comes at an especially difficult time for the cycling community, so we want to reassure all riders, teams and fans of the sport at this time of how serious we are treating these comments."

There have been several instances of public car drivers entering courses in recent years, notably at the 2023 Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and last year’s Étoile de Bessèges, at both of which teams pulled out due to safety concerns.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly ahead of stage one of the Tour of Britain Women, and therefore before the incident Plouffe cited, race director Alice Wood said rider safety was at the forefront of the organisers minds following Tarling’s death.

“The safety of the riders is what's really important and we need to make sure that we're keeping the back of the race safe as well,” Wood said.

“When I was racing it was something that I was always thinking about. I was dropped too many times, so I was one of those riders that was distanced… Unless we are the Tour de France, where you can shut down roads and have full road closure, you can't cover every road, every junction, every farm track, every driveway. It's really difficult to do.”

Cycling Weekly has contacted British Cycling, the organisers of the Tour of Britain Women, for a response to Plouffe’s comments.

The five-day Tour of Britain Women continues on Thursday with a 110km stage to Blackpool. Wednesday's opening stage was won by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who currently leads the race.

After the death of 19-year-old British rider Finlay Tarling at the Volta a Portugal last week, sports directors and race organisers at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women have called for improved safety standards across the UCI calendar.

Sports directors Lars Boom and Magnus Bäckstedt, along with the Tour's race director Alice Wood, spoke to Cycling Weekly at the beginning of the 2026 edition, where a minute’s reflection and applause was held before the start of stage one in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth.

Each called for greater safety while recognising the complexity of regulating elite road racing across the globe.

“More can always be done in terms of safety, that's always going to be the case, we can always push more and do more to improve the safety of the bike race,” said Human Powered Health sports director Bäckstedt. His daughters Zoe and Elynor – both in WorldTour teams and competing at the Tour of Britain Women – raced alongside Finlay Tarling and and his older brother Josh (Netcompany-Ineos) as youngsters in Wales.

“I think we're in a position where we're never going to be able to do things fast enough, and when tragedies happen we always go, ‘We should have thought of that, we could have done that.’ It's always a what if, and I think definitely more can be done and should be done, but it's how we do that.

“Ultimately, road racing, we're always going to deal with traffic, we're always going to deal with the road conditions, speeds are always going to be high, that's just the reality of the sport and unfortunately with all those combined, very unfortunate accidents do happen.

“But it shouldn't take our focus away from pushing to improve the safety and improve the courses and make sure that we have the safest courses possible available. We don't always need to go up the steepest climbs and down the steepest descents. The road: is it wide enough to put 160 bike riders on it? All these questions. We can always do more.

“Unfortunately, accidents do happen and it's a tragedy when they do.”

A former rider’s turned race director's perspective

Former WorldTour racer Alice Wood has taken on race director responsibility for the Tour of Britain Women this year, having retired from professional racing in 2024.

She says that she has been able to bring a rider’s perspective to the race organisation, with a particular focus on protecting dropped riders, having experienced the danger of traffic on the course during her career. British Cycling has increased its investment in marshalling and safety vehicles this year for both the women's and men's Tours of Britain.

“The safety of the riders is what's really important and we need to make sure that we're keeping the back of the race safe as well, obviously with what happened last week with Fin Tarling,” Wood told Cycling Weekly before the start of stage one.

“When I was racing it was something that I was always thinking about. I was dropped too many times, so I was one of those riders that was distanced… Unless we are the Tour de France, where you can shut down roads and have full road closure, you can't cover every road, every junction, every farm track, every driveway. It's really difficult to do.

“We have more resources than we've ever had on the race and that will have to improve year on year because there's more that's coming into play. There's more traffic furniture, there's more drivers, there's also unfortunately more ignorant drivers as well, so we just need to make sure that the riders are also aware.

“When I took up this role that was something I was thinking about the most... It's something that we'll never stop talking about.”

Consistency

Each nation where racing takes place has its own style of road, differing road furniture and changing attitudes towards bike racing.

A major challenge for the UCI to tackle as it looks to address road racing safety concerns is to enforce its regulations across these varying contexts says FDJ United-SUEZ sports director Lars Boom.

“I think in some countries we are, in some countries we aren't. And I think that's the whole point,” told Cycling Weekly when asked whether enough is being done to improve safety standards.

“I think you see many countries and many organisations try to do everything to make it really, really safe. They block the road with volunteers and stuff like that. Also, in some races that sometimes doesn't happen.”

“Also [there are] some moments that things happen, that there's a car coming on the road…You can say a lot about it, but it's really, really terrible that it happened, of course, [but] it always can happen. It's difficult.”

Handsling Alba Development Road rider Arabella Blackburn’s first ever Lloyds Tour of Britain Women stage was an eventful affair.

On the 158.9km stage starting and finishing in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, the 18-year-old made it into the breakaway alongside Picnic PostNL’s Audrey de Keersmaeker before being stung by a wasp and dropping back to the peloton.

The Scot eventually finished the race down in 96th place, 12 minutes behind winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime).

“I'm just cycling along and suddenly get a really sharp pain in my leg and I was like: that's quite unpleasant,” Blackburn told Cycling Weekly while warming down after the stage.

“I looked down, there's this thing just stinging me,” she continued. “I had to flick it off and it must have left a sting in me or something because it just kept throbbing and throbbing and throbbing. I did ask for some antihistamine, but I never got that. So, I just kind of bit my lip and kept going, but it's quite painful.”

Blackburn continued with De Keersmaeker for a while longer, before being dropped by the rider who went on to claim the Queen of the Mountains classification for the day.

Racing for more than four hours, the opening day of the race was Blackburn’s longest in her career. Recently second place in the Curlew Cup, Blackburn only turns 19 in December.

“It was quite painful. I was just kind of suffering quite a bit… It's my longest race, so it's just been a really hard day out on the bike… I think I might have been stung once before, but I've never had it that painful before. So yeah, first time for everything,” she added.

The teenager is one of Great Britain’s brightest young talents and shone at last year’s Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.

While this is the biggest and hardest race of her career to date, Blackburn is keen to show her face at the front of the peloton in the rest of the race.

“I think I'd like to get in some more breakaways this week,” Blackburn said. “I think that's a nice way to approach the race and I don't just want to sit in the bunch and roll around. I'd rather actually go and do some racing.”

“It was really nice to be off the front and all the crowds were amazing when I was out there.”

Lorena Wiebes sprinted to victory at the end of a tough Lloyds Tour of Britain Women stage one in Cockermouth after a chaotic finale.

Her SD Worx-Protime team were active throughout Wednesday's opening stage, ensuring that their star woman was in the right place to win at the end. It was not the enormous margin of victory that Wiebes is normally used to, but it was still a dominant victory ahead of Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) and Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL).

Multiple attacks in the last 40km of the day briefly looked to break what was left of the peloton up, but nothing stuck, with Wiebes being present at the end to take her eighth Tour of Britain stage. SD Worx were in control, with five riders in the bunch of 32 which made it to the line.

Having won the stage, Wiebes went into the green leader's jersey, four seconds ahead of Consonni, thanks to bonus seconds, with Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team L'IMAD) in third, a second further back, due to bonus seconds picked up earlier in the day.

"Lotte [Kopecky] brought Mischa [Bredewold] and me perfectly into the final corner with around 500 metres to go," Wiebes said post-race. "Mischa then kept the speed high, and with 200 metres remaining I was able to launch my sprint. It was executed really well.

"It’s a really nice way to start the Tour of Britain, especially compared to last year. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going over the next few days."

Her sports director Christian Kos said: "Perfect teamwork today, and we’re very happy with the result. A great start to the Tour of Britain."

How it happened

A flurry of attacks kickstarted the day, but the bunch was kept together for the early intermediate sprint, where bonus seconds were taken by Karlijn Swinkels and Lara Gillespie (UAE Team L’IMAD) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal).

An attack from Handsling Alba Development’s Arabella Rosalie Blackburn was followed by Audrey De Keersmaeker (Picnic PostNL) to establish the day’s break. Blackburn was caught with 56km to go, while De Keersmaeker remained out front.

With 36km to go on Parsonby Brow, the peloton approached De Keersmaeker but the group was strung out, potentially distancing some. The last rider in the breakaway was caught just over the top of the climb. Le Court-Pienaar was a regular presence at the front of the race, but Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) still refused to be dropped.

The attacks did not stop coming in the final 16km, with Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) and Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Zuez) trading blows in an attempt to break the race up. Next was Kate Courtney (FDJ United SUEZ), but there was not quite enough in the course to cause defined selections.

A group of four escaped with 13km to go, formed of the SD Worx-Protime duo of Mischa Bredewold and Steffi Häberlin, with Aude Biannic (Movistar) and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek). However, this was quickly shut down, with Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Le Court-Pienaar starting the next move. A group of around 10 briefly separated off the front but what was left of the peloton reeled them in once again, with 9.4km to go.

With 2km to go, what was left of the bunch was all together, read for a mass sprint in Cockermouth, with SD Worx in control on the descent into the town. Georgi was present to help her teammate Josie Nelson, but nothing could stop the SD Worx surge, with Wiebes predictably prevailing.

Results

Lloyds Tour of Britain Women 2026 stage one: Cockermouth > Cockermouth

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 4:03:09
2. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-SRAM
3. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic PostNL
4. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco
5. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco
6. Letizia Borghesi (Ita) AG Insurance-Soudal
7. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad
8. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
9. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
10. Fleur Moors (Bel) Lidl-Trek, all at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 4:02:59
2. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-SRAM, +4s
3. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L'Imad, +5s
4. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +6s
5. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +7s
6. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, +8s
7. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, +10s
8. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco
9. Letizia Borghesi (Ita) AG Insurance-Soudal
10. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, all at same time

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women starts in the Lake District this Wednesday, with it’s move from May to August making it the last WorldTour stage race in Europe each year. Not only does this put the race slap bang in the middle of holiday season – which should encourage more people out to the road-side – it makes it a perfect block of racing ahead of the world championships in September.

It is also an opportunity for riders to save their season with a final result. This should ensure the riders arrive in the Lake District ready to race. Starting ten days after the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift also means there’s enough recovery time for those coming out of the biggest race on the calendar.

While we look forward to Tour contenders compete in the UK, British fans can breathe a sigh of relief that four domestic teams will get to pit themselves against the world’s best following a UCI rule amendment that could have prevented them from riding.

The 2025 update meant Continental teams would only get an invite if WorldTour and ProTeams couldn’t fill the spaces on offer. DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Abla, O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes and Smurfit Westrock will all be at the start in the North-West.

The five stages take the race from the top of the Lake District down the coast to North Wales, through mid-Wales and back into England for a finish in Leamington Spa. Stage one to four all have an interesting parcours which organisers have designed to will encourage aggressive racing over the early climbs as well as toward the finish of the stage. Our full guide to the stages and riders to watch continues over the next nine pages.

Stage 1: Cockermouth > Cockermouth
Wednesday, 19 August
Distance: 158.9km | Elevation: 1,1913m
Terrain: Hilly

This year’s race kicks off with its longest stage, and potentially the most scenic. As tough an introduction as it is, the riders will probably be grateful that the organisers haven’t set them off on a 100 mile route directly through the Lake District, as today they skirt the north west edge of the mountain range.

But there are still plenty of undulations with non-stop rolling roads in the first 25 miles just the warm up. A flat run up the coast takes them to Silloth where they turn inland for the second half of the stage which features all the major climbs. The key section comes as they leave Wigton after 57 miles and head south east, back towards the mountains and the race’s highpoint of the day at 285m above sea level.

If the pressure goes on from the WorldTour squads, the bunch will break up here and those caught out could lose a lot of time. Once back to Cockermouth they start a finishing circuit just north of Bassenthwaite Lake that climbs for the first half, then descends to the finish.

Stage 2: Clitheroe > Blackpool
Thursday, 20 August
Distance: 110.5km | Elevation 1,392m
Terrain: Flat

Starting in Clitheroe, in the Ribble Valley the riders take on a punchy little loop into the Forest of Bowland to warm their legs up. The first climb of the day, Waddington Fell is also the stage’s highpoint at 354m. From there the peloton drops back down into Clitheroe - blink and you’ll miss them, before heading out the other side of the valley up the Nick O’ Pendle.

While the first third of today’s stage looks tough with those two climbs, the sprinters and their teams have enough road in which to regain the front of the race if they do get dropped. The experienced GC riders will know this, and therefore probably won’t go all out over the two climbs. The second half of the stage is flat, or even slightly downhill all the way to the coast at Lytham, then a sprint finish on the seafront in the shadow of the Blackpool Tower.

Sprinters will like the look of the fast run-in, with the last corner coming at nine kilometres to go. From there, there is just a gentle left-right with 400m to go, but the road should be wide enough to ensure there’s no need to come off the pedals at this crucial point.

Stage 3: Mold > The Great Orme
Friday, 21 August
Distance: 104.7km | Elevation: 1,927m
Terrain: Hilly

Starting in Flintshire, day three sees the race head into the vertiginous terrain of North Wales and towards the Irish Sea, where a sting in the tail awaits, with a steep and stage-defining climb to a dramatic finish atop the towering limestone headland of The Great Orme.

Stage three has a sawtooth profile, with the course crossing the Clwydian Range. After Henllan, the peloton will tackle a stiff ascent to the saddle between Moel Fodiar and Moel Tywysog, and the route reaches its highest point of 386 metres on the western shoulder of Moel Maelogen, after 64km. Approaching Llandudno, however, riders will be confronted with a challenging final climb to The Great Orme, with the last 2.5km featuring an average gradient of 6.1%, with sections hitting 15%.

One of the Tour’s most exciting days, climbers will be looking to collect KOM points and the strongest riders will look to break the race up into smaller groups as the fatigue builds as the final climb might not be enough to gain a race-winning margin.

Stage 4: Llanidloes > Hay-on-Wye
Saturday, 22 August
Distance: 138km | Elevation: 2,227m
Terrain: Hilly

Riding through the centre of Wales to the famous border town of Hay-on-Wye is going to be a testing day, even if there isn’t one climb that will define the stage. The biggest climb takes the riders out of Rhayadar but is too early to shape the stage. The rest of the parcours – which has the most elevation gain of any stage – means that riders are going to have to stay attentive all day as splits could form or moves could go at any point.

The most obvious stress point of the day is the three climbs that come in quick succession at the midway point around Knighton. Lose contact there and it’s a tough chase to the finish as the route continues to undulate for another 30km. Those chasing GC know this is their last chance to gain time, so expect the pressure to be on.

Stage 5: Royal Leamington Spa > Royal Leamington Spa
Sunday, 23 August
Distance: 123.8km | Elevation: 1,386m
Terrain: Flat

The final stage of this year’s race has bunch sprint written all over it as the 1,386 metres of elevation and lack of any major climbs means the top sprinters won’t have any trouble making it back to Royal Leamington Spa. The only climb of any significance is a short bump out of Middle Tysoe after 86km, but gaining just under 100 metres means only the riders struggling after four days of back-to-back racing will be in danger of getting dropped, and that’s only if someone goes to the front and decides to put the pressure on.

But none of that means it’s a day off for the bunch. The team holding the GC lead will have a tough day policing the race while others with nothing to show for their efforts, and knowing that the racing is about to end, will be keen to try and get something out of the stage. The final run-in isn’t without it’s challenges either as two right-hand corners and a left in the final two kilometres will catch out riders in a poor position.

Lorena Wiebes (27, Ned)
SD Worx-Protime
UCI ranking: 4
2026 wins: 15

Never has there been so dominant a sprinter as Lorena Wiebes. The Dutchwoman wins pretty much every bunch sprint she’s involved in, as long as she doesn’t get disqualified, as happened at the Giro d’Italia Women in May, when her bike was deemed to be too light. Wiebes has an enviable record at the Tour of Britain Women, winning seven stages and the points classification twice over four editions; in fact, she has never not won when she has raced.

Wiebes is more than just a flat track bully, as she has proved in the Classics over the years, but bunch finishes on stage two, four and five will see her enter them as favourite. There’s nothing to stop her from being a GC contender, either, if she can stick with the punchier riders on stage one and three. On her form at the Tour de France Femmes, this is a distinct possibility. Last year she crossed a century of wins, and there is very little holding her back from reaching 150 sooner than later.

Lotte Kopecky (30, Bel)
SD Worx-Protime
UCI ranking: 7
2026 wins: 3

The former world champion might only have won three times in 2026, but when one of those was Milan-San Remo, and another a stage of the Vuelta España Femenina, the Belgian still has it. At the Tour of Britain Women, expect her to target stage wins on the punchier finishes, such as Llandudno's Great Orme on stage three or the Hay-on-Wye finish on stage four rather than pure sprints, while also supporting Wiebes. She is, of course, a former winner overall, on the one occasion she deigned to ride the race, winning two out of the four stages in 2024 en route to victory.

Kopecky did win in Llandudno on that occasion, so will be looking to keep her 100% record up. At the Tour de France Femmes the Belgian came close to victory on stage three, spending 95km in front of the peloton, while also being a deluxe leadout for Wiebes. Expect her to dovetail these roles in Britain, too.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (31, Pol)
Canyon-SRAM
UCI ranking: 5
2026 wins: 1

Somehow still only 31, Niewiadoma-Phinney first raced what was then the Women’s Tour back in 2017, winning her first ever stage and taking overall victory in London. She also finished second in 2019, winning a stage then as well, but has not been back to the race since 2022, when she finished third overall.

So often the nearly-woman of cycling, Niewiadoma is yet to win in 2026, although she finished second at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, and the Amstel Gold Race, and finished second overall at the Tour de France Femmes last week.

While the course this year is not necessarily tough enough for one of the world’s top climbers to make a difference, little will stop her trying, especially on stages one and three. She might also make an excellent foil for British champion Zoe Bäckstedt, paying back the support she received at the Tour.

Paula Blasi (23, Esp)
UAE Team L’IMAD
UCI ranking: 2
2026 wins: 7

The breakout rider of 2026 so far is undoubtedly Paula Blasi, who in her first full season as a Women’s WorldTour rider, slowly grew into a star. Third overall at the Tour Down Under was followed by a stunning solo victory at the Amstel Gold Race, but it was at her home Grand Tour, the Vuelta España Femenina that Blasi soared. The 23-year-old was second after stage six, but a stellar performance on the Angliru on the final day saw her become the first Spanish winner of the Spanish race.

She went on to win the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées and the Volta a Catalunya, proving that her form was not temporary.

Like Niewiadoma, the hilly rather than mountainous Tour of Britain will not perfectly suit her attributes, but expect her to be visible. It might also be one of her last races for UAE, if reports about her impending transfer are correct. The former runner has never raced in Britain.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar (30, Mau)
AG Insurance-Soudal
UCI ranking: 39
2026 wins: 3

Distinctive in her Mauritian champion’s jersey of green, yellow, blue and orange, Kim Le Court-Pienaar seems a rider perfectly suited to the punchy course of the Tour of Britain.

This was proved last year, when she won stage one to Redcar, escaping with Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly). However, she was forced to abandon on stage three, ending her race early.

The 30-year-old has not had quite the same success in 2026 as last year, when she won Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a stage of the Tour de France Femmes in a golden year. This is mainly due to an injury-disrupted spring, as she fractured her wrist at the Tour of Flanders, but she now seems to be back to her best, second on stage one of this year’s Tour, and then winning stage six in Tournon-sur-Rhône.

A win on the Great Orme is not out of the question, and if she wins there, it might mean a first general classification victory for Le Court.

Zoe Bäckstedt (21, GBr)
Canyon-SRAM
UCI ranking: 34
2026 wins: 7

British national road champion for the first time, adding to her double national time trial title success, Bäckstedt will be keen to show off her stripes to home crowds across the week.

There might not be a time trial for the Welshwoman to show her specific skills, but she has proved that she is more than just a one-dimensional rider on the road, winning her first Women’s WorldTour road stage this season at the Tour de Suisse. She has also proved herself adept at winning smaller stage races, triumphing at the Baloise Ladies Tour for two seasons in a row, and could challenge over the punchy Tour of Britain Women.

Last year, she was 26th overall at the end of the week, but with a Tour de France Femmes in her legs this time around, things might be very different. Expect some attacking brio, especially on Welsh roads, if nothing else.

Others to watch

With many teams putting selection decisions on hold until after the Tour de France Femmes, many line-ups were unconfirmed at the time of writing. Last year’s winner Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez) is set to defend her title however. But having not raced since the Tour of Catalunya in mid-June her form remains unknown. The French team will want to bring Lauren Dickson back to her home race after a highly impressive first season in the pro ranks, but this will be dependent on her recovery from a broken collarbone suffered in a crash on stage three of the Tour de Suisse.

British fans will also be hoping to see a return to action for Movistar’s Cat Ferguson. The 20-year-old suffered a double fracture in her ankle when she crashed on the opening stage of the women’s Giro and hasn’t raced since. Three weeks on crutches through June means her return to racing will be low-key.

UAE L’Imad’s Irish champion Lara Gillespie is expected to ride after missing out on selection for the Tour de France Femmes. A solid classics campaign and third place at the Tour of Poland could see her lead the team should Blasi or Elisa Longo-Borghini not ride.

Several of the stages look like they’d suit Lidl-Trek’s sprinter Elisa Balsamo who didn’t take a win at the Tour de France Femmes this year. Likewise EF’s Noemi Rüegg who has been consistent all season but missed a big chunk of racing through June and July after fracturing her arm at the Vuelta.

Home hopes

Fears of Continental teams being prevented from riding WorldTour races under new UCI rules thankfully didn’t come to fruition this year, and four British teams will be lining up for the Tour of Britain Women. A lack of stage racing at this level will not help their riders over the course of the race, but the home advantage might.

Coming late to cycling, Anna Morris is making up for it by hoovering up national and world titles on the track, as well as world records, at an amazing rate. Her results have translated to the domestic road scene too, as she has only once finished a day's racing outside of the top five this year. She’ll be joined by Jess Roberts in the GB team, who, despite her track focus, has a wealth of experience in stage racing.

Winner of the Rapha Super-League standings Morven Yoeman (DAS-Hutchinson) will look to continue her progression. Since winning the Lincoln Grand Prix, the 22-year-old has enjoyed a steady set of results on the domestic scene as well as a solid ride at the Vuelta a Burgos. A lack of stage racing this season might hold her back a little. Keep an eye out for her teammates Katie Scott and Noemie Thomson too

Handsling Alba will be led by Kate Richardson who has been consistent in both domestic and European racing this year. Last year’s Tour of Britain was her first and only taste of WorldTour racing although she only finished stage one. Another year of experience should see her ready to test herself against the world’s best.

There will be live free-to-air coverage of both the men's and women's Lloyds Tours of Britain this year, race organiser British Cycling has confirmed.

Both events will be shown free of charge on the Tour of Britain YouTube channel, while the men's race, scheduled for 2-6 September, will also be broadcast live on ITV.

Highlights of both events will be available daily on ITV4 and online on ITVX, marking a return for cycling to the channel after it stopped showing the Tour de France this year.

Both Tours of Britain will also be shown live on the paid-for TNT Sports channel and its subscription platform HBO Max.

The free-to-air option comes as part of a "strategic partnership" between ITV and TNT Sports, British Cycling explained in a press release, as the organiser aims to draw its largest audiences ever to the races.

"The expanded coverage increases visibility for riders, teams host locations and partners, and further strengthens the Lloyds Tour of Britain as one of the UK’s leading sporting properties," said Darren Henry, managing director of British Cycling Ventures.

"We want to bring the UK’s premier cycling races to as many people as possible, so we are thrilled to be giving fans more ways to experience the joy of cycling whether they are in their homes, on the move or on catch-up, whenever is convenient."

This year marked the first in four decades that the Tour was not shown on free-to-air television in the UK, after ITV dropped the broadcasting rights.

The channel has committed to providing a "full broadcast package" of the Tour of Britain Men, said its director of sport Niall Sloane, as it has done for the last few editions.

"ITV Sport's impressive year of free-to-air sport continues this autumn as we broadcast the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women and Men across ITV and ITVX," Sloane said.

It is unknown why the Tour of Britain Women, which starts this Wednesday in Cockermouth and ends in Royal Leamington Spa on Sunday 23 August, has not been selected for live broadcasting on ITV.

This year, tmen's race has been reduced from six to five stages, and the women's race increased from four to five, in order to establish parity.

The Tour of Britain Men is set to begin in Lincoln on 2 September, and will finish in Earlston in the Scottish Borders on 6 September.

Former champions, Tour de France Femmes Femmes avec Zwift stage winners, and teenage amateurs are all set to line up at this year's Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.

The five-day race, the only annual UCI WorldTour event held in the UK, begins next Wednesday 19 August in Cockermouth, Cumbria and finishes in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire on Sunday 23 August.

Ahead of the race, the organiser, British Cycling, has been drip feeding names on the start list.

Among those already announced are the defending champion Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez) and 2024's winner Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), a two-time world champion.

Kopecky will be joined in SD Worx's six-rider squad by star sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who won two stages of the Tour de France Femmes earlier this month, and wore the yellow jersey.

Also fresh from winning at the Tour de France Femmes is Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), who said in a press release she is "looking forward to coming back [to the Tour of Britain Women] and making this edition a good one from start to finish".

Earlier this week, British Cycling announced the names of 12 British riders who are set to compete in this year's event; these include the current British road and time trial champion Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-Sram) and her national title-winning predecessors Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech), Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) and Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly).

As her EF Education-Oatly team is not competing, Towers has been called up to represent the Great Britain national squad, which also counts track Olympians Anna Morris and Jess Roberts, club cyclists Amalie Cooper and Ruby Oakes, and 18-year-old Rebecca Gardiner.

"We are absolutely delighted more world-class cyclists are on the provisional rider line-up for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women 2026," said race director Alice Wood.

"Their presence underlines the growing stature of the race in the global cycling calendar, and guarantees fans the opportunity to see some of the biggest names in the world competing on British roads."

Nineteen teams are set to take part in this edition of the Tour of Britain Women, each allowed a maximum of six riders.

A list of all the riders named provisionally to compete is below. Cycling Weekly will update this list when more names are confirmed.

For more information about the five-day route, visit our route guide.

Start list

FDJ United-Suez
Ally Wollaston
Vittoria Guazzini
Eva van Agt
Léa Curinier
Lauren Dickson
Kate Courtney

UAE Team L'IMAD
Karlijn Swinkels
Erica Magnaldi
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini
Lara Gillespie
Elynor Bäckstedt
Febe Jooris

SD Worx-Protime
Lotte Kopecky
Lorena Wiebes
Steffi Häberlin
Mischa Bredewold
Femke Gerritse
Julia Kopecký

Visma-Lease a Bike
Femke de Vries
Lieke Nooijen
Maud Oudeman
Nienke Veenhoven
Imogen Wolff
Margaux Vigié

Canyon-Sram
Zoe Bäckstedt
Chiara Consonni
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Wilma Aintila
Justyna Czapla
Soraya Paladin

Lidl-Trek
Ricarda Bauernfiend
Clara Copponi
Margot Vanpachtenbeke
Riejanne Markus
Fleur Moors
Shirin van Anrooij

Fenix-Premier Tech
Millie Couzens
Flora Perkins
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
Aniek van Alphen
Marthe Truyen
Fien van Eynde

AG Insurance-Soudal
Kim Le Court-Pienaar
Letizia Borghesi
Amandine Fouquenet
Marthe Goossens
Alexandra Manly
Gladys Verhulst-Wild

Movistar
Aude Biannic
Claire Steels
Francesca Barale
Liane Lippert
Lucía Ruiz Pérez
Sara Martín

Liv AlUla Jayco
Amber Pate
Caroline Andersson
Quinty Ton
Noä Jansen
Josie Talbot
Georgia Baker

Human Powered Health
Nina Buijsman
Marta Jaskulska
Iurani Blanco
Marit Raaijmakers
Maggie Coles-Lyster
Petra Stiasny

Uno-X Mobility
Marte Berg Edseth
Ingvild Gåskjenn
Teuntje Beekhuis
Alessia Vigilia
Alberte Greve
Katrine Aalerud

Picnic PostNL
Pfeiffer Georgi
Audrey De Keersmaeker
Daniela Hezinová
Juliana Londoño
Dilyxine Miermont
Josie Nelson

Hitec Products-Fluid Control
Magdalene Lind
Julia Borgström
Oda Aune Gissinger
Kaja Rysz
Alma Rasmussen
Stine Marie Snortheim

O'Shea RedChilli Bikes
Maeve Plouffe
Yilla Threels
Karlijn Koops
Matilda McKibben
Connie Hayes
Ida Krickau Ketelsen

Smurfit Westrock
Teniel Campbell
Amelia Ceback
Lidia Cusack
S'annara Grove
Leila Gschwentner
Jo Tindley

DAS-Hutchinson
Mieke Docx
Tiffany Keep
Lucy Lee
Katie Scott
Noémie Thomson
Morven Yeoman

Handsling Alba Development
Maddie Cooper
Maddie Leech
Grace Lister
Beth Morrow
Anna Flynn
Arabella Blackburn

Great Britain
Alice Towers
Anna Morris
Jess Roberts
Amalie Cooper
Rebecca Gardiner
Ruby Oakes

All but one Women's WorldTour team will be present at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women this summer, British Cycling announced on Tuesday.

Defending champions FDJ United-Suez will be among the 19 teams, including 13 Women's WorldTour squads, to take part in the biggest women's bike race in the UK, and the only British WorldTour event.

There will also be five Women's Continental teams present, including all four British outfits, after fears that these squads would be blocked from taking part in the Tour of Britain after UCI rule changes. The Great Britain Cycling Team will also take part.

The race will take place over five stages from 19-23 August, with a route that heads south from Cockermouth to Royal Leamington Spa.

Nine out of the world’s top 10 teams will be at the race, including Movistar, the squad of Cat Ferguson, two-time overall winners Lidl-Trek, and Canyon-SRAM, home of national champion Zoe Bäckstedt.

Last year, Ferguson was pipped on the final day by FDJ United-Suez rider Ally Wollaston. SD Worx-Protime are also on the start list, the most successful team in the race's history, with 15 stage wins and three overall victories. The only WorldTour team not present will be EF Education-Oatly.

"We are thrilled to announce this year's Lloyds Tour of Britain Women team line-up, which brings together an exciting mix of elite teams and ambitious development squads," Alice Wood, the race's director and former British champion, said. "The strength of the teams announced today promises highly competitive racing from the start in Cockermouth to the finish in Royal Leamington Spa.

"The distinguished reputation of the Tour continues to attract the very best riders in the world. I have no doubt these teams will produce some iconic racing, that will undoubtedly inspire the future generations of cyclists in this country and the communities they will be battling for the crown through.

"We are looking forward to welcoming the teams to what we know will be a fantastic edition of the Tour, building upon an extremely successful edition last year and showcasing both the best of Britain and the best of cycling."

"The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women is a huge highlight for us," Bob Lyons, the manager of Handsling Alba Development RT, said. "It is our only WorldTour race on home soil and a unique chance for our sponsors, supporters and anyone taking an interest in the team to see us race in person.

"With a route running from Cumbria down to Warwickshire and a proper climb on the Great Orme, it's a great test for the riders in a talented field. The five stages will provide exactly the kind of experience and exposure our team needs to continue to pioneer athlete development to elevate riders to the Women’s WorldTour."

Tour of Britain Women 2026 Teams

• AG Insurance-Soudal (Belgium)
• Canyon-SRAM (Germany)
• DAS-Hutchinson (Great Britain)
• FDJ United-Suez (France)
• Fenix-Premier Tech (Belgium)
• Handsling Alba Development Road Team (Great Britain)
• Hitec Products – Fluid Control (Norway)
• Human Powered Health (USA)
• Lidl-Trek (Germany)
• Liv AlUla Jayco (Australia)
• Movistar (Spain)
• O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes (Great Britain)
• Picnic PostNL (Netherlands)
• SD Worx-Protime (Netherlands)
• Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team (Great Britain)
• Visma-Lease a Bike (Netherlands)
• UAE Team ADQ (UAE)
• Uno-X Mobility (Norway)

The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will start in Cockermouth, Cumbria, and end in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, British Cycling confirmed this morning.

The 11th edition of the WorldTour race will return to taking place over five days from Wednesday 19 August to Sunday 23 August, with its position in the calendar shifting from June to late summer. The route for the men's race was announced earlier this week.

Stage one will start and finish in Cockermouth, the first time the women's race has been there, although the men's Tour of Britain has visited before.

Next on the menu is Lancashire, with stage two from Clitheroe to Blackpool, with both again hosting the men's Tour, but never the women's equivalent. The last time Blackpool hosted an elite bike race, Mark Cavendish won on the promenade.

The third stage takes place entirely within Wales, with the day beginning in Mold, and finishing in Llandudno, on the Great Orme. This hilly test will present a different challenge to 2024, when Lotte Kopecky won on the sea front in Llandudno. Wout van Aert won atop the Great Orme in 2021 in the men's race, beating Julian Alaphilippe.

The next day, the race heads back to England from Wales, with stage four starting in Llanidloes, Powys, before heading to Hay-on-Wye. The final day starts and finishes in Leamington Spa, a town where Chloe Hosking and Sarah Roy have won before.

"We are excited to be bringing the prestigious Lloyds Tour of Britain Women to these fantastic locations in August," Jonathan Day, the director of events for British Cycling Ventures, said. "For the first time, there is parity in the number of stages with the men’s race a couple of weeks later, so it is a huge opportunity to create a real festival of cycling, with the women’s race kick-starting a brilliant few weeks of world class road racing.

"We are bringing new hosts and stages in Mold, Llanidloes, and Hay-on-Wye, and it is fantastic to return to previous hosts of the Tour in Cockermouth, Clitheroe, Blackpool, Llandudno and Leamington Spa, bringing real variety to each of the stages as we head across England and Wales.

"On behalf of British Cycling Ventures, I would like to say a huge thank you to our partners across the five stages for supporting the hosting and delivery of this August’s landmark race and enabling us to bring a memorable and action packed five days of world class racing to their communities, spreading the joy of cycling along the route, and inspiring more people to get on a bike and live healthier lives."

Next year will also see the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift come to the UK, in 2027. The men's race is set to start in Edinburgh, with the women's in Leeds.

Tour of Britain Women 2026 stage table

The Tour of Britain will return to Yorkshire this September, with another stage being planned to take place amid the afterglow of Britain hosting the Tour de France Grand Départ in the summer of 2027.

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has partnered with British Cycling to bring elite racing back to the county for 2026 and 2027, after Yorkshire was absent from the men’s Tour of Britain route in 2025.

The newly inked proposal will see North Yorkshire hosting a full stage of the men's Tour of Britain in 2026, with another stage planned for 2027, which will take place just a few weeks after the eagerly expected Grand Départ for the Tour de France has swept across the UK, albeit with the men’s route skirting around the county that locals like to call ‘God’s Own Country’.

In 2027, the three-stage curtain-raising ride for the 114th edition of the Tour de France will start in Scotland, leaving from Edinburgh on 2 July and heading south into northern England, passing along the western side of the country, through Carlisle, Keswick and Liverpool, before crossing into Wales and coming to an end in Cardiff on 4 July.

Due to take place almost a month later, the route of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift features plenty of Yorkshire, however, with the action starting in Leeds on 30 July and the peloton threading through Sheffield before heading south to finish in London.

The white-rose county was setting for the spectacularly successful 2014 Grand Départ, when a sun-splashed weekend saw an estimated 2.5 million cycling fans line roadsides along a route that passed through Leeds, Harrogate, Sheffield and York to see stars including Mark Cavendish and (who crashed out on the Saturday) and ultimate winner of that year’s Tour, Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali (XDS Astana).

The Tour of Britain stages have been secured with £350,000 of mayoral investment funding, while extra costs for elements including road closures and traffic management (expected to total £400,000) being split between the local authorities involved. However, organisers say each stage of the Tour of Britain can generate between £2m and £12m for the local economy of the areas it passes through.

A spokesperson from British Cycling has said that more details about venues and host locations for the upcoming Tour of Britain will be announced in the coming weeks, so watch this space.

“We are delighted to [be] agreeing this partnership with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and bringing the Lloyds Tour of Britain to the region over the next two years," said Jonathan Day, Director of Events at British Cycling Ventures.

"We have seen some exceptional racing in North Yorkshire over the last few years, most recently with the women’s race starting at the Forestry England site of Dalby Forest in 2025. The area brings entertaining racing for the riders, exceptional backdrops for broadcast, and enthusiastic crowds across the route. We are looking forward to working with partners across 2026 and 2027.”

There are likely to be no British Continental teams at the Tour of Britain Women next year, due to a UCI rule amendment that effectively stops them from competing in the event.

Announced in July, and taking effect today, the rule prevents Continental teams from taking part in WorldTour events. Instead, only the top two tiers – WorldTeams and ProTeams – are able to compete, as well as one national team from the country of the organiser, in this case the Great Britain national team.

This year’s edition of the Tour of Britain Women counted all five of the country’s Continental squads: CJ O’Shea Racing, DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development, Hess Cycling and Smurfit Westrock.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Alba team boss Bob Lyons said it is “very disappointing” the teams will no longer be able to take part in the race.

“I fully understand and get the rationale for the change in regulations from a UCI perspective; it brings parity with the men, and there’s the introduction of the ProTeams which makes a level playing field,” he said, but added: “[The Tour of Britain] is the only UCI women’s race in the UK, and it’s a great opportunity to be in the shop window to showcase our capabilities against the best in the world on home soil. That is important.”

This feeling was echoed by Smurfit boss Rick Lister, who fears not competing will make it harder to appeal to potential sponsors. “It’s the biggest race we did this year and last year,” he said. “That’s the only race in the UK that’s televised now.

“[Without us being there] there’s no incentive for British companies to jump on the sponsorship bandwagon.”

The new UCI amendment does not completely rule out Continental teams from competing in WorldTour events; if fewer than 15 WorldTeams or ProTeams confirm attendance 30 days before an event, the organisers can invite Continental teams as wild cards. Continental teams will only be invited if all 16 WorldTour and 10 ProTeams can't fill those 15 places.

The chance of this happening is slim; however, as both Lyons and Lister point out, the Tour of Britain Women has never had a full field. A number of WorldTour teams have skipped the race in recent years, citing post-Brexit complications in travelling to the UK. This June’s edition had 19 teams out of a maximum of 24.

For the Continental-level riders, races like the Tour of Britain provide a rare chance to challenge themselves against the WorldTour squads. This year, 20 British riders from across the five Continental teams started the race. Two of them have since gone on to sign WorldTour contracts for 2026: Alba’s Lauren Dickson, who is joining FDJ-SUEZ, and DAS-Hutchinson’s Robyn Clay, who is bound for Picnic PostNL.

“I really loved it this year,” Clay told Cycling Weekly when asked about her Tour of Britain debut. “I think I did a decent ride there, and that was probably one of the things that helped me get this pro contract, because I could show that I was able to be up there.”

Speaking to Cycling Weekly earlier this year, Clay’s DAS-Hutchinson sports director Olly Moors said exposing riders to the top level “is what development’s about”. It was in large part for this reason that the team accepted invitations to race the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de Suisse this year, unaware that their riders will not be able to do the WorldTour events next season.

Now, with no promise of UCI-level racing in the UK, British teams are looking to events elsewhere. Smurfit boss Lister explained he is in the process of renting a house in Belgium so his team can expand their calendar across mainland Europe next season. Alba did more than 70 race days outside of the UK this year, and plan to do similar going forwards.

One option the teams could pursue to return to the Tour of Britain in the future is stepping up a tier to ProTeam status. Alba hope to do this by 2027, with the main obstacle being the increase in budget requirements. “You’re looking at more than £1.5m, if you’re going to do it properly,” said Lyons – more than seven times his team’s current budget.

Lister said Smurfit is “nowhere near” having the funds to step up.

Alternatively, race organiser British Cycling could drop the event down a tier from WorldTour to ProTour, bringing it level with the Tour of Britain Men, and loosening the entry criteria.

Contacted by Cycling Weekly about this prospect, a British Cycling spokesperson said: "Our commitment is to continue to grow and develop the Lloyds Tour of Britain, so a downgrade from UCI Women's WorldTour status is not something we are currently considering, however we will continue to discuss these regulation changes and their impact with the UCI to explore how we can continue to support British riders going forwards."

And so, for the first time since the race’s inception as the Women’s Tour in 2014, there are likely to be no domestic teams at the Tour of Britain Women in August next year.

“It is absolutely ludicrous,” said Lyons. “You look at the other Conti teams in the UK, perhaps not quite all of them, we all support the British cycling scene. We all fly the British flag in what we do, and it is a bit of a kick in the teeth to not be able to ride in that race. Absolutely, there’s no question about that.”

Still, he added: “Our calendar doesn’t revolve around the women’s Tour of Britain… Life goes on, we just get on and do what we do.”

The dates for the Lloyds Tours of Britain Men and Women 2026 have been announced, with both races taking place over five stages across three weeks in late August and early September next year

The men's ProTour race has been reduced from six stages to five, while the Women's WorldTour event has been increased from four to five, meaning that there is gender parity across the stages.

The 2026 Tour of Britain Women will take place from 19-23 August, moving slot from June, while the Tour of Britain Men remains in its place in the calendar, taking place 2-6 September.

Both are organised by British Cycling Events (BCE), the events arm of the sport's governing body in the UK. The women's race was won by Ally Wollaston (FDJ-SUEZ) this year, while Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) won the men's race. The men's race also saw Geraint Thomas retire.

The move is billed as a "three-week cycling celebration across the country" by British Cycling.

"Aligning these two major, showpiece events within a matter of weeks will enable us to increase visibility and amplify the extraordinary buzz around each individual race, to continue to build the Lloyds Tour of Britain and engage a growing audience through the joy of cycling," Jonathan Day, BCE's managing director, said.

"Bringing an equal number of stages across the Lloyds Tour of Britain women and men’s races for the first time is a bold move we are extremely proud of and part of our strategic commitment to achieving gender parity, having already immediately increasing prize money for the women’s race last year.

"We are very excited to seeing many more people from communities across the UK taking to the roadsides in 2026 and beyond for this cycling extravaganza of world-class racing which rides past their front doors."

This year's Tour of Britain Women had its largest ever field – 19 teams and 110 riders, including 12 WorldTour squads – while the Tour of Britain Men had the most riders of the start list since the pandemic, including nine WorldTour teams.

Lizzie Deignan, the last British elite road world champion, welcomed the move.

"Throughout my career I’ve always championed women’s sport and races, so it is brilliant to see British Cycling has pushed for full parity in the number of stages at the Lloyds Tour of Britain women and men," Deignan said. "I have seen the impact the event has had in communities across the country, and the role it has for inspiring the next generation, especially young girls who want to get out and ride a bike, whether it is competitively or recreationally.

"I have seen gradual change during my career, and this is another positive step for women’s cycling. A move like this to bring the joy of cycling to more people is incredibly encouraging, and I am excited to see the world-class racing at the Tour in 2026."

The next couple of years will also see the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift come to the UK, in 2027. The men's race is set to start in Edinburgh.

The Tour of Britain Women will be five stages next year after the UCI agreed to a request from British Cycling to increase the length of the event.

The move comes as part of an increased effort to reach full parity with the men's equivalent after the national governing body took control of the two races, formerly managed by SweetSpot, early last year.

British Cycling confirmed the change when contacted by Cycling Weekly on Wednesday after it was previously announced that the women's race would move to an August slot on the calendar, bringing it closer to the men's event, which typically takes place in September.

"Bringing the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women up to five stages for 2026 is yet another step in creating parity between the men's and women's races - something which is fundamental to our major events vision," a British Cycling spokesperson said.

"When we took on the running of both races last year, we outlined our plans and were true to this commitment, therefore it was a no-brainer to increase prize money for the women’s race, as a first step.

"Following the hugely successful delivery of the 2025 edition of the race, we are really pleased to see our ambitious plans reflected in an increase to five stages from 2026, supported by the UCI, and we look forward to continuing to champion full parity throughout the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain races."

The men's race was cut to six stages in 2024 as a first step to reaching full parity, with British Cycling aiming to increase the women’s race to six in the coming years. FDJ-Suez's Ally Wollaston took the overall honours at the most recent edition of the women’s race, which concluded in Glasgow last month. Britain's Cat Ferguson finished second.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly last month, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton was cautiously optimistic regarding the long-term future of the two Tours.

"We were really determined to deliver last year and grow the race and I think if you look at the Tour of Britain Women – just take the riders and the teams last year compared to the riders and the teams this year – it shows that people value racing in the UK," he said. "We need to be mindful of the business model – staging any bike race on the public highway is an expensive affair – but we're optimistic."

"Policing, safety, the public sector finances, people wanting to step forward as event organisers – it's really hard,” Dutton added. "At British Cycling we have a duty and responsibility to be part of the solution, but there is no magic wand to wave.

"What we will find is moving to a sustainable business model, we'll probably have to have some more tough conversations in the future… We've not got enough events with enough event organisers that are sustainable and that's just part of the overall challenge."

Cycling Weekly understands that details of this year's Tour of Britain Men will be released shortly. The race is expected to conclude in Cardiff to pay tribute to Geraint Thomas in what is set to be his final professional race before retirement.

Just over a year ago, British Cycling announced that it was going to rescue both the men’s and women’s Tours of Britain after the previous race organiser, SweetSpot, went into liquidation. Now, the national governing body is looking to the long term, and hoping to develop a suite of racing events.

“We were really determined to deliver last year and grow the race and I think if you look at the Tour of Britain Women – just take the riders and the teams last year compared to the riders and the teams this year – it shows that people value racing in the UK,” British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton told Cycling Weekly at the 2025 race.

“We need to be mindful of the business model – staging any bike race on the public highway is an expensive affair – but we're optimistic.”

It’s a tough environment for road race organisers in the UK, with costs higher than ever and fewer local councils with an appetite to host events. Dutton explained that the headwinds are strong for domestic road racing, but hopes the rising profile of both Tours of Britain can support the rest of the scene.

“Policing, safety, the public sector finances, people wanting to step forward as event organisers – it's really hard,” Dutton said.

“At British Cycling we have a duty and responsibility to be part of the solution, but there is no magic wand to wave… What we will find is moving to a sustainable business model, we'll probably have to have some more tough conversations in the future… We've not got enough events with enough event organisers that are sustainable and that's just part of the overall challenge.”

British Cycling are planning to add to the number of stages of the women’s race, which is currently four days long, and see the Tours of Britain as central to their plans to develop a larger portfolio of British Cycling-run events across several disciplines.

Dutton shared a vision to see British Cycling organise high profile events in track cycling, BMX freestyle and cyclo-cross, suggesting that the governing body will look to bring a round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup back to British soil for the first time since 2014.

All of this, as British Cycling set out in a new strategy in March, is with a view to increase cycling participation in the UK. The race route around Glasgow was closed for a further three hours after the end of the Tour of Britain Women, allowing riders of all ages and abilities to ride around the city on traffic-free roads. This kind of initiative, Dutton says, will go hand-in-hand with British Cycling events going forward.

“Our research shows that 27 million people in the UK got on a bike in the last 12 months," he said. "That's the future for us, it's to fuse together elite events, creating visibility and enabling us to do more things – to get people on the bike and give them great experiences.”

“Time to retire,” Lizzie Deignan responds when it’s pointed out to her that no rider has raced the Tour of Britain Women more times than she has. Of the ten editions of the race, she has competed in eight and won two. However, this year, it was one final lap for the rider who has spearheaded women’s cycling in the UK for the past decade, as she prepares to retire at the end of this season.

The 36-year-old has been competing in the women’s elite peloton since 2007 and was proud to race on British soil one final time, especially as the Tour of Britain Women kicked off at home in Yorkshire before winding its way north to a finish in Glasgow on Sunday.

“It feels like it's come full circle. Obviously I started off racing here in the UK, so it's nice to get one final race here,” Deignan told Cycling Weekly at the start of stage three in Kelso.

The Brit was a constant feature during the four stages, working on the front for her Lidl-Trek team and claiming the combativity award on stage three.

After the finish in Glasgow, she broke down in tears, overcome with emotion on completing her final Tour of Britain Women.

Deignan announced her retirement last November, before the 2025 season got underway. She is now on a year-long lap of honour after a hugely successful career which has included World Championship and Paris-Roubaix Femmes titles, as well as an Olympic silver medal from London 2012.

This season, her role has been centred on supporting her team’s leaders and soaking up every enjoyable moment she can.

“It's been really nice, to be honest. Knowing that every race that I do is my last time, even on bad days I force myself to enjoy it because I won't get to do this again. I'm looking at the positives every race I do and just enjoying it," she said.

Women’s cycling is almost unrecognisable from how it was when Deignan entered the peloton almost two decades ago. The sport is more professional, more competitive, and the women’s scene in the UK is bigger than ever.

Deignan is pleased to be passing on the baton at a time when there are so many strong young British talents emerging, including the likes of Cat Ferguson, who, at only 19 years old, placed a close second overall at the Tour of Britain.

“It's night and day different,” Deignan said in comparing the two eras. “The women's scene is really strong in the UK, we've got quite a few domestic teams.

"Obviously the next generation of women coming through, Cat, Imogen [Wolff], Carys [Lloyd], Anna [Henderson], Pfeiffer [Georgi], Zoe [Bäckstedt] - the list is endless. That is totally different to when I was coming through.

"I feel like I've carried the torch for quite a long time now, and it's really cool that there is now a group of women ready to take over.”

The 2025 Tour of Britain Women truly came down to the wire. It wasn’t until the very last moment that the large crowds gathered on Glasgow Green knew that FDJ-Suez’s Ally Wollaston had done enough in the final sprint to snatch the overall win away from Cat Ferguson (Movistar).

Wollaston came into the final stage with a three-second deficit to the 19-year-old Brit. She defeated her rival in each of the three intermediate sprints on the circuit-style course around Glasgow to level things up, before coming round Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) at the very last to take the final place on the podium and four all-important bonus seconds to take her first every WorldTour stage race victory.

The closeness of the battle made for a tense day, both had a mixture of nerves and confidence on the morning of the final stage, but it was FDJ-Suez who managed to put their plan into action best of all.

“I'm so, so, so happy,” Wollaston told Cycling Weekly after pulling on the race’s final green leader’s jersey.

“I knew it was a lot to pull off today, winning three sprints and having to still get seconds in the final. I knew the race really had to go my way today. I'm so, so immensely grateful for my teammates for making it pan out that way. I really couldn't have done that on my own out there today.”

Indeed, Wollaston’s team-mates guided her expertly, never missing a beat on the technical final kilometre of each of the 10km laps. However it was Wollaston herself who had to use her track prowess to overcome a rider in Ferguson who had defeated her in a sprint less than 24 hours earlier.

“If you looked at every sprint that I did well in today, I was never isolated,” Wollaston added. “I had a teammate going into the last corner every single time and it made a world of difference.”

“The bottom corner was only 150 metres to go. So yeah, you just had to be there first, really - first or second. My team did such an amazing job.”

Wollaston had been quietly effective throughout the race, never initiating her own attacks but being present in every move that mattered.

The multiple-times track world champion was pleased not to be in Ferguson’s position ahead of the final stage and preferred to be the hunter, rather than the hunted.

“I struggled so, so much yesterday, especially in the final. I was a little bit nervous coming into today, for sure.”

“Often a lot of the times on the track, I race best in omniums when I'm not leading from the front and I think I found it super motivating today not having to defend the win. I find it a lot easier on the mind chasing rather than defending.”

“I find it quite stressful and a lot of pressure defending a win. So it was a great position for me to be in this morning. I think it worked out perfectly.”

After several years competing in triathlon and duathlon, Lauren Dickson decided to try her hand at road racing for the first time in April 2024. Just over a year later, the Scot is making a name for herself and attracting offers from several top teams.

This week, Dickson has been racing the Tour of Britain Women for the Handsling Alba Development Road Team, one of the smallest teams in the race. An unlucky puncture on the first day left her out of the General Classification picture, but she excelled in the difficult second and third stages.

“It's been really exciting. I didn't really know what to expect at the start, coming into a WorldTour race,” Dickson told Cycling Weekly before the final stage on Glasgow Green.

“On the first day I was caught out with how hard it would be to move up later in the race. It's almost like if you imagine a gridlock - the girls are so well drilled. And then with about 4km to go I punctured and couldn't ride it. It was out of the rim. So that kind of took me out of GC because I lost 50 seconds on the group I'd been in.”

“Then the past two days I was really pleased with how I rode. I think we took a lot from the first day and tried to improve on it,” she added.

Dickson finished the race in 17th overall. It’s her first ever WorldTour race, but follows a season so far in which she has taken incredible strides forward, winning the Lincoln Grand Prix before mixing it with WorldTour riders at the Tour of Norway and placing third overall. These results are a world away from where she was this time last year when she was just learning the ropes of road racing.

Dickson may be new to the sport, but she has been involved in elite competition since she was a teenager as a triathlete and duathlete and has also represented Great Britain in mountain running. She credits her rapid rise to her sporting background, but also guidance from her men’s WorldTour rider partner Sean Flynn, who rides for Picnin-PostNL.

“My boyfriend's a WorldTour rider. So although I hadn't raced, I've been with him since I was 17. To be honest, he took me from not being able to take a bottle out of the bottle cage to following him in his reps, training behind him on the descents and it's all just a gradual accumulation. And then as I moved more towards duathlon from triathlon, it was a natural step to just try cycling,” Dickson said.

The 25-year-old has learned an awful lot this year, the learning curve is steep to get to the top level of cycling. She has made the most progression on several technical elements.

“Even if you look at my heart rate in races at the start of the year, I was so nervous in the wheels, like petrified sometimes when we were descending, whereas now I've learned to enjoy it and just to embrace the adrenaline, which does wonders for you in a race. If you can be calm, you use your energy more efficiently and that really helps you.”

Cycling Weekly understands that Dickson has been in conversations with more than one WorldTour team about stepping up to the very top level for next season. When asked about the possibility, she replied “Yeah, hopefully. I’ll hopefully turn WorldTour next year.”

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) came into the 2025 Tour of Britain Women with an ambition to win the overall classification. However, crashes and bad luck meant that the European champion had to fight back to save her race by winning the final stage on Glasgow Green.

With the GC battle fought out in the intermediate sprints between Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Cat Ferguson (Movistar), Wiebes stayed out of trouble before launching a monstrous sprint on the final lap of the race to extend her record as the rider with most wins in Tour of Britain Women history.

Wiebes crashed and fell out of overall contention on stage two, suffering an injury to her hand which made her uncomfortable on the bike in the final two stages. The initial disappointment had initially left Wiebes unsure if she would continue the race as it made its way north through Scotland, but the Dutchwoman rallied.

The team also lost lead-out rider Barbara Guarischi in a big crash on the third stage, but confirmed afterwards that her injuries were not as bad as first feared.

Wiebes and the team were pleased to put the bad luck behind them in Glasgow, taking a characteristically dominant bunch sprint win.

“We really went into the stage to finish it in a good way,” Wiebes told Cycling Weekly after the final stage. “It's been pretty much ups and downs. Luckily, the crash from yesterday didn't do too much damage for myself. I was feeling a bit better than yesterday on the bike… I felt pretty strong at the end and I'm happy that the sprint power was still there.”

“The team kept me really good in the front the whole race. In the intermediate sprints it's important to be more in the front, because they always open gaps in the peloton,” she added.

Wiebes questioned the decision by the UCI commissaires on the previous day not to neutralise the race after the crash that took out Guarischi also brought down around 15 other riders. She thought that it would have been safer for the race to have been paused at that time to allow enough medical personnel to be available for the remainder of the day.

“I think it was a mistake from the commissaires to not neutralise the race after the big crash," she said. "I mean, if only three riders can get through and multiple riders are screaming on the ground in pain, I don't think it's good to continue the race like this.”

“It's better to neutralise and then start again. Also, I think it took some time before the doctor was back in the peloton. There we also lost Barbara and she was pretty much important also for today's stage.”

Sport Director Christian Kos was delighted with his team’s show of resilience on the final day.

“It was necessary to go out with a bang because we didn't have the most lucky week with Lorena hitting two times the deck, a hard crash for Barbara Guarischi yesterday, so this is a nice lift up of the spirit.”

Despite the bad luck knocking Wiebes out of GC contention, Kos thinks that the experience at the Tour of Britain Women will serve her well as she looks to contend in hilly stage races going forward.

“If I look at the season, she's going over the hills really strong and she's improving every time I see her so it's not impossible. When we were looking at the stages we had the feeling it was not impossible to go for it.”

“Day one we were a little bit left out of teammates around us and also as a sprinter being the only one in the break then at least she had good legs, but then our luck changed a little bit, she crashed two days in a row putting us completely out of GC but without the bad luck I still believe she could have fought for the GC here.”

It was a tough day for overnight race leader Kristen Faulkner on stage 3 of the Tour of Britain Women as the EF Education-Oatly leader faded out of overall contention after suffering crashes and mechanicals during the stage around the Scottish Borders.

The 143km stage was the hardest of the whole race with five categorised climbs and teams wanted to take advantage early on. FDJ-Suez pushed on over the first climb of the day up to Scott’s View and continued over the top. As the pace ramped up, Faulkner had her first issue of the day; a mechanical leading to a long chase back.

Then, with 56km left, Faulkner crashed alongside 15 others as the leading group came round a left hand bend, but managed to chase back with help from team-mates Nina Berton and Sara Roy. She crashed again with 33km to go and this time, wouldn’t return. The Olympic champion would eventually ship more than three minutes and saw her lead change hands to Movistar’s Cat Ferguson.

It was a battling performance from Faulkner, but the stars were out of alignment for the American in Kelso.

“She's a fighter, so she never gave up,” EF Education-Oatly Sports Director Daniel Foder told Cycling Weekly after the stage.

“She had her teammates around her. I mean, when you have that leader jersey, you cannot give up. You have to keep fighting, and that's the mentality for her and for the team as well.

The first mechanical was maybe in the worst possible moment, because that was a hectic and fast part of the race. But we managed to get back, and everything was actually okay, I think. But then one crash, we had to spend a lot of energy getting back from that one, and then the second one was one crash too many,” Foder concluded.

An unwritten but universally-known rule in cycling is that you don’t accelerate when the race leader is chasing back on after a crash or mechanical. However, after Faulkner’s first spill, it appeared that FDJ-Suez, working for New Zealander Ally Wollaston, lifted the pace.

Coming up in short order was an intermediate sprint as the race passed through the start-finish line in Kelso, which may give enough of an excuse for the French team who continued the pace-making through the line. Foder was pragmatic about the move afterwards.

“I understand because they have a sprint coming up for bonus seconds, and we know that they need to take it. If they continue, I mean, OK, they can do what they want. Personally, I would do different, I think. But it's a race. We cannot complain. We evaluate on how we can do our stuff, and then we have a new day again tomorrow.”

The final stage of the race is a dash around the streets of Glasgow. EF Education-Oatly now need to dust themselves down and set new goals for their last day in Britain.

“For sure I think Breakaway will be really difficult because of the bonus seconds, of course.

On paper, it's going to be a sprint, but we will talk and then see if we can come up with something.”

“The race is not over yet and I think for us at this moment, I think it's about recovery from today and then hopefully we're able to bounce back.”

On Kelso’s cobbled square ahead of stage 3 of the 2025 Tour of Britain Women, Cat Ferguson tells Cycling Weekly that she’s desperate to win a stage on British soil. It's the only opportunity she'll get all year. The Movistar rider is keen to take advantage of the hilly route round the Scottish Borders, knowing that it’s probably her final chance to win a stage at this year's race.

What she didn’t expect was how the day would pan out. Heavy rain overnight had made the tarmac slippery, and the downpours intermittently came and went throughout the stage. What followed were several major crashes, including for race leader Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly), who was distanced before the race’s final climb. The rain made an already difficult race even more attritional - only the strongest would flourish.

After an attack from Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) with 24km to go, a final selection of six was made. Ferguson was there alongside multiple track world champion and GC rival Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez). With everyone on the limit, 19-year-old sprung something of a surprise to win her first ever WorldTour race with Wollaston third behind another Brit Josie Nelson (Picnin-PostNL), as the clouds produced one final downpour.

“It's incredible. It's really more than I could have hoped for,” a clearly frozen but delighted Ferguson told Cycling Weekly after the finish.

It was logically expected that Wollaston, with her track pedigree, would be able to get the better of her rivals on the cobbled sprint finish. However, Ferguson still had the presence of mind to use momentum to her advantage in the last 200 metres.

“To win it in the way that we did is not what I expected. I wasn't sure I was going to get it to be honest,” Ferguson said.

“I knew that Ally's definitely a better sprinter than me. Obviously, in the intermediate sprint she beat me, so I was thinking it was going to be difficult to beat her. But, if I came in second wheel and launched first on the cobbles, then hopefully I could get a bit more momentum on her, and it worked.”

“This race was a big goal of mine. I really wanted to come in and have good form, something I feel like I've been lacking a little bit to be honest. The whole season was missing that spark, and in this race, I think I've found it. I've been feeling really good,” Ferguson added.

The final climb was fought-out by the riders who managed to avoid the crashes. With 56km left, around 15 riders came down on a single left-hand bend, including stage two winner Mara Roldan (Picnic-PostNL) and Faulkner. Nine riders in total pulled out of the race during the stage due to crashes and other injuries and issues. Ferguson was well positioned throughout and was expertly guided by her Movistar team.

“Unfortunately there was a lot of misfortune, and Faulkner was caught behind crashes and mechanicals about three times, so I'm feeling for her. But I managed to stay at the front out of trouble and I'm used to riding in the rain, being from the UK, so I think that definitely helped,” she said.

Ferguson has moved into the lead of the race, taking a three-second advantage over Wollaston ahead of the final circuit-style stage in Glasgow where the bonus seconds will decide the race.

“I’m very nervous. I didn't imagine myself in this position, so now we have a lot of work to do and planning to do on how we approach tomorrow. I only have a few seconds lead, and I think tomorrow there will be four sprints to gain time, so it's going to be a difficult one. But with the team we have, we're really motivated, so we'll do the best we can.”

Mara Roldan (Picnic-PostNL) won stage two of the Tour of Britain Women, outclimbing Rejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) on Saltburn Bank to take her first WorldTour victory, as Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) claimed the race lead.

After Charlotte Kool ramped up the pace in the small lead group, the young Canadian attacked as the leaders began the finishing circuit near Saltburn-by-the-Sea for the second and final time.

It was touch and go as the final ramp to the finish arrived, but Roldan held on to seal the win for Picnic-PostNL. Markus took second with Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) claiming third.

Behind the leaders, Megan Jastrab (Picnic PostNL) led the remnants of the chase group across the line, with Cat Ferguson finishing in fifth which saw her move up to fourth in the general classification. Ferguson is now just 14 seconds off Faulkner's lead with two stages remaining.

How it happened

Stage two took the race from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea in north east England. The riders faced 1,348 metres of elevation gain on the 120 kilometre route, with the Saltburn Bank climb, a stalwart of several recent editions of the British national championships, featuring late on towards the finish.

After her heroics on stage one into Redcar, race leader Kim Le Court was brought down in an early crash, along with several other riders. Great Britain's Jess Roberts was also involved. Le Court managed to get back into the peloton before several riders began to up the tempo.

Three riders managed to get away and formed an early breakaway - Lucy Gadd (Smurfit Westrock, Maddy Leach (Handsling Alba Development) and Tiffany Keep (DAS-Hutchinson). The trio quickly established a lead of more than three minutes and held that for much of the day.

With 33 kilometres to go, the leaders were onto the finishing circuit around Saltburn. Leach was the first rider to drop away as Tiffany Keep pushed on as the road began to ramp up on the categorised Marske Lane climb. The South African rider had a lead of just 39 seconds as she crested the summit, taking maximum points on the first Queen of the Mountains point of the day. She was then caught a few kilometres later.

On the descent of Marske Lane, four riders came down, including Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime). Lidl-Trek's Anna Henderson jumped clear in a brief skirmish off the front as the race began to fracture. Le Court was one of the riders affected by the split as around 25 riders went clear.

Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) took the lead group onto Saltburn Bank for the first time, upping the tempo before Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) got onto the front with Cat Ferguson (Movistar) in her wheel.

Picnic-PostNL moved to the front of the lead group and immediately jumped on the offensive. Mara Roldan launched a stinging attack on Marske Lane and went clear over the summit. With 11 kilometres left to go, the young Canadian tore into the descent and opened up a small gap as the remnants of the front group tried to get organised and reignite the chase.

Despite having just a handful of seconds on the chasing pack, Roldan held on up Saltburn Bank to take a memorable stage win, her first at WorldTour level, for Picnic-PostNL.

Results

Tour of Britain Women 2025, stage two: Hartlepool > Saltburn-by-the-Sea (120 km)

1. Mara Roldan (Can) Picnic-PostNL in 2:57:38
2. Rejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +12s
3. Ally Wollaston (Aus) FDJ-Suez, +18s
4. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL,
5. Cat Ferguson (GBR) Movistar,
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ,
7. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto
8. Sarah van Dam (Can) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling,
9. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, all same time
10. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, +22s

General classification after stage two

1. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, in 4:57:03
2. Rejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +4s
3. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ-Suez +12s
4. Cat Ferguson (GBr) Movistar, +14s
5. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ, at same time
6. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL, +16s
7. Sarah van Dam (Can) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling,
8. Cecille Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto, at same time
9. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, +20s
10. Anna Henderson (Gbr) Lidl-Trek, at same time

Britain’s domestic teams are looking to "bring their A-game" at the Tour of Britain Women this week, as they pit themselves against the big-budget squads of the WorldTour.

All five of the country’s Continental teams – CJ O’Shea Racing, DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team, Hess, and Smurfit Westrock – will compete in the four-day race, which starts today in Dalby Forest, and finishes in Glasgow on Sunday.

For the British squads, none of which are professional, the event is a valuable chance to show off sponsors and gain experience against some of the best riders in the world.

"It’s big and it’s stressful and it’s going to be absolutely mad," says Smurfit rider Lucy Harris, "but it’s an incredible opportunity at the same time. You have to make the most of it."

Harris, who won the CiCLE Classic this March, balances her racing with a full-time job as a meteorological data scientist. She returns to the Tour of Britain this year after making her debut in 2024, when she won the combativity prize on the first stage. "It was insane," she says. "I remember that Lizzie Deignan was up there [on the podium] as the Queen of the Mountains and she looked at me and said well done and I nearly burst into tears."

For Alba’s Lauren Dickson, the Tour of Britain will mark her first WorldTour event, and only her third ever stage race. The 25-year-old won the Lincoln GP last month, finished third at the recent Tour of Norway, and says she “can’t wait” to test herself against the 12 WorldTour teams.

"I’d really like to be in the breakaways and see how close to a podium that we can get," Dickson said. "If you want to be the best, then you have to be able to compete with the best. You have to believe in yourself, but you also have to learn from it. It’ll be a huge learning experience for everybody. We’ll have to bring our A-game."

This year’s race is particularly important for Alba, a squad with a Scottish core hopeful of performing on home roads. The team recently won their first international UCI race at the Tour de Feminin in the Czech Republic, but the Tour of Britain remains the centrepiece of their season.

"We’re looking to be seen in the race," says Alba manager Bob Lyons. "It’s tough down here getting budget, and we need exposure. We’re trying to get as much exposure as we can, and that’s a great opportunity for us in Scotland [on stages three and four]. It’s good for sponsors."

The same feeling is echoed by DAS-Hutchinson directeur sportif Olly Moors, who says the race is "massive" for his team’s partners. Already this season, DAS-Hutchinson have raced the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race, two of the calendar’s biggest WorldTour one-day events, gaining valuable experience and exposure.

"At Flanders, we were in the breakaway for over 100km, and the engagement we got off that was huge. Our sponsors absolutely loved that," Moors says. "Those races force you, not just the team itself but the riders as well, to step up. We held our own and we’re proud of that."

Moors estimates that the average WorldTour squad operates on a budget around 30 times bigger than his team’s. It’s a daunting prospect, he says, but it shouldn’t deter his riders or those of the other Continental teams from racing aggressively. "You’ve got to mix ambition with reality," the DAS-Hutchinson DS says.

"It’s about finding that perfect sweet spot between the two. We would ambitiously love to have a rider perform well. I think really our best chances are a stage result and then looking at early breakaways, getting ahead of the race." As for the general classification, Moors adds, placing a rider in the top 30 would be a "great outcome".

The Tour of Britain Women begins today and is available to watch free on the BBC.

Now in its second year, the Tour of Britain Women is the UK's only WorldTour event. It has emerged from the ashes of the former Women's Tour, after previous organiser SweetSpot entered liquidation last January.

Now organised by British Cycling with Lloyds as title sponsor, it will be run over four stages and visit Scotland for the first time in the 12-season history of both the Women's Tour and this iteration of the event.

The startlist promises a host of star riders, both from abroad and from the host nation. While last year's overall winner Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is not set to ride, fans will be able to watch stars such as Lizzie Deignan and Anna Henderson (both Lidl-Trek), Olympic road champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly).

Below, Cycling Weekly has compiled everything you need to know about broadcasters and live streams, so you can watch the Tour of Britain wherever you are in the world.

Quick guide to watching the Tour of Britain Women

How to watch Tour of Britain Women in the UK

In the UK, the Tour of Britain Women will be available to watch for free on the BBC iPlayer and on British Cycling's dedicated YouTube channel, @tour.of.britain. Both iPlayer and the YouTube broadcast are geo-restricted to the UK.

It will also be broadcast online on Discovery+, with evening highlights available on TNT Sports 3.

Both TNT and Discovery+ are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and require a subscription.

Discovery+ costs £30.99 a month. TNT Sports is also £30.99 a month, but is cheaper with certain TV packages. Virgin Media customers, for example, can add it to their bundle for an additional £18 a month. Sky TV customers can do the same for an extra £30 a month. EE mobile customers can purchase TNT Sports as an add-on for £20 a month.

Can I watch the Tour of Britain Women in the US and Canada

Unfortunately, the Tour of Britain Women is not set to be broadcast on any platform in the USA or Canada. It was broadcast last year by Flobikes, but that is not the case this time round.

Can I watch the Tour of Britain Women in Australia?

Fans in Australia will be able to watch free daily highlights of the Tour of Britain Women on SBS, though not a full livestream.

How to watch the Tour of Britain Women while abroad

Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you're abroad.

Want to know more? We have an explainer on the benefits, costs, and considerations...
– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?

What time is the Tour of Britain Women on?

UK coverage of the race begins at 12:00 BST on Discovery+ and the British Cycling YouTube channel @tour.of.britain. Evening highlights start at 20:00 BST on TNT Sports 3.

► Cycling TV and streaming guide

What to expect at the Tour of Britain Women

The riders have a lumpy four days ahead of them, culminating in a flat, city-centre outing that will showcase the race perfectly.

It differs somewhat from last year, which saw the race play its toughest hand at the outset in Wales. This time round the race builds slowly towards a hilly third stage based on Kelso in Scotland, so the GC is likely to hang in the balance until then.

Even the flat but very technical final stage in Glasgow could see the lead change hands, especially if the GC remains finely balanced after the Kelso stage.

There will be opportunities for both fast finishers and rouleurs here, and riders such as Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Elisa Balsalmo (Lidl-Trek), who are able to play both hands at will, should be ones to watch.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Double junior world champion Cat Ferguson is set to make her debut at the Tour of Britain Women in June, British Cycling announced on Tuesday.

Ferguson, who hails from North Yorkshire, will lead Spanish WorldTour team Movistar in the four-day stage race which will take in her home county before heading north and into Scotland. The 19-year-old recently took her first win of the season at a rain-soaked Navarra Classic.

Alongside Ferguson, British Cycling revealed that Visma-Lease a Bike's rising star Imogen Wolff is also set to race. Yorkshire-born Wolff won a bronze medal in the junior time trial at last year's World Championships, and rode for the same British amateur team as the Movistar rider, Shibden Apex RT.

Wolff won a stage and the youth classification in her first race of the season, the Vuelta a Extremadura, and was recently praised by Marianne Vos for her role in the Dutch veteran’s recent stage win at La Vuelta Femenina.

Meanwhile, British Cycling also confirmed that Lidl-Trek's Lizzie Deignan will line up for one final outing at her home race before her retirement later this year. Deignan won the event’s predecessor, the Women’s Tour, on two previous occasions and took home the mountains jersey in last year’s race.

"I'm always happy to race the Tour of Britain Women," Deignan said. "I have such special memories from this race and over my career I have had a lot of success here. It's always a different feeling racing in front of home crowds so I hope we see lots of fans out cheering for the women's peloton over all four days.

"This will be my final Tour of Britain so it will be bittersweet but I am going to be surrounded by some incredible women as part of our Lidl-Trek team so I'm confident we can make it a good week and we will be motivated to achieve some nice results together."

Deignan will be joined by her Lidl-Trek teammate Anna Henderson who finished second last year. The duo raced together as part of the Great Britain Cycling Team in the 2024 edition of the race.

"I am really looking forward to racing the Tour of Britain Women again this year," Henderson said. "It's always special to race on home soil, and as a British rider, we don't have so many opportunities so I will be looking to make the most of this moment and hopefully, we will see lots of enthusiastic British cycling fans out on the roads to support us."

Sisters Zoe and Elynor Bäckstedt are also set to race for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and UAE Team ADQ respectively. Having finished 15th in Paris-Roubaix Femmes during the spring, Zoe will be making her debut at the race while Elynor will be taking part for a third time.

Alongside the raft of high profile British riders, Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) is also set to race. The Tour of Britain Women gets underway in Dalby Forest on 5 June.

Olympic road and track gold medallist Kristen Faulkner is set to ride the Tour of Britain Women next month.

The 32-year-old American is one of a handful of star names confirmed for the four-day stage race, organised by British Cycling, which kicks off on 5 June in Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire.

Also announced to be on the start line are Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal), and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto).

Faulkner is expected to head up the EF Education-Oatly team at the event, as she prepares for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in the summer.

"I’m really excited for the Tour of Britain Women," Faulkner said. "It is going to be a lot of rolling terrain which is unique to the UK and I actually really like that so I’m quite excited.

"After a slow start to my season and coming back from injury last winter, I’m really excited to have a big goal and I’m hoping to peak for the Tour of Britain so that’ll be a really exciting goal for me to look forward to and to have as a key race in my season."

Alongside Faulkner, British Cycling confirmed that reigning European champion Wiebes will also be present at the race. The Dutchwoman claimed the third stage of last year’s race, and has enjoyed plenty of success on UK roads in her career, winning five stages of the race's predecessor – the Women's Tour – as well as the Ford RideLondon Classique.

Joining the duo on the startlist is the recent Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes winner Le Court. Le Court pulled off a memorable win at the most recent Monument after outfoxing Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) in a reduced bunch sprint.

Uttrup Ludwig is also confirmed to be taking part. The Danish rider will be eyeing up the final two stages in Scotland after winning a bronze medal in the 2023 UCI World Championship road race that finished in Glasgow.

British Cycling has said that further rider announcements are expected to imminently follow.

As well as EF Education-Oatly, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and AG Insurance-Soudal, Lidl-Trek, FDJ-Suez and Visma-Lease a Bike are also on the startlist. All five of the British UCI Continental teams – CJ O’Shea Racing, DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team, Hess Cycling and Smurfit Westrock – will also be present at the race.

18 teams are set to participate in the second edition of the Tour of Britain Women in June, with 12 Women's WorldTour squads set to headline the start list, British Cycling announced on Thursday afternoon.

According to a release from the national governing body, 108 riders will take part in what is set to be the largest field in the event’s history. SD Worx-Protime - the team of last year’s winner, Lotte Kopecky - are one of the 12 WorldTour teams set to race, along with FDJ-Suez and a host of other major teams.

As well as SD Worx and FDJ-Suez, the other teams from the top level of women’s professional cycling on the startlist are AG Insurance-Soudal, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, Ceratizit, Lidl-Trek, Movistar, Picnic PostNL, Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE Team ADQ and Uno-X Mobility. All five of the British registered UCI Continental teams - Smurfit Westrock, Hess Cycling, Das Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development and CJ O'Shea Racing are set to compete, along with EF Education-Oatly, and a Great Britain squad.

After racing in the last two editions of the race, UAE Team ADQ's Elynor Bäckstedt said she would relish the opportunity to race in front of the British crowds once more: "The UK crowds are incredible, seeing all the kids come out from schools to watch are so special.

"For us as a team it’ll be super important, the course is varied so there is an opportunity for everyone and it will be a great race for us to do and showcase to the world what the UK has to offer."

Taking place between 5 and 8 June, the race will take place in northern England and Scotland, with the southernmost point on the course being North Yorkshire. The final stage will be held in Glasgow on a city centre circuit.

"We are delighted to be bringing some of the world’s best teams and riders to our communities this June as a part of the UCI Women's WorldTour and to showcase the very best of their character and terrain on what will be four challenging stages," Jonathan Day, managing director of British Cycling Events, previously said.

"On behalf of British Cycling Events I would like to pay thanks to our partners across the four stages for supporting the hosting and delivery of this summer's race and enabling us to bring another memorable and action packed four days of world class racing to their communities."

British Cycling has announced that Glasgow will host the final stage of the Tour of Britain Women in June, with Dalby Forest, the North Yorkshire Moors, the Scottish Borders and Tees Valley all set to host the race at various points.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the national governing body confirmed that Glasgow would make its debut as a host venue for the Women’s WorldTour event with the final stage taking place on a city centre circuit in a similar style to the elite road races at the Glasgow World Championships in 2023.

Taking place between 5 and 8 June, the race will take place solely in northern England and Scotland, with the southernmost point on the course being North Yorkshire. As well as Glasgow, the rest of the host venues will be making their first appearances as part of the women’s race.

The opening stage will take place between Dalby Forest and Redcar, before Hartlepool and Saltburn-by-Sea host stage two. The third stage is then set to take place in the Scottish Borders in Kelso, with the race then concluding in Glasgow. The Redcar and Saltburn area has regularly played host to the British national road championships, with Pfeiffer Georgi winning two successive national road titles on the slopes of Saltburn Bank.

Jonathan Day, managing director of British Cycling Events, said the route announcement was a sign of British Cycling "breaking new ground" with the race and that the event would aid them in their mission of "spreading the joy of cycling" along the route.

"Being able to finish the race overall in the heart of a major city like Glasgow will be a great way to round out this year’s Tour," he said. "We are delighted to be bringing some of the world’s best teams and riders to our communities this June as a part of the UCI Women's WorldTour and to showcase the very best of their character and terrain on what will be four challenging stages.

"On behalf of British Cycling Events I would like to pay thanks to our partners across the four stages for supporting the hosting and delivery of this summer's race and enabling us to bring another memorable and action packed four days of world class racing to their communities."

Last year, Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx-Protime took victory after four stages in north Wales and Manchester, with the Belgian world champion winning two stages en-route to the overall win. Her teammate Lorena Wiebes also won a stage, with Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) taking the final day.

The full list of teams and riders is expected over the next month.

The Lloyds Bank Tours of Britain boosted host towns' local economies by more than £30 million last year, data released by YouGov has revealed.

A study carried out after the races took place in 2024 by the research firm showed that the direct economic impact of both events was huge, with the four-stage Tour of Britain Women in June bringing in a value of £10.4 million to local areas, while the Tour of Britain Men boosted local economies by £17.2 million. According to the data the total event impact came to £11.9 million and £21.2 million respectively.

British Cycling took over the management of both events in early 2024 after the collapse of the firm previously behind both events, SweetSpot. The national governing body said in January that they were in a race against time to stage the Tour of Britain Women, due to the fallout of the former organisers liquidation, making the significant financial impact of the race even more notable.

The data analysis project only included spending by attendees from outside the host economies who came to the events. Spending by locals in each of the areas was said to be excluded meaning that the figures may underplay the true impact of both races.

"We are really encouraged to see the huge impact the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women and Men is having across England, Scotland and Wales," Jonathan Day of British Cycling Events said. "The figures from the report demonstrate the huge social and economic impact these events have on communities across the UK.

"Not only do travelling spectators and local residents have the opportunity to experience high quality racing on their doorstep, but the lasting legacy is apparent. It is encouraging that so many more people have been inspired to be active and cycle more often - allowing more people to experience the joy of cycling.

"2024 was a huge success and we are excited to see the impact the 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain has, and many more editions in the future."

The research also shows that a combined £3.5 million was invested by event organisers and suppliers in the local areas across both of the two races.

The women's race was won by Belgium's Lotte Kopecky, with Briton Stevie Williams taking the overall title in the men's equivalent in September. The length of the men's race was previously cut to six stages with the aim of achieving equal parity between both events moving forwards.

British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton believes the talent pool of young, homegrown riders is only set to get bigger in the years ahead, as the likes of Stevie Williams, Joe Blackmore and Oscar Onley shine at the Tour of Britain Men.

Going into the final weekend of the six-day race, the top four riders in the general classification all hail from the UK. Welshman Williams leads the overall standings, followed by Onley, Mark Donovan and rising star Blackmore, the winner of this year’s Tour de l’Avenir. Twenty-two-year-old Louis Sutton, riding for the Great Britain Cycling Team is in sixth, meaning that GB has five riders in the top 10 alone. 

"I think we started off with the biggest, youngest, contingent of British riders ever," Dutton told Cycling Weekly on Friday afternoon. "The names that come through, we can start with Joe Blackmore winning the Tour de l'Avenir. One of my highlights was being in Redcar and seeing Joe outsprint Remco Evenepoel for fourth place. It was fourth place, but it was just just such a statement of intent. 

"Then we've got Mark Donovan and then Stevie Williams himself has had just such a brilliant season. And then if you look at the GB team that we've put out, led by Matt Holmes, but just full of young British riders. The future is bright.

"I know we've seen this displacement of talent going onto the continent, but that makes it even more important that we celebrate the Tour of Britain, and we celebrate the British talent when they do come home."

British Cycling faced a race against the odds to stage both of the newly revamped national Tours this year. The Tour of Britain Women took place over four days in June, and was won by the world champion Lotte Kopecky, ahead of GB's Anna Henderson.

Earlier this year, the men’s race was shortened to six stages in order to achieve future parity with both events, the women's event set to expand to the same amount. 

Dutton said the sight of huge numbers of spectators on the roadside, as well as the ability to attract high-profile Olympic-medal-winning stars, showed there was an appetite for the race as British Cycling get set to develop the event in the years ahead. 

"It was quite astonishing really what we had to go through to put this race on," Dutton explained. "But we believed in it, we've always believed in it, the heritage, history, and also what it's capable of being in the future."

"To get to the start line in Kelso on Tuesday and see such a great line-up, to have Remco Evenepoel joined by Tom Pidcock, and then this plethora of young British talent. To then have navigated through just putting the race route together – we're covering a lot of geography between Kelso and Felixstowe – and then we've just seen the race come alive with the crowds. 

"There was a school in South Yorkshire with a crowd of 2,000 students standing by the side of the road, it was just brilliant. 

"We're really now set for a great weekend. We really believe in the race, we've shown a great sense of determination, but we couldn't have done it without the rest of the cycling ecosystem, it's been great for everyone to pull together."

You would not have guessed it from the mood around SD Worx-Protime at the end of the final stage of the Tour of Britain Women, but the Dutch team dominated the race last week. Dominated it to such an extent that after winning the first three stages of the four stage race, they felt able to try and engineer stage four for one of the team’s hardest workers, Christine Majerus.

This hubris proved their undoing, however, with the clean sweep foiled by a late surge from Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) taking the win from Majerus. That explained the mood at the end of the race. Lotte Kopecky could have, and probably should have, won the final stage for herself after a day of impressive defensive riding from the world champion, but explained later that she was trying to set up Majerus.

The end of the final stage, therefore, looked very odd. Coming into the final corner, Kopecky was attempting to lead Majerus out, but went too fast too soon, and was out in front - alone. She then looked over her shoulder, sitting up for the Luxembourgish rider, before Majerus launched her sprint, only to celebrate early, and be pipped by Roseman-Gannon. 

You already know my thoughts on celebrating early - just do it after the finish line - although I appreciate this would mean missing out on the all important dream photo. A first WorldTour win for Majerus in five years would have been a big deal.

“It’s ok, you can laugh,” she posted on Instagram later. “My mistake for being happy too early and congrats to Ruby for believing in it until the line. Thanks teamies for giving me my chance today, you know I am sorry for messing it up.”

What it did prove, more than anything else, is that it is really hard to engineer a win. It’s difficult, even if you’re the best rider in the world, as Lotte Kopecky is. She could have ridden away to another victory, but in trying to sort it out for her teammate, it ended in mild embarrassment.

It’s too clever by half. In order to win a bike race, you put your best pieces in the places where they excel, and then let them do their thing. Lorena Wiebes was there, the fastest sprinter in the world, and couldn’t launch because of Majerus. Kopecky, as already discussed, could have won herself. Instead, the plan came before the race situation, and in the end it fizzled out.

Of course, these are all decisions made at high-speed, in a matter of seconds, but you have to back yourself to take a win when the opportunity is there, surely. There are opportunities when races can be decided or gifted - like Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem last year - but for the most part, especially in a sprint situation, bike racing is really hard to manufacture.

We should probably be pleased by this, as the sport remains live and exciting right to the end; it is hard to fix or sort; it’s why proper racing feels so different to the kermesses where the winner has been decided beforehand. SD Worx-Protime might have looked a bit silly in their hubris, but it was a good reminder of why bike racing is so good, and it was a huge win for Roseman-Gannon.

Ruby Roseman-Gannon won stage four of the Tour of Britain Women in confusing circumstances, as she out-sprinted three SD Worx-Protime riders to victory.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) came fourth on the stage to win overall, but had victory at the race within her grasp, before sitting up, seemingly to gift a win to her teammate Christine Majerus, but it was not to be. The fastest sprinter in the peloton, Lorena Wiebes, came third.

In seriously inclement weather, Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) animated the day, with a long-range attack, but it ultimately came down to a reduced sprint in Leigh.

Anna Henderson (Great Britain) came second overall, with Majerus moving up to third on GC thanks to bonus seconds claimed on the final stage.

The seemingly strange decision for Kopecky to sit up with a final stage win in her grasp was due to the team working for Majerus, according to the overall winner.

"We made the choice to go today for Christine Majerus in the sprint," Kopecky said. "We did it perfectly until the gap in the last corner, which was a bit too big for me. I wasn't going to take the win, I saw Christine coming, but we made this deal and she was going to win it. Maybe a stupid mistake, I don't know, but I would always have done the same.

"It was pretty cold," she said of the final day. "Luckily, it only rained on the last day so it's ok, we had three good ones. It was hectic, some nice steep climbs. Lizzie Deignan was very strong, but so was SD Worx-Protime. In the end, we were alway in control and yeah, in the end, it was sad that it ended like this, but it also could have been a very nice day for Christine Majerus."

For Roseman-Gannon, the victory in bizarre circumstances was her first WorldTour win, and was unexpected. Her team leader at the start of the day, Letizia Paternoster, punctured with just over 4km to go, leaving her free to exploit the finish.

"I just can't believe it," she said. "Today the plan was to go for Letizia (Paternoster), to race aggressively and try and take some seconds back and try and go for GC. We had a really good team ride, with Teniel absolutely smashing that first climb, I was actually struggling. It was full commitment into the next climb where the selection was made. 

"We really wanted to get Letizia up there, but it ended up being a full bunch sprint, and she got a puncture. It didn't go to plan, I asked whether I should go back, but I got told to focus on the finish instead. I still can't believe I won that, it's crazy, it's my first European win."

"I think I really just didn't expect it," Paternoster continued. "Some races you come in as a leader and you know what you can do, and other races it all just works out. I was pretty nervous about the rain, I was nervous about crashing. I wasn't in the mindset of trying to win."

How it happened

A short 99km stage meant that many riders were warming up pre-race, knowing that the action would be on from the start. Add in some seriously inclement weather, and despite being short, every metre of road would prove difficult.

Given it was the last stage of the race, there was a serious battle to form an early break. Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis–200° Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting), the most combative rider on stage three, was an early attacker, but her lead did not last. Krista Doebel-Hickok (Human Powered Health) gained an 18-second lead into the bottom of the first climb of the day, Grains Bar, a category one climb, but was caught. 

First over the top was Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain),  securing her lead in the queen of the mountain’s jersey. The Briton pushed on over the top, building an advantage of over a minute at one point.

Behind, Liv AlUla Jayco and SD Worx Protime pulled, the latter defending Lotte Kopecky’s lead in the general classification. 

Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) attacked out of the peloton, seemingly to act as a launchpad for her teammate Pfeiffer Georgi. However, she did not last long, soon caught by the peloton.

Into the second category one climb of the day, the Ramsbottom Rake, Deignan still pushed on, as dsm-firmenich PostNL continued their control at the front of the bunch. The sole leader took the maximum points at the top of the climb again, with her GB teammate Anna Henderson taking second on the climb.

A select group including Kopecky, Georgi, Henderson and Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) briefly went clear, but their numbers soon swelled, as Kopecky was joined by teammates Lorena Wiebes and Christine Majerus.

With just over 50km to go, the peloton had become chasing groups, with the race split over the road thanks to the Ramsbottom Rake. Deignan remained out front. 

Just as the race passed 40km to go, Deignan was caught, and Majerus immediately moved to the front to try and put the pressure on. Henderson was next to attack, but she was tracked by Kopecky. 

Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) attempted to jump clear, but was reeled in. Further behind, St Michel-Mavic-Auber93 were pulling, trying to defend Victoire Guilman’s eighth place overall.

They achieved this with 31km to go, as the front group swelled to around 25, with the full complement of GB riders in there. 

The intermediate sprint was a close battle between Majerus and Paternoster, with the former coming out on top.

With 22km to go, it was Deignan who attempted to move off the front once again, followed by Majerus, but this came to nothing.

Henderson was the next to attack, with the GB team knowing that they would need to do something in order to change how the day would finish. She was caught, and then Georgi tried to force a split, followed by Kopecky and Paternoster. The top four overall rose to the top on an uncategorised climb. The quartet established a lead of around 18 seconds with 19km to go, but it was unclear what they would work together for, given they were the top four already.

Behind, Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels), fifth overall, attempted to lead the chase, knowing her GC position was in doubt.

Wiebes attacked from the chasing group, with Paternoster going off the front of the race with the knowledge that their numbers might soon grow. This was shut down, but Georgi was next to attack, with 15km to go, again unable to gap her fellow leaders.

With just under 10km to go, the front group came back together, with the front four caught.

Franziska Koch (dsm-firmenich PostNL) launched from this group, dragging Elena Cecchini (SD Worx-Protime) and Flora Perkins (Great Britain) with her, with Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) shortly following. They were caught with around 4km to go.

Paternoster, third overall, suffered a rear wheel puncture at the worst possible moment, as the race was on at the front. 

Results

Tour of Britain Women 2024 stage four: Manchester > Leigh (99km)

1. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) Liv ALUla Jayco, in 2:37:51
2. Christine Majerus (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
4. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime
5. Eline Jansen (Ned) Volker Wessels
6. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL
7. Flora Perkins (GBr) Great Britain
8. Elinor Barker (GBr) Great Britain
9. Josie Talbot (Aus) Cofidis
10 Anna Henderson (GBr) Great Britain

General Classification after stage four

1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 10:25:49
2. Anna Henderson (GBr) Great Britain, +17s
3. Christine Majerus (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +34s
4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +38s
5. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv ALUla Jayco, +40s
6. Eline Jansen (Ned) Volker Wessels, +43s
7. Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Great Britain Cycling team, +46s
8. Victorie Guilman (Fra) St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93, at same time
9. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) Liv ALUla Jayco, +2:50
10. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +4:14

Lorena Wiebes powered to victory on stage three of the Tour of Britain Women, outsprinting Charlotte Kool in Warrington.

The SD-Worx Protime rider was the comfortable winner, with the time to sit up and celebrate as she pipped her dsm-firmenich PostNL rival to the line.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) finished in the peloton behind, ensuring she continues in the race lead. The world champion gave the final turn in Wiebes leadout to ensure that she had the perfect place to sprint from. Georgia Baker (Liv AlUla Jayco) finished in third. 

One more stage, a lumpy day to Leigh, awaits. 

"The team did a really good job today," Wiebes said post-stage. "Elena [Cecchini] and Chantal [van den Broek-Blaak] were chasing all day. The pressure was on from the team car, so we had to finish it off today. In the leadout, it was a really great job, it was a fast one. I'm happy to win. 

"We were in the middle in the run-in, and we had to fight for our position. Christine [Majerus] took the last corner first, as we planned. Then Barbara [Guarischi] took over, then Lotte, and it was only 200m to go. I started my sprint then.

"It's really a team effort, and that makes this sport really nice. It's good to finish it off when the team work hard for it. We like to work for each other, we went for Lotte on GC here, and then worked for me too.

Wiebes has now won four stages in England this year, after she won every stage and the overall at RideLondon last month; she clearly likes the roads.

"In '22 it was also quite successful," she said. "It's nice racing here. The roads are a bit different, I don't know why, but it feels different here. A lot of bumps in the road. I like it here, and it goes good."

How it happened

There was always going to be a fierce battle to get into the breakaway on stage three, with many of the Continental teams seeing it as their last opportunity to make an impact on the race.

As a result, attacks came from the gun. In the fast start, Alice McWilliam (Hess) suffered an unfortunate crash, which forced her out of the race.

With 103km to go, Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis–200° Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting) attacked, joined by Madelaine Leech (Lifeplus Wahoo). This pair would form the day's  decisive move. 

Among those attempting to also make the break were Caoimhe O'Brien (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK), and Amelia Tyler (Alba Development Road Team), but the duo's attempt fixxled out with 96km to go.

The next to chase the two leaders was Lucy Lee (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK), as Tindley and Leech's advantage stretched to well beyond a minute. With 86km to go, Tindley and Leech had two minutes, with Lee a further 41 seconds behind this.

SD Worx-Protime and dsm-firmenich PostNL maintained the small gap, keeping the break in check, ensuring that it would be a sprint finish in Warrington. However, at times, the advantage did grow to almost four minutes.

Leech won the third-category sprint for points atop Pexhill, before Caitlin Dimbleby (Alba Development Road Team) forged off the front of the peloton, in an attempt to catch Lee, then the duo out front.

The Lifeplus Wahoo rider in the break, Leech, then suffered a mechanical after her front mech was broken riding over a pothole. A bike change ensured that she was unable to continue at the front of the race. 

With 41km to go, Tindley still had two minutes on the peloton, with the trio remaining in between her and the peloton.

Leech, Dimbleby and Lee were caught with 29km to go, while Tindley was still out front. She was not caught until 12km to go. Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels) attempted to attack, but was not allowed any room by the SD Worx-led peloton.

Into the final 5km, and it looked well-set for a leadout for Lorena Wiebes by SD Worx, and so it proved, with Christine Majerus leading into the final corner, setting up things perfectly for the Dutchwoman. 

Wiebes opened up her sprint with 200m to go, and eased off the front, out-powering Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNl) and Georgia Baker (Liv AlUla Jayco).

Results

Tour of Britain Women 2024 stage three: Warrington > Warrington (106.8km)

1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 2:44:42
2. Charlotte Kool (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL
3. Georgia Baker (Aus) Liv AlUla Jayco
4. Rachele Barbieri (Ita) dsm-firmenich PostNL
5. Flora Perkins (GBr) Great Britain
6. Marjolein van 't Geloof (Ned) Hess
7. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime
8. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv ALUla Jayco
9. Roxane Fournier (Fra) St Michel-Mavic-Auber93
10. Alicia González (Esp) Lifeplus Wahoo, all at same time

General Classification after stage three

1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 10:25:49
2. Anna Henderson (GBr) Great Britain, +17s
3. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv ALUla Jayco, +34s
4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +38s
5. Eline Jansen (Ned) Volker Wessels, +43s
6. Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Great Britain Cycling team, +43s
7. Christine Majerus (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
8. Victorie Guilman (Fra) St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93, all at same time
9. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) Liv ALUla Jayco, +3:00
10. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx, +4:19

Lifeplus-Wahoo woke on Friday morning to find all 14 of its bikes had been stolen from its hotel at the Tour of Britain Women.

The British Continental team are now using borrowed bikes to ride at the four-stage race, which continues on Friday with a stage starting and finishing in Wrexham.

Posting on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday morning, the team wrote: "We woke this morning to find all 14 of our Ribble Endurance SLR bikes stolen from our mechanic's van. 

"We are hoping to find a solution to enable us to start in Wrexham today. Stolen from Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Whitchurch, Shropshire."

The distinctive green Ribble bikes the team use are worth at least £5,000 each brand new, but equipped with Hunt Aerodynamicist wheels, are likely worth a lot more.

The Tour of Britain Women's organisers, British Cycling, are understood to be working with Lifeplus-Wahoo on a solution for the following stages.

Jon Dutton, the CEO of British Cycling, wrote on Twitter: "Really sorry to hear this. Our team will do everything we can to help you this morning."

Teams including Liv AlUla Jayco, Cofidis, and Human Powered Health are understood to have lent bikes to Lifeplus-Wahoo.

Lifeplus tweeted: "All of our thanks and appreciation goes out to the many teams that offered and gave their spare team bikes and their mechanics time to get our girls on the road. We wouldn’t be starting without them!"

Speaking at sign-on, Heidi Franz said: "Despite the really unfortunate circumstances, it’ll hopefully give us that extra bit of fight and motivation. A huge thanks to the teams that pulled together to help us out."

West Mercia police confirmed that an investigation has been launched. 

"We would encourage anyone who may have been in the area last night, and may have seen anything suspicious, to contact Shropshire’s Serious Acquisitive Crime Team by emailing dl-fshrewsburyproactiveunit@westmercia.police.uk," a spokesperson said.

As things stand, the squad's highest-placed rider is Babette van der Wolf, who is in 22nd, 4:02 behind Lotte Kopecky, the race leader, who won stage one in Llandudno.

On Friday afternoon, Ribble said on X that the brand had arranged for a set of bikes to be sent to the team so that they could continue the race as normal from Saturday.

It has already been an unfortunate week for the team, with Kate Richardson forced to skip the Tour of Britain after being knocked off her bike by a hit-and-run driver.

"Initially, he just drove on but turned around and came back later to verbally abuse and threaten me before getting back in his car and driving off again," she said, "Thankfully another driver came across the scene pretty quickly and kindly helped me up and drove me home."

Teams having bikes stolen at races is nothing new. In 2022, Trek-Segafredo, as they were then, had two bikes stolen during the Women's Tour, the Tour of Britain Women's precursor.

In 2022, the leading women's team, SD Worx, announced that a number of its bikes had been stolen in a "brutal burglary". In 2021, Team BikeExchange had 12 of its bikes stolen during the Tour de l'Ardeche.

Lotte Kopecky outsprinted Letizia Paternoster (Liv ALUla Jayco) to win stage one of the Tour of Britain Women in Llandudno in North Wales. 

Paternoster punched the air in celebration, believing she had taken the victory on the seafront ahead of the reigning World Champion, but a photo finish later declared Kopecky the winner. 

A nine rider strong breakaway - including Lizzie Deignan and Anna Henderson of the Great Britain Cycling team - formed at the top of the day’s final climb, Ty’n y Llidiart, and soon built up an advantage of more than two minutes which meant they would contest the finish. 

Henderson led the break into the final kilometre, but Kopecky opened the sprint for the line after Henderson had peeled off. Paternoster was straight onto the World Champion’s back wheel and lunged for the line alongside Kopecky. The Belgian ended up winning by a matter of millimetres ahead of Paternoster. 

The current British national champion, Pfeiffer Georgi, took third place behind them. Deignan came in fourth. 

Speaking after eventually being declared the winner, Kopecky said that she felt it was impossible to call between her and Paternoster at first. 

"I made a couple of mistakes in the sprint myself," Kopecky said. "But then when it came to the line it was like ok I can only do one more thing and just make the best jump I can. Once we crossed the finish line, Letizia raised her hands but I was thinking ‘I'm not sure I won, but then I’m also not sure you won.'" 

"We had a really good group in the front," Kopecky added. "I was also happy to have [Christine] Majerus with me in the first group. But you know in the last five kilometres when you go to the finish, for sure when there’s two riders from another team they start playing games but yeah, it was a nice final for me I think."

"It was a nice stage actually, pretty hilly but never flat, also with a lot of headwind. So it made it pretty slow at times because of the wind, but in the end I’m happy we could get in the break on the last climb, it was a nice race."  

Deignan later said that the headwinds had impacted the race late on. 

"I was happy with my form today," she said. "It was a strange race, almost nothing and everything. We would have liked moments of attack in the final finish, but with the headwinds stretch and the launchpads, we just had to do what we could. 

"I think moving forward it will be a really open race, so hopefully a big breakaway could go, and we can use some of our other ideas and take other opportunities."

How it happened

The opening stage of the inaugural edition of the race was a largely hilly affair, but with a flat run into the finish in the coastal town of Llandudno. 

A handful of small breakaway groups briefly had their moment in the spotlight at the head of the action, but as the race reached crunch time it all came back together. 

With 36 kilometres to go, the race really started to open up on the final categorised climb of the day, Ty’n y Llidart. A group of nine riders, containing the likes of Lizzie Deignan and Anna Henderson (Great Britain Cycling team), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm firmenich Post NL) and Letizia Paternoster (Liv ALUla Jayco), broke clear as they fought for the Queen of the Mountains points on offer. 

The nine riders rapidly built up a two minute time gap as the pace ramped up on the descent back down towards the flatter terrain. Cofidis, who had been very active in the first half of the day’s racing, attempted to form some cohesion in the chasing peloton, but it would be to no avail due to the strength of the nine rider group that had formed. 

Paternoster swept up the points on offer at the intermediate sprint at Dolgarrog. 

With three kilometres to go the likes of Kopecky began to tighten her shoes as the group started to prepare for a sprint finish to the line alongside the seafront. Henderson launched a move solo looking to disrupt any attempt from SD Worx to control the finish. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv ALUla Jayco) pulled Henderson back, but it had evidently unsettled the nine riders as the tension began to rise. 

As the riders tore under the kilometre to go marker, Majerus started to lead out Kopecky but the two Jayco riders were straight onto the move. Kopecky launched her sprint with Paternoster locked into her wheel and the duo appeared to cross the line together. 

Paternoster punched the air thinking she had won, but Kopecky would later be declared the winner after a photo finish showed that the Belgian had edged the sprint by a handful of millimetres. 

Results

Tour of Britain Women 2024, stage one: Welshpool > Llandudno (142km)

1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 04:04:18
2. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv ALUla Jayco,
3. Pfeiffer Gerogi (Gbr) dsm-firmenich PostNL,
4. Lizzie Deignan (Gbr) great Britain Cycling team,
5. Eline Jansen (Ned) Volker Wessels,
6. Anna Henderson (Gbr) Great Britain Cycling team,
7. Victorie Guilman (Fra) St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93,
8. Christine Majerus (Ned) SD Worx-Protime,
9. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) Liv ALUla Jayco, all at same time
10. Lucy Lee (Gbr) DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK +3:49

General classification after stage one 

1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 04:04:06
2. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv ALUla Jayco, +3s
3. Pfeiffer Gerogi (Gbr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +7s
4. Lizzie Deignan (Gbr) great Britain Cycling team, +12s
5. Eline Jansen (Ned) Volker Wessels,
6. Anna Henderson (Gbr) Great Britain Cycling team,
7. Victorie Guilman (Fra) St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93,
8. Christine Majerus (Ned) SD Worx-Protime,
9. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) Liv ALUla Jayco, all at same time
10. Lucy Lee (Gbr) DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK +4:01

Concerns about border delays and the last-minute event organisation are among the reasons a number of women's WorldTour teams have opted to forgo next month's Tour of Britain Women. 

On Wednesday, it was announced that only four top-tier teams will take part in the stage race, which begins on 6 June. As a WorldTour event, all 15 WorldTour teams would have received an invite. 

The participating WorldTour teams are SD Worx-Protime, dsm-firmenich PostNL, Liv AlUla Jayco and Human Powered Health. They will be joined by a mix of lower-tier Continental teams, including all six of the British squads at this level. 

In statements issued to Cycling Weekly, WorldTour outfits Movistar and Roland cited Brexit in their rationale for not taking part. 

"Logistics issues inherent to the outside-European Union nature of both races [RideLondon Classique and Tour of Britain Women], and the already packed Women's WorldTour calendar make it not feasible for the team to attend," a Movistar spokesperson said. 

Ruben Contreras, manager of Roland, said Brexit makes racing in the UK "very, very complicated". 

"Even if we have the vans, the ATA carnet, all the equipment, all the documents, it's still very complicated," he said. "We got stuck at the customs border last year."

One team told of an incident in which their mechanics truck got "stranded" at the border for two days ahead of a UK race. The team, which asked to keep its identity anonymous, insisted it had all the appropriate paperwork, but was only allowed to enter the country less than 24 hours before the race began.

When the race was last held in 2022, then called the Women's Tour, 13 WorldTour teams were present. 

Cycling Weekly understands that British Cycling, the event's new organiser, experienced difficulty in convincing WorldTour teams to commit to the race this year amid uncertainty of whether it would happen or not. 

The event was removed from the UCI's online calendar in January, after its previous organiser, SweetSpot, entered liquidation. British Cycling then took over in February, with CEO Jon Dutton saying it would be a "race against the clock" to plan the event for June.  

In a statement, French Women's WorldTour team FDJ-Suez said: "Our yearly race schedule was elaborated at the end of last season with the given information we had back then, and when some uncertainties unfortunately still existed about the Tour of Britain.

"Therefore, the team's management took the decision to race other competitions within that period of time – May/June. The team has been racing the [previously named] Women's Tour since 2015 and will keep doing so in the future."

Likewise, a spokesperson for Canyon-SRAM said the team had "already made arrangements and payments for training camps" during the time of the Tour of Britain Women, "before the race was announced as returning to the calendar". 

The four-stage Tour of Britain Women begins in Welshpool on 6 June and finishes in Leigh, Greater Manchester on 9 June. 

"We are very excited to see such a strong line-up of teams," said race director Rod Ellingworth in a press release. "In addition to the Women's WorldTour teams, we are thrilled to welcome an exciting mix of UCI Women's Continental sides. Spectators can look forward to an exhilarating race, and we can't wait to see them in action next month."

Four Women’s WorldTour teams will be on the start line for the first edition of the British Cycling-run Tour of Britain Women in June. 

The team of the reigning female road World Champion, Lotte Kopecky, are one of the four due to take part in the four day stage race. Pfeiffer Georgi’s dsm-firmenich PostNL are also down to compete, as are Liv ALUla Jayco and Human Powered Health. 

The latter three are well established at the top level of women’s cycling while Human Powered Health are in their second season on the Women’s WorldTour. 

All six British Continental teams are on the startlist, including Lifeplus-Wahoo, Pro-Noctis - 200° Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting, and DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK. Several other Continental teams will be present including Cofidis, AG Insurance - Soudal, VolkerWessels, St Michel - Mavic - Auber93, Torelli and Alba Development. 

AG Insurance - Soudal are due to move to the WorldTour this year but will field a team from their Under 23 development ranks. 

The event will get underway in Welshpool, Wales on 6 June before wrapping up in Leigh, Greater Manchester four days later. It will be the first event to be delivered by British Cycling’s new major events arm who will then run the Tour of Britain Men in September. 

After committing to the organisation of both races, formerly the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton said that the organisation faced a “race against the clock” to get the Tour of Britain Women on in June. 

BC subsequently announced that Rod Ellingworth, formerly of Ineos Grenadiers, would become race director for both events and that the women’s race would need to be shortened this year due to the short time frame the governing body were working to. 

"The bigger opportunity is 2025 onwards, and it is fair to say in terms of our ambition, we already have half an eye on 25 and onwards in terms of what the races might look like," Dutton said in February. 

"I think what we can say, at this point in time, is that we do not think it will be a six stage race for the Tour of Britain Women [this year] but we're doing everything we can to make sure it's a high quality racing experience. So that's not just about the number of stages, it's about the terrain, the geography, topography, start and finish, and also delivering it economically."

In a release from British Cycling, Ellingworth said that the willingness of the likes of SD Worx to race the event showed that it was valued highly amongst the female peloton. 

"We are very excited to see such a strong line-up of teams joining us for the inaugural Tour of Britain Women," he said. "Having the world’s number one team confirmed alongside several others in the global top 10 highlights the significance of this event.

"In addition to the Women’s WorldTour teams, we are thrilled to welcome an exciting mix of UCI Women’s Continental sides. Spectators can look forward to an exhilarating race, and we can’t wait to see them in action next month."

Unexpected costs brought on by Brexit have led a British Continental women's team to crowdfund for money. 

Lincoln-based squad Pro-Noctis - 200º Coffee - Hargreaves Contracting are hoping to raise £10,000 to help with race costs this season. 

The team stepped up to UCI Continental level at the start of this year, with the hope of taking part in more events abroad. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, team manager Rick Lister said the Brexit process has "significantly" increased costs. 

"When we go abroad, we have to have a carnet certificate, which costs us about £800 a year," he explained. "The issue we have then after that is that we have to get it stamped at a place called Sevington, then when we get off the boat the other side and it gets stamped. Then, on the way back into the port in Calais in France, it gets stamped again, then when we get off the boat, we have to then go again to Sevington. 

"At the UK inland border facility we have to go to, [the wait] can be anything from 20 minutes to two hours. If we've got an early morning boat, it's a real risk to go in the morning, because if it's two hours, we could then miss the boat. Every trip we have to stay in the Travelodge at Ashford, which is an expense, so I can go the evening before [to do the paperwork], and it's the same coming back."

Lister estimates that, for the team's 12 planned trips to Europe this season, the cost of hotels will be £5,000. 

"It's a phenomenal amount of money," he said. This comes in addition to a thirtyfold increase in running costs as a newly-minted UCI Continental team this season.  

"The difference between a domestic team and a UCI team is huge," Lister said. "You've gone from £400 roughly, to £12,000 or £13,000,” he continued, citing extra admin fees, insurance, and licences that need to be covered. 

Next month, Pro-Noctis will be among six British Continental teams that will take part in the Tour of Britain Women. Any funds raised from the crowdfunding campaign will go towards supporting the team at the four-stage event, as well as races abroad afterwards. 

"We could always do with more money. The more money we have, the more trips we can do, which means the riders are getting better progression," Listed said. "Every penny helps, and every penny goes to the team to help the team."

Donations can be made to Pro-Noctis - 200º Coffee - Hargreaves Contracting via their JustGiving page.

There will be more British teams than ever at next month's Tour of Britain Women, with all six of the country's Continental squads set to take part. 

Alba Development Road Team, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK, Doltcini-O’Shea, Hess Cycling Team, Lifeplus-Wahoo and Pro-Noctis - 200° Coffee - Hargreaves Contracting have all been invited to start the four-day WorldTour event, the organiser announced on Friday.

The race, born out of the Women's Tour and now organised by British Cycling, will begin in Welshpool on 6 June. 

"It's exciting for everybody," Alba team manager Bob Lyons told Cycling Weekly. "I think if you went back a few years and said, 'In two or three years' time, the Women's Tour of Britain will have six British-based teams.' I don't think anybody would have believed that. 

"It's a big opportunity to ride. I'd say the biggest thing is the experience that comes for the riders. It gives them an opportunity to take that step further, in what will be a much stronger field, to see where they sit."

The rest of the participating teams are yet to be revealed, with an announcement expected next week; however, as a WorldTour event, all of the top-tier teams will have received an invite. 

For Alba and Pro-Noctis, the race will be their first ever at WorldTour level. Rick Lister, Pro-Noctis team manager, said he received the invite to race the Tour of Britain around six weeks ago, in a personal email from British Cycling's CEO, Jon Dutton. 

"We want to do well for the sponsors," said Lister. "I don't think we'll be challenging to win it, but it'd be nice to get some riders on the TV. We'll do our best to try and show our face there and help promote the team." 

This year, the number of British women's teams registered at UCI Continental level doubled, increasing from three to six. Speaking to Cycling Weekly ahead of the season, Lyons and other team managers said it was a sign that the women's racing scene is getting stronger in the UK. 

The latest Tour of Britain teams announcement, Lyons said, "just emphasises again the great place women's cycling is in". 

"You just have to look back at the women's National Series this season so far," the Alba boss added. "It's been fantastic racing. Very high quality, very fast, very hard, and a step up. Lincoln GP at the weekend was the fastest women's Lincoln GP ever by a mile."

The four-stage Tour of Britain Women begins in Welshpool on 6 June and finishes in Leigh on 9 June. There were doubts as to whether the race would go ahead this year, following the liquidation of its former organiser, SweetSpot, but it has since been guaranteed by British Cycling. 

Lizzie Deignan says that a broken arm in April shouldn't derail her goals, ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer. 

The British rider sustained the first fracture of her career in a crash at the Tour of Flanders, which then saw her ruled out of Paris-Roubaix and all of the Ardennes Classics, races that she was hoping to peak for. 

Nevertheless, Deignan is optimistic that her injury shouldn’t disrupt her big target of selection for the Paris games this summer. 

Deignan told Cycling Weekly and a small group of other reporters that her injury had inevitably come at a bad time, but she was confident she would still be able to force her way into contention. 

"I think the main concern for me is that this has happened during Olympic selection time," she said. "So I’ve missed a good chunk of races that I was peaking for in terms of getting myself selected for the Olympic games. 

"But there’s plenty of time to be ready and prepared to race there, although I think selection is harder than it's ever been before, so that's obviously bad timing for me. 

"I think I just have to make the most of the recovery that I can," she added. "So I can make sure with the extra time at home that I’m on top of other things… I’m just trying to be as focused and as professional as I can be."

Deignan was speaking on the day British Cycling released the route for the Tour of Britain Women. The 35-year-old is set to lead the GB team at the race and said that once she is fully recovered, she will be targeting an overall win. 

"It's a race that will offer lots of opportunities," she said. "I’m excited particularly about the harder days around Manchester, the hillier stuff in the Peaks, I think that will suit me. I’m excited to be able to race it with the GB team as well. It’s not often that I get to race as a British person on a British team, often I’m with Lidl-Trek. 

"Every opportunity you get to race together as a British squad is important I think, particularly in an Olympic year and in preparation for the World Championships. It’s nice to be able to be in that setup," said the 2015 World Champion.

"I think it’s important to go into an Olympic games having won a big race," Deignan affirmed. "The Women’s Tour has always suited me, racing in Britain has always suited me, and I think the terrain wherever you are in the country, it's kind of relentless and often I feel like it means I have opportunities to come away with a win," said the Yorkshirewoman. 

"Looking towards the Women’s Tour, I’d want to perform there and come away with a win to build some confidence going into the Olympic games," she added.

In terms of healing from her current injury, she added "I'm waiting to see an orthopaedic surgeon so I shall know soon about how I am but it's better than expected I think. l will definitely be fit and ready by the time the Tour of Britain Women comes around anyway."

Deignan said that she was drawing on her experience of getting back fit after having two children to help get her back to where she needs to be. 

"Luckily my husband has broken several bones so he’s been able to guide me through it," she said. "It’s about being patient. I am struggling a little bit to know what is a good level of pain, because I’ve been told that sometimes you have to push through certain levels of pain particularly with the injury that I have. 

"In order to get full mobility back, I need to push myself to straighten my arm more than I might want to and things like that. So I’m figuring out my limits, but it's not something that I can recall with experience. Other riders have just told me to be mindful and to not rush it, so I’m just trying to follow that too."

The first edition of the Tour of Britain Women will start in mid-Wales before concluding in Manchester, British Cycling confirmed on Monday.

As first reported by Cycling Weekly, the opening stage will take place between Welshpool and Llandudno before moving on to Wrexham for the start and finish of stage two.

Warrington will play host to the race on day three for a flatter stage before the event moves onto Greater Manchester for its conclusion. Stage four will see the race get underway outside British Cycling’s headquarters at the National Cycling Centre before the event wraps up in Leigh where the race winner will be crowned. 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on Monday at the National Cycling Centre, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton said the route announcement was a moment for celebration after the national federation had overcome various obstacles to make the Tour of Britain Women a reality. 

"It’s a really positive day and is exciting for us," Dutton said. "When we got together, I think it was ten weeks ago now, we said that this was on a knife edge and we were in a race against the clock."

"I just want to put on record my thanks to our team who have worked extraordinarily hard to overcome those challenges and to get us where we are today," he added.

Dutton said that the course assembled by the events team would make for enthralling and "unpredictable" racing.

"Within the confines of four days and the time that we’ve had, I think we’ve got a bit of everything," he said. "I think the start and the end of the race, day one and day four, will be really challenging. 

"That will make for great racing which is exactly what we wanted within the scope of time, resources and everything else. We also wanted to make it as compact a race as possible in 2024 and I think we've delivered against that."

Search for sponsorship continues

Part of that growth period around the two events has involved bringing in Rod Ellingworth, former Ineos Grenadiers deputy team principal, as race director for both races.

"It's been enormous for us and just a real privilege to work with someone with that much experience but also someone who's really humble," Dutton said regarding the appointment of Ellingworth. "Rod really bought into our vision and he came in one day and said 'we must talk about 2025 and 2026' and that's his attitude."

Despite the route now being confirmed, the race still lacks commercial partners or sponsorship. Dutton admitted that year one may see the races "run at a deficit" due to both events being "expensive" races to deliver, but said he was enthusiastic about ongoing conversations regarding new backing.

"It's still a work in progress but we’re still in quite a positive place," he said. "If you go back through the commercial journey for us, we came out of the market last year. 

"We re-entered with a great deal of confidence in January and that was based on a new storyboard, a new narrative with a five year event vision and new social impact programme. 

"We worked really hard at the back end of last year to curate all of those and they've prompted some really interesting conversations."

Cycling Weekly recently revealed that British Cycling had decided to scale back the men’s race in September with the aim of both the men's and women's races being of equal length - six stages - in the future.

Dutton concluded with confirmation that the national federation would soon be in a position to share details of the men’s race.

The men’s Tour of Britain will be cut to six stages in 2024 in order to lay the foundations for full parity with its women’s equivalent in the years ahead, Cycling Weekly has learned.

It follows on from the national governing body announcing it will organise both races in house under its new major events arm. 

In a statement shared with Cycling Weekly on Wednesday, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton confirmed the details of the plan and explained that talks were scheduled with the UCI in order to gain permission to scale back the ProTour event. 

"We’ve taken the decision to run the 2024 edition of the Tour of Britain Men over six days rather than the current eight, and we intend to seek permission from the UCI to extend the Tour of Britain Women to six days from 2025," he said. 

"This would bring full parity to the events after our decision to align the event names this year – something which is fundamental to our vision for major cycling events in Britain."

Cycling Weekly understands that full parity includes the overall length of the race as well as future prize money at this stage. 

British Cycling has contacted various men’s teams to gather opinion on the potential reduction of race days. Dutton explained that there was support for the decision for a variety of reasons. 

"From discussions with a number of men’s teams over recent weeks there is strong support for the decision, and a feeling that the reduction in the number of stages will provide more compelling and animated racing for riders at the roadside to enjoy," he explained. 

Cycling Weekly revealed last month that the shortened Tour of Britain Women is set to start in Wales in June. 

Dutton said that full route details regarding the women's race would be made public within the next fortnight. 

He said: "Our host towns and cities for the Tour of Britain Women will be announced within the next two weeks, and we are also now very close to finalising our hosts for the Tour of Britain Men. 

"Our team has worked around the clock to safeguard the future of the races in an incredibly short timeframe, and we’re also hugely thankful for the commitment of those who have stepped forward to support us this year and those that have pledged their support for 2025 and beyond.

"While 2024 was always going to be about protecting the immediate future of the races, we remain hugely excited by the opportunities to modernise and grow the events in the years ahead." 

British Cycling took over the organisation of both events after the collapse of the former promoter, SweetSpot. After being beset by financial difficulty, the firm entered liquidation in January.