The international women’s peloton is speeding its way across part of the UK in October for the sixth edition of the Women’s Tour which includes an individual time trial for the very first time in the race’s history.
The Women’s Tour of 2021 takes place from October 4 to 9 – and will be comprised of six stages. Since 2018, the prize fund has been equal to that of the men’s Tour of Britain, increasing from €35,000 (£31,000) to €90,000 (£80,000).
The race was awarded UCI Women’s WorldTour status in 2016, meaning that it is part of the top-level series of international races. All of the top women’s teams will therefore take part.
The last edition of the race in 2019 was won by Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), who took the win as she came back from a career break to have a baby.
The race attracts all of the biggest names in women’s cycling and is the biggest race in Britain in terms of status.
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Women’s Tour 2021 route
The route for the 2021 Women’s Tour has yet to be fully announced but we know that it will be starting on October 4 in Bicester and take in the route planned for 2020 before it was cancelled.
Stage two takes in a loop around the town of Walsall before stage three and the first ever time trial at the race, taking place around Atherstone in Warwickshire.
The fourth stage has yet to be announced bu the penultimate day of stage five has and its a trip to the Essex seaside with a stage from Colchester to Clacton.
Finally, the last stage is between Haverhill and Felixstowe with the Suffolk roads bringing the race to a close.
The full route will be released in the spring later this year and we will update this page when it is.
| Stage one, Monday October 4 | Bicester to Banbury | TBC |
| Stage two, Tuesday October 5 | Walsall to Walsall | |
| Stage three, Wednesday October 6 | Atherstone to Atherstone | ITT |
| Stage four, Thursday October 7 | TBC | |
| Stage five, Friday October 8 | Colchester to Clacton | |
| Stage six, Saturday October 9 | Haverhill to Felixstowe | TBC |
Women’s Tour 2021 live TV
ITV4 is likely to be the place to watch live images as well as highlights in the UK with GCN Race Pass and Eurosport potentially having pictures too.
Women’s Tour 2021 start list
Women’s Tour 2021 jerseys
There will be five classifications available to compete for in 2021.
The star prize at the Women’s Tour is the Green jersey, awarded to the leader of the General Classification. In 2019, this went to Lizzie Deignan.
Other honours include the Points jersey, with points going to the top 15 – this also went to Deignan in 2019. The Sprints jersey celebrates the leader of the intermediate sprints, which was also awarded to Rivera in the last edition.
The Queen of the Mountains jersey is awarded to the rider who takes the most points on designated climbs and the Best British rider gets a jersey to show their status. The best team is the final main award to fight for.
Women’s Tour: previous winners
2020: No race due to Covid-19 pandemic
2019: Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
2018: Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb
2017: Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) WM3 Pro Cycling
2016: Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Boels-Dolmans
2015: Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Velocio-SRAM
2014: Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv Women Cycling Team
