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.
