The Tour of Britain Women is a women's cycle stage race held in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, as part of the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. , the tour includes 27 events in Europe, Asia and Oceania – with one-day races such as Strade Bianche Donne and Paris–Roubaix Femmes, stage races such as Wo ...

. The race was organised between 2014 and 2023 by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

, and was known as The Women's Tour.

History

The origins of the race trace back to 2010 when SweetSpot, the organisers of the men's

organised their first women's cycling race, the Horizon Fitness Grand Prix in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

. What began as a supporting event for the men's

Tour Series The Tour Series is an annual series of cycling criterium races held in the United Kingdom since 2009. It is televised by ITV4 in the UK. The competition emphasises team effort with individual wins deemed less important. The races are held over ...

– Britain's leading televised cycle race series – grew into a key part of the women's racing scene in Britain, thanks to television coverage on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...

in the UK and around the world. In 2018, Britain's leading women's teams took part in the whole series for the first time. At the launch of the 2013 Tour of Britain, SweetSpot MD Chairman Hugh Roberts and director Guy Elliott announced the company's intentions to create a standalone stage race for the world's top female cyclists in Britain – the first event of its kind. As a prelude to the inaugural race in 2014, a women's one-day race was held on the final day of the 2013 Tour of Britain in London, won by

Hannah Barnes Hannah Mary Barnes (born 4 May 1993) is a British racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She is the sister of fellow racing cyclist Alice Barnes, who rides for . Career Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Barnes grew up in Bladon, ...

The Women's Tour

In October 2013, it was announced that the Women's Tour had been granted a place on the UCI calendar for May 2014, being granted what was the highest possible ranking for a stage race (2.1) at the time. This put it instantly on a par with the world's top races for women. The first edition was a widely acclaimed success, attracting the world's top riders and teams and widespread media coverage for women's cycling in the UK. While the first edition of the race took place in May, the second edition in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

moved to a mid-June position, a slot it has held on the UCI calendar ever since – with the exception of the 2021 edition, where it was delayed to October due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, the race became a part of the inaugural

, the leading series of races for professional women cyclists. In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, the finished in London for the first time in race history, with Belgian rider

Jolien D'Hoore Jolien D'hoore (born 14 March 1990) is a Belgian former track and road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2021 for the , , , and teams. D'hoore is a 29-time national track champion as well as a four-time national road champion a ...

winning the stage.

hosted the race for the first time in 2018, with the final stage taking place between

Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...

and

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

. The Women's Tour expanded to six days for the first time in 2019. The increase in days also heralded a slight shift of event days, as the race ran from Monday to Saturday. SweetSpot announced in March 2020 that the planned seventh edition of the race, scheduled to take place between Monday 8 and Saturday 13 June, was postponed owing to the

. The race's Grand Départ in

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

, Oxfordshire and final stage in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

had already been announced. Organisers said that they "hope to work with the UCI and British Cycling to find an alternative date in the international cycling calendar for the race to take place should conditions permit." On 4 May, the 2020 Tour was cancelled. In February 2021, the 2021 Women's Tour was postponed from June to October. The 2022 race returned to its traditional calendar slot in June, with a mountain top finish at Black Mountain in the

Brecon Beacons The Brecon Beacons (; ) are a mountain range in Wales. The range includes South Wales's highest mountain, Pen y Fan (), its twin summit Corn Du (), and Craig Gwaun Taf (), which are the three highest peaks in the range. The Brecon Beacons ha ...

. SweetSpot announced the 2023 race route on 9 March 2023, but warned that the loss of key sponsors (such as previous vehicle partner Škoda) and increased running costs (20% higher than 2022 race) had left a shortfall in funding and that urgent additional income was required to ensure that the race could go ahead. On 31 March 2023, SweetSpot announced that the race would go on hiatus in 2023, in light of the above financial issues. In January 2024, organiser and promoter SweetSpot entered liquidation and the race was removed from the 2024 calendar.

Tour of Britain Women

In February 2024,

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

took over the running of the race, which was to be renamed as the Tour of Britain Women, and the race returned to the UCI Women's World Tour calendar but over a shorter four-day itinerary. In May 2024, the race gained sponsorship from

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

– with the bank also sponsoring the men's Tour of Britain. The 2025 edition of the race also took place over four days, visiting

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for the first time.

Overall winners

Classification leaders jerseys

Tour facts and figures

Overall winners * Nine riders have won the ten editions of the Tour of Britain Women since its inaugural 2014 race * Lizzie Deignan is the sole double champion in race history to date – winning the

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

editions. * Coryn Rivera became the first non-European rider to win the race overall when she triumphed in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

edition. * Katarzyna Niewiadoma in 2017 and

Lotte Kopecky Lotte Kopecky (; born 10 November 1995) is a Belgian road and track Cycle sport, racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam , and the UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, 2023 and 2024 UCI Elite Women's W ...

in 2024 are the only riders to lead an edition of the race from start to finish. * The 2022 edition had the closest winning margin, with only one second separating winner Elisa Longo Borghini and runner-up Grace Brown. Longo Borghini's victory made her the oldest winner at 30 years, 184 days. * Niewiadoma won the 2017 edition by the biggest margin to date: one minute and 18 seconds. She was also the youngest winner at 22 years, 256 days. Stage winners * Lorena Wiebes has won the most stages of the race to date: six. * Three riders have won multiple stages of the race in the same year –

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior c ...

(three in 2014), Wiebes (three in 2022, two in 2021),

(two in 2019) and Kopecky (two in 2024) * Nine riders have won stages in more than one edition of the race – Vos (2014, 2016 and 2019); D'Hoore (2015, 2017 and 2018); Deignan (2015, 2016 and 2019); Wiebes (2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025); Christine Majerus ( 2015 and 2016);

Amy Pieters Amy Pieters (born 1 June 1991) is a Dutch professional road and track cyclist, who is contracted to ride for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She was a member of the Dutch team that finished sixth at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the team pursuit (togethe ...

(2016, 2017 and 2019); Lotta Henttala (2016 and 2018);

Sarah Roy Sarah Roy (born 27 February 1986) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Before focussing on racing on the road in 2009, Roy was a triathlete, but injured herself six months later which re ...

(2017 and 2018) and Niewiadoma (2017 and 2019). * Twenty-seven different riders have won stages of the Tour of Britain Women – the most recent addition to the list being Cat Ferguson in Kelso in 2025. * Fourteen different nationalities have won stages of the Tour of Britain Women. Dutch riders have won the most with seventeen stage wins. Host venues * On average, 300,000 people watch the Tour of Britain Women from the roadside each year. * An estimated 125,000 fans watched the race's finale in London in

– the race used the same 6.2 km circuit around

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

St James, Piccadilly, Strand and Whitehall that featured in the Tour of Britain in

and

. *

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...

(four stage starts and one finish) has hosted the race more than any other venue. *

has hosted the race more times than any other county: seven. *

hosted its first stage when stage five of the 2018 edition took place between

and

. The country then welcomed the final two days of the 2019 race, which took place in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

and

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

. It again hosted two stages in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. *

hosted its first stages when stages three and four of the 2025 edition took place in Kelso and Glasgow respectively

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Tour Cycle races in the United Kingdom 2014 establishments in the United Kingdom Recurring sporting events established in 2014 Women's road bicycle races UCI Women's World Tour races