The Women's Tour is a women's

cycle stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

held in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

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

, as part of the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...

. The race is organised 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 the S ...

History

Its origins trace back to 2010 when SweetSpot (the company behind 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, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. 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 1 ...

– 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 Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...

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 The 2013 Tour of Britain was the tenth running of the current Tour of Britain and the 74th British tour in total. The race consisted of eight stages, starting on 15 September in Peebles, and finishing on 22 September in London. The race was part ...

, 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

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, ...

. As history would show, SweetSpot's move was one that the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana organisers would announce some months later. Just a week after this SweetSpot received the news 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 (Wednesday 7 - Sunday 11), the second edition in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, the race became a part of the inaugural

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

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

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

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and 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 county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

and

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

. 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 historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...

, Oxfordshire and final stage in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

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 ( cy, Bannau Brycheiniog, ) are a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as "the central Beacons" t ...

Overall winners

Classification leaders jerseys

Women's Tour facts and figures

Overall winners * Seven riders have won the eight editions of the Women's Tour since its inaugural 2014 race *

Lizzie Deignan Elizabeth Mary Deignan (née Armitstead; born 18 December 1988) is an English professional world champion track and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She was the 2015 World road race champion. Deignan is ...

(GBR) is the sole double champion in race history to date: she won the

and 2019 editions. *

Coryn Rivera Coryn Labecki ( née Rivera; born August 26, 1992) is an American racing cyclist of Filipino descent, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . As of June 2018 Labecki has won 72 national titles, taking her first elite level national cha ...

(USA) became the first non-European rider to win the race overall when she triumphed in the 2018 edition. *

Katarzyna Niewiadoma Katarzyna "Kasia" Niewiadoma (born 29 September 1994) is a Polish racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Among her wins are the Amstel Gold Race, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the stage race The Women's Tour. She is a former nati ...

(POL, 2017) is the only rider 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 Elisa Longo Borghini (born 10 December 1991) is an Italian professional road cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . During her career, Longo Borghini has won two bronze medals in the road race at the Summer Olympic Games, taking third- ...

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 *

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

(NED),

Lorena Wiebes Lorena Wiebes (born 17 March 1999) is a Dutch racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She rode for in the women's team time trial event at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships. She won the gold medal in road cycling at ...

(NED) and

(BEL) have won the most stages of the race to date: five. * Vos (three in 2014), Wiebes (three in 2022, two in 2021), and D'Hoore (two in 2019) are the only riders to win multiple stages of the race in the same year. * 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 (GBR, 2015, 2016 and 2019); Wiebes (NED, 2021 and 2022);

Christine Majerus Christine Majerus (born 25 February 1987) is a Luxembourgish professional road and cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She won the 2013 Sparkassen Giro Bochum one-day road race and the general classification of ...

(LUX, 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 (togeth ...

(NED, 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 ...

(AUS, 2017 and 2018) and Niewiadoma (POL, 2017 and 2019). * Five different riders won stages in each of the race editions except 2014 and 2021. * Twenty-two different riders have won stages of the Women's Tour – the most recent addition to the list being Longo Borghini at Black Mountain in 2022. * Thirteen different nationalities have won stages of the Women's Tour. Dutch riders have won the most (fifteen), ten ahead of Belgium. * Sarah Roy (AUS, stage four 2017 and stage three 2018),

Chloe Hosking Chloe Hosking (born 1 October 1990) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Hosking has represented Australia at junior and then senior levels since 2007. Following success in a number of in ...

(AUS, stage three, 2017), Grace Brown (AUS, stage four, 2022), and Coryn Rivera (USA, stage two 2018) are the only non-European stage winners in race history to date. Host venues * On average, 300,000 people watch the Women's Tour 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, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

St James, Piccadilly, Strand and Whitehall that featured in the

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. *

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 Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

and

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. It again hosted two stages in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

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