The Women's Tour de Yorkshire is a women's

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

race in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England. From 2015 to 2017, the event was a one-day race. From 2018 onwards, the event has been a two-day event, with a UCI race classification of 2.1. The event is the female equivalent of the

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire is a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It is promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour. ...

History

The first Women's Tour de Yorkshire was run in 2015. The course consisted of four laps of a course, and was won by Britain's Louise Mahé. The 2016 event was run on the same course as a stage of the men's event, from

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. The event had a prize fund of £15,000, and was broadcast live on ITV. The race was won by Dutch rider

Kirsten Wild Kirsten Carlijn Wild (born 15 October 1982) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2021, for eight professional teams. During her track cycling career, Wild rode at the Summer Olympic Games in 201 ...

in a bunch sprint, after the breakaway was caught with to go. The 2017 event was run on the same course as the second stage of the men's race on 29 April. The event was won by

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 ...

, who defied team orders to wait for the sprint finish, and broke away from the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

from the end of the race. In September 2017, it was announced that the 2018 Women's Tour de Yorkshire would be increased to two days. The first stage of the 2018 event was from

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

, and the second stage was a hilly route from

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

. Defending champion Deignan did not compete due to her pregnancy. The event was won by American

Megan Guarnier Megan Guarnier (born May 4, 1985) is an American former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2019 for the , and teams. She was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Middlebury College in 2007. Major results ;2009 : 2nd Chol ...

. The two stages of the 2019 women's race were run on the same course as the second and third days of the four-day men's race. Defending champion

did not compete as she was only racing in North America during the 2019 season. The general classification was taken by

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 ...

, who also won the second stage. The 2020 race was postponed due to the

coronavirus 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 identified ...

, and was later postponed again to 2022. The 2022 race was cancelled in September 2021 due to financial uncertainties.

Winners

References

{{British Cycling Races Tour de Yorkshire Cycling in Yorkshire Women's cycle races Cycle races in England Recurring sporting events established in 2015 2015 establishments in England