The 2023 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that included twenty-seven

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

events throughout the 2023 women's cycling season. It was the eighth edition 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 ranking system launched by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

(UCI) in 2016. The competition began with the

Women's Tour Down Under The Women's Tour Down Under (known for sponsorship reasons as the Santos Limited, Santos Women's Tour Down Under) is an annual professional road bicycle racing for women in Australia. It is held in conjunction with the Tour Down Under. From 20 ...

from 15 to 17 January, and finished with the

Tour of Guangxi The Tour of Guangxi (officially known as the GREE-Tour of Guangxi for sponsorship purposes) is an annual professional Road bicycle racing, cycling race held in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The m ...

on 17 October. Dutch rider

Demi Vollering Adriana Geertruida "Demi" Vollering (; born 15 November 1996) is a Dutch professional bicycle racing, racing cyclist who rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam FDJ–Suez. Considered one of the greatest riders of her generation, sh ...

(

SD Worx SD may refer to: Military and weaponry * Smith & Wesson SD, a line of pistol (first made 2010) * SD radar, an early US Navy radar system * Southern Cross Decoration (SD), a South African military award Organisations Political parties * De ...

) won the individual classification with 4891.86 points, leading the classification for the majority of the season. She had seven overall victories, including winning all three

Ardennes classics The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Liège–Bastogne–Liège, La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race. First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respec ...

, as well as the second edition of

Tour de France Femmes The Tour de France Femmes () is an annual women's road bicycle racing, cycle stage race around France. It is organised by Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which also runs the Tour de France. It is part of the UCI Women's WorldTour, UCI Women's Wo ...

. Second place went to Belgian rider

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 ...

(SD Worx), with 2735 points, over 2000 points behind Vollering. She won three events including the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

. Third place was taken by Swiss rider

Marlen Reusser Marlen Reusser (born 20 September 1991) is a Swiss racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Career She took up competitive cycling whilst at university, riding in the cycling legs of mixed relay triathlons as an amateur. ...

(SD Worx) with 2512.86 points, after winning three events. Sixteen different riders won races, with five riders holding the individual classification lead during the season. As in previous years, the teams classification was won by

– their seventh win in eight seasons, with the top three places in the overall classification all being SD Worx riders. For the second year running, the youth classification was won by Dutch rider

Shirin van Anrooij Shirin van Anrooij (born 5 February 2002) is a Dutch professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . and UCI Cyclo-Cross Pro Team Baloise Trek Lions. She is the current under 23 UCI Cyclo-cross World Champion. H ...

( Lidl–Trek), who finished 11th in the individual classification.

Events

The race calendar for the 2023 season was announced in June 2022, with thirty races initially scheduled, up from twenty-three that were held in 2022. The calendar featured several new races including the

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

and

La Vuelta Femenina La Vuelta Femenina (; "The Female Tour") is an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional bicycle race held in Spain. The race is organised by Unipublic and Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Vuel ...

. Races outside Europe returned for the first time since 2020, with two races in Australia, two races in China and one race in the United Arab Emirates.

Race cancellations

In January, the Vårgårda Cykelklubb ceased the organisation of the Vårgårda West Sweden races due to economic reasons, reducing the calendar to twenty-eight races. In March, SweetSpot announced that the 2023 edition of

The Women's Tour The Tour of Britain Women is a women's cycle stage race held in England and Wales, as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race was organised between 2014 and 2023 by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's Tour of Britain, and was known as ...

had been cancelled due to financial reasons (20% higher costs than 2022, and loss of key sponsors). This reduced the calendar to twenty-seven races.

Changes for 2023

The number of riders allowed per team was changed – stage races longer than five stages had seven riders and two team support vehicles. For shorter events, organisers were able to decide whether to have six or seven riders per team. The minimum salary per rider was increased, with an additional category for new professional ("neo-pro") riders.

2023 UCI Women's WorldTeams

The fifteen Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited to compete in events, with the two best 2022 UCI Women's Continental Teams ( and ) also invited automatically. Other Continental women's teams were invited by the organisers of each race.

References

{{2023 in road cycling

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

UCI Women's World Tour