A Birmingham city centre finale, the most northerly stage in race history and a return to three former host venues are among the highlights of this year’s Women’s Tour.
Britain’s longest-running international women’s cycle race returns for its ninth edition in June, with race organisers revealing that the race urgently requires additional commercial income for the 2023 edition.
As well as the title sponsorship of the event, three of the race’s four prestigious jersey classifications (leader, mountains, and best young rider) remain available, while individual stage partnership packages (including naming rights) have been launched for the first time for selected stages. The search for an auto partner to supply vehicles also continues.
This year’s Women’s Tour has already attracted the support of cottages.com, Brother UK, Accurist and cycleGuard. Organisers hope that today’s route announcement will generate additional commercial interest in the race. Visit womenstour.co.uk/partners/commercial-opportunities for more information.
This year’s Women’s Tour will comprise the following stages:
Stage one Wednesday 7 June Stratford-upon-Avon to Royal Leamington Spa
Stage two Thursday 8 June Northampton to Ampthill
Stage three Friday 9 June Dalby Forest to Guisborough
Stage four Saturday 10 June Coleshill to Derby
Stage five Sunday 11 June Birmingham city centre circuit race
Mick Bennett, Women’s Tour race director, said: “While it seems like only yesterday that we were crowning Elisa Longo Borghini as our 2022 champion following that dramatic finale in Oxford, it feels fantastic to unveil the stages for this year’s Women’s Tour.
“Given the current economic climate, we have had to work harder than ever before to put together a race befitting of the world’s best teams and riders, so I must thank all of our stakeholders for their continued support of the event.
“We look forward to seeing engaged communities, packed towns, and crowded cities at this year’s race. See you all in June!”
Launched in 2014, the award-winning event was the UK’s first international women’s stage race for women. Heralded as a game-changer in the journey towards gender equality in sport, previous winners of the Women’s Tour include Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016, 2019) and Demi Vollering (2021).
Further details of this year’s race, including competing teams, leaders’ jerseys and stage routes, will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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About the Women’s Tour
Created by SweetSpot Group in 2014, the Women’s Tour is the UK’s first international stage race for women, bringing the world’s top riders to compete in Great Britain as a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The race, which has been won by the likes of Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016, 2019), and Elisa Longo Borghini (2022), attracts an annual roadside audience of 300,000, as well as over three million fans through linear and online platforms.
Follow the Women’s Tour on Twitter (#WomensTour), Facebook, and Instagram or via the event’s official website at womenstour.co.uk.
Press contacts:
Peter Hodges / peterH@thetour.co.uk / +44 (0) 7970 526 519
Nick Bull / nickb@thetour.co.uk / +44 (0) 7977 151 184
