The Women's Tour 2021

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The Women's Tour: Lorena Wiebes wins stage 5

Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) won her second consecutive stage of The Women's Tour when she emerged victorious in the stage 5 sprint in Clacton-on-Sea. Wiebes was unchallenged and finished ahead of new world champion Elisa Balsamo (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Marjolein van 't Geloof (Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur).

Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) continues to lead the overall classification heading into the final stage 6 on Saturday. She is 1:09 minutes ahead of Juliette Labous (Team DSM) and 1:16 minutes ahead of Clara Copponi (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope).

Stage 5 was the shortest stage of the event at 95.5km. The peloton raced one small loop followed by a 63.5-kilometre loop through Holland-on-Sea, Thorpe-le-Soken and Manningtree before returning to Clacton for what ended in a bunch sprint.

The Women's Tour

The Women's Tour returns to a late-season six-day race in October after being cancelled in 2020 and then postponed this June due to COVID-19. This year's race will welcome a world-class peloton with all nine top-tier teams on the line to race in the Women's WorldTour event.

The squads of four of the race’s previous overall winners will be on the start line: Trek-Segafredo (Lizzie Deignan, 2019 champion), Team DSM (Coryn Rivera, 2018 champion), Canyon-SRAM (Kasia Niewiadoma, 2017 champion) and Ceratizit-WNT (Lisa Brennauer, 2015 winner).

This year's race is now in it's seventh edition and will, for the first time, include an individual time trial along with a kermesse-style stage during the six-day race.  The race offers predominantly flat to punchy terrain to make for a wide-open and compelling  race that could come down to seconds as the world-class field pursues the overall victory.

The Women's Tour - History

The Women’s Tour was created in 2014 and quickly rose to the top level of professional bike racing when it joined the Women’s WorldTour in 2016, where it has been applauded as one of the most popular and progressive events in the top-tier of women’s racing.

In 2018, organisers brought parity to the event’s prize fund with the men's Tour of Britain and both pelotons raced for a total amount of €90,000. In 2019, the peloton competed for €97,880 across six days of racing and Lizzie Deignan won the overall title. Former overall winners also include Coryn Rivera (2018), Kasia Niewiadoma (2017), Deignan (2016), Lisa Brennauer (2015) and Marianne Vos (2014).

Organisers announced a five-year plan to offer live coverage of the women’s race, which is required to be part of the top-tier series. The deal was with Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN) and promised to bring the race to millions globally through premier digital platforms and channels. However, they have announced a week before the race, that this year’s event will not be broadcast live due to the impact of "commercial realities".

The Route

The Women’s Tour will kick off with on October 4 with a 147.6km race between Bicester and Banbury.

The racing will continue with stage 2 on October 5 at a new kermesse-style circuit race in Walsall. The details of the stage have not been revealed, however, fans and racers can expect an explosive, fast-paced race that could end in a bunch sprint.

Stage 3, on October 6 will showcase a first-ever individual time trial at The Women’s Tour. The 16-kilometre event will be an out-and-back affair in Atherstone. 

Stage 4, on October 7, will present a 117.5km race from Shoeburyness to Southend. According to organisers, the route was inspired by racing on the flatlands of Belgium and the Netherlands.

The penultimate stage 5 held on October 8 is the shortest stage of the event at 95.5km. The peloton will race one small loop followed by a 63.5-kilometre loop through Holland-on-Sea, Thorpe-le-Soken and Manningtree before returning to Clacton for an expected bunch sprint.

The Women’s Tour will conclude on October 9 with a stage 6’s 155km race from Haverhill to Felixstowe where the overall winner will be crowned.

• Stage 1: Bicester to Banbury, 147.6km
• Stage 2: Walsall (TBA)
• Stage 3: Atherstone individual time trial, 16km
• Stage 4: Shoeburyness to Southend, 117.5km
• Stage 5: Colchester to Clacton, 95.5km
• Stage 6: Haverhill to Felixstowe, 155km

Teams

As part of the Women's WorldTour calendar, all nine top-tier teams will participate including SD Worx, BikeExchange, Team DSM, Ale BTC Ljubljana, Trek-Segafredo, Canyon-SRAM, Movistar, Liv Racing, and FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope.

• Alé BTC Ljubljana (Italy)
• AWOL O’Shea (Great Britain)
• CAMS-Basso Bikes (Great Britain)
• Canyon SRAM Racing (Germany)
• Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling (Germany)
• Drops-Le Col s/b TEMPUR. (Great Britain)
• FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope (France)
• Liv Racing (Netherlands)
• Movistar Team (Spain)
• Parkhotel Valkenburg (Netherlands)
• SD Worx (Netherlands)
• Team BikeExchange (Australia)
• Team DSM (Germany)
• Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank (USA)
• Trek-Segafredo (USA)
• Valcar-Travel & Service (Italy)