Twelve of the top 15 teams in the world will be heading to Atherstone
TWELVE of the world’s top 15 teams will be among those in action at this year’s Women’s Tour in Atherstone.
Rescheduled from its traditional June calendar position due to the pandemic, the women’s cycle race will attract an all-star field once again for its seventh edition, with all nine of the top division UCI Women’s World Tour teams confirmed to race.
When the Tour reaches Atherstone on Wednesday, October 6, for the third stage of the competition, it will mark the first ever individual time trial stage of the Women’s Tour.
Among the announced teams that are competing are SD Worx, Trek-Segafredo, Team BikeExchange and Canyon SRAM Racing, whose riders – Amy Pieters, Chloe Hosking, Sarah Roy and Kasia Niewiadoma respectively – have previously won Warwickshire stages of the race.
British interest comes from the teams of AWOL O’Shea, CAMS-Basso Bikes – both Women’s Tour debutants – and Drops-Le Col s/b TEMPUR. 2021 will mark Drops’ fifth appearance in the event, while the Essex-based CAMS team will be on home soil for the race’s fourth and fifth stages (Shoeburyness to Southend on Thursday,
October 7, Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea on Friday).
Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank, the second American team competing in the event, return for a second appearance having also dominated the ŠKODA V-Women’s Tour virtual race held last June.
Councillor Izzi Seccombe, leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “I am thrilled that Atherstone will once again be hosting a stage of the Women’s Tour.
“As well as being fantastic entertainment for spectators, this event is of huge economic benefit to the area. It’s an opportunity for local businesses in Atherstone to celebrate and embrace cycling as the race comes past their front door, as well as for others to maximise on business opportunities from increased customers and visitors to the county.
“Warwickshire has a rich history in hosting high-level cycling events having previously played host to legs of both the men’s and women’s Tour of Britain over the last few years and has also been selected as the location for the Commonwealth Games Road Race in 2022 demonstrating that the county is a worldclass location for cycling and cyclists.”
The full list of teams competing in the 2021 Women’s Tour is: Alé BTC Ljubljana (Italy), AWOL O’Shea (Great Britain), CAMSBasso Bikes (Great Britain), Canyon SRAM Racing (Germany), Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling (Germany), Drops-Le Col s/b TEMPUR. (Great Britain), FDJ NouvelleAquitaine 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) and Valcar-Travel & Service (Italy).
Mick Bennett, Women’s Tour race director, said: “After the challenges that the Women’s Tour has faced since the start of 2020, it is extremely uplifting to know that when we finally return in October our passionate fans will again be able to enjoy watching the world’s best teams and riders along the roadside – all for free, too!
“We’ve designed a route that will make sure the battle for overall glory goes down to the final day. Roll on October!”
Danelle Every, British Cycling’s cycling delivery director, added: “This latest edition of the tour will be one of the most spectacular yet.”