Female cycling first for Torrevieja

THE FIRST edition of the women’s tour of Spain (Vuelta Ciclista España Femenina) will start in Torrevieja.

The race takes place from May 1-7 and features a total of seven stages, the route of which was announced in the town’s international auditorium on Tuesday, where it was revealed that the first stage will be a team time-trial in the municipality following more or less the same course as the equivalent men’s event in the 2019 tour of Spain.

The second stage of the race, on May 2, will see the peloton covering a course from Orihuela to Pilar de la Horadada.

The race will remain in Alicante province for the start of stage three in Elche before moving out of the Valencia region and into Castilla-La ManSandra cha for the stage finish in La Roda (Albacete).

Stage four will take the peloton from Cuenca to Guadalajara, before it moves to the north of the country for the last three stages from La Cabrera to Mirador de Peñas Llanas-Riza; Castro-Urdiales to Laredo; and Pola de Siero to the race finish at the Lagos de Covadonga on May 7.

At the route presentation, Torrevieja female cycling star

Alonso was asked about the future of the race, and was clear in her reply that it will ‘become a three-week race’.

“I think we are capable of doing so and it would be a big step forward for women's cycling and to prove that we too can do it,” she said.

This year’s race will pay homage to the young cyclist, Estela Domínguez who was killed in a traffic accident in February.

At the main presentation in Madrid, José Manuel Franco president of the National Sports Council, said: “It is a source of great pride that Spain can be considered, in the sense of sport, as a reference country in the development and promotion of women.

“The fact it is hosting one of the three great cycling tours, with an event that this year has its own place within the international calendar, reinforces the importance that this sport practiced by women already has in our country.

“If we have one of the three most important races in men’s cycling, it is essential to have one of the three largest races in women’s cycling as well.”

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es (as it will be known) was born and will grow with a new identity and with its own strength, added Javier Guillén, director general of the race organiser, Unipublic.