‘I was left for dust by top women riders but one pushed me to top’
IT was a favourite training ground of cycling superstar Sir Bradley Wiggins, who helped turn Majorca into a Mecca for the sport. The bike on which he became world time trial champion in 2014 hangs proudly from the ceiling of a local restaurant and cyclists are lured by the challenging terrain, stunning landscapes and safe highways.
So what better place to meet some of the world’s top women riders who will hit the roads of central London this summer as the capital hosts The Women’s Tour for the first time?
The move to welcome the five-day event’s final stage, announced by Mayor Sadiq Khan last month, is seen by the riders of team Wiggle High5 as a sign of the growing popularity of women’s cycling. I meet them at the Bay of Alcudia, on the island’s north coast, where I’m given a £2,000 Vitus road bike and told that our more than 35-mile route will include Cap de Formentor, a six-mile mountain ascent. The punishing climb ends about 655ft above sea level, where Formentor Lighthouse sits.
Ranked second in the world and with five Olympic medals between them, it is an understatement to say I was nervous about keeping up with the team.
“Girls to the front, see you,” one of them shouts about four miles into the ride as they left me for dust. The first 15 miles of our route is along flat highways, meaning that, with the safety car behind forcing me to keep pace, this was the easier part. But just a mile into the snaking mountain ascent I’m in trouble. The 24C makes the climb even more punishing. By three-quarters of the way up I’m way off the pace, the pain in my legs and lungs is indescribable and the rest of the pack speeds ahead, except for two-time Olympic silver medallist Emma Johansson. She trailed behind and placed her hand on my back to push me to the top. Johansson tells me: “We don’t leave anyone behind, you don’t have an option... you need to do it on your own but it’s still the whole group together that’s going to reach the higher goal.”
The Women’s Tour, part of the world governing body’s Women’s World Tour, will have its London debut on June 11.
As well as Wiggle High5’s stars, Britain’s Lizzie Armistead, who won silver at London 2012, and Rio gold medallist Katie Archibald, are also likely to compete in rival teams. British junior world road race champion Lucy Garner, 22, said the move to host the Tour in London was “special” and “shows the UK is leading the way in women’s cycling”. Cycle retailer wiggle.co.uk sponsors the Wiggle High5 women’s team