The best-organized and best-supported race on the WWT gets underway tomorrow, as we see the start of the
Ovo Energy Women's Tour, known as just the Women's Tour or, more accurately but not able to be called that for copyright reasons, the Women's Tour of Britain. After five successful editions over five stages, the race has been given the go-ahead to add an extra day, and although they're not really doing much of interest with that day, it is a step in the right direction.
Still no northern stages - the overlap with the Women's Tour of Yorkshire puts paid to that as it limits the possibilities for moving between England and Scotland to the west coast, while Wales hosts two stages. East Anglia continues to host the départ, as it has done in 2015, 2016 and 2018, while Warwickshire is also a repeat host, having held several stages, most notably last year's third stage which was in tribute to Sharon Laws, who died in December 2017 and rode in the area for training.
The stage in Warwickshire also features the first genuine HTF in the Women's Tour's history - while there have been some slight uphill run-ins - technical and difficult finales are a hallmark of British races, it is noteworthy that the five editions thus far have seen 0 decisive hilltop finishes, mainly as the organizers wanted to establish the race and the significant support for the race in the towns has helped enable them to grow its reputation that a HTF is possible without it being in the middle of nowhere, as it is likely they will be able to attract a good crowd. As ever, there is unfortunately no
live coverage, but ITV4 and Eurosport will share the one-hour highlights program which is produced for the race, which is generally of excellent quality and some of the best women's coverage you will see all year - they have helicams, multiple moto cams, high quality graphics, and in previous years they've had commentators with specific knowledge of the women's péloton such as Rochelle Gilmore, Marianne Vos and Sharon Laws.
One weakness I will highlight for the race organisers is that the route has been known for several months, but it's only in the last couple of weeks that stage profiles have been provided, and while fans can trace the routes on La Flamme Rouge or Cronoescalada or what have you, it's a bit frustrating that this detail eludes us - it's not the 2014 edition anymore, and there are some decisive climbs. The race organizers are boasting of the 'hardest edition ever', as one of the biggest criticisms of The Women's Tour has been a lack of difficulty - indeed three out of five editions have been won by riders who never left the péloton, using bonus seconds alone, on two occasions the winner on the road did not win the race (Rossella Ratto in 2014 and Christine Majerus in 2015), and on one of the other two occasions, the victor was settled on stage 1 due to a miscalculation by the bunch; other stages finished with large groups on +st (Kasia Niewiadoma in 2017); a problem has been the placement of obstacles, as frequently a problem which has been common to British races in many circumstances has arisen - the difficulty of an obstacle overrides its relevance in the hype, so seeing stages like the Chesterfield one in 2017 which featured two loops, one to the east and one to the west of the city, which would have been significantly more decisive had they done them in the opposite order. Remember, this is also a race where Emma Johansson told the organizers that, much as she'd loved the crowds and the treatment by the organizers, with high quality coverage and podiums and prizes etc., there simply wasn't the chance to race on the parcours given, and she wouldn't be returning unless this improved. Now, it
did improve - demonstrably so - in 2016, but last year's race saw a lot of the old problem of riding through, rather than over, the most interesting terrain return, with only a small climb of Newnham Hill in stage 2 being potentially decisive. Therefore, fans wanted the chance, well in advance of the race, to see if this bluster about the hardest edition ever was justified.
Well, while a few specialist climbers like Katie Hall, Annemiek van Vleuten, Amanda Spratt, Eider Merino and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig may not have enough to tempt them over to the UK, there's still plenty of opportunity to see a more broken up race than we have done with previous editions of the race.
Stage 1 is the typical flat stage around Suffolk - there are some areas which may get windy, and the weather forecast is for rain. I would expect a bunch sprint 10 times out of 10 here - the péloton has been taken by surprise once on a first day in this race, and last year they were incredibly adamant that that should not happen again, holding everybody on a very, very tight leash.
Stage 2 is the 'bonus' stage - and it's a freaking kermesse. 25 laps of a 2,5km circuit at
Kent Cyclopark, this is the shortest stage in the history of the event at just 62,5km in length. Personally I might have preferred a 2-lap ITT, which would also have been a first for the Women's Tour, considering it's a closed circuit so it wouldn't be too disruptive, and having HTFs and ITTs would be a great step toward making this into a genuine all-out stage race that could in time build into a Grand Tour kind of role once the difficulties are ramped up, because with the coverage and support that the race has, it would be well placed to assume that kind of role. Another possibility would be the TTT - we all know I'm not a fan of the format, but they do have a few TTTs on the women's calendar, and the British domestic scene does sometimes see TTTs on crit courses because each team can go individually on the short course before the actual race, so there would be precedent for it. Either way, we get a one-and-a-half hour crit with our bonus day. Hopefully it isn't as bad as it sounds.
Stage 3, in Oxfordshire, a new region for the race, ends at Winston Churchill's birthplace, but is precisely what I refer to when I talk about the Women's Tour often misplacing its obstacles. This is one of those stages that would be better run back to front, though it looks like there are a couple of uncategorized digs that could give scope for some attacking racing in the last 20km especially as the stage, at 145km in length, is a pretty good distance.
Stage 4: now
this is more like it. This is the kind of thing that justifies the race's status. 159km long and with three ascents of the Burton Dassett climb, following on from Sun Rising Hill, this should create some good racing in the final 30km and at least a decent puncheuse finish. While the climb is hardly Monte Zoncolan, it will still give the puncheuses something to work with and make it hard for bonus seconds alone to settle the GC. Strava records the climb as being 700m at 8,9%, so this is potentially enough given the rest of the circuit is far from flat. The overall climb is 1400m at 5%, so you can see that the rest is more or less false flat. The men take on an almost identical stage in September so that will be an interesting point of comparison. And the crowds were
excellent for the race last year, even though the climb wasn't placed in such a position as to be decisive, so I'm optimistic about this one. Definitely a positive move from the organizers, this.
Stage 5, sees the race move into central Wales, and while there's still not what I'd call maximisation of the available terrain, this is definitely a potentially decisive stage with the highest amount of accumulated height gain in the history of the Women's Tour, at 2.200. One of the most frustrating things about The Women's Tour is that the profiles don't come out until quite late on, and when they do, they don't include things like summit heights to enable us to truly get a feel for how difficult the obstacles are. The majority of the climbing is gradual or too far from home to make a big difference, but the Epynt climb will be potentially decisive. It ascends approximately 300 height metres, which is very significant for a British race, finishing 21km from the line - most of which is undulating. However it's hard to tell from the scale how long the climb is - and obviously 3km at 10% is a very different beast from 5km at 6%. I mapped it on Cronoescalada and it was 3,8km in length, so we're talking approximately 8% or just under - so given we should have some time gaps set up from Burton Dassett, this could be really good, with some uncategorized climbs in the run-in - the toughest of which is 2,1km @ 5% per my reckoning, which is harder than the most decisive climb of the 2018 edition!!! So - this one
should be some of the best racing we've ever seen from the Women's Tour, as the climbs aren't so tough it'll leave the climbers easing away, but are tough enough that the Niewiadomas, Moolman-Pasios and Longo Borghinis of this world will be in combative mood.
Stage 6 features the ceiling of the race, on the scenic
Black Mountain Pass, which featured in the 2010 men's Tour of Britain (sadly we don't have the awesome circuits with the cobbled
Constitution Hill in Swansea, which featured that day), and also features some Giro-esque GPM offerings, with a few uncategorized digs, but the comparatively small Bethlehem Hill giving out points. It also features an uphill intermediate sprint which could be potentially key for the GC - but don't be too fooled by the profile, all that 'climbing' toward it is at 2-3%. The run-in, however, skips most of the climbing terrain in the area (there are a few punchy climbs between Black Mountain and Pembrey they could have used, but I guess the intent was to incentivize attacking from afar on Black Mountain as it's the last day rather than leaving it to the last), and finishes on the short-circuit cycling park in Pembrey, similar to how stage 2 was based on a short-circuit cycling course (presumably the crit-based national circuit and the intention of attracting junior cyclists has led to these courses being short, rather than an Izu or Krylatskoye style longer loop). This one is most likely to be a sprint, but not necessarily of the same type of rider that would be sprinting in the first couple of stages.
So,
who's here?
I've already mentioned a bit about who
isn't, but it's worth noting that as ever, the popular and well-organised Women's Tour boasts a stellar field.
16 teams are taking the startline for a total of 96 riders, and all five previous editions' winners will be here to contest it, seeking to become the first rider to take two Women's Tours.
2014 winner Marianne Vos is here with her CCC-Liv squad. Her key sidekicks will be Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who may well be the preferred GC option, having finished 2nd in 2016 and 7th in 2017 in the two harder editions of the race. Marianne was 2nd last year, however, and will want to do one better. Pauliena Rooijakkers is also a wildcard for a stage win especially in the hillier stages, where she's been going well.
Her successor, Lisa Brennauer, may not be as keen on this route, as she's more of a rouleuse with a good sprint. She's won the Thüringen Rundfahrt multiple times, though, so she can get over obstacles, but she would like a TT to build her race around to get the best out of her on this terrain. WNT in general are strong though - they have left Kirsten Wild at home, however, and are building their hopes around the hillier part of the race, with Kathrin Hammes, fresh off her surprise Thüringen win, an outsider, alongside the more established group of Janneke Ensing, for whom this looks like a really good course actually, Ane Santesteban, and Erica Magnaldi, all of whom are capable climbers.
2016's winner was Lizzie Deignan, then operating under her maiden name of Armitstead and wearing the rainbow jersey. Obviously her career has stuttered since then, a controversial quashed suspension affected her and then she took time out for a baby break, and is only now getting back up to speed - however when she is at her best she is among the very best, and she will have no doubt targeted this, her home national race (of course Yorkshire is her home region race, but came a bit early in the comeback). If the 2016 Lizzie is back, she is a threat to win any stage - she of course won the sprint finish in Aldeburgh in 2015 before crashing out of the race after the line, and since 2016 has turned herself into an Ardennes force over climbs longer than she'd previously been competitive over, so there's nothing in this race that she should be afraid of. Even beyond her, Trek are here in FORCE. Elisa Longo Borghini podiumed in 2016 too, was QOM last year, and just ended an almost two year winning drought, taking the final stage and GC of Emakumeen Bira; Lotta Lepistö has won stages here before; Ellen van Dijk was 5th overall in 2017, and even their worker ants, Trixi Worrack and Anna Plichta, can't be underestimated.
2017 was of course the year that Niewiadoma won the race on day one because nobody believed a tiny grimpeuse riding away 50km from home on the flat stood a chance, but nobody wanted to chase her. This year's route is much more conducive to the Pole, who will no doubt target stages 4 and 5 due to her usual characteristics of not being able to prevent herself from enthusiastically attacking on any upward gradient with gusto. She'll also be immediately noticeable in those special edition neon orange Canyon kits. Unlike WNT, who've sent the full climbing squad, Canyon have decided to focus more energy on the first half of the race otherwise, feeling Kasia can handle herself either alone or with just Amialiusik for company. Then again, Elena Cecchini won her national championship atop Supergà, and Hannah Barnes even managed a very shocking top 20 on Mount Baldy last month, so who knows? The Barnes sisters will undoubtedly be all over this race too, and Alexis Ryan, though pegged as a sprinter, did very well at the Amstel Gold Race in 2018.
And then there's last year's winner, Coryn Rivera. She will have to go some to replicate that feat - her odyssey in the WWT leader's jersey in 2017 showed that she is far more than just a sprinter, but she was trailing in behind the puncheuses on Cauberg when defending it; she will need to accumulate bonus seconds like she did last year and climb at her best to defend. It's not outside the realms of possibility, but it'll be tough for the American. There's also not a massive amount of experience in her backup corps either - Kirchmann the eldest by some considerable margin. Leah is in good form per her results in Canada recently, but a combination of potential jetlag and not really knowing how to rate the depth at those events mean it's a bit unpredictable what it means for her level. Floortje Mackaij has been climbing better than ever this year and Liane Lippert is pretty useful over this terrain too.
There are a bunch of others who want to etch their name into the race's record books too. Chief among them, I would wager, would be Christine Majerus. While Chantal Blaak is Boels' nominal leader, Majerus has unfinished business at this race; she won it on the road in 2015 only to lose to Brennauer on bonus seconds to drop to 3rd overall, and was 2nd in 2017 and 4th in 2018, so she will probably have had this one circled on her calendar for a while. Boels also have Jolien d'Hoore for the sprints, who has won multiple stages here before and wore the leader's jersey at last year's edition, Amalie Dideriksen whose domestique turns here in 2016 amounted to a breakout performance, and Amy Pieters who is more adept in the hills than she is sometimes given credit for. Canuel is their climbiest rider here, however, so they'll be hoping for Blaak, Pieters or Majerus to be on form to deal with the escaladoras in the second half of the race.
Another team worth watching out for will be Virtu - Marta Bastianelli has lost her WWT leaders' jersey, but Annemiek isn't here, and there are at least a couple of potential stage wins for the former world champion here. Stages 1, 2, 3 and 6 would all appear to be within her remit (and if they aren't they still have Barbara Guarischi), while Sofia Bertizzolo is U23 WWT leader and has been going strongly all season. Katrine Aalerud is a very useful climber too. And also, Parkhotel Valkenburg, on paper just about the smallest team here. Lorena Wiebes is currently racing in Brittany, so will skip the race, but they are bringing the standout breakout of the spring, Demi Vollering. Demi has been training in Switzerland for the last few weeks so she's building up to the team's first (?) Giro by preparing her climbing legs - so while the team may be quieter than usual in the flat stages, and people will be watching out for Vollering now, whereas a couple of months ago she could infiltrate those groups unnoticed, she is still one to watch.
Elsewhere, Alé will hope for Chloe Hosking to bring joy in the sprints; Mitchelton have their rouleuse corps for the most part, but Sarah Roy is a former stage winner here and Gracie Elvin has had joy over this kind of terrain; Bigla may have left their team leader in Brittany (surprisingly along with promising British puncheuse/grimpeuse Sophie Wright, who doesn't enter her home race) but Lizzie Banks has had a very good season thus far and will lead them, while Chabbey and Leah Thomas are useful enough backup; Drops will try to be as visible as possible since their divorce from Trek, Anna Christian was pretty visible in Thüringen; Valcar have the versatile Maria Giulia Confalonieri and the more than useful Alice Maria Arzuffi, a 'cross specialist who likes bad weather and climbs; TIBCO have Shannon Malseed who has a WWT GC podium to her name and Brodie Chapman who's having a great season, FDJ have the experienced Charlotte Becker who has a WWT GC win to her name in the same race as Malseed's podium, and Movistar have the ever-combative Gosia Jasinska and the in-form Sheyla Gutiérrez on hand.
Perhaps the most notable absence among Britons is Lucy Garner, who in fact is the best placed Briton in the WWT standings, thanks mainly to her top 5 in the GC at the Tour of Chongming Island. Her Hitec Products team has been struggling for a couple of seasons, especially now Virtu have started poaching the top Scandinavian talents, which used to go through Hitec as a first port of call. Hayley Simmonds' BTC team is also missing, which could have been good to see with Bujak being well-suited to much of this course and Ratto of course having won the race on the road in 2014. A bit surprised at there being no British national or British U23 team as there has been in recent years - riders like Jessica Roberts and Anna Henderson are going very well in France at the moment, Rhona Callander was great in the Healthy Ageing Tour, and Lauren Dolan is doing well in Scandinavia too. I am slightly surprised, but understand, why Sophie Wright and Pfeiffer Georgi aren't there for Bigla and Sunweb respectively, but I thought a team made up of a few of the younger riders not on WWT teams, supplemented with a couple of more experienced riders whose teams aren't in the race, like Natalie Grinczer from Bizkaia-Durango and Dani Christmas from Lotto, could have added something.
So yes... while a few big stars are absent, including some for whom the development in the parcours would be a benefit, and the extra stage being used for a kermesse is a big disappointment (like I say, adding a TT the same year as an HTF would really have been a positive signal of intent), the overall development of the race - additional day, some decisive climbing while still staying loyal to the host regions that helped get the event off the ground - and the top notch coverage it receives are grounds to be both optimistic and excited for the week to come. I'm certainly looking forward to the race more than I have most seasons to date.