News – Teams for Women’s Tour

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The teams for the 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour have been revealed and yet again the Worlds Best are heading for Britain

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News – Teams for Women’s Tour

All 16 Teams for 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour announced – 12 of the world’s top 15 women’s teams heading to Britain this June

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A look at the final podium for 2014 and the galaxy of world stars on the podium in front of a massive crowd – talked of as the best Women’s stage race in 2014!

Twelve of the world’s top fifteen women’s professional teams will head to Britain this June to race in the second edition of the Friends Life Women’s Tour. Led by the world’s number one team Rabo Liv, who won the 2014 Friends Life Women’s Tour with a true legend in the sport, Marianne Vos, all of the World’s top six trade teams will ride in this June’s event, which begins in Suffolk on Wednesday 17 June.

The Boels Dolmans (Lizzie Amitstead et all), Wiggle Honda (Dani King etc), Velocio SRAM and Orica AIS teams, plus debutants Bigla Pro Cycling (Sharon Laws) will all take part in the five-day Friends Life Women’s Tour, which has daily highlights on ITV4.

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One of the biggest super stars in Women’s racing, Britian’s Lizzie Armitstead, seen here last year sprinting side by side with another surperstar, Vos.

The teams invited also boast all bar seven of the world’s top 50 riders ranked by the sport’s governing body, the UCI, as of their end of February rankings. Commenting on the announcement, Mick Bennett, Race Director of organisers SweetSpot said; “We have once again secured a world-class line-up of teams for the Friends Life Women’s Tour, which surpasses even that of our inaugural event in 2014.”

“To have attracted so many of the world’s top teams to race in Britain shows the high regard in which the Friends Life Women’s Tour is already held, a regard which we will reward with another exciting and high-profile race this June.

“Over the coming weeks and months we look forward to confirming many of the world-class riders that we know will be racing at the Friends Life Women’s Tour, giving cycling fans in the UK something to look forward to this June.”

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Lucy Garner’s trade team is one of the teams selected to race.

In total, seven teams will make their debut in the race, including the domestic Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International team of Dame Sarah Storey and Joanna Rowsell and the Dutch Liv Plantur squad of Lucy Garner. Joining the professional teams, and also making their debuts, will be the national teams of Germany and the United States, both ranked in the top four nations in the world.

Winners of the 2014 team classification Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies and UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling return to the race, while new additions are the Italian Ale Cipollini team and French Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope-86 squad. In total nine nations will be represented by teams, with British riders expected to be in the line-ups of many squads, not least the three home teams of Matrix Fitness, Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International and Wiggle Honda.

Announcements about rider line-ups for the six rider squads of the 16 teams will be made later during the Spring and early Summer.

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21 year old Hannah Barnes, a multiple champion here in Britain, said last Saturday “The Women’s Tour was a big highlight for me last year. The team were originally umming and ahing because it’s a lot of money for all of us to fly over from America but thankfully they decided that it was going to be worth it and it certainly was so we’re coming back! So the Women’s Tour is a big goal for me this year as is the Tour of California this year”.

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Fingers crossed, Sharon Laws, Queen of the Mountains in 2014, should be returning with her Bilga team in 2015

The complete list of teams for the 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour is:
• Ale Cipollini (Italy)
• Bigla Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland)
• Boels Dolmans Cycling Team (Netherlands)
• Germany national team
• Lotto Soudal (Belgium)
• Matrix Fitness (Great Britain)
• Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies (USA)
• Orica AIS (Australia)
• Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International (Great Britain)
• Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope-86 (France)
• Rabo Liv Cycling Team (Netherlands)
• Team Liv Plantur (Netherlands)
• UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling (USA)
• USA national team
• Velocio SRAM (Germany)
• Wiggle Honda (Great Britain)

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Jessie Walker, one of a few younger British riders to show themselves well in the 2014 Tour. The Yorkshire lass should be returning to the race in 2015 based on her 2014 performance.

The Friends Life Women’s Tour
Created by SweetSpot Group, the Friends Life Women’s Tour is the UK’s first ever international stage-race, bringing the world’s top riders to compete over five days in Great Britain. SweetSpot are an event organiser and sports marketing company behind the organisation of the Friends Life Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race and the country’s largest free-to-watch sporting event, and the creation of the unique Tour Series races.

The 2014 edition of the race, won by Marianne Vos, saw hundreds of thousands of spectators turn out at the roadside, with many more around the UK watching the ITV4 highlights. The Friends Life Women’s Tour will run from Wednesday 17th to Sunday 21st June 2015.

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A peloton lined out – one of the great sights of racing and this was the Friends Life Women’s Tour in 2014

Stage One Wednesday 17 June Bury St Edmunds to Aldeburgh
Stage Two Thursday 18 June Braintree to Clacton
Stage Three Friday 19 June Oundle to Kettering
Stage Four Saturday 20 June Waltham Cross to Stevenage
Stage Five Sunday 21 June Marlow to Hemel Hempstead

 

REPORTS FROM 2014

Stage 1 Report, Photos & Results
Stage 2 Report, Photos & Results
Stage 3 Report, Photos & Results
Stage 4 Report, Photos & Results
Stage 5 Report, Photos & Results

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

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