Women’s Tour: TT for Warwickshire

WorldTour event, the Women’s Tour, heading for Shakespeare’s county with a ’10’ mile time trial and a stage finish in Banbury in October

Women’s Tour: TT for Warwickshire

The Women’s Tour will break new ground once again in 2021 when Warwickshire hosts the first individual time trial stage in race history this October. Atherstone will host the time trial’s start and finish on day three of this year’s race (Wednesday 6 October), marking a record fourth time that the Women’s Tour will have visited the North Warwickshire market town.

This stage is set to be the first individual time trial held after the UCI World Championships in Flanders, Belgium, meaning British fans could get to see the newly-crowned world champion tackle the route – 16 kilometres/10 miles in recognition of the UK’s rich time trial heritage – in the legendary rainbow jersey.

Warwickshire previously made Women’s Tour history when it hosted the race’s first uphill finish – held at Burton Dassett Country Park and won by Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon SRAM) – in 2019.

Annemiek van Vleuten, Movistar Team rider and two-time world time trial champion, said: “This news makes me really happy! Time trialling is an important part of cycling – it is a Olympic discipline – but we don’t have many opportunities to ride them, so I’m really excited that the Women’s Tour has added one! This type of stage is good for me – but it’s also good for the future of cycling: younger athletes can learn so much by doing them.

“The Women’s Tour is such a great event – I still get goosebumps when I think about how many schoolchildren line the side of the roads. I hope that this is the case once again in October!”

Elsewhere, further details of the Women’s Tour’s Grand Départ in Oxfordshire have also been released. Bicester and Banbury will welcome the world’s best riders on Monday 4 October, with stage one of this year’s race taking place 842 days on from the finish of the 2019 Women’s Tour, the last edition to take place to date owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 Women’s Tour will also visit Walsall for the first time on stage two (Tuesday 5 October), as the Black Country town becomes only the third venue – after Stoke-on-Trent and Chesterfield in 2017 – to host the start and finish of a road stage on the same day.

The race will culminate with two previously-announced stages in the East of England: Colchester to Clacton (stage five, Friday 8 October) and Haverhill to Felixstowe in Suffolk (stage six, Saturday 9 October).

– 10-mile test around Atherstone celebrates Britain’s rich time trial heritage
– Banbury unveiled as finish location for the race’s opening stage in Oxfordshire
– Race organisers SweetSpot continue to search for stage four host venue(s) owing to calendar move to October

Organisers intend that each stage of the Women’s Tour will also be used to celebrate Britain’s key workers and community heroes. Each day will play host to a special ride giving us a chance to say Thank You and show our appreciation to our community heroes, offering them an unforgettable experience to ride ahead of the professionals at the race. As it stands, the stages of the 2021 Women’s Tour are as follows:

Stage one, Monday 4 October
Start: Bicester, Oxfordshire*
Finish: Banbury, Oxfordshire*

Stage two, Tuesday 5 October
Start/finish: Walsall*

Stage three, Wednesday 6 October
Start/finish: Atherstone individual time trial, Warwickshire

Stage four, Thursday 7 October
Start/finish: TBC

Stage five, Friday 8 October
Start: Colchester, Essex*
Finish: Clacton, Essex

Stage six, Saturday 9 October
Start: Haverhill, Suffolk*
Finish: Felixstowe, Suffolk

(*indicates new venue for the Women’s Tour. Race dates subject to final confirmation from the UCI)