Women's Tour de Yorkshire

The Women's Tour de Yorkshire is a women's road cycling race in Yorkshire, England. From 2015 to 2017, the event was a one-day race. From 2018 onwards, the event has been a two-day event, with a UCI race classification of 2.1. The event is the female equivalent of the Tour de Yorkshire.

Women's Tour de Yorkshire
Race details
DateApril/May
RegionYorkshire, England
DisciplineRoad
TypeOne day Race (2015–17)
Stage race (2018–)
OrganiserAmaury Sport Organisation
Welcome to Yorkshire
History
First edition2015 (2015)
Editions5 (as of 2019)
First winner Louise Mahé (GBR)
Most winsNo repeat winners
Most recent Marianne Vos (NED) (2019)

History

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The first Women's Tour de Yorkshire was run in 2015. The course consisted of four laps of a 20 kilometres (12 mi) course, and was won by Britain's Louise Mahé.[1]

The 2016 event was run on the same course as a stage of the men's event, from Otley to Doncaster. The event had a prize fund of £15,000, and was broadcast live on ITV.[2] The race was won by Dutch rider Kirsten Wild in a bunch sprint, after the breakaway was caught with 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to go.[2][3]

The 2017 event was run on the same course as the second stage of the men's race on 29 April.[4] The event was won by Lizzie Deignan, who defied team orders to wait for the sprint finish, and broke away from the peloton 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the end of the race.[5][6] In September 2017, it was announced that the 2018 Women's Tour de Yorkshire would be increased to two days.[7]

The first stage of the 2018 event was from Beverley to Doncaster, and the second stage was a hilly route from Barnsley to Ilkley. Defending champion Deignan did not compete due to her pregnancy.[8] The event was won by American Megan Guarnier.[9]

The two stages of the 2019 women's race were run on the same course as the second and third days of the four-day men's race.[10] Defending champion Megan Guarnier did not compete as she was only racing in North America during the 2019 season.[11] The general classification was taken by Marianne Vos, who also won the second stage.[12]

The 2020 race was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and was later postponed again to 2022.[13][14] The 2022 race was cancelled in September 2021 due to financial uncertainties.[15]

Winners

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Year Country Rider Team
2015   Great Britain Louise Mahé Ikon–Mazda
2016   Netherlands Kirsten Wild Team Hitec Products
2017   Great Britain Lizzie Deignan Boels–Dolmans
2018   United States Megan Guarnier Boels–Dolmans
2019   Netherlands Marianne Vos CCC Liv
2020 No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 No race due to financial problems.

References

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  1. ^ "Mahe wins Women's Tour de Yorkshire". Cycling News. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Cycling fans let down as TV footage fails at Tour de Yorkshire race". The Daily Telegraph. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire: Kirsten Wild wins women's race in sprint finish". BBC Sport. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire 2017: Lizzie Deignan returns for women's race". BBC Sport. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. ^ Parker, Ian (29 April 2017). "Lizzie Deignan defies team orders to power to Women's Tour de Yorkshire victory thanks to her local knowledge". The Independent.
  6. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire 2017: Lizzie Deignan wins women's race". BBC Sport. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  7. ^ Wynn, Nigel (21 September 2017). "Tour de Yorkshire increased to four days for 2018, women's race up to two days". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Women's Tour de Yorkshire 2018". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Megan Guarnier wins Women's Tour de Yorkshire". Cyclingnews.com. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire: Guide to the 2019 race featuring Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish and Lizzie Deignan". BBC Sport. 2 May 2019.
  11. ^ Frattini, Kirsten (5 March 2019). "Guarnier lured out of retirement by mentorship role at Tibco-SVB". cyclingnews.com.
  12. ^ Benson, Daniel (4 May 2019). "Vos wins Women's Tour de Yorkshire". cyclingnews.com.
  13. ^ "Coronavirus: Tour de Yorkshire 2020 postponed because of pandemic". BBC Sport. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire: Already postponed 2020 event delayed further until 2022". BBC Sport. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Tour de Yorkshire 2022 cancelled". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 September 2021.