After months of doubt over whether it would take place, the Tour of Britain Women gets underway in Welshpool, Wales on Thursday.
The four-stage race takes place in north Wales and the north-west of England, with four Women’s WorldTour present at the race, as well as a strong Great Britain team, and all six British women’s Continental teams.
Two-time Women’s Tour champion Lizzie Deignan heads up the GB selection, backed by Welsh duo Elinor Barker and Elynor Bäckstedt who will get the opportunity to race on home roads in the national team jersey.
Anna Henderson, Flora Perkins and Millie Couzens complete the roster and will bolster GB as they go up against four WorldTour teams, including SD Worx-Protime.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Bäckstedt said that she felt SD Worx, headed up by world champion Lotte Kopecky, would be the favourites, but made clear that she backed her teammates, led by Deignan, to push them all the way.
"We will definitely have a really strong team there," she said. "As Team GB we will have a group of such strong riders there, and just come out in full force really. I think we definitely have got a good chance overall, and we've got a good chance at each of the stages.
“So we'll definitely give it our best shot and race the best we can as a team and just really show off the talent that GB has coming through at the moment.
"We've known each other a long time. I've got my regular teammate, Lizzie, in the team, which is really nice. And a lot of the girls I've either grown up with, or I've raced World Championships with before...We all just want to do the best for ourselves and also try to display the racing talent of our country."
The four-day route will see the women’s peloton tackle a variety of terrain. The first two stages in Wales will provide hillier tests, before the riders tackle less demanding climbing on the final two days.
Bäckstedt said that she felt the route put together will really “show off” British roads in the best possible way.
"I think it's going to make for some really hard racing," she said. "There's some really tough stages… It is a tough country to race your bike in and that's what makes it so fun. I might find some of the climbs a little bit challenging, but I'm going to have a lot of fun throughout it all.
"Having two stages in Wales is obviously really great. There's nothing quite like racing in Wales especially, it's just so different and it's so nice to have a Welsh crowd there as well."
Tour of Britain Women 2024 stages
Tour of Britain Women 2024 riders to watch
Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime
*****
All eyes will be on world champion Kopecky, the widely touted best rider in the world right now. She'll be easy to spot too, with those rainbow bands and very likely in all the good moves. The often-lumpy course plays to her strengths and it could a concerted effort from her rivals to prevent her walking away with multiple stages as well as the GC.
Anna Henderson (GBr) Visma-Lease a bike
***
Of the big-name Great Britain team, Henderson has had the best – and worst – season so far, with some promising placings in the big Classics – 11th at Amstel Gold, 14th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège – before breaking her collarbone on stage two of the women's Vuelta. She has been putting in some big training weeks recently though, and the TOBW will be her first race back.
Eluned King (GBr) Lifeplus-Wahoo
***
The Tour of Britain Women is a step up from the CiCLE Classic and the Lincoln Grand Prix, where the Welsh 21-year-old came in first and sixth respectively earlier this season. But showing well in those races and being more familiar with the grippy GB roads than many of her rivals at TOBW will stand her in good stead.
Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL
****
The London-born rider is often found kicking out big watts in the service of her team's sprinter Charlotte Kool, but the lumpy TOBW parcours doesn't suggest a bunch finish every day – it seems likely Georgi will be given the freedom to fight for a stage of her own somewhere along the way. Third in the recent Paris-Roubaix suggests she is more than capable of doing so.
Georgia Baker (Aus) Liv-AlUla-Jayco
***
Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Baker has had a fruitful time since signing to what was then BikeExchange-Jayco in 2022. She has yet to win yet in 2024, but it has been a fruitful season so far with numerous high placings for the all-rounder, who can both finish fast and knock out a great time trial. The TOBW's lumpy terrain will provide a great opportunity for her to add her first victory in 2024.
