We will race in a special edition design for one week only during the upcoming OVO Energy Women’s Tour from 10 to 15 June in the United Kingdom.

We will swap our Canyon bikes, Rapha kit, Giro helmets, Oakley eyewear, Boa closure system, Tacx bidons, and Speedplay pedals for a design based on the Rapha Women’s 100, an annual event to inspire female cyclists across the world to come together to ride 100km on the same day, this year set for 14 September.

Our team’s roster for the Women’s WorldTour race is headlined by former tour winner Kasia Niewiadoma and stage winner Hannah Barnes. Recent Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour stage winners Elena Cecchini and Lisa Klein join, along with British favourite Alice Barnes, and Australian Tiffany Cromwell.

Ronny Lauke, CANYON//SRAM Racing Team Manager, said the team chose the OVO Energy Women’s Tour as it believes the race sets the current gold standard of bike races in women’s cycling.

“Built from scratch, it is one of the best organised stage races within professional racing. With a carefully considered and well-executed concept, the organiser has surpassed most longstanding events and created a buzz around women’s cycling. Every day the roads are packed with spectators. The start and finish areas are filled with fans having close access to their heroes. They are doing outstanding media work that reaches a wide audience, and the prize purse is amongst the highest on the calendar. They have set a benchmark for our sport and we believe it’s the perfect stage to change our kit to the Rapha Women’s 100,” said Lauke.

“The way our partners have collaborated together for the special edition clothing and equipment, further demonstrates how committed they are to our team, and to engaging existing and new fans of our sport with modern, forward-thinking initiatives. We want to thank them for that,” added Lauke.

Lara Kazakos, Rapha Pro Teams Marketing Executive:
“The Rapha Women’s 100 is a celebration of women’s cycling and the community it creates around the world. A key part of this community are the women racing at the highest level; there’s no better role models in the sport than the riders of CANYON//SRAM. They have, and continue to inspire so many women to ride the Rapha Women’s 100 each year, on 14th September 2019, team-mates, friends, those new to the sport and racers alike, come together to ride 100km.”

Bonnie Mavis, Canyon Bicycles Marketing and Brand Manager | Women:

“Canyon is proud to partner with CANYON//SRAM Racing and Rapha to celebrate the collective spirit of women riding their first 100km together. A rider’s first 100km is a symbolic milestone – it is a point at which a rider has made a conscious decision to become serious about the sport. The Rapha Women’s 100 takes this a step further by inspiring riders to ride together – this aligns with our mission and is a perfect fit for us at Canyon.”

Six spring classics in a row

Kasia Niewiadoma, who won the 2017 OVO Energy Women’s Tour said, “This race always gives me a lot of good feelings! There are so many people out there cheering us and supporting every rider no matter what result they get! It just makes me want to go out and race hard!”

The Polish rider commented, “It’s like racing six spring classics in a row. The stages are super hard and demanding, but then you add in this amazing organisation and road-side support, and it’s just wonderful to be amongst this mix of feelings!”

Without expectations

“I have no expectations on myself for the week. That keeps me calm and fresh in my mind! I would like to surprise myself, to see what happens and I want to be a helpful teammate for our sprinters,” added Niewiadoma.

The toughest parcours

Expanding to six stages for the first time, organisers of the 2019 OVO Energy Women’s Tour are touting it as the toughest parcours in its six-year history.

With an opening stage in Suffolk, the race goes to Kent and Oxfordshire for the first time and adds a hill-top finish in Warwickshire. The hardest days are expected to be the final two stages in the Welsh counties of Powys and Carmarthenshire.

The stage is big

“Many teams are looking to this week on the calendar, and targeting it to get big results. The stage is big: exposure, support, media coverage, fans, atmosphere. I love seeing so many children along the route too, I think that’s really special and hopefully inspires them to get on bikes or be active,” said Tiffany Cromwell.

“It makes this race the perfect choice to use a special edition design and I love that it’s based on the Rapha Women’s 100. Each year I think it’s not possible, but each year the design gets even better. We want to race excitingly, we want to get our fans excited too and hopefully this inspires more women to get on bikes and ultimately take part in the Rapha Women’s 100.”

Cecchini targeting a stage win with a special edition design

“The OVO Energy Women’s Tour is a very exciting tour with always aggressive and fun racing. The crowds are amazing and very passionate and the media exposure is well above any other race. So many children along the roads cheering for us as we pass by!” said Elena Cecchini who targets a stage win for the tour.

“I really enjoy racing in the UK because the courses really suit me––up and down all day! I’d love to be able to win a stage here.”

Stages

Monday 10 June | Stage 1 | 157.6km Beccles – Stowmarket | 10:30BST

Tuesday 11 June | Stage 2 | 62.5km | Cyclocpark | 13:30BST

Wednesday 12 June | Stage 3 | 145.1km | Henley-on-Thames – Blenheim Place | 10:30BST

Thursday 13 June | Stage 4 | 158.9km | Warwick – Burton Dassett | 10:30BST

Friday 14 June | Stage 5 | 140km | Llandrindod Wells – Builth Wells | 10:30BST

Saturday 15 June | Stage 6 | 125.9km | Carmathen – Pembrey Country Park | 10:00BST

How to follow

The race is sponsored by Terrano Systems, as the Official Cycling Communication System Partner, and can be followed on Twitter with #UCIWWT and #OVOWT.

Daily highlights will be broadcast on free-to-air television and in more than 100 countries. Each evening at 20:00BST highlights will be ITV4 in the UK.

International viewers will be able to watch the 2019 OVO Energy Women’s Tour on the following networks:

Eurosport – Europe, Asia and Oceania eurosport.com [http://eurosport.com/]fuboTV – USA and Canada (online service) fubo.tv [http://www.fubo.tv/]Flosports – USA and Canada (online service) flosports.tv [http://www.flosports.tv/]SuperSport – sub-Saharan Africa supersport.com [http://www.supersport.com/]Sky New Zealand sky.co.nz [http://www.sky.co.nz/]

About the Rapha Women’s 100: The Rapha Women’s 100 is an annual one day event designed to inspire more women to ride! Hosted globally at Rapha Clubhouses and by cycling clubs and by individuals alike, last year 10,000 women around the world rode 100km on the same day. Rapha encourages all female cyclists to join the global community and set up Women’s 100 independent rides locally. Rapha Clubhouses will host official rides led by Rapha ride leaders around the world which will be available to sign up on rapha.cc/womens100 on June 15th, the same day the kit will be available to purchase.

From its Koblenz home in Germany, Canyon Bicycles will also organise Women’s 100 rides on September 14th. To support the kit changeout at the OVO Women’s Tour, Canyon produced a special edition team bike inspired by the Women’s 100 colours. Learn more at www.canyon.com

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