A new race on the 2023 UCI calendar is the Tour de Normandie Féminin which jumps straight into the 2.1 race level and has managed to get a strong startlist for a new race. 4 Women’s WorldTour teams will be in attendance and strong non-WWT riders like Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Simone Boilard and Clara Koppenburg (although she’s no longer on the startlist!) help to boost the standing of the new race. All in all, 12 teams from last year’s Tour de France Femmes will take part in Normandy.
Which teams are racing at Tour de Normandie Féminin 2023?
The WWT teams will be Canyon SRAM, FDJ-Suez, EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and Human Powered Health. UAE Team ADQ is sending their development team and from there, almost all of the highly ranked Women’s Continental teams will be racing. The likes of Ceratizit-WNT and Lifeplus-Wahoo who have mandatory invites to WWT races because of their strong 2022 seasons, Parkhotel Valkenburg, Team Coop-Hitec Products, Zaaf Cycling, MAT ATOM Deweloper Wroclaw and St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93 too. The AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-step team sends their U23 outfit with a slightly different name – AG Insurance-NXTG U23.
As you’d expect, there are plenty of French teams – with Cofidis, Stade Rochelais Charente Maritime, Arkea and Team Grand-Est Komugi La Fabrique also racing. The more wildcard teams are Lotto Dstny, Baloise-WB Ladies, DNA Pros Cycling and an intriguing Luxembourg national team.
What does the Tour de Normandie Féminin 2023 route look like?
Stage 1 – Friday 17th March 2023
Stage 2 – Saturday 18th March 2023
Stage 3 – Sunday 19th March 2023
Where can I watch the Tour de Normandie Féminin 2023?
Live coverage will be on the Tour de Normandie Féminin website each day – with catch-ups on the France.tv platform.
Each stage finish is around 3:15pm GMT each day.
Who are the main riders to watch?
- Audrey Cordon-Ragot
- Lucie Jounier
- Gladys Verhulst
- Georgia Williams
- Nina Buijsman
- Federica Piergiovanni
- Karolina Kumiega
- Mylene de Zoete
- Antonia Niedermaier
- Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka
- Femke Gerritse
- Dominikia Wlodarczyk
- India Grangier
- Josie Nelson
- Megan Armitage
- Simone Boilard
- Roxane Fournier
- Maeva Squiban
- Diana Penuela
- Mieke Docx
- Margaux Vigie
- Christine Majerus
There are also a host of names like Veronica Ewers, Krista Doebel-Hickok, Neve Bradbury and Clara Koppenburg (no longer on the startlist) who are all excellent riders but the parcours isn’t quite steep enough or tough enough for them to be the decisive riders here. They will be looking at different goals this season and using this race to help get into racing shape. I’m also intrigued by Marie Schreiber, signed by SD Worx this off-season, who joins Puck Pieterse in racing on the road for one of the first times.
