The 2026 Tour of Chongming Island will start with just 69 riders across 13 teams, including only five Women’s WorldTour squads, after a late reshaping of the field ahead of the three-stage race from 9-11 October.
Team SD Worx-Protime bring the biggest name on the start list in Lorena Wiebes, while UAE Team L’IMAD include Sofie van Rooijen, Lara Gillespie and Karlijn Swinkels. Liv AlUla Jayco return with 2025 stage winner Josie Talbot and Ruby Roseman-Gannon, while Human Powered Health have built a six-rider sprint group around Maggie Coles-Lyster, Kathrin Schweinberger and Silvia Zanardi.
The field is considerably smaller than originally expected. The organisers had planned for 18 teams, but the cancellation of the women’s Tour of Guangxi changed the economics of the late-season trip to China. Chongming and Guangxi had originally been scheduled together, allowing European teams to cover two WorldTour races with one long-haul journey.
Why are so few teams racing the 2026 Tour of Chongming Island?
Once the Tour of Guangxi Women was cancelled, the UCI removed the normal mandatory participation requirement for the Tour of Chongming Island. That allowed WorldTour teams to decide whether a standalone trip to China for a three-day stage race still made sporting and financial sense.
AG Insurance-Soudal, EF Education-Oatly, Fenix-Premier Tech, Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Canyon SRAM were among the WorldTour teams to withdraw after that decision. ProCyclingUK covered the situation in more detail when the UCI lifted compulsory participation and the first five teams pulled out.
The organisers responded by offering to cover travel and luggage costs for 10 people from each participating team and by trying to recruit Continental, regional and national squads at short notice. Even so, the final team list has fallen to 13, with Human Powered Health, Lidl-Trek, Liv AlUla Jayco, Team SD Worx-Protime and UAE Team L’IMAD the five WorldTour teams still making the trip.
The full start list has now been published, confirming 69 riders across the 13 teams. The reduced field still includes several of the strongest sprinters in the peloton, but it is much smaller and more mixed than the original WorldTour-heavy line-up expected earlier in the autumn.
The 2026 Tour of Chongming Island route remains built around three flat stages, with sprinting, bonus seconds and crosswinds likely to decide the general classification. The beginner’s guide to the race explains why Chongming has become one of the most specialised sprint stage races on the Women’s WorldTour.
Full Tour of Chongming Island 2026 start list
UAE Team L’IMAD
1. Karlijn Swinkels
2. Lara Gillespie
3. Greta Marturano
4. Elynor Bäckstedt
5. Sofie van Rooijen
Team SD Worx-Protime
11. Lorena Wiebes
12. Barbara Guarischi
13. Femke Markus
14. Lisa van Belle
15. Femke Gerritse
Lidl-Trek
21. Clara Copponi
22. Ava Holmgren
23. Marine Lenehan
24. Margot Vanpachtenbeke
25. Felicity Wilson-Haffenden
Liv AlUla Jayco
31. Quinty Ton
32. Ruby Roseman-Gannon
33. Mackenzie Coupland
34. Noä Jansen
35. Josie Talbot
Human Powered Health
41. Kathrin Schweinberger
42. Maggie Coles-Lyster
43. Marta Jaskulska
44. Silvia Zanardi
45. Jente Koops
46. Katia Ragusa
China
51. Yiman Danna
52. Chen Si
53. Chen Lulu
54. Tang Xin
55. Dou Jing
56. Wang Shengning
Dukla Women Cycling
61. Barbora Nemcova
62. Petra Sevcikova
63. Gabriela Bartova
64. Vendula Strakata
65. Beata Hermanova
66. Jarmila Machacova
Meridian Bikebug
72. Mia Williams
73. Ava Maddison
74. Alex Rawlinson
75. Kirsty Watts
76. Lucie Sporling
XDS China Women Cycling
81. Henrietta Colborne
82. Wen Yuandan
83. Dong Haixin
84. Zeng Luyao
85. Zhao Wenhui
86. Feng Zhaoqi
7 Saber Uzbekistan Women Cycling Team
91. Asal Rizaeva
92. Samira Ismailova
93. Mohinabonu Elmurodova
94. Viktoriya Polizunova
95. Shakhnoza Abdullaeva
96. Kseniya Li
Bodywrap LTWOO Women’s Cycling Team
101. Zhou Menghan
102. Zhan Chunrui
103. Su Ning
104. Dong Xiaohui
105. Li Jia Jing
China Liv Pro Cycling
111. Liu Lingxiao
112. Cui Yihang
113. Zhao Xu
114. Yu Jiaxin
115. Zhou Xiaorui
Aromitalia Vaiano
121. Lucia Brillante Romeo
122. Romina Costantini
123. Eleonora La Bella
124. Melissa Nesti
The riders to watch in the reduced field
Wiebes immediately becomes the reference sprinter in a race whose three stages offer almost no natural climbing. Van Rooijen won Stage 2 here in 2025 and returns with a UAE squad containing several fast options, while Talbot won the final stage last year and gives Liv AlUla Jayco a proven Chongming finisher.
Roseman-Gannon adds another serious sprint option for Liv AlUla Jayco, while Copponi gives Lidl-Trek a rider capable of contesting both stage finishes and intermediate bonuses. Human Powered Health may have the deepest dedicated lead-out: Coles-Lyster brings outright sprint speed, Schweinberger has repeatedly performed well on exposed flat courses and Zanardi gives the team another rider capable of finishing quickly.
The smaller field could also change the race itself. With fewer WorldTour teams available to share control, breakaways may receive more freedom than in previous editions, although the flat roads around Chongming still make a bunch sprint the most likely outcome on all three days.
For more background, see the history of the Tour of Chongming Island, which has been part of the Women’s WorldTour since 2016.
