Australian Alex Manly will headline an in-form Team BikeExchange-Jayco squad at the six-day Women’s Tour starting on Monday, fresh off four stage victories and the overall title at the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour last week.
Arianna Fidanza and Teniel Campbell will line-up alongside the 26-year-old in the UK, after also enjoying strong performances in Germany, and they will be joined by American Kristen Faulkner, who comes into the race high in confidence after an impressive third-place finish overall in Itzulia last month.
Experienced Dutch rider Nina Kessler will start her fourth Women’s Tour, with New Zealander Georgia Williams also back in action, ready for her third appearance in the race and rounding out the six-rider squad.
The British tour will kick-off with a lengthy 142km stage, before a short and punchy day around Harlow. Stage three will take in two category two climbs, followed by a flat run to the finish, before the peloton crosses the border into Wales for a hilly stage four.
The penultimate day of racing features the second ever summit finish in the race’s history, as riders tackle the Black Mountain climb, with an average of 5.3% and maximum ramps of 21% to contend with. The action then concludes on Saturday with a 142.9km route from Chipping Norton to Oxford that should finish in a bunch sprint.
Alex Manly:
“Across the team we’ve had a really good month in May and we are all feeling confident ahead of the Women’s Tour next week.
It’s a WorldTour event and a notoriously hard week of racing, but we are all ready and eager to race together again. I think we’re all really excited to try and carry the momentum we have from our May race block into this tour.”
Martin Vestby (Sport Director):
“We come to the Women’s Tour looking be a part of the finals and also targeting a strong overall placing on the GC. With some hard stages that can be a bit unpredictable, we will look to keep our options open for the GC and also an open plan for the stages.
I think we can go into the race with lots of confidence. We know we have riders in really good form after recent performances across the team in both Germany and Spain, so we are looking forward to seeing what we can do over the six days of racing.”
2022 Women’s Tour – Race Details:
Monday, 6th June: Stage 1, Colchester-Bury St Edmunds, 141.7km
Tuesday, 7th June: Stage 2, Harlow-Harlow, 91.8km
Wednesday, 8th June: Stage 3, Tewkesbury-Gloucester, 107.9km
Thursday, 9th June: Stage 4, Wrexham-Welshpool, 143km
Friday, 10th June: Stage 5, Pembrey Country Park-Black Mountain, 104.5km
Saturday, 11th June: Stage 6, Chipping Norton-Oxford, 140km
Photo: Getty Sport