The opening stage of this year’s RideLondon Classique goes from Saffron Walden to Colchester, a repeat of last year’s opening stage won by Charlotte Kool. Despite being flat, there are plenty of rollers involved and last year’s stage surprisingly saw the race break up with a group of around a dozen favourites going clear. They contained the likes of Kool, Copponi, Van der Duin and Deignan who contested a gently uphill sloping finish. It’s not like Stage 2 where the gradients sneak into the double digits but a rider who launches early might find themselves caught out before the line.
The GC will get an early shake-up with bonus seconds on the finish line but also, in a change for 2024, at the pair of QoM summits. 2 of them are in the first 20km of the stage, so we may see plenty of fighting from the gun for those spots before a break is formed. The final QoM is around the mid-point of the stage and might get swept up by the break.
Live Coverage
The race starts at 11:00am with the live coverage starting at 1:30pm
Live on Eurosport/Discovery across Europe
BBC Red Button in UK
All times in BST
