Gold medallists Armitstead and Trott take on Olympic champion Vos
•Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix to be largest women’s criterium ever staged in UK
•Live coverage on BBC 2
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lizzie Armitstead leads the entry for this weekend’s star-studded Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix on Saturday 9 August, part of the Mayor of London’s annual multi-award winning festival of cycling, as the full 100-rider start list is published <click here to view list>
Armitstead, who claimed gold in Sunday’s Commonwealth Games road race in Glasgow, joins her Team England colleagues Laura Trott and Hannah Barnes on the start list for the race, which will be broadcast live on BBC2.
The Yorkshire rider, who is also the current leader of the UCI’s World Cup, will be competing on The Mall alongside reigning world and Olympic champion Marianne Vos, in a repeat of the one-two from the London 2012 road race.
Vos herself is in good form, having won the weekend’s latest round of the World Cup, the Sparkassen Giro in Germany, ahead of double world champion Giorgia Bronzini who will also be on the start line for the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix.
Bronzini is joined by a further five Wiggle Honda riders, including last year’s winner Trott, 2013 Swedish champion Emilia Fahlin, Emily Collins, Peta Mullins and Amy Roberts, who represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games.
Double Olympic champion Trott will be reunited with her fellow podium finishers from 2013, as UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling’s Hannah Barnes and Specialized Lululemon’s Loren Rowney both return.
Among Rowney’s teammates will be Tiffany Cromwell, fresh from fourth place in the Commonwealth Games road race for Australia. In total 15 riders from world-level UCI teams will take part in the event, which uses the same St James’s Park circuit as in 2013.
In addition to a world-class array of international entries, the domestic scene will be strongly represented, including British Circuit Race champion and Matrix Fitness GP Series winner Eileen Roe, herself fresh from the Commonwealth Games, and Women’s Road Series champion Nicola Juniper.
Dame Sarah Storey, multiple Paralympic gold medallist, leads her Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International team, which will also include seventh place finisher in the Commonwealth Games road race and track world champion Katie Archibald, plus Lauren Creamer who won the Women’s Tour of Staffordshire at the weekend, the final round of the domestic Women’s Road Series.
Following this summer's Tour de France and Commonwealth Games, interest in cycling has never been higher. Londoners and visitors to the capital are expected to turn out in force to see the world's top female riders compete in the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix. The stunning route through St James's Park will see riders start on The Mall in central London before racing towards Buckingham Palace, through three tight turns onto Birdcage Walk followed by a 90-degree left-hand turn into Horse Guards. The final left turn at the end of Horse Guards brings them back onto The Mall for a spectacular finish facing Buckingham Palace.
Held for the first time in 2013, Prudential RideLondon immediately set new records as it became the largest inaugural mass-participation event in the world with 66,000+ participants and raised more than £7 million for charity, making it the largest charity cycling event in the UK. An unprecedented 99 per cent of participants rated the event good or excellent and the festival has won seven national awards.
In order to safely facilitate this world-class event, road and bridge closures will be in place across the weekend. On Saturday 9 August road closures will primarily be in central London. On Sunday 10 August, large numbers of road and bridge closures across east, central and south west London and Surrey will be in place. Drivers are advised where possible to change their route to avoid disruption. Tube, rail, walking and cycling will be the best ways to get around the capital and to enjoy the weekend. For more information visit tfl.gov.uk/prudentialridelondon and www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk.