WORLD’S BEST TEAMS CONFIRMED FOR PRUDENTIAL RIDELONDON CLASSIQUE
Seventeen of the world’s top UCI Women’s WorldTour teams have confirmed their participation at the richest race in women’s cycling – the Prudential RideLondon Classique on Saturday 30 July.
The UCI Women’s WorldTour event at the 2016 Prudential RideLondon weekend will be a landmark occasion for women’s cycling as the prize pot of 100,000 euros matches the rewards offered to the men at the world’s richest one-day race the next day.
This equality in pay is a first for women’s cycling and has generated huge interest from the leading teams on the UCI’s Women’s WorldTour.
Heading the entries are the Boels-Dolmans team who have been the most dominant team in the world this year, winning seven of the first nine races on the UCI Women’s WorldTour including, most recently, the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic.
The British-based squad Wiggle HIGH5, currently number two in the world rankings, will be looking to repeat their win from 2014 when Italian Giorgia Bronzini sprinted to victory, while Dutch outfit Rabo-Liv are also sending a team.
Canyon/SRAM Racing (Germany) will also be a team to look out for as they have a roster packed with talent including last year’s winner Lisa Brennauer.
British outfits Drops Cycling Team and Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa will also be looking to make an impact on the race.
Prudential RideLondon Race Director Mick Bennett said: “We are delighted to have put together the strongest field ever assembled for a one-day race in Great Britain.
“Prudential RideLondon is now leading the way in world cycling in terms of establishing parity between men’s and women’s bike racing.
“We are proud to be the first WorldTour event offering equal prize money and when that is added to the fantastic live TV coverage from the BBC, a route that showcases our great capital city and the support from the crowds, we believe we are leading the way in the promotion of women’s cycling.
“This is reflected in the quality of the field coming to London to take part in the Prudential RideLondon Classique in 2016. The event has become one of the most important dates on the women’s cycling calendar and we can expect another fantastic day’s racing.”
The full list of teams confirmed to date is:
- Boels-Dolmans (Netherlands)
- Wiggle HIGH5 (Great Britain)
- Rabo-Liv (Netherlands)
- Canyon/SRAM Racing (Germany)
- Orica-AIS (Australia)
- Team Liv-Plantur (Netherlands)
- Hitec Products (Norway)
- Ale’ Cipollini (Italy)
- Cylance Pro Cycling (USA)
- BTC City Ljubljana (Slovenia)
- Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank (USA)
- Astana (Kazakhstan)
- Bepink (Italy)
- Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.86 (France)
- Lensworld-Zannata (Belgium)
- Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental team (Netherlands)
- Topsport Vlaanderen-Etixx (Belgium)
- Drops Cycling Team (Great Britain)
- Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa (Great Britain)
The Prudential RideLondon Classique will take place on a spectacular 5.5km circuit in central London, beginning on The Mall in St James’s Park, going up Constitution Hill, turning at the top to come down and on to Birdcage Walk, then passing Big Ben and turning left on to Whitehall and right on to the Strand before turning again to come back up the Strand, through Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch and back on to The Mall. See route map here
The UCI Women’s WorldTour race is part of Prudential RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling, with more than 100,000 riders expected to participate in events over the weekend of 30-31 July 2016.
The individual winner of the Prudential RideLondon Classique wins 25,000 Euros in prize money and the winning team is awarded 10,000 Euros. There will be three Continental Tyres Sprints classifications in the race offering a further 12,600 Euros in prize money.
The race will be shown live on BBC TV for the fourth successive year. It was the first women’s race in the UK, outside the Olympic or Commonwealth Games, to be broadcast live.
The organisers of the weekend festival of cycling will deliver an extensive community engagement programme with the support of TfL, the London boroughs on the route and Surrey County Council to help residents and businesses along the route plan ahead. This will include pre-awareness campaign posters on the transport network, a series of customer information emails and a leaflet drop in July to 1 million+ residents and businesses along the route. Information on travel disruption and advice will be available on www.tfl.gov.uk/ridelondon. To avoid delays over the event weekend, all drivers are advised to avoid areas near the event routes.