The OVO Women's Tour is one of the most popular pro women's races on the calender. It promises the pinnacle of women's road racing, big names and a thrilling route lined with spectators.
Taking place from 10–15 June, stages are raced across the south of England and Wales, and include a Dutch-style road race called a kermesse in Kent's Cyclopark.
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The 2018 edition of the race attracted 291,000 spectators along the route, plus 1.2 million per day on the ITV4 coverage (excluding catch-up viewing).
The Women's Tour launched as a new event in 2014, and has proved popular with fans and riders alike.
Marianne Vos won the inaugural edition, and since then the event has seen a different rider win each year: Lisa Brennauer (2015), Lizzie Deignan (2016), Kasia Niewiadoma (2017) and Coryn Rivera (2018).
The 2019 OVO Women's Tour
This year, you'll be able to follow those riders again, as well as Ellen van Dijk and Chloe Hosking, all of whom are placed in the current top 15 riders in the UCI. They'll be fighting it out for stage wins, jerseys and overall victory.
16 teams are participating this year, representing the cream of pro-women's racing across the world.
- Ale Cipollini
- Bigla Pro Cycling
- Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
- Canyon//SRAM Racing
- CCC-Liv
- Drops Cycling
- FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope
- Mitchelton-SCOTT GreenEDGE Cycling
- Movistar Team
- Parkhotel Valkenburg Cycling Team
- Team Sunweb
- Team Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank
- Team VIRTU Cycling
- Trek-Segafredo
- Valcar-Cylance Cycling
- WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling
There are five jerseys up for grabs;
- OVO Energy Green Jersey — race leader
- Breast Cancer Care Points Jersey
- Skoda Queen of the Mountains Jersey
- HSBC UK/British Cycling Best British Rider Jersey
- Eisberg Sprints Jersey
The 2019 OVO Women's Tour route
There are six stages on this year's Women's Tour route, taking in parts of Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Carmarthenshire, and riders will cover nearly 790km — making this the longest edition of the Tour to date:
- Monday 10 June: Beccles to Stowmarket
- Tuesday 11 June: Kent Cyclopark
- Wednesday 12 June: Henley-on-Thames to Blenheim Palace
- Thursday 13 June: Warwick to Burton Dassett
- Friday 14 June: Llandrindod Wells to Builth Wells
- Saturday 15 June: Carmarthen to Pembrey Country Park
How can I watch the OVO Women's Tour in the UK?
Highlights from each stage of the OVO Women's Tour will be broadcast on ITV4 each evening following the day's racing. This highlight programme will also be re-broadcast the following morning, and for UK residents will also be available on-demand on ITV Hub for 30 days.
- Stage 1: Monday 10 June 20.00 BST, repeated Tuesday 11 June 06.25 BST
- Stage 2: Tuesday 11 June 20.00 BST, repeated Wednesday 12 June 06.25 BST
- Stage 3: Wednesday 12 June 20.00 BST, repeated Thursday 13 June 06.25 BST
- Stage 4: Thursday 13 June 20.00 BST, repeated Friday 14 June 06.25 BST
- Stage 5: Friday 14 June 20.00 BST, repeated Saturday 15 June 06.25 BST
- Stage 6: Saturday 15 June 20.00 BST, repeated Sunday 16 June 06.10 BST
Sadly, there's no live coverage, but with more and more people watching, following the social media streams and commenting, it's only a matter of time before this changes.
How can I watch the OVO Women's Tour in the US, Australia and the rest of the world?
Various broadcasters, including Eurosport, will also be hosting the highlights programme, so international fans can keep abreast of the action.
- Eurosport – Europe, Asia and Oceania eurosport.com
- fuboTV – USA and Canada (online service) fubo.tv
- Flosports – USA and Canada (online service) flosports.tv
- SuperSport – sub-Saharan Africa supersport.com
- Sky New Zealand - sky.co.nz
