The UCI has today announced a new race, the Women’s Tour of Scotland, that will make its debut next August and which will be broadcast to a global audience on TV.
Taking place from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 August, the professional race will be accompanied by “a public cycling event that will bring together 5,000 cyclists from Scotland and beyond.”
Details of the 350-ikilometre route will be released at a future date – although with the Edinburgh Festival in full swing in August each year putting pressure on accommodation and infrastructure in the city, it’s possible the capital won’t figure.
This year, Glasgow hosted the European Championship road cycling events which were part of a multi-sport format for the first time, with some other sports hosted in Berlin.
The Women’s Tour of Scotland, which will have a permanent place on the UCI calendar, takes place a week after next year’s Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix which attracts many of the world’s top female cyclists.
The event is being organised by Zeus Sports whose managing director, Darren Clayton, said: “Scotland’s reputation as a destination for hosting international sporting events just keeps on growing and we’re confident that The Women’s Tour of Scotland will only help to strengthen and build on this.
“We want to raise awareness of female cycling on a global scale and there’s no better backdrop than the Scottish landscape to show off the sport at its best.
“We’ll be working with stakeholders across the next few months from Event Scotland, to Scottish Cycling and local businesses to ensure the event sets a strong precedent for years to come.
“We look forward to revealing the full race route through Scotland over the coming months and getting local communities behind the event ahead of next August,” he added.
Craig Burn, CEO at Scottish Cycling, commented: “We're incredibly proud to be working with the team at The Women's Tour of Scotland to make this become an iconic race on the professional cycling calendar.
“The event will provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase the talent and passion that exists within the sport here in Scotland.
“As well as the elite level competition, the mass participation element provides a great platform for those involved with the sport at a grassroots level to sample a unique atmosphere and to be inspired for the future."
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.