More great news for professional women’s road cycling today with the news that Friends Life, the pensions, investments and insurance company, have become title sponsors of The Women’s Tour.
The sponsorship means the race leader on each day will wear a Friends Life Women’s Tour Yellow Jersey, and one woman will be crowned the overall Friends Life Women’s Tour Winner.
“We are delighted to be the main sponsor of the first ever Women’s Tour and we are proud to support cycling and women’s sport in general. The Women’s Tour is an ideal partner for Friends Life as we continue to build our brand.
“Our business is about developing financial fitness through each stage of life whether it’s saving for retirement or financially protecting families. We fully support what the Women’s Tour is trying to achieve – there are many other great activities connected to the race giving opportunities for more people to get involved in sport.”
Andy Briggs, Group Chief Executive of Friends Life
Starting on the 7th of May in Oundle, Northamptonshire, the 5 stage race will pass through several towns and counties before finishing in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on the 11th May.
In addition to the racing, each of the key stage towns along the Tour route will host a Women in Sport Festival, and lots of fun events for children of all ages across a wide range of sports.
“We are delighted to be working alongside Friends Life for The Women’s Tour this May and we are looking forward to working with them to ensure that women’s cycling gains the platform it deserves and hope this partnership grows ever stronger in the future.”
“This partnership is very much an affirmation of what we wanted for The Women’s Tour when we set out on this journey. Securing the support of such an established blue chip organisation, will raise the profile of not only women’s cycling but women’s sport in general within the UK – Friends Life are the perfect fit.”
Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of SweetSpot
Tour organisers SweetSpot have also released the names of more of the top pro riders who will be competing in the event, including World Number One Emma Johansson and current UCI Women’s World Cup leader and British Champion Lizzie Armitstead.
Other top riders competing include world top ten riders Elisa Longo Borghini, Alena Amialiuski and double World Champion Giorgia Bronzini, plus a further six national champions, Gracie Elvin (Australia), Liesbet De Vocht (Belgium), Joelle Numainville (Canada), Trixi Worrack (Germany), Ashleigh Moolman (South Africa) and Jade Wilcoxson (USA).
They will be joining the illustrious likes of World and Olympic Champion Marianne Vos, and Olympic Gold Medalist and triple World Champion Dani King.
“I’m really excited to be a part of the first ever Friends Life Women’s Tour. To have such a big company supporting women’s cycling is huge for our sport, and women’s sport in general.”
Dani King, Olympic Gold Medalist
The Women’s Tour, which will see 96 of the world’s top riders competing from 7th to 11th May 2014, has been granted the highest possible ranking for a stage race, by the UCI putting it on a par with the world’s top races for women.
More info: www.thetour.co.uk
You can find out more about The Women’s Tour here:
We’ve got the lowdown on the teams competing with The Complete Lineup for The Women’s Tour.
Get your excitement building with the First Promotional Video for The Women’s Tour – inspiring stuff!
Find out which other companies are supporting women’s cycling with the New Sponsor for the Queen of the Mountains in The Women’s Tour.
