Following the success of the 2014 Friends Life Women’s Tour, Tendring will welcome the return of the internationally acclaimed women’s stage race, hosting Stage Two of the 2015 Tour in conjunction with Braintree.

Thursday 18 June will see almost 100 of the world’s top riders racing across Essex from the start in Braintree to the finish on Clacton’s Marine Parade, which saw a victorious Marianne Vos last May.

While Tendring and Clacton have welcomed the Friends Life Women’s Tour before, it will be the first time the race has visited Braintree, almost a year on from the district having welcomed the Tour de France on its way from Cambridge to London.

In 2014 in addition to the stage finish in Clacton, Tendring also played host to the start of the final stage from Harwich, taking place alongside the Tour de Tendring sportive.

The second edition of the Friends Life Women’s Tour takes place from Wednesday 17 – Sunday 21 June, again taking place over five stages with daily highlights on ITV4.  Following a team presentation event in Bury St Edmunds on the evening of Tuesday 16 June, Stage One starts from the town’s Angel Hill the following morning, heading across Suffolk to finish at Aldeburgh on the Suffolk Coast. Stage 4 was announced earlier this week with the stage starting in Waltham Cross and finishing in Stevenage.

Further details on the final stage of the 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour will be announced in the coming weeks.  The full list of 16 teams for the Friends Life Women’s Tour will be confirmed during the Spring, joining the already announced teams of Matrix Fitness and débutantes Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International.

So far the following has been announced:

Stage One        Wednesday 17 June    Bury St Edmunds to Aldeburgh
Stage Two        Thursday 18 June         Braintree to Clacton
Stage Three      Friday 19 June             To be announced
Stage Four        Saturday 20 June         Waltham Cross to Stevenage
Stage Five        Sunday 21 June            To be announced