The Pearl Izumi Tour Series – a selection of high octane city and town centre crits – has included a women’s programme since 2010 and that’s not about to change.

The Matrix Fitness GP women’s series consists of six races from May to June where some of the best teams of the UK women’s peloton will battle it out.

For those who want to get close to the action there is the chance to win tickets for the Portsmouth race, as well as vouchers to spend at Pearl Izumi’s store. 

Highlights will be shown on ITV4  the day after each race – making this a fantastic opportunity for domestic teams to make an appearance on prime time TV.

Riders and teams will collect points throughout the series – with an overall team prize, individual series winner, points winner (for intermediate sprint honours) announced after all six rounds. There will of course be individual winners after each event.

Last year’s overall champion was Nikki Juniper, and she’s back this year with her new 2016 team, Team Ford EcoBoost.

Eleven teams have committed to putting up a squad for all six events, including Dame Sarah Storey’s Squad Podium Ambition and their development team Boot Out Breast Cancer.

All six rounds will take place in city and town centres, making for a fantastic opportunity for fans to get close to the action.

With competing racers coming from domestic teams, amateurs will have the chance to cheer on the girls they might find themselves sharing a start line with at some point, performing to their very best of their ability.

The races will run on the same evening as the men’s events, guaranteeing those taking part a lively crowd at the following venues:

Round One – Tuesday 17 May – Motherwell
Round Two – Thursday 26 May – Redditch
Round Three – Thursday 2 June – Stoke-on-Trent
Round Four – Monday 6 June – Stevenage
Round Five – Tuesday 7 June – Croydon
Round Six – Thursday 9 June – Portsmouth

Not only that, to celebrate the start of the 2016 series, Pearl Izumi are giving away a pair of VIP hospitality tickets at the final race in Portsmouth, plus £250 to spend at their Gunwharf Quays outlet store.

The competition is open until June 1 and you can enter here by simply filling in your email address.