Stoke-on-Trent will welcome the world’s top female cyclists on Thursday, June 8 when the city hosts a stage of The Women’s Tour. Stage Two of the UK’s biggest professional women’s race will start and finish in the city centre, giving people the chance to get up close to the action as elite cyclists battle it out on the roads of the city.
All of the world’s top 15 teams will take part in the race, which will start on Upper Market Square, next to the statue of Sir Stanley Matthews, and finish 144.5km later back in the city with riders sprinting for the finish line outside Hanley Town Hall.
The stage will take riders on an anti-clockwise route through Joiners Square, Bucknall, Bentilee, Adderley Green, Park Hall and Meir. The riders will then head out into Staffordshire before returning to the city centre through Baddeley Green and Abbey Hulton, giving residents plenty of opportunities to catch a glimpse of the action for free.
The Women’s Tour will be the second major cycling event to be held in the city this year, following on from Round Two of The Tour Series circuit race which takes place in the city centre on Thursday, May 11.
The Tour Series, which is coming to the city for the ninth time, will feature seven professional men’s teams (8pm), as well as the women’s Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series (6pm), battling it out on a closed road, city centre circuit which starts and finishes on Town Road. Before the races, the day will feature school activities and a corporate grand prix which local businesses and organisations can take part in. There will also be street entertainment around a promotional zone.
