RideLondon Classic Preview: London Calling for Cavendish and Wiggins
Strong line-ups for men's and women's fields
An international field will descend on London for the RideLondon Classic this weekend with high-calibre pelotons for both the men’s and women’s races.
The races, which for the men have many similarities to the 2012 Olympic Games courses, will see Bradley Wiggins (Team WIGGINS) and Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) line up, while Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda), Laura Trott (Matrix Pro Cycling), Lisa Brennauer and Barbara Guarischi (Velocio-SRAM) lead the line up in Saturday’s women’s event.
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic - The course
The men’s 200km race starts out in at Horse Guards Parade, St James’s Park in central London, 400 metres from where a Tour de France stages finished in 2014. The route then traces its way out from central London and towards the county of Surrey.
The picture-postcard scenery will be of little consolation to the field though, with the next 80km of the route zig-zagging its way through a countryside parcours that’s dotted with punchy, energy-sapping climbs. The roads are tight too in certain sections so contenders will need to be constantly towards the front of the action, even after an early break has moved off the front of the peloton.
There are a series of challenging hills before the rather more iconic Box Hill, which was centre piece to the Olympic races.
From there the peloton head back towards the capital and onto The Mall, with a finish just before Buckingham Palace.
Defending champion Adam Blythe (Orica-GreenEdge) returns to the race with a strong supporting cast, which includes Michael Hepburn. He certainly will not be the only fast finisher in the race as Cavendish and André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) will go head-to-head for the first time since the Tour de France.
Although Chris Froome is missing from Team Sky’s line up, their home team’s roster does include last year’s runner-up Ben Swift and the experienced Bernie Eisel. Swift is still finding his form after his crash at the Tour de Yorkshire earlier this season but with Andy Fenn, Chris Sutton and Elia Viviani also in Team Sky’s line-up the British team certainly have options.
Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix
In the women’s race – taking place on Saturday and held over a 1.3km criterium circuit - Team Wiggle-Honda return as the squad to beat, having won in 2013 and 2014. Defending champion Giorgia Bronzini will lead a strong squad that includes Dani King, Chloe Hosking and Annette Edmondson.
Shelley Olds will line up for her new team Alé-Cipollini, while Emma Johansson will take part for Orica-AIS. Velocio-SRAM also arrive with a team capable of winning with Brennaeur and Guarischi along with Trixi Worrack and Loren Rowney.
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Dwars door Vlaanderen Men Live - Pedersen and Van Aert return to the cobbles
Peloton tackle 188.6km from Roeselare to Waregem in Tour of Flanders dress rehearsal -
Wout van Aert abandons Dwars door Vlaanderen due to nightmare crash
Pileup in peloton also takes down Stuyven, Girmay and Pedersen -
Dwars door Vlaanderen Women Live - Classic stars prepare for Flanders
The peloton race seven cobblestone sections and nine climbs across 129.9km in Waregem -
Wout Poels reveals how Movistar punched and elbowed him at Volta a Catalunya
Dutch rider details acts of aggression from Iván García Cortina and Nairo Quintana