Women's Tour de Yorkshire 2018

Women's Tour de Yorkshire - overview

Now in its third year, the Women's Tour de Yorkshire doubles its distance from last year in 2018, going from a one-day race to a two-stage UCI 2.1-ranked event.

Last year's winner Lizzie Deignan (Boels Dolmans) will not return to defend her title as she is sitting out the season while expecting her first child, opening up the British event for a new champion.

The race begins with a 132km stage from Beverley to Doncaster, with a single classified climb the Cote de Baggaby coming 40km into the race. It should be a day for the sprinters with a pan-flat run-in to the finish.

Stage 2, a far more testing affair, is a lumpy 124km from Barnsley to Ilkley, finishing on the 1.8km-long Cote de Cow and Calf - a climb that averages 8.2%.

World champion Chantal Blaak will line up to defend Boels Dolmans' title, with the in-form Megan Guarnier and Karol-Ann Canuel for support.

Other favourites include 2016 winner Kirsten Wild (Wiggle High5), FDJ's Shara Gillow, Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM), and Marta Bastianelli (Ale Cipollini).

2017 Tour de Yorkshire Results