Tour of Britain Women 2026

Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) has won the Tour of Britain Women. Starting the final stage with a 24-second buffer, her green leader's jersey was never really threatened, and stage 5 finished in a sprint that was won by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) ahead of Lara Gillespie (UAE Team L'IMAD) and Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM).

The Tour of Britain Women began with Wiebes proving untouchable once stage 1 of the Tour of Britain Women headed to a bunch sprint in Cockermouth. She rocketed to the victory ahead of Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) and Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL and the Dutch rider took the first leader's jersey.

Wiebes struck again for the sprint win on stage 2, this time in Blackpool and going well ahead of runner-up Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) and third-placed Le Court-Pienaar.

The queen stage on Friday saw Le Court-Pienaar conquer The Great Orme, winning stage 3 and going into the race lead. Going into the penultimate day of racing, Le Court-Pienaar leads the GC by 26 seconds over Liane Lippert (Movistar), who was second on stage 3, and 35 seconds over Wiebes.

Wiebes won her third Tour of Britain Women stage in four days, winning the sprint of a reduced group after a hilly stage 4 through Wales. Liane Lippert (Movistar) finished second, Le Court-Pienaar finished third and defended her GC lead.

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Tour of Britain Women information

British Cycling took over the organisation of the Tour of Britain Women, formerly known as the Women's Tour, in 2024 as the British governing body worked to put on major cycling events.

The four-day 2025 race was held between northeast England and Scotland from June 5 to 8, but in 2026 the race will be held in late summer, along with the men's race, to create ten days of racing across a three-week period in late August and early September.

For the first time, both the men's and women's races will be contested across an equal number of stages, with each to host five days of racing.

The women’s race will be held between 19-23 August, and the men’s race between 2-6 September. However, only the Tour of Britain Women is part of the WorldTour.

Join Cyclingnews for coverage all four days, and check in after each stage for our full report, results, gallery, news and features.

Lloyd's Tour of Britain Women 2026 route

The 2026 race kicks off with the longest stage of the five, the 158.9km race starting and finishing in Cockermouth, in England’s far north-west. The route takes the riders around the Lake District, as opposed to through it, and though the riders will tackle almost 2,000m of vertical ascent, none of the classified climbs are too tough.

We finish with a 35km circuit around Cockermouth, and though there is climbing, expect the more versatile sprinters to survive for a bunch finish.

Stage two heads south to the Lancashire town of Clitheroe for a 110.5km stage finishing on the coast in Blackpool.

With the climbs of Waddington Fell and Nick o’ Pendle there is some serious elevation on offer and the sprinters could be distanced, though the climbing is over with 73km to go and another bunch sprint could be on the cards.

For stage three we head to North Wales, flirting with the mountains of Snowdonia and the race’s only uphill finish, this is certainly a general classification day. Starting in Mold the peloton heads west, into the hills for two classified climbs, before looping north to the seaside town of Llandudno and the finish 104.7km later.

The climbs in Snowdonia aren’t too difficult, but the finishing ascent of The Great Orme is a beast, the 2.5km averaging 6%, but with ramps well into double figures.

Staying in Wales, the 138km between Llanidloes and Hay-on-Wye climbs almost 2,300m and is almost certain to see the peloton split all across the Welsh hills. Three classified climbs punctuate the day, with one coming early on, though the two later climbs are more likely to affect the final result, the last of them coming 16km from the line, the fast descent coming before a flat run in.

The Tour of Britain Women closes with what’s likely to be one for the sprinters, the 123.8km stage starting and finishing in Royal Leamington Spa. With 1,300m of vertical ascent there is plenty to challenge the fast women, though. Rising Sun Hill and the Burton Dassett Hills Country Park have both hosted the race before and have the potential to split the race, and the sprinters will need to work to stay in touch, though they have 30km to get back on should they be dropped.

Tour of Britain Women 2026 start list

Here are all the riders who will line up for the 2026 Tour of Britain Women.

Tour of Britain Women history

Since its inception in 2014, the Tour of Britain Women race has been won by Marianne Vos (2014), Lisa Brennauer (2015), Lizzie Deignan (2016, 2019), Kasia Niewiadoma (2017), Coryn Labecki (2018) and Demi Vollering (2021), and Elisa Longo Borghini in 2022.

The Women's Tour began in 2014 and has been part of the Women's WorldTour since 2016. However, the event was cancelled in 2020 and postponed until later in the year in 2021. All six stages were held in 2022, but the Women's Tour was cancelled in 2023 due to increased running costs and a lack of sponsorship.

British Cycling took over after SweetSpot, the former organisers of what was 'The Women's Tour' entered liquidation after financial difficulty and leaving a trail of debts.

Lotte Kopecky won the newly-named 2024 Tour of Britain Women with a 17-second gap on Anna Henderson (Great Britain), and her SD Worx-ProTime teammate Christine Majerus took third overall.

In 2025, Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) claimed the overall victory on the final stage, sprinting for time bonuses to get ahead of Cat Ferguson (Movistar). Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won the final stage after 19-year-old Ferguson won stage 3.