Stage Three of Aviva Women's Tour to pass through Peak District

Stage three of cycling's five-day Aviva Women's Tour will pass through the Peak District in June.
Web tile sportWeb tile sport
Web tile sport

Organisers SweetSpot unveiled the route for the third edition of the race, which takes place from Wednesday, June 15 to Sunday, June 19, today.

The race will begin at Southwold on the Suffolk coast, with the opening stage finishing in Norwich.

Stage two will see a first visit to Warwickshire, with a 140-kilometre stage between Atherstone and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The first of two days in the Peak District National Park follows, with stage three between Ashbourne and Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

A hilly route from Nottingham to Stoke-on-Trent follows on the penultimate day before the final day’s racing begins in Northampton and finishes in Kettering.

Aviva Women’s Tour race director Mick Bennett said: “We are delighted to present the route for the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour with a significantly tougher parcours (route) than the previous editions, as requested by the teams following last year, allowing us to take the race to some new areas.

“The interest from venues around the country to host the race has been huge, allowing us to put together an attractive route that will make not only for excellent racing, but also big crowds from the major towns and cities on, or close to the route.”

The 2016 race will be the third Women’s Tour, which first took place in 2014, and highlights of each stage will once again be shown by ITV4 every evening during the race.

World road race champion Lizzie Armitstead said: “It’s fantastic news that the Aviva Women’s Tour will continue in 2016.

“As a British rider it’s a privilege to be able to compete on home roads, the British public have really taken to cycling and you can see that when the race goes through different towns the community really gets behind it.

“I’m excited to see the growth in women’s cycling and I think the Women’s Tour has had a really positive impact on that change.”