{"id":7851,"date":"2019-06-09T18:59:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T18:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/?p=7851"},"modified":"2019-06-09T19:02:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T19:02:34","slug":"ovo-energy-womens-tour-2019-pre-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/?p=7851","title":{"rendered":"OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Kasia Niewiadoma, Canyon SRAM Racing (2017 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ahead of the opening stage of the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour on Monday (10 June) in Suffolk, four of the race\u2019s previous five champions, Lizzie Deignan, Marianne Vos, Kasia Niewiadoma and Coryn Rivera, spoke at a pre-race media event in Ipswich, looking ahead to the six day race.<\/h4>\n

The quartet, along with 2015 winner Lisa Brennauer (WNT ROTOR Pro Cycling), feature in a 16-team, 96-rider start list for the sixth edition of the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour, which concludes in Carmarthenshire on Saturday 15 June.<\/p>\n

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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Lizzie Deignan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Lizzie Deignan, Trek Segafredo (2016 winner):<\/pre>\n[on parcours] \u201cI think like always we\u2019re going to have to be very prepared for the unpredictability of the stages. The only thing we can be sure of is that the first stage is flat and from there on in we have to be prepared for anything because I think those Welsh stages will be really difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our team is really focused on having the opportunity every night on TV to showcase Women\u2019s cycling; we\u2019ll be aggressive and make the racing interesting, and normally that leads to victory.\u201d<\/p>\n[on ambitions] \u201cWe\u2019ll be aggressive and make the racing interesting and normally that leads to victories.\u201d<\/p>\n[on her return to racing] \u201cThis race was my first idea of when I would return to racing so I\u2019ve come back earlier than expected, and thank goodness because this would be a pretty brutal beginning. I\u2019m going to take a rest after this race, so this is the last block of racing for me before I have a rest.\u201d<\/p>\n[on Stage 2 at the Kent Cyclopark] \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be really painful! It\u2019s been about 15 years since I\u2019ve done a criterium, I might be in trouble. It\u2019s going to be fast, technical and aggressive. There will be lots of accelerations and I think it\u2019ll be a hard stage.\u201d<\/p>\n[on winning the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour in 2016] \u201cI think winning overall for me was a huge deal. I\u2019d never won a stage race before \u2013 I barely finish stage races normally, so to finish it and win it was very special. I think I probably had some of the strongest legs of my career at the Women\u2019s Tour that year, and to race in front of a British crowd is always incredibly special for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Marianne Vos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Marianne Vos, CCC Liv (2014 winner):<\/pre>\n[on parcours] \u201cThis race is always unpredictable so things can happen in every stage and when it\u2019s flat it\u2019s rolling and the weather can play a role as well, the first few can be decisive for the general already.\u201d<\/p>\n[on form] \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be back racing, tomorrow I will feel the first race back again like Kasia [Niewiadoma] said.\u201d<\/p>\n[on team and leadership] \u201cIt\u2019s unpredictable and that\u2019s also how we go into this race with an open strategy and see how it turns out and we\u2019ll play that card and it\u2019s better when you have more cards to play especially when it is this hard. Of course a stage victory is always great and we hope to do well in GC.\u201d<\/p>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Kasia Niewiadoma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Kasia Niewiadoma, Canyon SRAM Racing (2017 winner):<\/pre>\n[on ambitions] \u201cWith my team, we are ready to do our best as everyone and of course it will be great to get some stage victories and GC at the end but it\u2019s always easier said and done.\u201d<\/p>\n[on parcours] \u201cSomehow, I feel even tomorrow will be super difficult, even though it\u2019s flat I know how I won this race was a stupid attack, so maybe tomorrow someone will do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n[on solo win] \u201cI do believe there are a lot of riders have the opportunity to win from just a solo attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Coryn Rivera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Coryn Rivera, Team Sunweb (2018 winner):<\/pre>\n[on parcours] \u201cDefinitely the last two stages in Wales are pretty hard and then an interesting stage two with the circuit is different but will definitely be exciting, quite a bit harder than last year.\u201d<\/p>\n[on form] \u201cI\u2019m confident in my form and also I my team, I think we\u2019re here with a strong squad and we will do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once more the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour offers prize money parity with the men\u2019s Tour of Britain, thanks to award winning independent energy supplier OVO Energy, the title sponsors for a third edition of the race.<\/p>\n
Stage One takes place in Suffolk, getting underway from Beccles at 10:30 and featuring a 157.9-kilometre \/ 98-mile that finishing in Stowmarket, with an expected finish of around 15:00 in the town centre.<\/p>\n
Highlights of Stage One will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Monday 10 June with a repeat at 06:25 on Tuesday 11 June on the same channel. Programmes will be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch up service and via Eurosport in the UK and around the world.<\/p>\n
Words by Sweetspot, Images Chris Maher<\/p>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Stages
\n\u2022 Stage One, Monday 10 June, Beccles to Stowmarket, 157.6km
\n\u2022 Stage Two, Tuesday 11 June, the Kent Cyclopark Stage, 62.5km
\n\u2022 Stage Three, Wednesday 12 June, Henley-on-Thames to Blenheim Palace, 145.1km
\n\u2022 Stage Four, Thursday 13 June, Warwick to Burton Dassett Country Park, 158.9km
\n\u2022 Stage Five, Friday 14 June, Llandrindod Wells to Builth Wells, 140km
\n\u2022 Stage Six, Saturday 15 June, Carmarthen to Pembrey Country Park, 125.9km<\/p>\n
About the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour
\nCreated by SweetSpot Group in 2014, the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour is the UK\u2019s first international stage race for women, bringing the world\u2019s top riders to compete in Great Britain as a part of the UCI Women\u2019s WorldTour.<\/p>\n
In addition to its wider aims of promoting active and healthy lifestyles to women, the event has championed equality in sport, notably offering the same prize fund pro rata as the men\u2019s OVO Energy Tour of Britain. The race will expand to six days for the first time in its history in 2019.<\/p>\n
The race, which has been won by the likes of Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016) and Coryn Rivera (2018), attracts an annual roadside audience of 300,000, as well as over three million fans through linear and online platforms.<\/p>\n
Follow the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour on Twitter (#OVOWT), Facebook, Instagram or via the event\u2019s official website at womenstour.co.uk.<\/p>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Kasia Niewiadoma, Canyon SRAM Racing (2017 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Marianne Vos, CCC Liv (2014 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Coryn Rivera, Team Sunweb (2018 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Lizzie Deignan, Trek Segafredo (2016 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2019 | Pre Race Press – Marianne Vos, CCC Liv (2014 winner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ahead of the opening stage of the OVO Energy Women\u2019s Tour on Monday (10 June) in Suffolk, four of the race\u2019s previous five champions, Lizzie Deignan, Marianne Vos, Kasia Niewiadoma and Coryn Rivera, spoke at a pre-race media event in Ipswich, looking ahead to the six day race. The quartet, along with 2015 winner Lisa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,948,775],"tags":[783,1206,1045,248,474],"class_list":["post-7851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ovo-energy-womens-tour","category-uci-womens-world-tour","category-womens-road-race-cycling-events","tag-coryn-rivera","tag-kasia-niewiadoma","tag-lizzie-deignan","tag-marianne-vos","tag-sweetspot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7851"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7868,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851\/revisions\/7868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}