Last year’s winner of the Best Young Rider award at the OVO Energy Women’s Tour Floortje Mackaij will return to the race this June at the head of a strong line-up for Team Sunweb.

21-year-old Mackaij, who finished tenth overall in 2016, will be joined by multiple Dutch Champion Lucinda Brand and Canadian Leah Kirchmann.

Brand, who hails from Dordrecht in the Netherlands has twice ridden the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, and started this season by winning the prestigious Omloop Het Nieuwsblad single-day race in Belgium.

Lucinda Brand winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Photo CorVos | Sunweb

Kirchmann has an impressive record in the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, having ridden all three iterations of the race and finishing in the top 12 overall on each occasion, including taking sixth place in 2016.  The former Canadian Champion also has eight top ten stage finishes to her name, including all five of last year’s stages.

Floortje Mackij said;

“I am really looking forward to racing in the UK. The Women’s Tour is always a really nice race with a very strong field of riders and the parcours are really challenging. We start with a strong team so hopefully we can get a good result together. It’s always nice to be in the UK, there are always a lot of supporters and they are super enthusiastic about cycling which is brilliant. Having so many people out on the road to support is a great feeling.”

Floortje Mackij on the podium in the Best Young Riders Jersey | 2016 Women’s Tour

Team Sunweb will confirm their final three riders for the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in the day’s building up to the event, which begins in Daventry, Northamptonshire on Wednesday 7 June.

Already named on the provisional rider list for the OVO Energy Women’s Tour are all three former champions of the UCI Women’s WorldTour event – Lizzie Deignan (Boels Dolmans), Lisa Brennauer (Canyon//SRAM) and Marianne Vos (WM3 Pro Cycling).

The OVO Energy Women’s Tour will begin in Northamptonshire on Wednesday June 7, with the opening stage between Daventry and Kettering and also include stages in Warwickshire and Derbyshire, finishing in central London on Sunday 11 June.  All 15 of the world’s top teams will be taking place, plus British squads Team WNT and Drops.

A one-hour highlights programme of every stage will be broadcast daily on ITV4 and Eurosport and available on demand via the ITV Hub and Eurosport Player. The OVO Energy Women’s Tour is a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, comprising 20 events around the world in 10 different countries.