With a week to go until the Friends Life Women’s Tour rolls into action in Northamptonshire, the provisional rider list for the event is now available.

Featuring the names of the 96 riders who will make history when they cross the Start line in Oundle, Northamptonshire at 11am on Wednesday 7th May, the list is headlined by reigning World and Olympic Champion Marianne Vos and her Rabo Liv team, with the Dutch woman taking the #1.

Other numbers to look out for include British champion and UCI World Cup leader Lizzie Armitstead with #21, World number one Emma Johansson who will be #111 and British Olympic trio Laura Trott (#151), Dani King (#152) and Joanna Rowsell (#155).

Northamptonshire’s local hero Hannah Barnes will rider with #141 on her back in UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling colours, while Leicestershire’s Lucy Garner leads Great Britain with #41, and will race through her hometown, Cosby, during Stage Two.

The other two national teams in the race, Netherlands and Switzerland, are led by Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Amy Pieters (#91) and World Under-23 Mountain Biking Champion Jolanda Neff (#131), while British domestic squad Matrix Fitness – Vulpine take numbers #81 to #86, led by World Cyclo Cross Championship Bronze medallist Helen Wyman.

Did you know:

  • Riders from 20 different countries are present on the provisional rider list.
  • There are 21 British riders on the start list, riding for 7 different teams.
  • 7 of the current World top 10 are on the provisional rider list, plus a further 4 riders from the world’s top 20.
  • 12 of the current UCI World Cup top 20 teams are due to start the Friends Life Women’s Tour.
  • Four Olympic Champions are on the list – Marianne Vos, Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell – while three other riders boast Olympic medals.
  • Eleven different senior World Champions are on the provisional rider list, with 40 World titles between them.
  • The line-up features last year’s 1-2-3 from both the season long UCI World Cup (Marianne Vos, Emma Johansson and Ellen Van Dijk) and the World Road Race Championships (Vos, Johansson and Rossella Ratto)

Over the coming days keep checking back for further updates to the provisional rider list as teams confirm their final line-ups for the first ever Friends Life Women’s Tour with organisers.

The final start list will be confirmed late afternoon on Tuesday 6th May following the Team Manager’s meeting, although organisers SweetSpot expect minimal changes to the provisional list.

Highlights from the five-stage Friends Life Women’s Tour will be shown on ITV4 at 9pm each evening.