The Women’s Tour will not run in 2023 due to lack of financial support, and will have a one-year hiatus before hopefully starting again in 2024. Sweetspot, the organisation behind the Women’s Tour since its creation in 2014, said a combination of increased running costs – approximately 20% higher than the 2022 edition – and reduced commercial support made the race ‘impossible’ to deliver in June.
This decision comes after a three-week renewed appeal for funding by the Women’s Tour. A crowdfunding campaign had been launched on GoFundMe and backed by over 500 donors to try to cover as much of the £500,000 needed before the event as possible. Britain’s premier women’s race, which was set to run from 7th to 11th June 2023, had already reduced the number of stages for this year to cut costs but still required title sponsorship, three jersey classification sponsors and an automotive partner. Sweetspot says all crowdfunding donations are in the process of being refunded.
It’s another devastating blow to not only the women’s scene, but racing in Britain as a whole too following the cancellation of the Tour Series. The Women’s Tour has been a well-loved addition to the women’s calendar since Marianne Vos won its inaugural edition in 2014. The race has championed gender equality in pro cycling through its prize money and TV and media coverage, and also partnered with charity Breast Cancer Now.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) won the 2022 race ahead of Grace Brown (FDJ-NouvelleAquitaine-Futuroscope) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM). Yorkshire’s Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) is the only two-time winner of the race, coming out on top in 2016 and 2019.
Organisers are working on plans for the 2024 edition of the Women’s Tour, which will begin in Wales and mark the tenth anniversary of the race. Sweetspot remain confident that the men’s Tour of Britain, scheduled to run in September 2023, will go ahead as planned.