Women's Tour 2014 – A Giant Leap in Women’s Cycling Championship

The inaugural Women's Tour starts from Oundle in Northamptonshire and will mainly take place along the East Midlands and East Anglia, before ending the four day event in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Highlighting the importance of the event, the Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos showed her gratitude and excitement as the event promises to draw mass audiences like the London Olympics in 2012. She added that the populace in Great Britain has a special esteem for the sport and with such awe-inspiring spectators the race will surely be a fantastic affair.

As the 2014 Women’s Tour embarked on 7^th May in Great Britain, the Dutch cyclo-cross bicycle racer Marianne Vos perceived it as a landmark event. In an interview with BBC, Vos expressed her enthusiasm for the experience and described it as her dream. She said it was my dream to drive the women’s cycling to a higher level and the familiarity of such event with big organizations makes her feel pleased.

Termed as the finest cyclist of this generation, Vos is repeatedly compared with the legendary names like Eddy Merckx. Being the UCI Women’s Road Cup winner for five times in six years, Marianne considers the tour as an important milestone that corresponds to the impressive pace with which women cycling is progressing. Moreover, she portrayed the tour as important event on this year’s calendar and will be huge success that will certainly provide women cyclists with an experience of a lifetime.

Analyzing the tour as a vital sign of progress, Marianne said that the event will be a new chapter for women cycling, Accompanying her was the English cyclist Emma Pooley who is a former British Road Race and an active member of Le Tour that focuses on promoting such events to provide better opportunities and equality for women. Lizzie Armitstead, who has won a total of five medals at the UCI will certainly be the hometown favorite for the event. However, weighing upon the importance of the event, Lizzie said that the event is a resultant of some great efforts from Marianne and Emma. Besides this, Lizzie classed the two cyclists as powerful women and expected to work together to take women's cycling to the next level.

The Five Day Racing Women’s Tour 2014

This very famous race in UK, is divided in five stages. It looks very easy on paper, but it takes a fit athlete with loads of experience to attempt it in the first place. The road gets narrow at some places and twisted at others. The direction of the wind also plays a critical factor in tiring the contestants.

Let’s take a look at this race in detail and examine it through the various underlying stages it is passing through:

1. Stage 1: Wednesday, May 7 Oundle to Northampton, 93.8km, Emma Johansson Declared Winner

Day one at Racing Women’s Tour 2014 saw huge crowds lined all along the route till Northampton. With Emma Johanssona taking an early lead in the race and completing it in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 29 seconds, she beat Lizzie Armistead, the winner of several races in the past. Lizzie claimed it was her overexcitement, which lead rival Johansson to win. Hanna Barnes from the nearby Towcester took the third place and was very happy for her achievement.

2. Stage 2: Thursday, May 8 Hinckley to Bedford, 118.5km

This stage is as undulating as the first one and also covers the longest distance. Till Brixworth it is a tough ride, after which the roads become wider. A fast finish is expected at Bedford and followed by a bunch spirit at the end. The final corner before the Embankment is the key point, where 300 meters are to go. The key riders at this stage are expected to be Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) or Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv).the 19 year old Brit Lucy Garner is also a hot favorite.

3. Stage 3: Friday, May 9 Felixstowe to Clacton-on-Sea, 90.5km

This stage is likely to be affected by the wind. It looks pretty flat till Felixstowe. The Dutch teams stand to gain as they have more experience of riding in windy conditions. The route reaches the coasts after crossing through the in-town of Ipswich. There are two sprints at Little Bealings and Thorpe-le-Soken and two Strava QoMs at Freston and Holbrook.

4. Stage 4: Stage four: Saturday, May 10 Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City, 87.8km

Stage 4, the cyclists will run through tracks at Welwyn Garden City, where lies the first cement track that was raced by Victoria Pendleton. The track is not going to be as fast as the tracks for the past two days. The riders will be taking the final climb towards the finish line via a relatively gentle climb a Digswell Hill, the key point in the stage.

5. Stage 5: Sunday, May 11 Harwich to Bury St Edmunds 108.3km

Very similar to the first stage, the last stage tracks feature twisting and winding roads with an extremely technical finish, one that is highly challenging. At this stage nearing the end, there is only room for a single lead out, so whichever team gets into the 100-150 meters first is going to be the potential winner. 

Author Bio

Adam Jackson is the owner of Bike Lights UK which is a leading seller of all kinds of bicycle lights throughout UK and Europe. Prioritizing the safety and comfort of the riders Adam formed the Bike Lights UK. Being a biker himself he has been experimenting and adding all necessities of a bike rider whether it is gloves, cycle lights uk, clothing or any other accessory. He believes and advises in enjoying bike riding safely and comfortably.

Buy the Best Magicshine Bicycle Lights When You Get a New Bike

Bike Lights UK strives to offer top quality products to all its customers. They have a wide range of products related to bikes and accessories that the customer can choose from.  Bikers can buy best bikelights from Magicshine from their site. Magicshine bicycle lights are well known for their reliability and consistent performance.

When a customer buys a new bike, the following lights are highly recommended for him.

1. Magicshine MJ-872 Light unit

This light was tagged as one of the best sellers from Magicshine in 2012. It is small and has a compact design that suits all bikes. It is very light weight at just 112gm and offers a stunning 1600 lumens of output.  It has an anodized satin black or silver outer body and comes with the highly successful ‘o’ ring mount system. It is completely waterproof and can be used in all seasons. It has four levels of brightness and an inbuilt over heat protection system. It can be easily mounted on bars and helmets.

2. Magicshine MJ-868 Bike light Unit

This is one of Magicshine’s latest models and has a retro design with modern features. It has an output of 1000 lumens and for those of you buying a new bike, it’s brighter than the headlights of a car. It has an aluminum outer body and an optical toughened glass lens. The light switch has three settings and it is very easy to reach while riding. It can be mounted on bars and helmets with the ‘o’ mounting system and comes with two sizes of o-rings.

3. Magicshine MJ-880 Light unit

This is one of Magicshine brightest light, yet is small and very compact. It offers an output of 200 lumnes and is very safe for riding in the night. It comes with the new revolutionary V shaped mount. It can be easily mounted on both cars and helmet. For the price that is offered for it is a winner all the way. The top mounted switch is very easy to sue for controlling the brightness of the beam. It also comes with a circuit to protect it from overheating.