The Tour of Britain Women, formerly known as the Women’s Tour, returns from Wednesday 19th to Sunday 23rd August and takes place in England and Wales. It’s two months later than usual, having moved from its June slot on the calendar to now sit a week before the men’s race, and it has one more stage than previously too.
The start and finish locations for this year’s race, which is the third under the organisation of British Cycling but the 11th in total, include a whole host of towns that will be embracing the peloton for the first time.
This year’s Tour of Britain Women will begin in Cumbria and head south to Wales via Blackpool. Riders will face a big test on the Great Orme in Llandudno before a stage to Hay-on-Wye and the race’s finale in Royal Leamington Spa.
Tour of Britain Women 2026 key information
- Date: 19th-23rd August
- Start: Cockermouth
- Finish: Royal Leamington Spa
- Distance: TBC
- Live TV coverage: HBO Max
- 2025 winner: Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez)
Tour of Britain Women 2026 route
The full stage routes are yet to be revealed but the Tour of Britain Women has tacked on a fifth stage to make it the same as the men’s race. After last year saw the race go from the north of England and into Scotland, 2026 will have riders go from northwest England down into Wales and back out to finish in Royal Leamington Spa, just south of Birmingham.
Stage 1: Wednesday 19th September, Cockermouth – Cockermouth
The 2026 Tour of Britain Women begins in Cockermouth, just outside the Lake District. This is a first visit for the women’s peloton, though the men have been here twice before – notably a team time-trial in 2018. This year’s stage, which as been described as ‘challenging’, will loop west to the coast, passing through Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport and finishing back in Cockermouth.
Stage 2: Thursday 20th September, Clitheroe – Blackpool
This will be somewhat of a test run for the 2027 Grand Départ in the UK with Clitheroe gearing up for the Tour de France to pass through next year. For Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain Women, Blackpool will play host to the finale, which will likely be a sprint. Plenty of great names have won here in the past, including World Champion Mark Cavendish back in 2012.
Stage 3: Friday 21st September, Mold – The Great Orme, Llandudno
Mold in northeast Wales welcomes the Tour of Britain Women for the first time as the race leaves England. The stage goes west to Llandudno for a tough finish on the Great Orme, where Wout van Aert pipped Julian Alaphilippe in a dramatic stage finish at the 2021 men’s Tour of Britain.
Stage 4: Saturday 22nd September, Llanidloes – Hay-on-Wye
Stage 4 is another that should be a hilly stage, as the peloton heads through Powys from Llanidloes to world famous book town Hay-on-Wye, home of the Hay Festival, which sits on the north edge of Bannau Brycheiniog – the Brecon Beacons.
Stage 5: Sunday 23rd September, Royal Leamington Spa – Royal Leamington Spa
The last day of racing begins and ends at Royal Leamington Spa, which has hosted the Tour of Britain Women before, with Australians Chloe Hosking and Sarah Roy prevailing in 2017 and 2018. This finale will go through Kenilworth, Wellesbourne, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam, and take on the Burton Dasset Hills Country Park climb, which featured as an uphill finish at the 2025 men’s race, but will serve as an obstacle on the way back to Leamington Spa this time around.