Deignan, Henderson and more set for Women's Tour of Britain

Several of Britain's best riders will compete in June's Lloyds Women's Tour of Britain, including Lizzie Deignan.

Her Lidl-Trek team-mate and Olympic silver medallist from last year's Paris Games Anna Henderson will also take on the four stages across England and Scotland, from 5-8 June.

Also starring are two of British cycling's brightest prospects Cat Ferguson of Movistar and Imogen Wolff, who rides for Visma-Lease a Bike.

Sisters Elynor and Zoe Backstedt also compete, for UAE-Team ADQ and Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto respectively.

Deignan, 36, is retiring at the end of this season after an illustrious career which includes twice winning the Tour of Britain Women and many of the sport's biggest races, including the inaugural Paris-Roubaix in 2021 and a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

"I have such special memories from this race and over my career I have had a lot of success here," said Deignan, who won in 2016 and 2019.

"This will be my final Tour of Britain so it will be bittersweet but I am going to be surrounded by some incredible women."

The UCI World Tour race sees a peloton of world-class riders - including peerless sprinter Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands - take on stages in the north east of England, including Hartlepool, and in Scotland, finishing in Glasgow.

Ferguson won last year's junior UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland, and is seen as one of the best young talents on the Women's World Tour.

The 19-year-old won last week's Navarra Women's Elite Classic one-day race while Wolff, also 19, won stage three and the young rider's white jersey at the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina in March.

The Tour of Britain Women was rescued by British Cycling last year after being cancelled in 2023 because of funding issues.

The race is known for being one of the few races which pays equal prize money - relative the number of stages - to the men's event.

The Tour de France Femmes - women's cycling's biggest race - pays its winner 10% of that of the men's event, at 50,000 Euros.

Stage one: Thursday 5 June, Dalby Forest to Redcar

Stage two: Friday 6 June, Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Stage three: Saturday 7 June, The Scottish Borders Stage, Kelso to Kelso

Stage four: Sunday 8 June, The Glasgow Stage