The greatest ever field for a women’s criterium staged in the UK will assemble in central London today, as 100 of the world’s top riders race for victory in the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix, one of five events in the Mayor of London’s multi-award winning Prudential RideLondon festival of cycling.
World and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos tops a world-class field featuring the first three from last year’s inaugural race, including defending champion Laura Trott who will join her Wiggle Honda teammates to race on the flat, fast 1.3-mile circuit around St James’s Park.
“I’m really excited to be racing at the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix again – having such a great field to compete against will be amazing. It means that this race can only get bigger,” said Trott ahead of Saturday’s race.
“I peaked for the Commonwealth Games so I’m not really in the best shape to be Wiggle Honda’s team leader right now; I think we’ll probably ride for Giorgia Bronzini [2011 world road race champion] instead. This race will be completely different to the points race at the Commonwealth Games because I’ll be riding a bike with gears!”
When the race gets underway shortly after 17:00 on Saturday 9 August, the cyclists likely to attract the most attention are Marianne Vos and Lizzie Armitstead as the gold and silver medallists from the 2012 Olympic Games road race are reunited on The Mall.
Two years ago it was Vos who came out on top, and few would bet against a repeat victory for the Dutchwoman who has already enjoyed one major victory in Britain this year, having won the Women’s Tour in May.
Both are in fine form. Armitstead won gold in the Commonwealth Games road race last weekend, while Vos claimed victories in La Course by Le Tour plus the latest round of the UCI World Cup in Germany over the past two weekends.
Bronzini, who was second behind Vos in the Sparkassen Giro recently, is also one of the riders to keep an eye out for. The Italian is a fine sprinter with a fast finish and she has already won races in China, Italy and Belgium this season.
Armitstead isn’t the only Glasgow medallist in action this weekend; spectators can also look out for Scotland’s Katie Archibald, who took bronze in the Commonwealth Games points race on the track when Trott claimed the gold.
Fellow Scot Eileen Roe of the Starley Primal team has been the dominant force on the UK criterium scene, winning the Matrix Fitness GP Series in June followed by the British Circuit Race Championships, ensuring she’ll wear the red, white and blue stripes on Saturday evening.
Last year’s British Circuit Race champion Hannah Barnes will also be in the hunt a year on from being narrowly beaten by Trott on The Mall. Barnes now rides for the American UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team, while her cousin Emily will line-up as part of the Team MuleBar Girl-Sigma Sport team.
Loren Rowney finished close behind Trott and Barnes last year and she is part of a very strong Specialized Lululemon team with Tiffany Cromwell while there are also three other top 10 finishers from 2013 – Matrix Fitness-Vulpine’s Harriet Owen (sixth), Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International’s Lauren Creamer (eighth) and 10th-placed Mary Costelloe from WyndyMilla Reynolds.
Creamer will be joined by her team captain Dame Sarah Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian, in the Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International team. The squad took the team prize during the Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series, with Storey featuring strongly in the Stoke-on-Trent and Redditch events, while in recent weeks she has won a stage of the Tour of Brittany.
Fellow domestic team Matrix Fitness-Vulpine has entered a six-rider squad in the week they announced plans to step up to UCI level for 2015 – a move that will put them alongside the likes of fellow Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix teams Specialized Lululemon and Rabo Liv.
Other names to look out for include Grace Garner (RST Racing Team), the younger sister of double junior world champion Lucy, and a rising star in the sport, plus Lydia Boylan and Jasmine Diotti, part of a strong line-up from Velosport Pasta Montegrappa, and Hannah Walker of Epic Cycles-Scott Contessa WRT.
Irish squad DID Electrical return to the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix for the second year, while cycling fans with longer memories will recognise the name of Vos’s Rabo Liv teammate, Roxane Knetemann, daughter of the late 1978 world champion Gerrie.
Live coverage of the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix starts on BBC2 at 17:00