The Women's Tour, Britain's first international level stage race for women in the UK, has selected Strava as the title sponsor of its Queen of the Mountains jersey competition. The coveted title will be fought for by 96 of the world's top female cyclists during the inaugural event, highlighting the growing momentum within the sport of professional women's cycling.
"We are pleased to welcome Strava to The Women's Tour and thank them for their support of women's sport” says Mick Bennett, The Women's Tour Race Director.
As the online network connecting millions of athletes around the world, Strava supports women's cycling at the highest levels and will leverage its global brand to raise exposure for the sport. The Women's Tour is one of a select few stage races for women and features a Queen of the Mountains jersey competition, the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race. Strava is keen to support this important event, particularly because the competition title inspired Strava's popular Queen of the Mountain designation on its online leaderboards.
"The opportunity to be a partner of the inaugural Women's Tour and help raise awareness for women's cycling globally is something that Strava is very excited to be a part of. The Queen of the Mountains classification was a natural choice for us and we look forward to seeing some of the world's best female cyclists in Strava's signature polka-dot orange later this year”, says Gareth Nettleton, Strava's Director of International Marketing.
The event, which will take place 7th – 11th May 2014, will be hotly contested and promises to draw significant international attention. Each stage of The Women's Tour will feature two Strava Queen of the Mountains climbs where the peloton will compete for points awarded at each summit. The Strava orange polka-dot jersey will be at the heart of the competition and presented to the classification leader at the end of each stage.
"The Queen of the Mountains climbs are always one of the most popular locations on any race, and now with Strava their challenge takes on extra significance”, says Mick Bennett.
For more information regarding each stage of the Queen of the Mountains competition please refer to the second press release titled "Locations revealed for Strava Queen of the Mountains climbs” which can be downloaded along with images of the Strava Queen of the Mountains jersey by clicking here or visiting www.thetour.co.uk/press