The Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) announced the launch of the UCI Women's WorldTour. The Tour, which will be launched in '16, will become the leading series of races for professional women road cyclists replacing the former UCI Women Road World Cup, which ran from '98-15. The WWT will comprise a combination of one-day and stage races and will run for 35 days from March to September, increasing the number of competition days by more than 60%.
The '16 calendar will take the peloton to 17 events across Europe, the U.S. and China, including for the first time multi-day events such as the Aviva Women’s Tour of Britain and the Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile. The popular Amgen Tour of California and the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic will be staged in the U.S. The top 20 UCI Women’s Teams will be invited to participate in each event with some organizers choosing to increase the size of the peloton by offering a greater number of teams the chance to race. Increased media exposure is at the heart of UCI’s strategy for the development of women’s cycling and there will be substantial live broadcast and streaming as well as highlight packages (UCI).
