We’ve had five days of thrilling, action packed racing in the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour. It was a wonderful celebration of the sport with five fantastic stage winners and a hometown rider taking the yellow leader’s jersey.
“What a fantastic team performance it’s been,” Armitstead said of her Women’s Tour victory. Armitstead admitted to some nerves in the final stage of the race, as the break had a four minute advantage at one point, but her team reassured her everything was under control. “They kept a cool head and Chantal [Blaak] said ‘We can close that gap if we want to’.”
“Being a British athlete, I feel so lucky to be a part of a country that loves cycling at the moment and I hope that that bubble continues. My teammates say ‘Lizzie, why is it so popular here?’ and I don’t really know the answer, but events like this certainly help keep the ball rolling.”
Not able to contest the Women’s Tour victory in 2015 due to her crash in stage 1, she was really happy to be able to take the win this year. “This time last year I was in bed watching it,” Armitstead contemplated on the team website. “It’s nice to put bad memories to bed. It’s been a really good and valuable experience all week. The biggest thing I’ve taken away from it is how strong of a team we are, how much of a unit we are. If we put our minds to it, we really can achieve results with anyone on the team, and I’m very proud of everybody for that.”
If you, like us, feel a little sad this wonderful stage race is over now, feast your eyes on videos and photos of round ten in the Women’s WorldTour.
Be sure to scroll right on to the bottom for an overview of the Aviva Women’s Tour results and the Women’s WorldTour standings, plus a ‘bonus’ video.
Stage 1 highlights
Stage 2 highlights
Stage 3 highlights
Stage 4 highlights
Stage 5 highlights
Photo gallery
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- Seconds before the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour is about to start. The national champions and former winners of this race have lined up at the front.
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- Some humour from the best British rider jersey sponsor Adnams.
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- A long solo break, but no win for Alison Tetrick (Cyclance Pro Cycling), as she’s passed by the peloton only 50 meters from the finish line.
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- Stage win for Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans) in the first stage of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour.
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- The stage win means the first yellow jersey this Women’s Tour is for Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans).
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- A colourful display ahead of stage 2 in the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour, with Christine Majerus wearing the yellow leader’s jersey and Boels-Dolmans teammate Lizzie Armitstead the best British rider jersey.
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- Close sprint for the stage 2 win, that went to Amy Pieters (Wiggle-High5) ahead of Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM) and Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv). Vos did take the yellow leader’s jersey because of the bonus seconds she collected throughout the stage.
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- A late puncture for Laurel Rathbun (United Healthcare) caused her to miss the sprint, but it did give her time to celebrate this wonderful cycling event with some fans.
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- Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) obviously happy to have retained her best British rider jersey in stage 2 of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour.
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- The peloton rolls out in stage 3 of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour, over vastly decorated streets aligned with lots of spectators.
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- A familiar sight in the Women’s Tour: many spectators cheering on the peloton at all the QOM sprints.
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- Boels-Dolmans controls the bunch with Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv) in the yellow leader’s jersey.
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- A nice gesture by Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) as she wins stage 3 in the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour, pointing at the sky towards the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. With this win, she takes over the yellow leader’s jersey.
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- All smiles for Nikki Harris (Boels-Dolmans) as she leads the peloton through her home town of Draycott in stage 4 of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour.
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- Consultation between Wiggle-High5’s Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini in the break.
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- The break doesn’t last as the chasers join the leaders in the final kilometer of stage 4.
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- Your stage 4 winner: Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv) finally takes that much sought after stage win after having come close in the first three stages of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour.
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- Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) even firmer in yellow ahead of the final stage in the 2016 Aviva WOmen’s Tour.
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- A day for the breakaway; Cervélo-Bigla’s Lotta Lepistö wins stage 5 of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour out of a break of seven.
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- Final sprint to the line in this year’s Women’s Tour.
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- The podium of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour: 1. Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), 2. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla), 3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5).
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- Champagne showers for points jersey winner Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv), QOM jersey winner Katie Hall (United Healthcare) and Jolien D’Hoore of best team Wiggle-High5.
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- Final podium and all jersey winners of the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour.
The 2016 Women’s Tour
General classification
1. Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) 16:00:39
2. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla) + 0:11
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) + 0:13
4. Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv) + 0:18
5. Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) + 0:20
Stoke-on-Trent young rider jersey
Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur)
Chain Reactions Cycles points jersey
Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv)
Strava QOM jersey
Katie Hall (United Healthcare)
Adnams best British rider
Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans)
Best team
Wiggle-High5
Overall combativity winner
Emilia Fahlin (Ale Cipollini)
As this was round ten in the Women’s WorldTour, here are the updated standings, with Boels-Dolmans still dominating the individual and team classifications.
The Women’s WorldTour standings after the Aviva Women’s Tour
General classification
1. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) – 624 points
2. Lizzie Armistead (Boels-Dolmans) – 537 points
3. Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5) – 463 points
Young rider classification
1. Kasia Niewiadoma (Rabo-Liv) – 24 points
2. Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) – 18 points
3. Jip van den Bos (Parkhotel Valkenburg) – 10 points
Team classification
1. Boels-Dolmans – 2022 points
2. Wiggle-High5 – 1397 points
3. Rabo-Liv – 1031 points
Bonus video
Another home rider this 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour was Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM), best young rider and best British rider in the 2015 edition of this race.
Barnes broke her ankle in August last year, which meant she was out for almost five months. This year, her aim was therefore to support her team, further improve her form and to see how far she could come in both classifications.
Eventually, she finished sixth in the young rider classification and sixth British rider in the GC, one spot behind younger sister Alice Barnes (Drops Cycling).
Here she is talking about her recovery and goals she had for the 2016 Aviva Women’s Tour in a pre-race interview with Wahoo.
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The Women’s WorldTour continues with the Giro Rosa, which runs from July 1-10.