After 17 rounds of fierce racing, the inaugural UCI Women’s WorldTour concluded in Madrid yesterday where WiggleHigh5 scored their third Women’s WorldTour victory with Jolien d’Hoore taking the win and teammate Chloe Hosking coming in second.
Boels-Dolmans’ Megan Guarnier had already secured the series title several races prior with an impressive lead over second place finisher Leah Kirchmann (Liv-Plantur) and retiring Evelyn Stevens (Boels-Dolmans) in third. Twenty-one year-old Kasia Niewiadoma (Rabo-Liv) took the honours in the series’ youth classification with Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) in second and
Jip van den Bos (Parkhotel Valkenburg) in third.
Replacing the former UCI Women Road World Cup, which was held from 1998 to 2015, the UCI Women’s WorldTour now serves as the leading series of races for professional women cyclists, and combined with 2016 being an Olympic year, the level of competition and the professionalism in women’s racing took another step forward. This made the 2016 season a very exciting one, and as we still have several weeks before the UCI World Road Championships in October, let’s relive the first-ever UCI Women’s WorldTour by taking a look at the numbers —courtesy of the UCI— and photo and video highlights.
The 2016 UCI Women’s WorldTour in numbers
Number of rounds: 17 (4 stage races, 12 one-day races)
Number of race days: 35
Number of countries visited: 9 countries on 3 continents
Number of winners: 20 individual winners
Number of riders to wear the UCI Women’s WorldTour leader’s jersey: 4 – Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv), Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) and overall series winner Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans).
Number of riders to wear the UCI Women’s WorldTour youth jersey: 2 – Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) and final youth classification winner Kasia Niewiadoma (Rabo-Liv).
Most wins: World Champion Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) scored the most wins with three one-day races, one stage win and one stage race general classification victory for a total of 5 wins.
Winningest team: With 15 wins from 5 different riders as well as a team time trial in Vårgårda, the Boels-Dolmans team was the most dominant squad of the 2016 season with 16 wins in total
Winningest nation: With nine victories from six different, The Netherlands continues its reputation as a small but dominant cycling country. The USA was a close second with eight victories from three riders.
Youngest winner: Twenty-two year-old Thalita de Jong won a stage in the Giro d’Italia.
Oldest winner: Evie Stevens, Kristen Wild and Giorgia Bronzini are all 33, but Stevens’ birthday comes first.
Biggest prize purse: 100,000 Euros at Prudential RideLondon. Race winner Kirsten Wild too home 25,000 Euros.
The 2016 UCI Women’s WorldTour recap in photos and videos
Strade Bianche, Italy
1. Lizzie Armitstead(Boels-Dolmans)
2. Kasia Niewiadoma (Rabo-Liv)
3. Emma Johannson (WiggleHigh5)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Women’s WorldTour Ronde van Drenthe, The Netherlands
1. Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS)
3. Trixi Worrack (Canyon-SRAM)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio, Italy
No rainbow curse here, says Lizzie Armitstead.
1. Lizzie Armitstead(Boels-Dolmans)
2. Megan Guernier (Boels-Dolmans)
3. Jolanda Neff (Servetto-Footon)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Gent-Wevelgem, Belgium
The peloton heads into Wevelgem,
1. Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM)
3. Lucinda Brand (Rabo-Liv)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour of Flanders, Belgium
1. Lizzie Armitsead (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Emma Johannson (WiggleHigh5)
3. Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, Belgium
1. Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv)
2. Evelyn Stevens (Boels-Dolmans)
3. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Tour of Chongming Island, China
Overall:
1. Chloe Hosking (WiggleHigh5)
2. Ting Ying Huang (Chinese Tapei team)
3. Leah kirchmann (Liv-Plantur)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Amgen Tour of California, USA
Overall:
1. Megan Guarnier(Boels-Dolmans)
2. Kristin Armstrong (Twenty16-RideBiker)
3. Evelyn Stevens (Boels-Dolmans)
Video Highlights:
Philadelphia International Cycling Classic, USA
Women’s WorldTour leader Megan Guarnier.
1. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (WiggleHigh5)
3. Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Aviva Womens Tour, Great Britain
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.
Overall:
1. Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla)
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, Italy
Guarnier in the pink
Overall:
1. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Evelyn Stevens (Boels-Dolmans)
3. Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
La Course by Le Tour de France, France
Chloe Hosking (Wiggle-High5) sprinted to victory at the La Course, after the breakaway was brought back in the home stretch. Photo: Cor Vos
1. Chloe Hosking (WiggleHigh5)
2. Lotta Lepistö (Cervélo-Bigla)
3. Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Prudential Ride London, Great Britain
1. Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products)
2. Nina Kessler (Lensworld-Zannata)
3. Leah Kirchmann (Liv-Plantur)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Crescent Vargarda UCI Women’s WorldTour, Sweden
1. Emilia Fahlin (Alé Cipollini)
2. Lotta Lepistö (Cervélo-Bigla)
3. Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
Crescent Vargarda UCI Women’s WorldTour TTT, Sweden
1. Boels-Dolmans
2. Cervélo-Bigla
3. Rabo-Liv
Race Report
Video Highlights:
GP de Plouay-Bretagne, France
1. Eugenia Bujak (BTC City Ljubljana)
2. Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM)
3. Joëlle Numainville (Cervélo-Bigla)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
La Madrid Challenge By La Vuelta, Spain
1. Jolien d’Hoore (WiggleHigh5)
2. Chloe Hosking (WiggleHigh5)
3. Marta Bastianelli (Alé Cipollini)
Race Report
Video Highlights:
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