Cycling: Prize money for Women's Tour in Britain increased to match men's Tour
- Published
The Women's Tour was introduced in 2014 and is the UK's first ever international stage-race for women
The prize money for this year's Women's Tour in Britain has been increased by 55,000 euro (£49,107), making it identical to the equivalent men's Tour.
The prize fund for the five-day route now stands at 90,000 euro (£80,355).
The 13-17 June race begins in East Anglia, and passes through Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire and finally Wales.
The 17-team event, now in its fifth edition, forms part of the UCI Women's WorldTour.
"It's a phenomenal race. It is one of the best races we have on the calendar and I am incredibly proud that it is a British race," former road world champion and 2016 Women's Tour winner Lizzie Deignan told BBC Sport.
"It [equal prize money] is fantastic. This organisation is really setting a precedent of how it should be done in 2018. It shouldn't be a topic, but it is. Right from the start, this race has always been about equality and they are doing it perfectly."
Four British squads, Wiggle HIGH5, Trek-Drops, WNT-Rotor and Storey Racing, are set to compete.
Route for the 2018 Women's Tour
Stage One: Wednesday, 13 June, Framlingham to Southwold (130km)
Stage Two: Thursday, 14 June, Rushden to Daventry (145km)
Stage Three: Friday, 15 June, Atherstone to Royal Leamington Spa (151km)
Stage Four: Saturday, 16 June, Wychavon District to Worcester (130km)
Stage Five: Sunday, 17 June, Dolgellau to Colwyn Bay (122km)
Teams for the 2018 Women's Tour
Boels Dolmans Cycling Team (Ned)
Mitchelton Scott (Aus)
Team Sunweb (Ned)
Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling (Den)
Canyon//SRAM (Ger)
Wiggle HIGH5 (GB)
WaowDeals Pro Cycling (Ned)
Cylance Pro Cycling (US)
Ale Cipollini (Ita)
FDJ Nouvelle - Aquitaine Futuroscope (Fra)
BTC City Ljubljana (Slo)
Team Hitec Products- Birk Sport (Nor)
Team Virtu Cycling (Den)
Valcar PBM (Ita)
Trek-Drops (GB)
WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling (GB)
Storey Racing (GB)