Lizzie Deignan heads up Great Britain team for Tour of Britain Women

Lizzie Deignan, Elynor Bäckstedt and Elinor Barker will headline a six-rider strong Great Britain Cycling Team squad at the upcoming Tour of Britain Women, British Cycling has confirmed. 

Two-time Women’s Tour winner Deignan will likely lead the team in what will be the inaugural edition of the race under the British Cycling banner. 

The race gets underway next week in Welshpool, Wales on 6 June, giving both Bäckstedt and Barker the opportunity to race on home roads. Anna Henderson, Millie Couzens and Flora Perkins will complete the Great Britain Cycling team selection. 

Four women’s WorldTour teams, including SD Worx-Protime - the team of current road World Champion Lotte Kopecky - will provide stiff opposition for the likes of Deignan as the Great Britain team look to challenge for overall victory. 

Nevertheless, Bäckstedt told Cycling Weekly that the group would look to "show off the talent" within the squad across the four days of action. 

"We will definitely have a really strong team there," she said. "As Team GB we will have a group of such strong riders there, and just come out in full force really. I think we definitely have got a good chance overall, and we've got a good chance at each of the stages. So we'll definitely give it our best shot and race the best we can as a team and just really show off the talent that GB has coming through at the moment.

"We've known each other a long time. I've got my regular teammate, Lizzie, in the team, which is really nice. And a lot of the girls I've either grown up with, or I've raced World Championships with before...We all just want to do the best for ourselves and also try to display the racing talent of our country."

She added: "It's really huge [to get to ride for Great Britain]. There's not that many times throughout the year where this is actually a possibility. So it's really nice to race with new people, the people that you would normally be competing against."

The first two days of racing will take place in Wales. Bäckstedt explained that she was excited to get stuck into the route assembled, particularly in front of a home crowd.

"I think it's going to make for some really hard racing," she said. "There's some really tough stages, which I think, really shows off British roads quite well. It is a tough country to race your bike in and that's what makes it so fun. I might find some of the climbs a little bit challenging, but I'm going to have a lot of fun throughout it all. 

"Having two stages in Wales is obviously really great. There's nothing quite like racing in Wales especially, it's just so different and it's so nice to have a Welsh crowd there as well."

British Cycling Performance Director, Stephen Park said that the event will provide the riders with the ideal opportunity to stake a claim for an Olympic spot later this summer. 

"We know that the team will relish the rare opportunity to race at home, and for the Paris hopefuls among the squad, the event will play a crucial role in the final preparations for the Games," he said. "We know that they’ll add real strength and stardust to the race and expect fans will be out in force to show their support."

The Tour of Britain Women will start in Welshpool on 6 June, wrapping up three days later in Leigh, Greater Manchester.