“It was slowly becoming one of the races that riders were looking at in their calendar to race" - Elisa Longo Borghini laments potential loss of Women's Tour

The future of the Women's Tour remains shrouded in uncertainty as financial difficulties leave the standing of the race going forward very much in doubt.

The winner of the British-based race the last time it was held was Elisa Longo Borghini and the Italian believes losing the Women's Tour from the calendar would be a big blow to women's cycling. “It's not nice if the Women's Tour is not taking place this year too because it's been one of the first races to really raise the level of women's cycling," says the Lidl-Trek star in quotes collected by Cycling Weekly.

“It was slowly becoming one of the races that riders were looking at in their calendar to race. So I will be very very sad if it does not take place,” continues the 32-year-old. “It was an important stage race. It always had a very good parcours, was very well organised, the crowd was really nice and you could feel a good vibe there. We as riders were always really happy to race it.”

Concerns around the Women's Tour have arisen due to the fact that SweetSpot, the former promoter of both the Tour of Britain and the Women's Tour has been forced to enter liquidation due to financial issues that in turn, cancelled the 2023 edition of the race.

“We are making every possible effort to ensure that the Tour of Britain and a UCI Women’s World Tour stage race take place in 2024 and beyond," said a British Cycling spokesperson to Cycling Weekly. "We will be in a position to provide further details in the coming weeks.”