Following last year’s thrilling competition, eventually dominated by Annemiek van Vleuten (winner of the individual ranking) and Team SD Worx (winner of the team ranking), the battle for glory at the highest level of women’s road cycling starts earlier this year, in Australia, with the return of the Santos Tour Down Under (January 15-17) and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (January 28). From January until October, the women’s peloton will battle for honours in a total of 30 events: 14 stage races and 16 one-day races.
Last year’s series started with Strade Bianche, in early March. The white roads of Tuscany will once again be a highlight of the first part of the season. But this time, the world’s best riders will have already vied for UCI Women’s WorldTour points in Australia, in the Middle East, with the introduction of the UAE Tour (the first UCI Women’s WorldTour stage race in the region), and in Belgium, on the cobbles of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, before they head to Italy on March 5.
The classics season will then be in full swing across Europe, with another major Italian rendezvous, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio and many more highlights in Belgium (Classic Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields, Ronde van Vlaanderen -Tour des Flandres, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes), France (Paris-Roubaix Femmes) and the Netherlands (Miron Ronde van Drenthe, Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition) packed into less than two months of competition.
Led by Elisa Balsamo, who was wearing the rainbow stripes at the time, Italian talents lit fireworks through the spring of 2022 but other stars such as Van Vleuten, her Dutch compatriot Lorena Wiebes and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky managed to claim victory over that period of intense racing. They’re already gearing up for the 2023 campaign.
Iconic stage races
Right after these iconic events, the peloton of the UCI Women’s WorldTour will head to Spain for three weeks of action kicking off with the unprecedented La Vuelta Femenina. After the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta was coupled with the finish of the men’s Vuelta Ciclista a Espãna in recent years, the women’s event will now stand on its own, at the beginning of May, with seven days of competition to distinguish the most resilient riders, who will then have more opportunities to shine on Spanish roads with the Itzulia Women (May 12-14) and the Vuelta a Burgos Femenina (May 18-21).
The European summer will bring many more opportunities with the RideLondon Classique (May 26-28), the Women’s Tour (June 6-11) and the Tour de Suisse Women (June 11-20). The latter joins the UCI Women’s WorldTour in 2023, after two successful editions since its inception in 2021.
These high-intensity competitions will lead towards more battles for two of the most iconic jerseys in the world of cycling: pink on the roads of the Giro d’Italia Donne (June 30-July 9) and yellow in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (July 23-30), following last year’s iconic conquests.
🤩 2022 will stay in our heart forever, but we're so excited for the future! Happy new year everyone, bring on 2023!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) January 1, 2023
🤩 2022 aura toujours une place à part dans notre cœur, mais il faut regarder vers l'avenir ! Bonne année à tous, en avant pour 2023 !#TDFF2023 pic.twitter.com/CRNHwLmbsK
The final rush
More glory will be up for grabs in the latter stages of the season. After the Tour, the stars of the UCI Women’s WorldTour will head north, for the team time trial and the road race of Vårgårda WestSweden (August 19 and 20), followed closely by the Tour of Scandinavia (August 22-27), whose inaugural edition crowned Denmark’s Cecillie Uttrup Ludwig in 2022.
September will be packed with three European events: the Classic Lorient Agglomération-Trophée Ceratizit, the Simac Ladies Tour and the Tour de Romandie Féminin. Then two more events will await the riders in China, with the Tour of Chongming Island (October 12-14) and the Tour of Guangxi (October 17) to wrap up the eighth edition of the UCI Women’s WorldTour. The finish may seem far away but it’s already time to get started for the heroines of the peloton.
2023 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar
15-17 January: Santos Tour Down Under (AUS)
28 January: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - Elite Women's Race (AUS)
9-12 February: UAE Tour (UAE)
25 February: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (BEL)
4 March: Strade Bianche (ITA)
11 March: Miron Ronde van Drenthe (NED)
19 March: Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio (ITA)
23 March: Classic Brugge-De Panne (BEL)
26 March: Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields (BEL)
2 April: Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres (BEL)
8 April: Paris-Roubaix Femmes (FRA)
16 April: Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition (NED)
19 April: La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (BEL)
23 April: Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (BEL)
1-7 May: La Vuelta Femenina (ESP)
12-14 May: Itzulia Women (ESP)
18-21 May: Vuelta a Burgos Feminas (ESP)
26-28 May: RideLondon Classique (GBR)
6 -11 June: Women's Tour (GBR)
17-20 June: Tour de Suisse Women (SUI)
30 June – 9 July: Giro d'Italia Donne (ITA)
23-30 July: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (FRA)
19 August: Vårgårda WestSweden TTT (SWE)
20 August: Vårgårda WestSweden RR (SWE)
22-27 August: Tour of Scandinavia (NOR)
2 September: Classic Lorient Agglomération - Trophée Ceratizit (FRA)
5-10 September: Simac Ladies Tour (NED)
15-17 September: Tour de Romandie Féminin (SUI)
12-14 October: Tour of Chongming Island (CHN)
17 October: Tour of Guangxi (CHN)