Defending champion Coryn Rivera will be back in the capital on Saturday 28 July to defend her Prudential RideLondon Classique title.
The Team Sunweb rider has been in scintillating form in 2018 and will be one of the favorites to win the Classique —the richest one-day race in women’s cycling—for the second year in a row.
But she will once again be up against the cream of the world’s female sprinting talent for the iconic circuit race in the heart of London which is the 16th round of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The 2016 winner Kirsten Wild (Wiggle High5), last year’s runner-up Lotta Lepisto (Cervelo-Bigla Pro Cycling), Belgium speedster Jolien d’Hoore (Mitchelton-Scott) and 2016 world champion Amalie Dideriksen (Boels-Dolmans) will all also be on the starting line.
Rivera is a rider on a hot streak. She won the overall title at the OVO Energy Women’s Tour last month and followed that up by winning her first USA national title meaning she will be wearing the stars and stripes at this year’s Prudential RideLondon Classique.
The two riders who finished in second and third overall at this year’s Women’s Tour, WaowDeals Pro Cycling pair Marianne Vos and Dani Rowe, will also again be racing in London.
Multiple world champion Vos, who won the 2012 London Olympic road race in London, finished fourth in last year’s Classique, while Rowe will be hoping to lead a British charge which will also include Alice Barnes from Canyon SRAM Racing.
Also in the field is the world champion Chantal Blaak of Boels-Dolmans, Lisa Brennauer (Wiggle High5) who was third last year and two former winners, Barbara Guarischi (Team Virtu Cycling) who won in 2015 and Giorgia Bronzini (Cylance Pro Cycling) the victor in 2014.
Mick Bennett, Prudential RideLondon Classique race director, said: “I’m delighted that once again we have attracted the very best sprinters in the world to the Prudential RideLondon Classique.
“Last year Coryn Rivera timed her sprint to perfection to win and she really is the rider in form at the moment. But there are a whole host of women who, if they get it right on the day, could take the title this year which will make it another thrilling race I’m sure.”
In total, nine of the top 10 teams in the UCI Women’s WorldTour rankings will be racing in this year’s Prudential RideLondon Classique.