Women’s invitation race to be run on the same course and the same day as the men’s stage
Amgen Tour of California organiser AEG has announced details of the inaugural Amgen Tour of California Women's International Time Trial Challenge, presented by Specialized and SRAM. The event will take place in Solvang, on May 20th, on the same day and same course as the stage 6 time trial of the men’s Tour of California.
The race will be an invitation event, with twelve of the World’s best women time triallists, competing for a total prize pot of $10,000.
“Beginning with the women’s criterium race during the 2008 edition of the Amgen Tour of California, AEG has always been a supporter of women’s cycling,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports. “We are pleased to be able to celebrate the tremendous athleticism of these world-class competitors by providing an international stage on which to showcase their ability.”
The Women’s criterium race was won by Brooke Miller (Tibco) in 2008, and Emilia Fahlin (Columbia-HTC) in 2009, but was not run in 2010.
While the full list of invitees has yet to be announced, it will include Olympic and former World champion Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co-TWENTY12), current World champion Emma Pooley (Emma Pooley), former World champion Amber Neben, former World road champion Judith Arndt, and current US Champion Evelyn Stevens HTC-Highroad (all HTC-Highroad).
“I am honoured to be one of a handful of cyclists invited to this world class event,” said Armstrong. “This is a great opportunity to showcase women's cycling in America's premier race. I can't think of a better opportunity to bring exposure and recognition to women's cycling in front of a worldwide audience.”
The organisation of the event has been rumoured for some time; when the race was first discussed though, the prize money was supposed to have been commensurate with the position that each woman would have finished in the men's race. This met with a lot of criticism but Ina Teutenberg (HTC-Highroad) came out in support of the event on the team’s Facebook page.
“I appreciate of those trying to promote equality in women’s cycling,” she wrote. “Believe me, it would be ideal if all of the world’s big races already had a women’s component with television rights and good prize money but for now, whatever can take us closer to that is a huge step in the right direction.”
One rider who will doubtless welcome the race is World champion Emma Pooley; the British rider was bemoaning the loss of the Souvenir Magali Pache-Grand Prix Suisse, which was run along similar lines at the Tour de Romandie, in a recent interview with VeloNation. As a World champion she gets very few opportunities to wear her rainbow jersey, and so will doubtless welcome an extra one, especially one in front of what should be a large audience.
With the cancellation of the Tour de l’Aude, which Pooley also won last year and would have provided her with two opportunities to wear her rainbow, the Solvang time trial does not clash with any major races in Europe.