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Warrington and Greater Manchester have today been announced as the hosts of stages three and four, respectively, of the inaugural 2024 Tour of Britain Women.   Taking place from Thursday 6 June to Sunday 9 June 2024, the race will see the world’s top female riders and teams go head-to-head across four tough stages of racing, in what will be the first major international stage race delivered by British Cycling Events.   It is expected that hundreds of thousands of fans will line the streets to support the race, as the country gears up for another thrilling summer of cycling. the route This year’s race will feature a number of familiar start and finish locations which have successfully hosted major international events in recent years. The race will begin in Welshpool, situated in the heart of mid-Wales. Welshpool hosted the thrilling finish of stage four of the 2022 Women’s Tour, where Australia’s Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) sprinted to victory. The stage will see riders head north to the picturesque seaside town of Llandudno, in what will be a challenging start to the race.   Stage two will see riders stay in Wales for a start and finish in Wrexham, which also featured in the 2022 Women’s Tour. The rolling route will take in a series of challenging climbs in the dramatic Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wales.   The caravan then will cross the Welsh border to the north-west of England, where Warrington will host both the start and finish of stage three on Saturday, with a flatter route that will favour the sprinters. Warrington welcomed the men’s Tour of Britain in 2021, where Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) claimed a memorable stage win.   The race will conclude in Greater Manchester, as part of the city region’s European Capital of Cycling celebrations. Riders will depart from the National Cycling Centre, the home of British Cycling, before taking in some of the region’s challenging climbs before they reach the finish line in Leigh, where the race winner will be crowned. "a monumental effort" The race route has been designed and agreed in just 10 weeks, when we launched our new vision for major cycling events in Britain, thanks to the hard work and support of an experienced team of event staff. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Welsh Government, Wrexham County Borough Council, Warrington Borough Council, Manchester Active and others who have demonstrated such enthusiastic support for the race.   Jon Dutton OBE, CEO of British Cycling, said: “While there is still a great deal of work to do, today is another important milestone in our journey and reflective of the enormous goodwill and support which major road cycling events continue to enjoy   “Our primary focus has been to deliver a safe and competitive race in 2024, but we remain every bit as determined to harness the race’s spotlight to make a real impact in the communities which it touches, and know that is a vision which resonates strongly in conversations with prospective commercial partners and hosts.”   Rod Ellingworth, who was announced as Tour of Britain Race Director in March this year, said: “It’s been a monumental effort by the whole team over the past 10 weeks to confirm the stages for this year’s Tour of Britain Women. The race will take in four competitive and challenging routes, some challenging climbing in Wales and what I’m sure will be brilliant crowds on the roadside throughout.” Lizzie Deignan, former road world champion and Olympic silver medallist, said: “It’s always special to race in Britain, and I’m so pleased to have two top level stage races to look forward to on home soil as I ramp up my preparations for a busy summer ahead.   “There’s clearly so much support and fondness for the race, both at home and further afield. The four stage hosts deserve credit for their commitment to women’s racing and for helping to make the race happen, and I’m sure that together we can put on a brilliant show in June.”   Earlier this month, British Cycling announced that the Tour of Britain Men would be delivered over six days in 2024, with an ambition to bring future parity to the two national tours, following the alignment of the event names in 2024.   Positive conversations continue with a number of commercial partners along with towns and cities interested in hosting future stages of both the men’s and women’s events.

  Manchester Squash Open: Local Stars Withington & Nghiem Handed Wildcard Spots   Manchester-born Finnlay Withington and Saran Nghiem have been confirmed as the wildcards for the prestigious Manchester Open squash tournament which will be held at the National Squash Centre between May 22-26.   Withington, 20, is currently ranked at No.73 in the PSA World Rankings and won the British Junior U19 Open in 2023. Withington, who now resides in Heywood, has won three professional squash titles, with his most recent win coming at the Edmonton Open in February of this year.   Withington also appeared at last year’s Manchester Open where he lost to former World No.3 Omar Mosaad in the first round.   Nghiem was a regular training partner of Withington at Cheetham Hill Squash Club, but left Manchester in 2022 to study at Harvard University. The 20-year-old has impressed on the college squash scene and was crowned CSA Individual National champion after coming back from two games down to beat teammate Marina Stefanoni last month.   Like Withington, World No.72 Nghiem has three professional titles to her name, most recently winning the Berkhamsted Open in July 2023. Nghiem lost to Egypt’s Yathreb Adel in the first round of last year’s tournament. Both players will be looking to cause an upset in front of friends and family in Manchester.   The Manchester Open is a prestigious Silver-level tournament on the PSA World Tour, with Ali Farag - the men’s World No.1 and World Champion - and Nour El Tayeb - the women’s World No.5 - capturing the 2023 trophies. The full line-up will be confirmed on Thursday April 18.   tickets for the event can be purchased here Live action from the tournament will be streamed via SQUASHTV while the semi-finals and finals will be shown by TNT Sports. For more information on the Manchester Open, visit the tournament website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

 Rugby in the North West benefits from transformational Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 legacy programme - Impact ‘25    Impact ’25 will be delivered by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in partnership with UK Government, Sport England and UK Sport.    £12.13m already committed to the women’s and girls’ grassroots game across the country.   Rugby World Cup 2025, a joint venture between World Rugby and the RFU, will be a spectacular celebration of women’s rugby and an era-defining tournament that will set new standards, attract new audiences and provide a catalyst to nationwide rugby growth.    Salford Community Stadium will be Rugby World Cup host venue in next year’s tournament.    The legacy programme is designed to supercharge the growth of women’s and girls’ rugby throughout the North West and beyond, with Salford hosting an event today.    Today also marks 500 days until the tournament kicks off at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August 2025.    The RFU has today celebrated Impact ’25, a transformational legacy programme that has seen £12.13m of Government funding committed to women and girls’ grassroots rugby already as part of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, with the aim of growing the game throughout the country. Today also marks 500 days to go until the tournament kicks off at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August 2025.    Impact ’25 will be delivered by the RFU in partnership with UK Government, Sport England and UK Sport. The programme will provide substantial improvements in facilities and greater opportunities for females at all levels of the game in England, with a range of support being offered to clubs across four key pillars: Facility Development, Coaches and Match Officials, Playing and Volunteering, and Community and Fan Engagement.   To celebrate 500 days to go to the curtain-raiser of Rugby World Cup 2025, the tournament legacy programme was announced today.   Thanks to Impact ‘25, 31 clubs have been awarded funding to upgrade toilet facilities and 29 have been provided with sanitary packages, with 10 larger grants for clubs to develop social spaces and changing rooms, all aimed at making rugby clubs more welcoming and inclusive of female players.  107 coaches and match officials have been supported with their development in order to increase the number, quality and visibility of female coaches and match officials in rugby and 37 clubs have received grants to start up U12s activity to bring more girls who have never been involved in the sport, into rugby clubs.    The aim of Impact ‘25 is to accelerate the growth of women’s rugby and help the RFU achieve its ambition of 100,000 female players by 2027. The women’s game in England is already flourishing from the grassroots level through to the elite; the Red Roses are currently ranked the number one team in the world, while the participation number for women and girls have risen to over 40,000 with more than 800 clubs offering women’s and girls’ rugby.     Next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and its legacy programme will be a game-changer for women’s participation across the sport, shaping positive perceptions at all levels of the game and benefitting local communities. The tournament promises to be an era-defining celebration of women’s rugby with unprecedented levels of engagement throughout the country and beyond.  Salford Community Stadium is among eight host venues for the tournament. The World Cup kicks off in Sunderland on 22 August 2025, with the final being held at the iconic Twickenham Stadium.  The ambition is to sell-out Twickenham and break the current world record attendance of 58,498 set by the Red Roses in April 2023.      Impact ‘25 funding began in the 2022-23 season and was awarded for four years until 2025-26. The funding is being utilised increase access to rugby for women and girls, in line with the RFU’s Every Rose action plan and the tournament’s goal to reach new audiences and inspire a generation of fans. All home nations will benefit from funding to help develop female coaches and match officials.      Bill Sweeney, CEO, RFU said: “The opportunity to grow the women’s game was a primary driver behind our bid to host Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, and we are very grateful to Government for committing funding to this transformational programme as part of the tournament.    “Working together with Government, UK Sport, Sport England and World Rugby we will create a legacy for women’s rugby in England and the home nations, both in terms of attracting more fans and people to play, coach, officiate, and volunteer.    “We are already seeing huge strides forwards being made thanks to Impact ‘25 and look forward to seeing further progress over the coming months and years.”      Stuart Andrew, Sports Minister, said: "The UK is world-leading when it comes to hosting major sporting events, with the benefits of these events starting well before they kick off, and continuing long after they end.     "With the Women's Rugby World Cup round the corner, this legacy programme is already impacting communities, and will continue to ensure greater opportunities for women and girls to play sport for many years to come.     "Impact '25 will help with our target to get 3.5 million more children and adults active by 2030 and is on top of £400 million being invested by the Government in high-quality grassroots sports facilities around the UK."      Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director, Place at Sport England, said: “Rugby has so much to offer women and girls – from better physical and mental health to the development of sporting skills and a sense of community and belonging that only sport can give.           “Encouraging and enabling more women and girls to find their way into sport and physical activity is at the core of our Uniting the Movement strategy.  We support the RFU’s target of getting 100,000 women and girls playing rugby by 2027.   We have made progress towards this and the Rugby World Cup 2025 and the Impact Programme will play a key role in achieving this.  It is important we work together to maximise the impact that the World Cup will have, ensuring that more women and girls get the opportunity to participate in their communities and enjoy the benefit of great facilities and other support to realise their potential.”      Sarah Bern, Red Roses prop said: “We’ve seen huge developments in the women’s game over the past few years and the investment from Impact ‘25 and the awareness next year’s Rugby World Cup will bring to rugby is only going to help drive that growth even further. I am so excited to see the impact that next year’s tournament will have on growing the sport that I love so much.”      Amber Reed, Red Roses centre added: “It’s so great to see the ever-growing number of opportunities to get involved in rugby whether that be through playing, being a match official, as a coach or in a volunteer role. Rugby has given me so much and I’m so excited to see other women and girls have their lives positively changed by our sport thanks to Impact ’25 – I’d strongly encourage anyone who’s interested to get involved in the sport.”      Sarah Massey, Managing Director, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, said: “The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will be a generational moment for rugby that will inspire the next generation of players and welcome new fans to the sport.    “Impact ’25 provides an unprecedented opportunity to grow the game, benefitting local communities across the nation by creating more opportunities for women and girls to get involved in playing, officiating and coaching.    “This significant investment will be crucial for our host cities and local stakeholders, who are committed to developing women’s rugby in their communities and providing an inclusive environment for everyone involved in the game.” sign up for tickets here