For Welsh fans, the arrival of the tour offers a chance to watch a strong contingent of homegrown riders racing alongside some of the sports biggest names, including 2024 winner and two-time world champion, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx – Protime).
Among the Welsh headliners is British champion Zoe Backstedt who goes into stage 3 in 51st, 2 minutes 48 seconds behind leader, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx – Protime).
The 21-year-old is competing less than three weeks on from making her highly anticipated Tour de France (TdF) Femmes debut, where she finished 50th overall.
Racing on home roads will offer Backstedt another exciting opportunity to build on what has already been a successful season.
The Canyon-SRAM rider has won British road race and time trial titles plus a sprint stage at the Tour de Suisse Femmes, and retained the 2026 Baloise Ladies Tour title a year after becoming the youngest winner of the race.
And she has her elder sister, Elynor Backstedt who rides for UAE Team L’IMAD, for company, making this year’s race a family affair, with their father Magnus also taking on a sport director role for Human Powered Health.
