Bildeston is among a number of stunning Suffolk villages that will play a key part in the first stage of this year's leading women's cycle race, starting on Monday, June 6.

Villagers lining the streets along Bildeston centre will get two opportunities to see he Women's Tour, which will feature 18 teams, including all 14 of the top division, and 108 riders competing in the race, the biggest field in the eight-year history of the Women's Tour.

Unusually, the tour will loop round to go through Bildeston again before heading towards the finish.

The race will even drop into the village of Cockfield where they will be cheered on by World War II veteran Norman Gregory, who celebrated his 100th birthday in January and is continuing to cycle at least 10 miles every day. 

Women's Tour will twice loop through Bildeston

After setting off from Colchester more than 100 of the world's best cyclists on the Uk's Women's Tour will pass through Manningtree and join the peninsula at Brantham before going through Stutton, and Holbrook.

The riders will wind their way down Freston Hill, along the Strand and under the Orwell Bridge before cutting back through Tattingstone as they skirt Alton Water, and then make their way through East Bergholt to Hadleigh and Bildeston.

After (142 kilometres / 88.2 miles) the women will sprint to the finish line on Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds, which will be approached from the south via Lavenham. This will mark the cathedral town's third appearance in race history, although it will be the first finish there since Marianne Vos won the finale of the 2014 edition.

The Women's Tour will feature 18 teams, including all 14 of the top division, and 108 riders competing in the race, the biggest field in the eight-year history of the Women's Tour.

Stage One will finish on Angel Hill Bury St Edminds

Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk county council's cabinet member for Public Health and Public Protection, said: "I'm delighted that we can reveal the route the Women's Tour will be taking through Essex and Suffolk this year.

"The race always provides a great opportunity for communities to come together and celebrate all that our county has to offer, while inspiring people to become more physically active."

About the 2022 Women's Tour

Subsequent days of the race will include a first visit to Gloucester with a route through the Forest of Dean between Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire, before two stages in Wales (stages four and five, Thursday 9 and Friday 10 June). The latter features the most elevation gain of any stage in this year's race (2,065m), in part owing to the summit finish atop The Black Mountains in Brecon Beacons and will finish in Oxfordshire on June 11, with a stage between picturesque Chipping Norton, in the Cotswolds, and the heart of historic Oxford.

Further details of all of the stages 2022 Women's Tour – including full stage timetables, interactive maps, and competing riders – will be published shortly.

Stage One of UK Women's Tour

Highlights of this year's race will once again be shown on ITV4 in the UK, and around the world via Eurosport and GCN