Local amateur ladies' team riding in Tour de Yorkshire includes youngest rider in the race.

Team Jadan-Weldtite Vive le Velo, led by Hull’s Victoria Hood, is one of only 3 amateur ladies’ teams which have been selected to ride in the Tour de Yorkshire. Sponsored by local companies Jadan Press (which is entrusted with Just Beverley design and print), Weldtite who manufacture innovative bike maintenance products and Vive le Velo, which supplies performance cycles and accessories, this is very much a local team which we should all get behind! 

The team is made up of 9 riders, all of whom are desperate to compete in the Tour de Yorkshire (TdY) - but as each team can only include 6 riders, 3 will be very disappointed. 

Why is competition so fierce? This is the first time the ladies’ race has been over 2 days and, importantly, it’s the first time the ladies’ race will be leaving from home soil! Team Manager Victoria Hood spoke to Just Beverley about the team and why she is so excited about their prospects for this race and the future. She said: “There is no reason why women cannot ride the full race, so this 2-day race is a step in the right direction. Getting parity with men is important and, as women’s cycling becomes more popular, so entrenched attitudes are changing. Being able to get this local amateur team a slot means the race organisers have recognised our potential - we are thrilled and would hope everyone who can will come out and wave us off from Saturday Market in Beverley at 8.40am on May 3rd or cheer us on along the route.” 

The route for Day 1 of the TdY offers many opportunities for seeing the peloton and the support cars. From Beverley, the Tour heads out on the A164 to Skidby and then to Little Weighton, arriving in Walkington at around 9am (Walkington Methodist Church will be decorated and open in the afternoon for tea/coffee but unfortunately not in the morning), to Cherry Burton for about 9.20am, Middleton-on-the-Wolds at 9.30am and Pocklington at 9.50am. From Pocklington, you can catch the riders at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor at 10.25am, Howden at 10.44am and Rawcliffe at 11am when it crosses into South Yorkshire to Doncaster. Find the exact timings here https:// letour.yorkshire.com/media/2064/womenstage1.jpg

Team Jadan-Weldtite Viva le Velo is very much a development team, which means the youngest girl, Georgia, at the tender age of 17, is riding in the TdY! The strategy will be to get the team around the course but because most of the girls in the team have already ridden in the GB Squad, the chances are they will all finish in reasonable times. Girls with potential join at 14 and, if good enough, become full-time at 18.

They cycle as a team all over the UK and Europe - the season starts at the beginning of April so they have already raced 2-3 times a week in high-level rides. In the first week of April, the Junior National Series was won by a Jadan girl! May is the busiest Month, not only with the TdY, but with the ITV Tour Series which holds races all over the UK. As several of the girls are still at school, fitting exams in can be challenging - the girls end up studying in the back of the team car! Supporting this team is important! These girls will be in the GB team at the 2024 Olympics; they will be on the TV competing in tours and world championships; they will become household names and they will have local sponsors names on their shirts, bags, bikes and other kit. Exciting times for East Yorkshire! You can follow the team on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/TeamJadan/