| First edition of the UCI Women's WorldTour | |
 | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 March – 11 September |
| Location | Europe, USA and China |
| Races | 17 |
| Champions | |
| Individual champion | Megan Guarnier (Boels–Dolmans) |
| Teams' champion | Boels–Dolmans |
The 2016 UCI Women's World Tour was the first edition of the UCI Women's World Tour. It featured nine one-day races of the former UCI Women's Road World Cup, plus another four one-day races. However, unlike its predecessor, the World Tour also incorporated four stage races, in China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy respectively.
Contents
The individual classification was won by American rider Megan Guarnier, riding for the Boels–Dolmans team. [1] Guarnier took the lead of the standings after winning the Tour of California, [2] maintaining it for the remainder of the year, adding further race victories at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, [3] and the Giro d'Italia Femminile. [4] Her closest competitor, Canada's Leah Kirchmann (Team Liv–Plantur) finished over 300 points in arrears in second place. Third place in the standings went to the defending world champion Lizzie Armitstead of Great Britain, also riding for Boels–Dolmans. Armitstead took four victories – the most by any rider in 2016 – including a win in her home race, the Women's Tour. [5]
In the other classifications, Rabo–Liv rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma from Poland was the winner of the youth classification for riders under the age of 23. Niewiadoma took six victories in the classification, and finished with twice the number of points as compared to her nearest challenger, Dutch rider Floortje Mackaij of Team Liv–Plantur. Boels–Dolmans were the winners of the teams classification, taking ten wins out of a possible seventeen, including the opening five races of the season. Wiggle High5 took three victories with Chloe Hosking taking a pair of victories and Jolien D'Hoore winning the final race, as they finished as runners-up in the standings.
