Welshpool is getting ready for a a major national sporting event as the Women's Tour lines up to ride into town this week.

Having started in Colchester on Monday, June 6, the fourth stage of the race will start at Wrexham before finishing in Welshpool on Thursday, June 9.

The tour is visiting both Wrexham and Welshpool for the first time in its history, and will see more than 100 of the world’s top riders race through the region.

The Welsh Government has previously supported stages of the race in 2018 and 2019, and its backing for 2022 is what allows both towns to feature in the UK’s most prestigious women’s race for the first time.

During the stage, there is a sprint point in Chirk, where riders will tackle the category two Hirnant Bank climb.

This will be followed by the category one Bryn-y-Fedwen before the finish.

Among the field of competitors will be a pair of former winners in Coryn Labecki and Kasia Niewiadoma, with the latter once again eyeing victory, having won the 2017 edition and finished second two years later.

Niewiadoma said: “My goal is to win a stage and fight for the best place in GC. Of course, I will adapt it to the team's needs, but I would like to feel some pressure for the performance during the race.”

Niewiadoma’s team-mate is Alice Barnes, who finished as the leading British rider in the 2021 race in seventh overall.

She said: “I love racing the Women's Tour and I love the crowds that come out, especially during the week when schools are along the streets cheering for us.

“I am looking forward to this year as we have a big variation in stages which will make the racing interesting.”

Powys has once before hosted a stage finish of the Women’s Tour at Builth Wells in 2019, while the men’s Tour of Britain visited the county on six occasions between 2010 and 2016.