The new leaders’ jerseys for the 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique have been revealed today (Thursday 9 May).
The four jerseys are on offer to the classification leaders, each designed by Ford RideLondon’s Official Performance Apparel Partner, Le Col, and will be worn at this year’s race between Friday 24 May and Sunday 26 May.
The four classification jerseys are awarded to the Individual Classification leader, Queen of the Mountains Competition leader, Sprints Competition leader and Best Young Rider Competition leader.
There are just over two weeks until the UCI Women’s WorldTour event returns to Essex and London, as well as visiting Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire for the first time, with the world’s best female cyclists and teams back in the UK for the three-day stage race.
Riding with the leader’s jersey in their ranks remains the ultimate objective for the 20 teams confirmed for the 2024 edition of the race, which features the world’s best teams including Team SD Worx-Protime, Lidl Trek and UAE Team ADQ, among others. Competition promises to be hot in 2024, with the winners of the past two editions of the race, Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) and Charlotte Kool (Team dsm–firmenich PostNL), two of the favourites to be wearing the royal blue of race leader by the end of the final stage on The Mall.
The orange Queen of the Mountains (QoM) jersey is awarded to the rider who has accumulated the most points on the six climbs over the course of this year’s race, with an exciting new incentive for riders in 2024. As well as the 3, 2, and 1 point(s) available in the QoM classification, for the first time there will be intermediate bonus seconds available for the first three riders crossing the three points on Stages One and Two (3, 2, and 1 second(s) respectively), giving those riders an additional opportunity to claim vital seconds in the race for potential overall victory.
Stage One (Saffron Walden-Colchester) on Friday 24 May has three opportunities to win QoM points, after just eight kilometers at Hertford Lane, in Elmdon, Essex and then at Cokenach, in Hertfordshire, after 18km. The third QoM point is on Sandy Hill, in Wormingford, Essex after 106km. Stage Two (Maldon-Maldon) the following day has three QoM points, all at North Hill, just outside Maldon after 58km, 94km and 130km, with a maximum of nine bonus seconds up for grabs.
The pink Sprints leader’s jersey will be awarded to the rider who accumulates the most points at the Intermediate Sprints and at the Finish Line of each stage, with 3, 2 and 1 available at the intermediate points and 10, 6, 4, 2, and 1 point(s) available for the top five finishers at the Finish.
On Stage One, the first sprint doesn’t arrive until the riders head through the historic market town of Halstead, after 89km of racing. The next point is in Mistley, after 136km, ahead of the Finish in Colchester. On Stage Two, the Sprints are both at Wickham Bishops, at the beginning of the second and third loop of the final section of the course, after 74km and 110km before the finish in Maldon High Street. Stage Three on The Mall will see sprint points available at the end of Lap 3 and Lap 6.
The white jersey is awarded to the Best Young Rider, with the recipient the highest-placed rider in the Overall Classification at the end of each stage and whose age is 23 or under.
As well as designing the Ford RideLondon Classique leaders’ jerseys, Le Col has produced an exclusive range of Ford RideLondon apparel on general sale. Visit the Le Col website to see the full range.