Tour Féminin en Limousin

18-21.07.2013 Official Site
France, 4-stage Road Race, 387.7km
UCI 2.2

2005 winner Edwige Pitel is racing
again this year, for S.C. Michela
Fanini-ROX. Can she win again,
thus matching Grete Treier and
Marianne Vos?

Inaugurated in 1995 but known by a variety of names since then, the Tour Féminin en Limousin has quickly risen to become one of the most prestigious events on the Elite Women's calendar; not least of all for its varied selections of routes and for the impressive list of past winners. An earlier race, held in 2002, was known by the same name and was won by Marina Jaunatre who would go on to achieve three consecutive victories at the Tour de Bretagne from 2005 to 2007.

2005 Edwige Pitel
2006 Marianne Vos
2007 Svetlana Boubnenkova
2008 Natalya Boyarskaya
2009 Grace Verbeke
2010 Grete Treier
2011 Grete Treier
2012 Marianne Vos

With such a range of terrain, Limousin is a race that tends not to favour specialists and can be decided on intermediate sprints, which offer bonus seconds in addition to points. In accordance with UCI rules, awarded bonuses will be 3" for 1st place, 2" for 2nd place and 1" for third place.

A big chapeau to Claude Lecourt, president of l’Association des Amis du Cyclisme Féminin and of the organising committee of the Tour. In his presidential message, M. Lecourt notes that while there are many great champions at the race this year, they are not as numerous as in years gone by. Though he acknowledges that this in part due to the Tour clashing with the Under-23 European Championships, he also highlights the "dommage" (unfortunate, shameful) fact that female cyclists of the "haut niveau" (highest level) frequently have to work for a living due to not receiving a guaranteed minimum wage as do their male counterparts.

Stage 1 (18.07.2013 Bussière-Dunoise, 120.9km)
Interactive Map

While devoid of big climbs, no fewer than ten small ascents of approximately 100m apiece will have a severe cumulative effect, revealing early on in the race which riders are in a position to earn good places in the final General Classification. After arriving at the finish line 73km from the start, riders will complete six laps of an 8km local circuit.

GPM points are on offer at Jallibout (22.8km), St Léger le Guéretois (32.2km), Le Villard (59.4km) and Les Couperies Hautes (69km). All four climbs are rated at 1st Category. The three Intermediate Sprints are located at the 1st (73km), 2nd (81km) and 3rd (89km) passes of the finish line.

Stage 2 (19.07.2013 Sous-Parsat, 20.7km ITT)
Interactive Map

There's not enough climbing to give the time trial specialists any problems, but 240m of altitude gain will put the sprinters at a disadvantage to the rest. May become a battle between the specialists and the rouleurs.

Stage 3 (20.07.2013 Saint-Brice-sur-Vienne - Saint-Junien, 123.4km)
Interactive Map

As was the case with Stage 1, there are no big climbs but numerous small ones combine to take their toll. None are steep enough to favour out-and-out climbers, so this looks to be a parcours for the rouleurs - though the final climb to the finish line is sufficiently steep to throw the best-laid plans into flux. The race ends with a series of local laps, eventually finishing at St Junien.

GPM points are on offer at Saillat sur Vienne (26.6km; Cat. 1), the Cote des Trois Bornes (45.6km; Cat. 2) and the Cote de la Croix de Lavergne (63km; Cat. 2). The three Intermediate Sprints are at St Junien (39.1km) and at the 1st and 2nd passes of St Brice sur Vienne (83.5 and 106.3km).

Stage 4 (21.07.2013 Saint-Denis-de-Jouhet, 122.7km)
Interactive Map

Unless anyone has already gained an insurmountable lead, the race may very well remain undecided until today. The biggest climb in the race and repeated smaller ascents will trouble the sprinters and are just enough to allow the climbing specialists some opportunities, but a level run-in to the line gives the sprinters their own chance to take back time. Having arrived at the finish line 56.7km from the start, the riders will complete five laps of a 14km local circuit.

GPM points are on offer at the Cotes de la Folie (20.4km; Cat. 2), du Mont (35.6km; Cat. 1) and de Laleuf (52.5km; Cat. 2). The three Intermediate Sprints are located at St Denis de Jouhet and will be contested on the 1st (56.7km), 2nd (70.7km) and 3rd (84.9km) passes.

Starters
Provisional and subject to change; Women Cycling Fever maintains regularly-updated lists.

S.C. Michela Fanini-ROX
1. Edwige PITEL 
2. Gloria BOLDRINI 
3. Yevgenia VYSOTSKA 
4. Mireia ELPELDE 
5. Lisa GAMBA 
6. Maneephan JUTATIP 
Reserves
Litsi RIST (EST)
Lara VIECELI (ITA)

GSD Gestion-KALLISTO
7. Katarzyna PAWLOWSKA
8. Claire THOMAS 
9. Lina-Kristin SCHINK 
10. Stephanie ROORDA  
11. Alizea BRIEN 
12. Anne-Marie MORIN 
Reserves
Charlene DELEV 
Catherine COUTURE

Vienne Futuroscope 
13. Karol-Ann CANUEL 
14. Audrey CORDON 
15. Jessica ALLEN 
16. Sandrine BIDEAU 
17. Pascale JEULAND 
18. Emmanuelle MERLOT 
Reserves
Oriane CHAUMET 
Amélie RIVAT 
Manon SOUYRIS 

Parkhotel Valkenburg 
19. Sophie DE BOER 
20. Bianca VAN DER HOEK 
21. Riejanne MARKUS 
22. Jermaine POST 
23. Lisanne SOEMANTA 
24. Ashleigh NEAVE 
Reserves
Hannah WELTER 
Annelies VISSER 
Inge KLEP 

Lointek
25. Belen LOPEZ 
26. Edith GUILLEN 
27. Emma CRUM 
28. Lucia GONZALES 
29. Alexia MUFFAT 
30. Eider MERINO 
Reserves
Mathilde FAVRE 
Julia ILIYNIKH 
Elena UTROBINA

Lotto Belisol
31. Marijn DE VRIES 
32. Jolien D’HOORE  
33. Sharon LAWS 
34. Ashleigh MOOLMAN 
35. Carlee TAYLOR
36. Mical ELLA 
Reserves
Ann Sophie DUYCK 
Marion ROUSSE 
Kym SCOONBAERT 

Servetto Footon
37. Marina LARI 
38. Corinna DEFILE 
39. Veronica CORNOLTI 
40. Simona BORTOLLOTI 
41. Isabella FERRARI 
42. Annalisa CUCINOTTA 
Reserves
Georgia NANNI 

USA NT
43. Kaitlin ANTONNEAU 
44. Amber PIERCE
45. Heather FISCHER 
46. Alexis RYAN 
47. Beth NEWELL 
48. Scotti WILBORNE 
Reserves
Jamie BOOKWALTER 
Brianna WALLE 
Jacquelyn CROWELL 

Russia NT
49. Tatiana ANTOSHINA 
50. Svetlana STOLBOVA 
51. Marina LIKHANOVA 
52. Natalia BOYARSKAYA 
53. Anna POTOKINA
54. Irina MOLICHEVA 
Reserves
Elena UTROBINA 
Tatiana CHAMOVA 
Yulia MARTISOVA 

Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo
55. Elena BERLATO 
56. Irene BITTO 
57. Silvia CECCHINI 
58. Jennifer FIORI 
59. Chiara PIEROBON 
60. Elena VALENTINI 
Reserves
Asja PALADIN 
Francesca STEFANI 

DID Electrical 
61. Amy BRICE 
62. Siobhan McNAMARA 
63. Michelle GEOGHEGA 
64. Julie ERSKINE 
65. Melanie SPATH 
66. Mary COSTELLOE 

Faren-Let’s Go Finland
67. Martha BASTIANELLI 
68. Christel FERRIER BRUNEAU 
69. Giuzeppina GRASSI 
70. Fabiana LUPERINI 
71. Sara MOUSTONEN 
72. Ashlynn VAN BAARLE 
Reserves
Jutta NIEMINEN 
Patricia SCHWAGER 
Carolina RODRIGUEZ GUTTIERREZ

RusVelo
73. Elena KUCHINSKAYA 
74. Alexandra BURCHENKOVA 
75. Evgenia RAMANIUTA 
76. Oxzana KOZONCHUK 
77. Aizhan ZHAPAROVA 
78. Anastasiya CHULKOVA 
Reserves
Yulia LINDUK 
Elena BOCHARNIKOVA 
Maria MISHINA 

Stevens La Crossteam/Racing Students 
79. Liv-Susanne BACHMANN 
80. Stephanie BORCHERS 
81. Steffi MEIZER 
82. Heike NOEVER 
83. Jutta STIENEN 
84. Benita WESSELHOEFT 
Reserves
Andrea BÜCHEL
Esther SCHMIDMEISTER
Ellen HEINY

Breast Cancer Care
85. Jane BARR 
86. Amy BRADLEY 
87. Lucy COLDWELL 
88. Clara HORNE 
89. Laura MURRAY 
90. Coryn RIVERA 
Reserves
Ella HOPKINS
Gabriella SHAW

Anne EWING

How to follow the race
For regular updates direct from the Hitec Products-UCK team car, follow the legendary Karl Lima on Twitter - Karl keeps fans so well-informed, not only on his own team but on all the race action, that it's possible to get a good idea of what's going on via his Twitter account alone. Amber Pierce (USA NT) and Marijn De Vries (Lotto-Belisol) are two of the friendliest and most articulate riders in cycling; while they might not find the time to Tweet often during the race (though Pierce did at the Giro Rosa in 2012!), they're both worth a follow and usually have plenty of insights once the race is over.