Great Dunmow and High Easter are set to play pivotal parts as one of world cycling's most prestigious female-only races heads to town.

Stage two of the eight-day Women's Tour of Britain starts and finishes in Harlow on Tuesday, June 7.

The world tour event, and longest running international stage race for women, will form part of the town's 75th birthday celebrations, having been formed as a new town in 1947.

Dunmow Broadcast: The stage two route of the Women's Tour of Britain takes in Great Dunmow, Felsted and High Easter.The stage two route of the Women's Tour of Britain takes in Great Dunmow, Felsted and High Easter. (Image: Sweetspot)

But after leaving the Essex town, the route snakes out into the countryside, doing a 91.8km clockwise loop through Hatfield Broad Oak, Great Dunmow, Felsted and High Easter.

And it will be in Dunmow and High Easter that the peloton will tackle an intermediate sprint, with valuable bonus seconds and points up for grabs.

From there the race will return to Harlow via Chipping Ongar and a pair of Queen of the Mountains climbs at Toot Hill and Epping before finishing on Third Avenue, approaching Harlow town centre.

Mick Bennett, race director for the Women’s Tour, said: "It is always a great occasion to take the race to somewhere new and we are looking forward to visiting Harlow this June.

"With both the start and finish in the town we’re hoping that spectators make a day of it and join us a day of world-class cycling action.”

The tour starts on Monday, June 6 in Colchester with the riders finishing in Bury St Edmunds.

And after visiting Harlow, the race heads west, with stage finishes in Gloucester, Welshpool and on top of the Black Mountain in before heading back east to conclude in Oxford.

The race, which has been won by the likes of Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016, 2019) and Demi Vollering (2021), attracts an annual roadside audience of 300,000..

Highlights of the race will be shown on ITV4 and around the world via Eurosport and GCN.