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Women's WorldTour action is returning to London this summer, this time with a three-day stage race (Friday 27 May - 29 May) as part of RideLondon's new Essex route. The two extra stages will both be in Essex before the familiar city centre finale.

Stage one is 137km starting and finishing in Maldon, and features two laps of the Abberton Resevoir near Colchester before finishing with two circuits around Maldon. Full route...

Stage two is from Chelmsford to Epping, and is the hardest of the three, with eight climbs and 1,368m of climbing. Full route...

"This stage will be suited to the climbers, especially the final circuit in and around Epping. This circuit is very tough with short, steep climbs and it’s very fast in between the climbs, so there will be very short recovery times, which could play into the hands of the General Classification riders. It’s going to be quite a different experience to Stage One and a great prelude to the final stage in London," RideLondon race director Scott Sunderland said.

Stage three is an 85.3km city centre blast, differing from previous Classique routes with a start finish on Victoria Embankment beside the River Thames. Riders will race the high-speed finale along some of London's most famous streets, including Piccadilly, Pall Mall and The Strand. Full route...

The Classique is just one element of RideLondon 2022, with four mass participation events also taking place on Sunday 29 May. An estimated 25,000 people will take part in three challenge rides, the RideLondon-Essex 100, 60 and 30. Thousands more will participate in RideLondon FreeCycle, a free event that enables people to cycle around eight miles of traffic-free roads in central London.