THE eyes of the sporting nation will be on the north of the Cotswolds as top female cyclists negotiate routes around the country in the Aviva Women's Tour.

World champion cyclist Lizzie Armistead and reigning Aviva Women's Tour champion Lisa Brennauer will be going head to head on Thursday June 16; the second stage of the five-day tour which starts in Atherstone, in Warwickshire, heads south and passes through Shipston before heading just above Moreton and towards Chipping Campden and on to Stratford.

It is the first time the district has been chosen as a route for the tour and is expected to draw in a lot of spectators.

Ninety six of the world's top cyclists will make up the field, which will tackle the 140-kilometre stage through the heart of Warwickshire and into the northern parts of Gloucestershire.

Leader of Warwickshire County Council, Cllr Isobel Seccombe, said: "A sporting event of this scale brings with it a number of key benefits, ranging from public health and education to economic growth and tourism, all of which are key priorities. More importantly, the Aviva Women's Tour puts Warwickshire on the international sporting stage and as a place that has the skills, infrastructure and environment to make it a great success. We will be working closely with business, communities and schools to maximise support and engagement before, during and after the tour.”

Taking place over five days between June 15 and 19, the 2016 edition of the race will be a part of the new UCI Women's WorldTour calendar, currently one of just four multi-day stage races on the season long programme of races for the world's top riders and teams. Highlights of each stage will be shown on ITV4 every evening during the race.

Aviva Women's Tour Race Director Mick Bennett said: "Stage Two takes place through some beautiful scenery with several testing climbs in the south of the county in the final third of the stage, before what we hope will be a very popular finish.

"Many of the roads used are familiar to me from my training rides when a professional, so we know how good the area is for cycling.”

Subsequent stages will take the race to Suffolk, Norwich, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, before the final day of racing in Northamptonshire.

Reigning World Road Race champion Lizzie Armitstead of the Boels Dolmans team said: "As a British rider it's a privilege to be able to compete on home roads, the British public have really taken to cycling and you can see that when the race goes through different towns the community really gets behind it."

A spokesman for Aviva said details of the exact routes will be announced nearer the time and will involve rolling road closures.