This year, the company will award the rider who has shown particular determination with The Suffer Prize, which will be chosen at each event by a panel made up of television producers, the UCI, the Chief Commissaire and the race director.

It will be presented to the rider who has triumphed against all the odds or to someone who has demonstrated suffering in helping a teammate, and at the end of the season, one of the winners of the awards will also be given the Epic Moment of Suffering prize which is worth $1,000 (£672/€918).

The Women's Road World Cup got underway in Boels Rental Ronde van Drenthe in The Netherlands on March 14, where Belgian National Champion Jolien D'Hoore claimed victory, while the Suffer Prize winner was Australia's Orica-AIS rider Lizzie Williams after she crashed twice but recovered to join the pack on both occasions before she eventually had to pull out.

"The UCI Women's Road World Cup is a magnificent showcase for women's cycling, and I am delighted that The Sufferfest will again be supporting the series in 2015 with this incredibly unique prize," UCI President Brian Cookson said.

"This is a demonstration of their esteem for this exciting and increasingly popular discipline."

Belgium's Jolien D'Hoore took victory in the opening Women's Road World Cup round at the Boels Rental Ronde van Drenthe in The Netherlands ©UCI



The Sufferfest's training videos often incorporate footage from UCI events and they have been partners with world cycling's governing body since 2010.

"This award is not necessarily about winning the race, but about the Sufferlandrian values of pushing yourself beyond what you thought yourself capable of," The Sufferfest's chief suffering officer David McQuillen added.

"Women's professional racing is incredibly difficult and tells inspiring stories of effort, sacrifice and resilience.

"We want to share these stories and The Suffer Prize presented by The Sufferfest is our way of showing how outstanding these athletes are."

Round two of the UCI Women's Road World Cup is due to take place tomorrow in Trofeo Afredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, Italy.



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