"The race is the pinnacle of women's professional road cycling in the UK, and it's an important step to offer equal prize money to the comparative men's race," former world road race champion and 2016 Women's Tour winner Lizzie Deignan said.
"To be honest, I wish gender parity wasn't an issue in cycling; I think I speak on behalf of most women in the peloton when I say I just want to get on and compete and be recognised fairly for what we do..."
The organisers of the Women's Tour, which debuted in 2014, said that the prize money for every placing had been matched pound-for-pound when compared to the men's Tour of Britain.
The race has a five-day route and will be held from June 13 to 17, starting in East Anglia and passing through Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire before finishing in Wales.
($1 = 0.8065 euros)
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
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