The women's Tour of Britain, to be launched next year by SweetSpot, will be a five-day event in the east of the country, probably with a date in May, and with daily coverage on terrestrial television.

Most critically it will attempt to become the first women's cycling event to offer absolute parity between men and women in terms of prize money and backup. "The only cycling event in the world where women are not second best," said Guy Elliott, who is masterminding the race.

Elliott described the disparity between the resources on offer for men and women at the highest level in cycling – be it prize money, team budgets or accommodation at their races – as "catastrophic" and said there is a clear health and moral case for promoting women's sport as well as a sound business reason.

He added: "We will finish in town centres and pay the same prize money that Bradley Wiggins or Mark Cavendish would get. The goal is to wrap a social agenda for change in health and social terms around a sports event, to send a strong message to women that they don't have to be second best. It's a game changer. It cannot carry on, that we discriminate against women in sport from the age of 15."

Elliott joined the Tour of Britain organisers this year after a successful career in industry – one recent post was the chief executive of DHL's north Europe division – to bolster their management during their bid to retain the organising rights to the Tour, which they relaunched in 2004. Their tender was successful, British Cycling said this week, in spite of competition understood to include the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France's parent companies.

He is in search of major sponsors to come in alongside councils who have expressed their interest and television companies. As with the men's Tour of Britain, the objective is to have a number of key sponsors rather than be dependent on one. "We've got a number of television companies wanting to do it, including terrestrial and free to air, which is the key thing. We're in the embarrassing position where more than five councils want it."

As a result, the five days, he says, is likely to be extended in the future. The May date is key because an event promoted as the weather starts to improve will lead into a "summer of sport", which will encourage longer-term participation. The event will be located in the east Midlands, East Anglia and the south-east, said Elliott, who has more councils bidding to host stages than he has available days.

"We've had the Tour of Britain and the Tour series in the east, it's nice terrain and it's close to the continent." The latter is a key factor because the bulk of the UCI women's calendar is based in Benelux in continental Europe, so it will be easy for top women's teams to travel to the east of the UK. The stages will be themed – for example, a sector in Hertfordshire will be the Laura Trott stage – and Elliott added: "The theme may be health, social issues, or tourism."

He is adamant that a women's event should stand alone rather than be bolted on to a men's race, partly to ensure it gains a greater profile but also so the social message is not diluted. At the events on the women's Tour the plan is to have a "village" promoting women's sport across the board, be it trying out bikes or joining a rugby club. These will be "overlaid" with the Breeze rides that British Cycling and their main partner Sky organise as an accessible way for women to start cycling.