The 2024 women's cycling season was packed with tension, thrills, and a good measure of surprises along the way. It didn't all go Demi Vollering or Lotte Kopecky's way, as many predicted, although they were still influential throughout the year.
From the Grand Tours to the one-day Classics via the Olympics, it was a fascinating season full of stories to remember.
Buckle in, then - here are Cycling Weekly’s favourite six moments of 2024 from women's racing.
Pfeiffer Georgi's stunning podium finish at Paris-Roubaix Femmes
If it seems odd to be marking the rider who finished third at Paris-Roubaix Femmes rather than the rider who won - Lotte Kopecky - but Pfeiffer Georgi's podium finish at Roubaix was full of joy and one of the true moments of the season.
The British dsm-firmenich PostNL rider had looked finished when she tangled with her teammate Franziska Koch 15km from the finish, and was promptly dropped from the group of favourites. However, she battled back into a rarefied set of riders, including Marianne Vos, former champion Elisa Longo Borghini and Kopecky. Many would have thought she'd be out-powered in the velodrome sprint, but somehow, Georgi found the reserves to match Vos pedal stroke for pedal stroke, and beat her on the bike throw.
That was a moment of the year in itself, but add in the precise point when Georgi found out she'd finished third - cue stunned face, unbridled joy and a few tears - and it becomes really memorable.
“It was a photo finish and I didn’t know if I was third or fourth, but to stand on the podium means everything for me,” the 23-year-old said. “When it came up on the screen I was so emotional. This is a dream race of mine to win, and some of these girls were my heroes growing up so to be in the front and standing on the podium with them at Paris-Roubaix is pretty crazy for me.”
Grace Brown recovers to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Has anyone ever had a better final year than Grace Brown? The Australian won pretty much everything she set out to, from the Australian TT title to the World Championships time trial, with the Olympics in between. In amongst all of this success, it would be easy to forget about her win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, but this was just as impressive.
The FDJ-Suez rider made a habit of attacking from afar throughout her career, and this was the same on a cold day in Belgium, as she was part of the day's main breakaway, and then clung on as other favourites joined from behind. With Kasia Niewiadoma, Elisa Longo Borghini and Demi Vollering all there, many would not have bet on Brown winning, especially when she almost crashed with 6.8km to go, hitting the brakes hard, and then chasing back on.
Brown's late sprint and lunge proved decisive as she pipped Longo Borghini, taking the biggest victory of her career - to that point - and setting up the perfect final year.
Elisa Longo Borghini triumphs at Giro d'Italia Women
Elisa Longo Borghini has won so much over a storied career, from Paris-Roubaix Femmes to the Tour of Flanders twice, including this year. One thing that has always eluded her, though, is victory at her home Grand Tour. Longo Borghini has finished both second and third at the Giro d'Italia Women, but never first.
This year that changed, with the Italian leading the race from the opening day time trial to the very end, beating Lotte Kopecky - her again - by 21 seconds come the finish. It was thought of as tight at times, with Kopecky just a second behind ahead of the final day, but the Italian triumphed in L'Aquila, refusing to cede more ground to her Belgian rival.
“I like the thrill, I like the adrenaline. When it’s about one second I like the head-to-head fight and I like to fight until the end,” Longo Borghini said. “When I see the finish line I just see red like a bull and I just want to go straight to it.”
Kasia Niewiadoma clings on to Tour de France Femmes glory
Heading into the final day of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Kasia Niewiadoma had 1:15 on Demi Vollering, with the latter's unfortunate crash on stage five seemingly changing the direction of the race in the former's favour.
However, if there is one terrain where Vollering thrives it is in the high mountains, and the final day of the Tour was up Alpe d'Huez, the iconic climb featuring for the first time in the women's race. 1:15 was Niewiadoma's buffer, then.
At the end of an eight-day stage race, the race up the mountain would prove decisive, something which is very rare at the highest level. There was no procession, no obvious winner, but a titanic battle up the Alpe. At times, it looked like Vollering was mounting the most ridiculous comeback, while at others, it looked like Niewiadoma had done something remarkable.
Four seconds was the gap at the end - four seconds! Niewiadoma clinched the win, just, and Vollering was disconsolate. This was a reminder of what sport is all about.
Niewiadoma, incidentally, was involved in another moment of the season - her win at Flèche Wallonne after so many years without tasting victory.
Kristen Faulkner stuns the favourites at the Olympics
With 3km to go of the women's road race at the Paris Olympics, Kristen Faulkner caught the leading trio of Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos and Kata Blanka Vas. The former two are two of the biggest stars ever in women's cycling, the latter one for the future.
Faulkner did not wait in the group, however. She sailed over the top of them, surprising them with the decisiveness of the move. They looked across at each other, and as they did, the American's advantage stretched out. In the end, she won by almost a minute.
"This was a great example today. There was a lot of reward ratio I had to assess during the race. I had to be patient, I had to know when to be aggressive, be able to be patient in the right moments and pull back, and then know when to go all in," she said post-race. "I think that's something I learned from my finance days."
The triumph was special because of its surprise - it's always a surprise when Kopecky doesn't win a race, especially when she's in as advantageous a position - but also because of how much effort Faulkner had put into it too. It wasn't a fluke.
Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering sprint it out at the Tour de Romandie
Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky have had a successful year, even if it might not have lived up to their expectations. Vollering won the Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia, the Vuelta a Burgos and the Tour de Suisse, and came so close to winning the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Kopecky won Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Strade Bianche and the World Championships, and came close to a lot more.
However, the defining theme of the SD Worx-Protime pair's season is probably the tension between them, which most visibly came to a head at the Tour de Romandie in September, when they came head-to-head in a sprint for stage two, a sprint that in more amicable settings probably wouldn't have happened. Vollering won the day, but Kopecky won the race overall.
They will be on separate teams next year - Kopecky at SD Worx still, and Vollering at FDJ-Suez - but it will still be interesting to see how their tense relationships progresses.
