The second Monument of the calendar is upon us as the women's peloton faces the Tour of Flanders – the biggest and most iconic race on Belgian soil – to be held on Sunday, April 6.
Of the four Monuments offered in women's cycling, Tour of Flanders is the one most steeped in history, dating back to its inaugural edition in 2004, while the other three were more recently added to the calendar. Liège-Bastogne-Liège made its first appearance in 2017, creating the Ardennes Classics triple, then Paris-Roubaix hosted a women's inaugural edition in 2021 and Milan-San Remo revived its women's race in 2024.
Crowds cheering along the course and fans watching on live streaming from home will see riders tackle 168.8km on a route that includes seven cobble sectors and 12 climbs, showcasing the Koppenberg and the finale back-to-back ascents of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, which provide an explosive final 17km into Oudenaarde.
At one of the most prestigious, one-day races of the year, the peloton is stacked with talent as every team will be vying for the victory but Cyclingnews has narrowed it down to just a handful of riders to watch in their pursuit for glory.
Lotte Kopecky, Anna van der Breggen, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
Lotte Kopecky will arguably be the outright favourite for this Tour of Flanders given her impeccable form on display while starting her season at Milan-San Remo two weeks ago where she buried herself, and her own goal of winning, in the final so that her teammate Lorena Wiebes could claim the victory.
The World Champion's efforts to bring back late-attacker Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) in the final stretch was a massive show of strength, team strategy and sportsmanship which also show SD Worx-Protime's ability to readjust tactics from moment-to-moment at the sports biggest races.
The Belgian fan-favourite will also have the support of her unwavering home crowds on a course that she has decimated twice in her career, in 2022 and 2023.
She took her first win while wearing the jersey of the Belgian Champion, which lifted the buzz around her success to new heights, and we can only imagine what winning the biggest race on Belgian soil while wearing the World Champion's jersey could do for what has know become known as the Kopecky-effect.
She had a strategic programme that included starting her season at Milan-San Remo, competing in select major Spring Classics before turning her attention to training in pursuit of the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. That means a truncated spring campaign is coming to an end and, while she may have been disappointed with her second place behind solo winner Longo Borghini at Dwars door Vlaanderen, she still has Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – two Monuments that she already added to her palmares – and her experience and strength could carry her to another victory in Oudenaarde.
Still, Kopecky lines up with two or three other potential winners on the team starting with Wiebes, who has won the last three races in a row – Milan-San Remo, Brugge de Panne and Gent-Wevelgem – and also secured her 100th career victory. Some might consider the Tour of Flanders course too much of a challenge for a rider like Wiebes but she has proven her strength on the uphills time and time again.
Also returning to the Tour of Flanders in her comeback year is Anna van der Breggen. The former Olympic and World Champion has also won the Tour of Flanders, in 2018, so has the experience to back up a potential victory in Oudenaarde. She has also shown head-turning strength in her first year back after a three-year retirement, with a third overall at Setmana Valenciana and second place at Strade Bianche.
Elisa Longo Borghini, Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ)
Another two-time winner of Tour of Flanders, Elisa Longo Borghini lines up as the defending champion, having won last year in her trademark style by riding in a late breakaway and then out-sprinting the small group of three to the finish line in a rain-soaked Oudenaarde.
The Italian Champion had one of her best seasons last year, winning Flanders and then the overall title at the Giro d'Italia. Now a change of teams from Lidl-Trek to UAE Team ADQ seems to have breathed new life and motivation for success into her career, which has spanned 15 years.
She started the season at the team's home UAE Tour where she won the overall title, but that performance across four days of racing also showed the cohesion among her teammates, who raced to perfection in the crosswinds earlier in the event which effectively placed Longo Borghini in pole position to win the stage race before they even reached the decisive Jebel Hafeet.
Since winning the UAE Tour, Longo Borghini has played a role in major one-days, 10th at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and 11th at Milan-San Remo after a late attack that nearly won her the race, however she was caught on the line by Lorena Wiebes. It was her 'revenge' performance that stole the show at Dwars door Vlaanderen after a long-range solo attack netted her the prestigious win, building her confidence ahead of Flanders.
She lines up with a trusted teammate in Silvia Persico, who is also a contender in her own right as one of the sport's prominent all-rounders who can sprint, climb and off-road with the best.
Marianne Vos, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Marianne Vos was forced to sit out the mid-week's Dwars door Vlaanderen due to illness but she still lines up as one of the favourites to win at the Tour of Flanders.
Vos last won this race in 2013, outsprinting a small breakaway to beat Ellen van Dijk, Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini on the streets of Oudenaarde. Twelve years on, Vos has won nearly every major race there is to win in women's cycling, racking up a career total of 255.
She is a 14-time world champion across road, cyclocross, track and gravel. This year has shown that she is not slowing down with powerful performances at her season's start Trofeo Alfredo Binda, where she finished fourth, and the she sprinted to second behind Lorena Wiebes at Milan-San Remo.
Vos lines up with Pauline-Ferrand-Prévot, who retired from a sparkling mountain bike career and returned to her road racing roots with Visma-Lease a Bike. The French rider is a 15-time world champion across road, cyclocross, mountain bike and gravel racing.
In her comeback this year, Ferrand-Prévot has already made her mark on the road with what she called a warm-up at the UAE Tour, third place at Strade Bianche and while she crossed the line fourth at Milan-San Remo, she was later relegated to 12th for irregular sprinting.
Vos and Ferrand-Prévot are two of the greatest cyclists of all time and between them share more world titles and racing experience than any other in the peloton today.
They still seem to be fine-tuning their dynamics as teammates, which will take some time, but if they can figure out how to play off one another more effectively, either rider has the potential to bring home a Tour of Flanders win for Visma-Lease a Bike.
Ellen van Dijk and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek)
Ellen van Dijk is a former Tour of Flanders winner who turned heads at Dwars door Vlaanderen this week, riding into the lead group and showing off her strong form across the cobbles and climbs on the edge of the Flemish Ardennes.
In the end, she finished 19th out of that group, but between herself, Elisa Balsamo and Anna Henderson, the team had strong representation at the front of the peloton. Balsamo finished the highest in third place, but she is not currently listed on the roster for the Tour of Flanders.
The team also have Shirin van Anrooij, who only recently returned to racing at Milan-San Remo after recovering from iliac artery endofibrosis surgery late last year. She had initially intended to return to the peloton in May, so her attendance at the Italian Monument came as somewhat of a surprise.
She explained that her recovery had gone well and that starting her racing season late March did not feel rushed but more of a natural next step that was taken together with her coach and performance staff of Lidl-Trek.
She may not, yet, be in the form she was last year when she finished second at Dwars door Vlaanderen and third at the Tour of Flanders, both from a breakaway sprint.
However, she is a savvy breakaway specialist, has been training to regain her top form and has a team to support her that includes Van Dijk and another former Flanders winner Lizzie Deignan along with Lucinda Brand, Lauretta Hanson and Anna Henderson. A victory might not be in her reach this year, but she could surprise with a top 10.
Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck)
Puck Pieterse is continually gaining ground on her more experienced rivals in the peloton every time she lines up to compete in the Spring Classics.
The reigning mountain bike World Champion has certainly become one of the most consistent performers during this racing block over the previous two seasons.
Last year was her first full spring road racing campaign and she ended up in the top 10 at every race she started. This year has been no different, so far, with the rider finishing fourth at Omloop and taking a pair of seventh places at Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda, delivering 10th at Milan-San Remo and most recently securing fourth at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
At Dwars door Vlaanderen she was one of the only riders to make a significant jump on the final Nokereberg, which split the small group into an even smaller chase of five behind solo winner Longo Borghini.
On top of her strength in mountain bike, cyclocross and one-day road racing, she delivered her greatest performance in road racing so far in her debut at the Tour de France Femmes last year, beating Demi Vollering to win stage 4 in a rain-soaked Liège and then securing the best young rider classification.
At Tour of Flanders, we expect to see more of the same consistency and believe that her power on the climbs surrounding Oudenaarde along with her strength in maintaining her position at the front of the field, skill racing across the unforgiving cobbles and attention for potential winning moves, make Pieterse a possible surprise winner at this Tour of Flanders.
Marlen Reusser and Liane Lippert (Movistar Team)
We haven't seen a lot from Marlen Reusser, yet, this early season but when we do she is front and centre using her powerful time trial strength and savvy ability to gauge a breakaway.
Now racing with her new team, Movistar, she has won Trofeo Palma Femina and finished on the podium in second overall at Setmana Valenciana, but hasn't been contesting all of the Spring Classics.
She was certainly visible at Dwars door Vlaanderen, however, launching several attacks that ended up splitting the peloton with a 20-rider group at the midway mark.
That wasn't all, she then drove a late-race attack that saw her among a breakaway of four with Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime), Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), and Amber Kraak (FDJ-SUEZ). While Brand and Gerritse fell off the pace, Reusser pushed on and even Kraak struggled to stay with the time trial specialist on the roads to Waregem.
Although she was caught and then distanced by eventual winner Longo Borghini, her efforts show that she is in prime form ahead of the Tour of Flanders.
She lines up with Liane Lippert, who was also among the front group in Waregem, so watch for these two riders to capitalise on their combined strength in Oudenaarde.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
Kasia Niewiadoma appears to be still finding her legs in this early season, but she seems to be on the cusp of making a breakthrough. After being held back due to a crash at Strade Bianche she was 15th at Milan-San Remo and then 13th at Dwars door Vlaanderen, so we can likely anticipate more of this upward trajectory at Flanders.
The Tour de France Champion was among the riders who split off the front at the halfway point at Dwars door Vlaanderen and then she fought her way into the next split that ended up chasing soloist Longo Borghini.
She is clearly in good climbing form and where she needs to be in the finals but is perhaps lacking just a little when it comes to sealing a podium on Classics terrain.
Niewiadoma, however, tried a few late-race attacks of her own on the way into Waregem which indicates a strong motivation to be a part of the action in the finals. While she may not have been satisfied with 13th mid-week, we can still expect her to be among the group fighting it out for the win in Oudenaarde.
Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly)
After a podium performance at Milan-San Remo we have to keep our eye on Noemi Rüegg to lead the EF Education-Oatly team at the Tour of Flanders.
On the Italian coast Rüegg masterfully hung on to the top riders over the iconic Cipressa and Poggio, and then was among the front group that passed attacker Longo Borghini and sprinted to the line for third place behind Wiebes and Vos.
She clearly has good form on the climbs and the ability to stay in good position, read the race and sprint at the end of a long one-day race. Rüegg has shown these strengths a few other times this year: third at Cadel Evans Road Race, ninth at Strade Bianche, sixth at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and then third at Milan-San Remo.
Her trajectory is only getting better as the Spring Classics season continues and, with a support team that includes former Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson, watch for Rüegg to shine in Oudenaarde.
Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Kim Le Court is another rider who has had strong performances this spring with a third overall at the UAE Tour, ninth at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and fifth at Milan-San Remo.
It should come as no surprise, however, as the Mauritius Champion has already had success on the Grand Tours with a stage victory at the Giro d'Italia last year and multiple top-10 finishes at the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and other Spring Classics like Paris-Roubaix.
Le Court lines up with another potential contender in Justine Ghekiere, last year's stage winner and mountains classification winner from the Tour de France, along with Alexandra Manly, Nicole Steigenga, Ilse Pluimers and Gladys Verhulst-Wild, who was recently ninth at Gent-Wevelgem.
Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ)
Demi Vollering is not listed on the FDJ-SUEZ roster for the Tour of Flanders, but that doesn't mean they don't have a contender. They will field Elise Chabbey, who is also new to the French team, having joined from Canyon-SRAM last year.
Chabbey said that moving teams has allowed her the opportunity to be a team leader at select races and it looks like she will have that opportunity at the Tour of Flanders.
She has had a strong season with fifth overall at the Tour Down Under and 13th at the Setmana Valenciana while riding in support of overall winner Vollering.
Chabbey was among the front split at Dwars door Vlaanderen and had the chance to show her Classics form, alongside teammate Amber Kraak, as the pair traded off joining and re-joining select breakaways and chase groups into Waregem.
Chabbey and Kraak will be joined by Loes Adegeest, Léa Curinier, Jade Wiel and Vittoria Guazzini, who was also 7th at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
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