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The 2024 Women’s Tour of Flanders was the most exciting race of the weekend. The imposing Koppenberg, coming with 45km to go, played a decisive part in the outcome. What impressed me most was there were many more women who were able to ride the whole climb than the men!
I was a bit surprised seeing world champion Lotte Kopecky on the back foot most of the race, but she battled very well and made it back to the pointy end of the race in the final.
With all the recent news about 2023 Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering changing teams in the future, I was curious how she would ride alongside Lotte Kopecky. Hats off to her for being such a professional and loyal teammate as she buried herself the entire race in the service of her teammate.
The final 10km was a real nail biter. There was a lot of firepower left in the chasing group, but Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma, and Shirin van Anrooij rode brilliantly to hold them off in the end.
- Super ride by Elisa Longo Borghini winning Tour of Flanders for the second time.
- Shirin van Anrooij was super strong the whole race and once she was caught, Elisa and Kasia did the lion’s share of the work to ensure they stayed away.
- Kasia Niewiadoma just returned from a long altitude camp in Tiede. There is always a question mark racing for the first time after being at altitude, but obviously she did the proper work at the proper altitude bands during her stay there. She was beaten in the sprint and had to settle for second place, but don’t think that she believes in the “second place is the first loser” mentality as she seemed to be happy with her best ever Tour of Flanders result.
- Puck Pieterse has continued to impress all season on the road. She is a massive talent and I’m sure she has a great future in the classics if she decides to focus on this discipline after the Olympic MTB.
Paris-Roubaix Predictions
Paris-Roubaix is next on the schedule and after the Tour of Flanders is my favorite day of the year to watch bike races from my couch.
Drama and chaos are guaranteed, and luck is a huge determining factor in the race, but, perhaps more than any race of the year, anything can happen if you fight to the end.
MvdP is the clear cut favorite, but will it be the year that we see an outsider lift the cobblestone trophy over their head on in the Roubaix velodrome?
Time to put the hammer down and go full gas!
Paris-Roubaix Predictions
- Mathieu van der Poel
- Mads Pedersen
- Jordi Meeus
Paris-Roubaix Femmes Predictions
This is a tough one as I don’t see Elisa Longo Borghini’s name of the start list which kind of surprises me. I think that the experience and superb bike handling skills of Marianne Voss will pay off with a solo win.
- Marianne Voss
- Elisa Balsamo
- Lotte Kopecky