The cobbled classics season has reached its peak as the peloton races into the first of back-to-back iconic events at the Tour of Flanders Women on April 2, followed by Paris-Roubaix Femmes on April 8.
It's been one of the most exciting one-day racing seasons this spring and even if one team, SD Worx, has had a tight hold over most of the victories, there is still everything to play for at the two biggest events of the year.
The Belgian fans will undoubtedly be out in numbers just as they have been for Classic Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen. Whether they are watching the women's race via prime time broadcasts or roadside on the famed ascents Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg or on the finishing straightaway into Oudenaarde, the cheers are likely to be that little bit louder if they get another home-nation rider taking victory in 2023.
Just days away from the 20th edition, Cyclingnews highlights five of the biggest talking points ahead of the 2023 Tour of Flanders Women.
Learn more about the Women's WorldTour in Cyclingnews' definitive guide for 2023, and join Cyclingnews for live coverage of the 2023 Spring Classics. Also check in after each race for our full reports, results, galleries, news and features.
Anticipation, tension runs high
Cycling fans have been treated to an engaging Spring Classics season so far, complete with unruly spring weather conditions, strong winds and echelons, crashes, full-throttle racing, and a range of tactical scenarios that have kept us on the edge of our seats.
The three most recent cobbled classics alone have captivated audiences through Pfeiffer Georgi's cagey jump on a sprinter-heavy breakaway to win Classic Brugge-De Panne, Marlen Reusser's solo performance under the rain to win Gent-Wevelgem, and Demi Vollering's attack over the top of Nokere to net the win at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
These performances all lead up to the peak of the cobbled classic at Tour of Flanders on April 2 and Paris-Roubaix Femmes on April 8, and the peloton and fans alike can always expect to see a spectacle of racing at these iconic events.
SD Worx might have a strong hold on the one-day spring races up to this point, and also be entering Tour of Flanders with Lotte Kopecky as defending champion, but what we know about the cobbled classics is that unpredictability often trumps expectation.
Anything can happen in these events and across such challenging terrain, and the racing directly leading up to Flanders has created some of the most captivating storylines of the season. The anticipation and tension among the riders and teams are at an all-time high, but among a peloton of roughly 145 riders, only one can win the Tour of Flanders.
Almost unbeatable SD Worx
Sports director and former pro racer Lars Boom has insisted that there is no feeling amongst the riders at SD Worx that their team is unbeatable during this Spring Classics season, attributing their winning performances to harmony and team spirit.
However, ss the race heads into the pinnacle events, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the powerful Dutch squad has amassed a total of eight victories, sometimes finishing 1-2 on the podium and winning from a wide range of race scenarios.
Many have likened the dominance of SD Worx to that of the men's Jumbo-Visma squad, which has also experienced a similar run of success during the Spring Classics.
Demi Vollering's recent solo victory at the hard-fought Dwars door Vlaanderen, which is largely recognised as the dress rehearsal for Tour of Flanders, added to the SD Worx string of success during the one-day spring races.
Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes went 1-2 at opening weekend's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Wiebes went on to win Omloop van het Hageland the following day.
It was another 1-2 at Strade Bianche as Vollering and Kopecky sprinted for the victory in Siena. Wiebes won the bunch sprint at Ronde van Drenthe, and then it was another 1-2 for Kopecky and Wiebes at Nokere Koerse. Marlen Reusser then went on to a remarkable solo performance to win a rain-soaked Gent-Wevelgem.
All-in-all, these results leave little question that in the lead-in to the Tour of Flanders, they will be seen as key favourites that all the other teams will be trying to work out just how to beat.
Can Van Vleuten win a third title?
Annemiek van Vleuten will compete at the three Ardennes Classics, but the Tour of Flanders marks the last cobbled classic of her career given she is retiring at the end of this season. The question is, can she win a record-third title in Oudenaarde?
The reigning World Champion will lead a Movistar squad that includes Sheyla Gutierrez, Aude Biannic and Arlenis Sierra, along with Liane Lippert and Floortje Mackaij, who were both active in the final at the mid-week Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Van Vleuten revealed a targeted calendar at the start of her final season of racing with a primary focus on defending her titles at the Giro d'Italia Donne and Tour de France Femmes in July.
With a love for the Spring Classics, Van Vleuten committed to racing at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, followed by a training camp before racing the Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes Classics.
She hasn't won a race yet this season but will line up as a former two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders, aiming to add a third title to her extensive palmares.
She first won the Tour of Flanders in 2011 and then again ten years later in 2021, and has finished on the podium on three other occasions. She often uses this event as a reference point to illustrate the growth of women's cycling and professionalism, in large part due to the introduction of minimum salaries and live broadcasting.
She will arrive in Oudenaarde from a training camp at Mount Teide in Tenerife in March. Given she hasn't raced since Strade Bianche, where she finished fourth, her form is relatively unknown. However, the peloton can almost always anticipate that Van Vleuten will show up prepared to win.
All to play for the wildcards
SD Worx may have dominated the Spring Classics thus far, but even they have won from a variety of race scenarios, including breakaways, solo wins and sprints. If the last three one-day races are any indication as to how Tour of Flanders might play out on the roads to Oudenaarde, then watch out for a hard-fought breakaway or solo victory.
Unpredictable races tend to cater to the wildcard riders in the bunch and, just as we have seen solo wins from Pfeiffer Georgi at Brugge-De Panne, Marlen Reusser at Gent-Wevelgem and Demi Vollering at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders too has potential to follow the same path.
It's been an SD Worx-themed spring season – though Team DSM has also shown strong performances with Georgi and Megan Jastrab while Shirin van Anrooij kept Trek-Segafredo in the mix – but there are a handful of other wildcard riders who will take every opportunity to win the Tour of Flanders.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) is just coming back from COVID-19 but she showed promising form when she played an active role in the final at Dwars door Vlaanderen and then finished 11th. Also, as she discussed with Cyclingnews, she is a rider who knows all too well how to race on instinct.
Likewise, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), who has recently recovered from surgery to correct to treat pelvic artery constriction, finished on the podium in third place in Waregem on Wednesday which bodes well for Tour of Flanders, which she won ten years ago.
Also in the mix at Dwars door Vlaanderen were Reusser and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ), both riding into breakaways.
Telling, too, were the performances from Trofeo Alfredo Binda winner Shirin Van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo), and Movistar teammates Liane Lippert and Floortje Mackaij (Movistar), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance) and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Jayco AlUla), who were all active in the closing kilometres of the hard-fought dress rehearsal for Tour of Flanders.
Decisive combo Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg
Organisers have made a few changes to the route this year, but the two most decisive points of the Tour of Flanders remain - Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
This year's 156.6km route brings with it a combination of the five cobble sectors, but the meat of the race is held over the exhausting thirteen climbs; Tiegemberg, Korte Ast, Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Marlboroughstraat, Berendries, Valkenberg, Koppenberg (a new addition to the women's race last year), Steenbeekdries, and Taaienberg.
These ascents serve to whittle down the peloton little by little or act as a launching pad for early breakaways. They can also slowly cause fatigue among the field as positioning into the cobble sectors and the ascents are key.
It is the final trio of ascents that are the location for the late-race winning attacks and where the race has traditionally been decided. The peloton first reaches the Kruisberg/Hotond at 26.5km to go, then Oude Kwaremont at 16.7km to go, and finally the Paterberg before a 13km run-in to Oudenaarde.
The route will cater to the strongest one-day racers, and there are many riders and teams ready and willing to put everything on the line to capture that all important Tour of Flanders win.
