The Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen), is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as the men's race, on much of the same roads but at a shorter distance. Dutch riders Mirjam Melchers, Annemiek van Vleuten, Belgian Lotte Kopecky and German Judith Arndt hold the record with two wins each. Elisa Longo Borghini won the most recent edition in 2024.
The event has been held annually since 2004 on the same day as the men's race. From 2004 to 2015 it was part of the UCI Women's Road World Cup. Since 2016, the race is included in the UCI Women's World Tour, cycling's top-tier female elite competition. Since the first edition, organisers have included more climbs and extended the race gradually from 94 km in the first edition to 163 km in 2024.[1][2]
From 2021, race organisers Flanders Classics have dropped the 'for Women' part of the name on their website, with the women's race now sharing the Tour of Flanders name with the men's race. To distinguish between the two races, they are now categorised as the 'Elite Men' and 'Elite Women' editions.[3]
The second Tour of Flanders in 2005 was extended to 112 km, featuring 12 climbs.[6] Dutch rider Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel won the race, after distancing her teammate and breakaway companion Susanne Ljungskog in the final kilometer.[7] The race for third place ended in farcical circumstances. A group of 20 riders was sent the wrong way in the final two kilometres and crossed the finish line in the opposite direction.[1] All riders in the group, including World Cup leader Oenone Wood, were disqualified from the race.[7] Melchers repeated her win in 2006, becoming the first to win the race twice.[8]
By 2009, the race ran over 131 km and contained three long flat cobbled sectors in addition to the climbs.[9] German sprinter Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won the event in a sprint of a 15-strong group ahead of Kirsten Wild and Emma Johansson.[10] The first and only Belgian rider to win the Tour of Flanders was Grace Verbeke in 2010 after she narrowly stayed ahead of the chasing group.[1][11]
In 2012 the finish of both the men's and women's events moved to Oudenaarde, making Oudenaarde both the start and finish location of the women's race. The Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg replaced the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg as the final two climbs of the race.[12] German Judith Arndt became the second woman to win the Tour of Flanders on two separate occasions.[1] As she did in her first win in 2008, Arndt beat American Kristin Armstrong in a two-up sprint.[13]
In 2016 the Tour of Flanders was included in the inaugural UCI Women's World Tour.[17] Britain's Lizzie Armitstead won the race in a two-up sprint with Emma Johansson after the duo had broken clear on Oude Kwaremont.[18] Sweden's Emma Johansson holds four podium finishes, but failed to claim a Tour of Flanders victory.
The 2017 event was the first run under the new UCI regulations, which allowed for longer women's races.[1] The route was extended to 153.2 km, featuring 12 climbs and five flat sectors of cobbles. After a six-year hiatus, organisers brought back the Muur van Geraardsbergen, as they had done for the men.[19]Coryn Rivera became the first American winner in an 18-strong sprint before Gracie Elvin and Chantal Blaak.[20]
In 2018 the Tour of Flanders was the first women's event to be broadcast in full live on television.[21] Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen won the race after a 28 km solo attack on the Kruisberg.[22] She increased her lead over the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg and maintained her effort to the finish. Amy Pieters was second at more than a minute from van der Breggen, the largest winning margin in the women's Tour of Flanders history.[23]
In 2022, the famed Koppenberg was added to the women's course for the first time.[24]Lotte Kopecky won both the 2022 and 2023 editions of the race, however was denied a third straight victory in 2024 by 2015 winner [Elisa Longo Borghini.[25]
Route
Roadmap of the 2019 event: the race starts and finishes in Oudenaarde, covering 157 km and taking in 10 climbs. The final 16 km are in green.
Present course
Start of the 2018 Tour of Flanders on the market square in Oudenaarde.The Paterberg in Kluisbergen is the last climb of the race with 13 km remaining from the top.The Haaghoek road is the fifth and last flat cobbled sector of the race.
The race starts and finishes in Oudenaarde, 30 km south of Ghent in East Flanders.[26] The course is usually between 150 kilometres (93 mi) and 160 kilometres (99 mi) in length and has a similar finale as the men's Tour of Flanders, with many of the same hills. The first 90 km wind through the hills of the Zwalm region, before addressing the climbs in the Flemish Ardennes between Geraardsbergen and Oudenaarde in the last 60 km. The final 60 km contain the most iconic climbs, notably the Muur van Geraardsbergen, Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.[19] The course runs almost entirely in the province of East Flanders. Since 2017, eight kilometres of the trajectory between Geraardsbergen and Ronse run over roads in the Walloon province of Hainaut.[19]
Climbs and cobbled roads
The short, sharp hills (hellingen) in the Flemish Ardennes are a defining feature of the Tour of Flanders and the locations where spectators gather in large numbers. Each climb has its own characteristics with varying gradients and surface, presenting different challenges to the riders. The hills offer many opportunities to attack and are usually the decisive sites of the race. These climbs are notorious for being short but very steep, and most of them - but not all - are cobbled. Most of the climbs are located in a relatively small area, causing the roads to turn constantly and often abruptly, which explains the winding and irregular trajectory of the finale.[27]
The Oude Kwaremont is 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) long with an uneven cobbled surface, but is relatively shallow in gradient (just 4.4%). The Paterberg is often the decisive final climb, with an average gradient of 10% and a maximum gradient of 20%. First tackled in 2022, the steepest climb is the fully cobbled Koppenberg, 600 metres (2,000 ft) in length with an average gradient of 9.7% with stretches of 22% – over a poorly paved narrow road.[27]
In 2017 and 2018, the race featured 12 climbs, compared to 18 in the men's event,[12] and five long flat cobbled sectors.[28] The final 31 km, including Kruisberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, are identical to the men's finale.[29] In addition to the climbs, there are five flat sectors of cobbles in the first half of the race, i.e. Langemunte, Lippenhovestraat, Paddestraat, Holleweg and Haaghoek, comprising 7.8 km of cobbles.[19] The 2023 edition featured 13 climbs and 5 cobbled sectors, compared to 19 climbs and 6 cobbled sectors in the men's event.[27]
Categorized climbs in the 2017 and 2018 Tour of Flanders[19]
2024 Tour of Flanders for Women
Zoulfia Zabirova (RUS)
Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel (NED)
Judith Arndt (GER)
Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA)
.jpg)
.jpg)
