The women’s Tour of Flanders came down to a four-up sprint, but from as early as the morning’s team presentation, the confidence had emitted from Lotte Kopecky like steam from her back.
There were a lot of crashes throughout the race, with two-time winner Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) one of the many who came down hard, and was forced to abandon before the halfway point – her team later confirmed a nasty concussion which will keep her in hospital for at least 24 hours of observation. Many of the favourites escaped danger, though, and as expected, the last few climbs proved decisive.
A still-sizeable group hit the Oude Kwaremont at the 18 km-to-go mark, with multiples for the likes of Lidl-Trek, Canyon-SRAM, and, of course, SD Worx-Protime, Movistar leading the way for Liane Lippert, until Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – who was only just back in the fold after being held up by a crash – took control and lifted the pace. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider began the trimming effort that Kopecky then polished off, ensuring only four riders remained in the lead by the top: Kopecky, Ferrand-Prévot, Lippert and Kasia Niewiadoma.
Niewiadoma lifted the pace again as the quartet hit the Paterberg a few kilometres later, but neither she nor Lippert could do any notable damage. Ferrand-Prévot began to look a little ragged towards the crest, but they entered the final run-in together, and with about half a minute over the small chase group, their gap only going in one direction as cohesion broke down behind them.
The quartet remained together all the way into the final kilometre, carrying with them a lead of almost a minute. Niewiadoma tried a late attack in the last few-hundred metres, but the world champion didn’t panic, easily grabbing hold of her rival. She then launched her own sprint from the front with 200 metres to go, and though Ferrand-Prévot tried to launch out of the wheel, there was no touching the world champion, who roared to a record third career victory in the women’s Tour of Flanders.
[race_result id=9049 stage_id=0 count=10 gc=0 year=2025]
Quotes of the day
After an hour or two, I felt good, so from that moment on, I knew that it was much better than Wednesday [Dwars door Vlaanderen], so I just had to be confident. Once we got further into the race, Mischa [Bredewold] was out before the Oude Kruisberg, that was a really good move for us, so I think, again, with our team SD Worx-Protime, we did a really nice race."
Kopecky said in her winner's interview
This victory marks a historic third in Kopecky's career (after 2022 and 2023), a record in the 22-year history of the women's Tour of Flanders.
It doesn’t mean that much, to be honest. I’m super happy that I could win today in the white jersey and white shorts. That means more to me than the third win."
Kasia Niewiadoma was one of the four riders who joined Kopecky for the finale, but with perhaps the weakest sprint of the quartet, the Pole had to try and be creative as the others prepared for an all-out gallop for the line – to no avail.
It's just a bummer, riding with four. Even though I was still thinking ‘I can win it’, there’s also the fear of, like, ‘you can be the fourth one’. I tried not to focus on that, but I was also with super fast riders in the group, so, yeah…"
Niewiadoma said post-race, her words trailing off
I tried, and I cramped immediately. So I was like, ‘okay, that was a super tough day’. I think my options will always be those late attacks because I’m just not a sprinter."
Brief analysis
- As one of SD Worx's many proven winners in their own right, former European champion Mischa Bredewold was an exemplary domestique in the crucial late stages. With Lorena Wiebes in trouble by the last 30 km – as was expected – the front of the race was down to less than 20 riders, and when Loretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) went on the attack, Bredewold was quick to respond and let the Australian wear herself out for 10 km as Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen cruised – relatively speaking – in the group behind. When Kopecky then went clear with her fellow leaders, Bredewold and Van der Breggen made life difficult for the chase group in another dominant display from the Dutch superteam which has won six of the last 10 Tours of Flanders.
- Lidl-Trek meanwhile, seemed to embrace their slightly diminished status in the shadow of SD Worx-Protime, and they defiantly refused to take their near-inevitable defeat lying down. The attacking Hanson was joined by Ellen van Dijk and Anna Henderson in the lead group that remained with 25 km to go, making them one of two best-represented teams. The only trouble was that SD Worx was the other.
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