Holy week has begun! The countdown to Belgium Christmas – the Tour of Flanders – is on. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is clearly on a good run of form, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) is relishing the opportunities at her new team, and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) is unrelenting in her ability to win bike races.
Before we get into the hillier races of Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Ronde, we had a couple of races more focused on the sprinters…
Racing roundup
Classic Brugge-De Panne
This is probably the only race on the calendar where crosswind and echelons are prayed for by the riders. Classic Brugge-De Panne is the flattest race on the Women’s WorldTour calendar, often referred to as the Sprinters' World Championship. Without wind, it encapsulates every aspect of a sprint race summed up in one word: hectic.
The roads twist and turn, with the bunch staying together and riders always trying to move up because, well, it’s Belgium. No other race is more like Mario Kart on Rainbow Road. The back is the WORST place to be. Tortoise shells galore. In the women’s edition, thankfully, there were fewer crashes than we saw in the men’s, however that’s not to say it wasn’t just as hectic.
Shortly after the break of two were caught, the bunch went through the start-finish line before starting the final lap. The final right turn into De Panne is over tram tracks and causes mayhem every year. Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) was on the ground after misjudging the curb. As a pre-race favourite, she had to recover quickly as the peloton drove towards the final lap.
Through the nature park after leaving De Panne, Floortje Mackaij (Team Movistar) sprung off the front using the narrower roads and lower visibility through the trees to her advantage. Cat Ferguson (Team Movistar) then used her teammate’s attack as a springboard into one of her own, going clear of the bunch. A promising break if someone went with her, but alas it was a long ~30 km solo time trial before getting swept up by the peloton at ~4 km to go.
Lidl-Trek led into the final straight for their sprinter Elisa Balsamo, however Lorena Wiebes was lurking close behind. When they did open up, Wiebes comfortably came through as the winner, with Consonni (who recovered well) in second and Balsamo rounding out the podium.
Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
Honestly, I would have thought this race would’ve panned out differently. The men raced the same day, and from what I saw, teams (i.e. Lidl-Trek) utilised the wind to split the bunch and launch to a solo win. The women tried, however the result was a bunch kick all the same.
Due to the hectic nature of the wind (cross-tail), riders were twitchy and speeds were high. We saw a large crash on De Moren where a couple of bikes went into the canal and Ninke Veenhoven (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) abandoned the race with a suspected collarbone.
The race split up the Kemmelberg, as is typical of the race. Numerous crashes delayed riders: Olivia Baril (Movistar) who also had an incident at Milan-San Remo Donne; and Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez), Ferguson and Elena Cecchini (Team SD-Worx Protime) were also taken out of the front group due to crashes.
After a stressful lead-in, the decisive move came on the second, and steeper, ascent of the Kemmelberg, with Kopecky setting a pace only Wiebes, Longo-Borghini, Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) and Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) could follow.
That group didn’t get much of an advantage, with a huge bunch of over 60 riders regrouping on the 30km run into Wevelgem. SD Worx set the pace, negating attacks before leading out into the finish. Kopecky was able to thread through the peloton and get Wiebes into position to launch her sprint at 200 m to go, ending up with plenty of time to enjoy taking her 100th UCI victory. Balsamo came in a bike length behind with Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic-PostNL) taking third. Another frustrating third place for Kool as she continues to struggle to find her legs this season.
Racing continues ...
Dwars door Vlaanderen
This race is fondly known as ‘baby Flanders’ but it is anything but cute. Dwars door Vlaanderen, to put it simply, is BRUTAL. The race is about 30km shorter than its bigger sister (the Ronde) but it contains a parcours that challenges the very best of riders. Previous winners also lining up on Wednesday include Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), two-time winner Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) and Marianne Vos (Team Visma-Lease a Bike). The full start list is here.
The riders enjoy the iconic sectors of the Holleweg, Nokereberg and Hotond. The latter proves decisive in the Ronde, so it's a course we can look to as a form guide for the big day.
When: April 2nd, 14.40pm CET
Distance: 128 km from the hippodrome in Waregem, casting down towards Oudenaarde, Ronse and then back to finish in Waregem.
How to watch: TNT Sports (UK), FloBikes (US and Canada)
Weather predictions: Things are looking dry but blowy. The wind is easterly averaging ~28 km/h with gusts up to 49 km/h. As with Gent-Wevelgem, the wind will only be a factor if the peloton decides to ride it. A tailwind finish will make for a fast and furious lead into that right turn onto the finishing straight.
Riders to watch: Some riders prefer to use this race as a tune up before the Flanders-Roubaix double. SD Worx-Protime is finally letting Lotte Kopecky star in this race. While hard to believe, this would be her first win of the season after being ever so patient in helping her teammates to victory in past weeks. She brings solid lieutenants in Mischa Bredewold, Marta Lach and Femke Gerritse. Blanka Vas offers a sprint option if required, but by the way Kopecky is riding, I fear for the chances of a bunch sprint. Marianne Vos (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) will want to repeat her 2024 victory, and Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) is searching for that big European result. Kasia Niewiadoma and Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) provide two options for that team. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) are the only ones of this bunch I can see going with a Kopecky attack. Lidl-Trek have previously ridden this race aggressively so expect that again especially with their team of Ellen Van Dijk, Lucinda Brand, Anna Henderson, Lauretta Hanson, Shirin Van Anrooij and Elisa Balsamo.
It’s a tough race to predict and I’m not even going to try. In short, it will be a barnstormer.
Wheel Talk podcast
Boy, oh, boy it’s Flanders week! It's Loren’s home race, so join her, Abby, Gracie and Georgie on this week’s podcast to break down Gent-Wevelgem, Brugge-De Panne and preview the Belgium ‘mountain’ races in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders.
So what's my take?
This week, kicking things off with this: SD Worx-Protime is a more cohesive outfit without Demi Vollering.
Currently, it’s looking fairly concrete that SD Worx is going to be extremely tough to beat this year. After some teething problems at the very beginning of the season, the team has really come into their own.
What has changed since we last tuned into the team in 2023 & 2024?
Two riders, exactly. Vollering and Anna van der Breggen. One slips back into the fold of the rider group from her time as director, as the other leaves for greener pastures. Time will be the judge if the move for Vollering is a good one, and FDJ-Suez has already shown proof in the results sheet. However, the French team has so far only really shown strength in a particular category of race (hard, long hills or mountains) and with a particular rider – Vollering, although Juliette Labous' ride at Strade Bianche deserves mention.
The cohesion and dominance doesn’t seem to extend to others in the team. For example, Kiwi sprinter Wollaston has yet to hit her straps in the European part of the WorldTour season. She sprinted to eight place on the weekend in Gent-Wevelgem, and eleventh at Classic Brugge-De Panne. Solid results, but for a sprinter of her potential and class, one would expect her a little higher.
Conversely, SD Worx has embraced Van der Breggen back into their structure. Her experience, humility and ability was touted in a previous newsletter, and one cannot help but wonder if her influence is felt at races where she is not present. Examples being the synergy between Kopecky and Wiebes at Milan-San Remo Donne & Gent-Wevelgem. There was never a question from the way that team was riding, what their priority was. Kopecky would make the race hard, and ultimately force other sprinters to rise to the same class as Wiebes who can survive that tougher terrain. Then, the inevitable would occur with Kopecky giving her all for a Wiebes leadout to victory.
There is no confusion. There is never a question of tactics. So far, not a skerrick of in-fighting the viewership hypothesised in 2024. Is this Van der Breggen’s influence or a team without Vollering jostling for the spotlight? A bit of both, I would say.
Vollering expects to win every race she lines up for. That is her prerogative, as she has the palmarès to back it up. However, that attitude clashed at SD Worx where 100% of races were not hers to win. We are seeing that attitude of hers come to the fore at Milan-San Remo. It was a race that didn’t need to be a Vollering race, but she wished it so.
SD Worx in 2025 carries far more humility from what I can see, and I sincerely believe that will pay dividends down the track.
Perhaps it’s time for Vollering to loosen her grip and do what every good leader does: delegate.
A picture worth a couple of words
Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields 2025, March 30th. This was the day Wiebes became the only rider in the peloton behind the great Marianne Vos to enter the triple digits for UCI race victories in her career. 100 wins and she is only 26 years old.
Marianne Vos has 255 wins to her name, starting her career in 2006. Wiebes is clearly the fastest sprinter in the Women’s WorldTour and she is edging on the title of rouleur. But I fear she won’t quite get to Vos' level. By her seventh year of racing, Vos had won 141 races. Races have also become far more difficult to win as the level between the top and the rest shrinks.
Vos remains the GOAT, but we must take our hats off to Wiebes as she does what is so difficult in the modern era of women’s racing: consistently delivers.
Who runs the world
Bare with me as I dive into the world of women's soccer:
I’m Australian, therefore I was swept up in the jubilant celebration started by our women’s soccer team, The Matildas, at the 2023 FIFA World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The team activated a movement of excitement around women’s sports. A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say. We are not a soccer/football mad country. Australian Rules Football and rugby dominate the ball sport broadcasting. However, the success of the Matildas achieving fourth place in 2023 captivated the nation. In fact, the quarterfinal where Cortnee Vine sank the winning penalty against France to move Australia in the semis was the most watched sporting event in Australia since Cathy Freeman won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
As Hannah Fergurson of Cheek Media said, “Fun activates change more rapidly than protest,” when describing the seismic shift experienced in Australia.
However, since that year the Matildas have not reached the same level of success. They have underperformed, changed leadership, coaches, etc. but nothing seems to be spurring them to the same heights.
A striker of the squad – Samantha Kerr – plays a pivotal role in the success of the side. Kerr is also the captain. Yet, on a fateful night in January 2023, in the UK, she and her wife were embroiled in an assault case brought upon a police officer who alleged he was the victim of racial slurs. Kerr’s behaviour was caught on camera. It wasn’t pretty.
Kerr was cleared of all charges. I am not disputing that decision by the courts, but what I am disputing is Football Australia elevating her back to the role of captain in the side. Kerr has been sidelined due to an ACL injury and hasn’t played in many months. Yet upon her return, she will pull on the captain’s armband.
Male or female, from whichever background, is not above disciplinary action and the responsibility of a sport’s star: to uphold an example for those up and coming in sport. She is a talented and hard-working athlete, but the role of captain is one that carries with it huge responsibility by way of public presentation.
I am not one to jump to conclusions to explain the form slump of the Matildas, but culture is the first thing that is challenged when things aren’t going so well. When the lights are off and criticisms start to mount. I am not certain the move by Football Australia and Kerr’s behaviour is the magic solution to the Matildas’ problem.
Until next time
Thank you for indulging me for another week of the Wheel Talk newsletter. As always, let me know any and all your thoughts, listen to us on the Wheel Talk podcast and I’ll see you next week!
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