Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres 2023, one day monument, April 2 (women's)

[Lequack]

Will SD Worx dominate again? Vollering just won Dwars and the defending champion is Kopecky.
Notable riders: Van Vleuten, Wiebes, Longo Borghini, Vollering, Kopecky. Lippert, Persico, Ludwig, Balsamo, Niewiadoma

Preview statistics for Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres WE 2023

Top competitors for Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres WE 2023 are Annemiek van Vleuten, Lorena Wiebes and Elisa Longo Borghini.

www.procyclingstats.com

Tour of Flanders

The Tour of Flanders, also known as Flanders’ Finest, is the cycling highlight of the Flemish spring. On Sunday 2 April, Flanders will be the epicentre of cycling. W...

www.rondevanvlaanderen.be

Live video stream available on Eurosport/GCN.

Full startlist (not yet final):

Startlist for Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres WE 2023

Competing teams and riders for Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres WE 2023. Top competitors are Marianne Vos, Annemiek van Vleuten and Elisa Longo Borghini.

www.procyclingstats.com

Map/Profile:

Just as in the previous editions, Oudenaarde forms the epicentre of the Ronde van Vlaanderen for women, with both the start and the finish. Last year, Lotte Kopecky shone in her tricolour in Flanders' Finest. For the first time, the Koppenberg was on the menu. This year too, the bult van Melden is included in the race, as are the duo of the Ronde: Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.

Start: Markt in Oudenaarde - 13:30
Finish: Minderbroedersstraat in Oudenaarde - around 17:30
Distance: 156,6 km

 

[Lequack]

Does women's tour consider this a monument? Or is that just for the men.

 

[Lequack]

Tour of Flanders for women 2023 – Will Kopecky be queen?
It is without a doubt the biggest spring race for the women's peloton. And this year the Tour of Flanders for women is in its twentieth edition. Of course that should have been many more editions, after all, every year without Ronde is a shame, but still... Wondering who can write the crystal jubilee edition to her name. Can Lotte Kopecky succeed herself, will Annemiek van Vleuten strike again in her farewell year or will we get a completely new name on the roll of honor of Flanders' Most Beautiful? WielerFlits looks ahead!

Voorbeschouwing: Ronde van Vlaanderen voor vrouwen 2023 - Blijft Kopecky koningin?

Het is zonder enige twijfel de allergrootste voorjaarkoers voor het vrouwenpeloton. En dit jaar is de Ronde van Vlaanderen voor vrouwen toe aan haar twintigste uitgave. Dat hadden natuurlijk al veel meer edities moeten zijn, ieder jaar zonder Ronde is immers zonde, maar toch… Benieuwd wie de...

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Does women's tour consider this a monument? Or is that just for the men.

Every year there are talks about whether there are monuments in women's cycling and which races that would be worthy of such praise, but for now there aren't any "real" monuments, just like there aren't any "real" Grand Tours either. But I'm sure most fans and riders view RVV as one of the biggest one-day races on the calendar.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hey, @Red Rick! Don't forget about this thread.

Does women's tour consider this a monument? Or is that just for the men.

What we know is that both races are one-day. Nice of you to very helpfully point that out in the title.

 

[postmanhat]

Kopecky looked imperious going up the climbs last Sunday in G-W. Find it hard to imagine a scenario where she doesn't win?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Kopecky looked imperious going up the climbs last Sunday in G-W. Find it hard to imagine a scenario where she doesn't win?

She can win in multiple ways and right now she seems like the strongest woman on cobbled climbs, so it's hard to look past her. She could still lose out if one of her teammates gets a gap, and if Van Vleuten has one of her great days, you never know what she'll be capable of.

 

[Lequack]

SD Works keep winning because they went on a hiking trip to California. Other teams take note.

'We win because we are a team' - How California bikepacking fueled SD Worx

'If you do something for one of the team, you know it's coming back to you one day' says Vollering

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[yaco]

The women's peleton has been passive in 2023, so a rider/s could get away like Faulker did in Strade Bianche.

 

[Lequack]

 

[awavey]

SD Works keep winning because they went on a hiking trip to California. Other teams take note.

'We win because we are a team' - How California bikepacking fueled SD Worx

'If you do something for one of the team, you know it's coming back to you one day' says Vollering

www.cyclingnews.com

I thought Demi had said to the press it was the high altitude Sierra Nevada training camp, that Reusser was also at, post Strade Bianche that was the catalyst for their most recent form.

Id have thought most of the top teams go on team bonding trips and end up sharing houses together for a while to get to know each other better, and yet btw we still ended up with THAT Strade Bianche finish for them.

But then I note AvV has been training solo again lately, though she had Marianne Vos for company on the last ride she shared on social media.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1641758183562567681

View: https://twitter.com/AvVleuten/status/1641758183562567681

 

[yaco]

I am surprised that Jayco has taken Faulkner out of Flanders - She is the type of rider who could anticipate the finish and feature at the pointy end.

 

[Lequack]

 

[postmanhat]

She can win in multiple ways and right now she seems like the strongest woman on cobbled climbs, so it's hard to look past her. She could still lose out if one of her teammates gets a gap, and if Van Vleuten has one of her great days, you never know what she'll be capable of.

Yes those were the two scenarios that came to mind but I can't imagine her team denying her the biggest race in Belgium? And AVV but can't see her dropping Kopecky on the climbs. Given the strength of SD Worx, if she manages to get a gap on one of the flat sectors, then she really will be on one of her days.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Kopecky looked imperious going up the climbs last Sunday in G-W. Find it hard to imagine a scenario where she doesn't win?

Her biggest problem might be to get rid of her teammates.

 

[Lequack]

They have such a strong team it's almost like cheating

 

[Põhja Konn]

Too many leaders and too few workhorses really, whether their rivals manage to use it against them effectively is a different matter.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

They have such a strong team it's almost like cheating

The biggest question will be, given this is going to take supreme bike handling skills, whether Wiebes or her unfortunate victim comes off worse from the inevitable collision.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Early check-in during a brief quiet moment in the men's race: Ally Wollaston is attacking solo, with a lead of around 40" over the bunch. Relatively quiet atm, following a crash which has taken out Ash Moolman-Pasio and Gladys Verhulst.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Chabbey and Elinor Barker now join Wollaston at the head of the race. A second group briefly got away in pursuit but the group is now considered a bit too dangerous and the péloton is setting its phasers to chase.

Edit: crash in the bunch, the break has now gained almost a minute heading towards the Koppenberg.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That was a horrible way to destroy everyone.

 

[postmanhat]

Everyone except the front two has to dismount on the Koppenberg.

Group of four escape. Possibly race over?

 

[F_Cance]

nothing is too shabby for this team. Really taking advantage in every way they can.

 

[jaylew]

Not sporting, this.

Edit: Ok, maybe a bit strong after watching the replay but a shame if that decides it.