Lotte Kopecky, Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot face off in what could be an epic showdown – Analysing the Tour of Flanders Women contenders

In Flanders Fields and Dwars door Vlaanderen are done, the recons are complete, the line-ups are decided – the women's Tour of Flanders and the start of Holy Week is very nearly here.

Flanders is always a clash of the titans, with its historic and challenging course always attracting the sport's best riders, but this year the starting field is almost unimaginably good. Almost every single top rider will be in attendance – Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney being perhaps the one main exception – and everyone seems primed for a big battle.

Lotte Kopecky comes to her home race as the defending champion and three-time champion, an undeniable expert on how to win in Oudenaarde. But Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot have been at altitude to prepare for this race, and both have the added drive of never having won before.

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And then there's the star-studded cast of Movistar, who are on a winning streak, former winner Elisa Longo Borghini, prodigious talent Puck Pieterse, and numerous teammates who could be leaders and winners themselves.

Flanders always delivers, but two days out from the race, this year's edition looks set to be one for the ages.

The women's Flanders route has been slightly tweaked for 2026, taking out some climbing and elevation gain, but it remains characteristically challenging, taking in 164km, nine climbs and six sectors of cobbles. The finale features the iconic, punishing Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg combination, which will surely be decisive in the race, but history tells us things will open up and split apart much, much earlier.

With a mixture of the some of the peloton's best one-day racers and Grand Tour-winning climbers, this race is going to come down to killer efforts on the climbs, and then an all-out battle to the line – hopefully, between some very big hitters.

It seems harder than ever to predict who might lift the trophy in Oudenaarde on Sunday evening, but with all the pre-race talk and action digested, here are Cyclingnews' picks for the women's Tour of Flanders.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)

Though the strength of the field probably doesn't quite earn her the title of overwhelming favourite, the rider obviously at the top of this list is three-time Flanders champion Lotte Kopecky. After winning Flanders for a third time last spring, the Belgian star had a bit of a tricky rest of 2025, dealing with some injuries, and there was some pressure on her shoulders at the start of the spring. However, she fairly quickly dispelled that pressure by winning Milan-San Remo in spectacular fashion, adding another Monument to her palmarès.

Kopecky clearly knows how to win this race, and in several different ways, but the field she'll face this Sunday is perhaps her fiercest challenge yet in Flanders. She'll face Vollering as a non-teammate for the first time, plus Ferrand-Prévot, Reusser and more, so she can expect to be pushed to the limits on the climbs. The plus will be that she's back to focusing solely on the Classics this year, so she should be near enough her top level. If she's as strong as she was in Milan-San Remo, she certainly won't be easy to beat.

All signs point to Kopecky leading Flanders, but SD Worx also have the wildcard option of Lorena Wiebes, who showed monster climbing and attacking skills at In Flanders Fields. Something would probably have to go wrong for Kopecky for Wiebes to be launched into a leadership position, but that's not unthinkable, and the Dutchwoman is certainly capable of a really good finish in her own right.

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez)

Demi Vollering hasn't raced Flanders for two years, nor since she joined FDJ United-Suez. The last time she was here in 2024 came just days after her SD Worx-Protime unceremoniously let slip that she would be leaving the team, sparking drama whilst Vollering was mid-race at Dwars door Vlaanderen, which understandably threw off her week. So we haven't seen her at her very best in Flanders for some time, and it's clearly one of the biggest races she still wants to win.

Her preparation for this race has mainly been done at altitude, so she's absolutely made a big goal of Sunday and will be pursuing a hard, selective race on the climbs. She was strong at Dwars door Vlaanderen, only beaten in the sprint by Marlen Reusser, which is a good sign for her general race rhythm. Don't forget she already won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad too, so she's on good Classics form. With the mightily strong and united FDJ team behind her, Vollering will be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike)

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot said already at the end of last year that one of the next things she wanted to win was Flanders, and when she wants to win, she often does, so beware the Frenchwoman. We're yet to really see where Ferrand-Prévot is form-wise in 2026, after an injury saw her take an extended time off the bike over the winter. She came back for Strade Bianche but didn't really figure in the key moments, though not necessarily due to a lack of form.

Since then, she's been at altitude training specifically for this and the Ardennes, and history points to her coming off altitude absolutely flying. She's not a rider who needs to get much rhythm in her legs in order to win – just look at her Roubaix win, when she wasn't even meant to start – so there's nothing really to read into the fact she hasn't raced much so far. Ferrand-Prévot will want to make the race hard, and she has the form to do that, plus her second place last year proved that she absolutely can win this race. She is probably Lotte Kopecky's biggest rival, and a huge contender to take the win – perhaps even the favourite.

Marlen Reusser & Liane Lippert (Movistar)

Forget any notion that Movistar aren't a Classics team, they absolutely are and in fact they may be one of the strongest squads on the start line on Sunday. They can choose between Marlen Reusser and Liane Lippert as leaders, and can even play Cat Ferguson as a bit of a wildcard, too. Reusser comes into Flanders on fine form, having just won Dwars door Vlaanderen in masterful fashion, even after several weeks sidelined by an injury. Her team say she's mainly building towards the Vuelta, but she's clearly flying right now, and won't hold back on Sunday.

Liane Lippert is also a fantastic second option for Movistar, and she has made Flanders and the Ardennes two of her key goals this year, so she will be raring to go on Sunday. She was also very strong on Wednesday, ultimately riding defensively in the chase group with Reusser up the road but still clearly on the level of all the top riders. She will take a lot of confidence from her third place in Flanders last year, and could stand to profit if the big names mark each other or mess around.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)

2024 winner Elisa Longo Borghini is still struggling with sickness and will probably not be at her top level on Sunday after suffering from flu earlier in the season. As a former winner, she can never be counted out, and isn't a rider who always needs to have the perfect run-in in order to win, but from her coughing and general health on Wednesday, it seems like it will be a challenge for her to be with the very best climbers on Sunday.

The positive for the Italian, though, is that her UAE team has consistently proved themselves as one of the best strongest teams in the peloton this spring with riders like Karlijn Swinkels, Eleonora Gasparrini and Silvia Persico. They might not be ready to win this race themselves, but they'll certainly be very good support for Longo Borghini whenever she needs it, and could absolutely still fight for the top five if she does struggle.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal)

Kim Le Court-Pienaar made history last year when she became the first African rider to win a Monument with her victory at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and she's hunting more success this spring. So far, her results have been fairly middling, caught in the wrong group at Strade Bianche and then crashing on that scary descent at Milan-San Remo, but she was fifth in Flanders last year, so she'll definitely have an eye on this as her chance to grab a better result.

She will be supported by a quietly really strong AG Insurance-Soudal team, with Justine Ghekiere a serious asset on the climbs, plus the strength of Letizia Borghesi, Ilse Pluimers and Shari Bossuyt. Le Court-Pienaar has proven time and time again that if there's an elite selection, she's probably going to be in it, and we don't expect anything less on Sunday.

Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech)

Puck Pieterse has firmly moved on from rising star status and into the ranks of the favourites, but she is still waiting for a big victory on the cobbles – she was the winner of La Flèche Wallonne in 2025, of course. Five race days into 2026 and she's yet to finish outside the top 17, with sixth at Strade Bianche and fourth at Milan-San Remo her highlights. She's been really attacking and strong, but maybe just outpowered by stronger riders at the finish which has prevented her from recording a podium finish so far in 2026.

She's done Flanders twice already now, finishing ninth and sixth, so she'll be hoping to be in the top five as a minimum this weekend. A talented climber, especially when they're punchy, she should be able to compete with the best at the pointy end of the race but could struggle to match the endurance of riders like Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot. She has also suffered sometimes with a lack of teammates, but will look to Flora Perkins and Millie Couzens, who have shone recently, for support.

Other riders to watch

Lidl-Trek haven't confirmed their line-up yet but look set to leave out star of the spring Fleur Moors, and will look to Shirin van Anrooij and Elisa Balsamo as their leaders. If we're expecting a more attacking, climber-led race, Van Anrooij is probably their best bet. She finished third here in 2024.

EF Education-Oatly's Noemi Rüegg is transitioning from dark horse to serious contender in the Classics, but her Flanders record is only modest – 15th is her best result.

Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health) is a super underrated rider who is so experienced in these races and always there, as she was yet again at Dwars door Vlaanderen. A crash forced her to miss the cobbled Classics last year but she can aim for a top 10.

Picnic PostNL are struggling for results and leaders, and will probably rely on Pfeiffer Georgi to be their last rider standing on Sunday. A top 10 would become their best Classics result of the season.

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