Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) wins the first women's Scheldeprijs — 2021 is the inaugural edition for Scheldeprijs Women won by Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Lorena Wiebes wins first Scheldeprijs Women

New spring Classic for 2021

Scheldeprijs Women date: Wednesday, April 7

Distance: 136km

Start: Schoten, Belgium - 11:10 (CET)

Finish: Schoten, Belgium - 14:40 (CET)

Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) won the first edition of the women’s Scheldeprijs, using her aggression and fast finish to win the sprint.

Wiebes started her sprint at roughly 300 metres and edged clear to beat Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) and Elisa Balsamo (Valcar Travel & Service) in Schoten.

Scheldeprijs Women - History

The Scheldeprijs may be one of the oldest races on the calendar but the women’s edition is one of the newest. On Wednesday April 7 the women’s peloton will have its first chance to take on the 1.1-ranked sprinters Classic, which starts and finishes in Schoten. The Belgian race, which is likely to come down to a battle of the fast finishers at Churchilllaan, was the missing spring Classic after a women’s Paris Roubaix was added to the calendar in 2020, then cancelled, and ultimately rescheduled for fall 2021 due to the pandemic.

While maps are not available as a precaution to discourage spectators along the route, the route is expected to cover 136km with an initial loop of around 80 kilometers followed by a final circuit, with three laps of 16km each.

Now, Marta Bastianelli (Alè BTC Ljubljana) will line up with race number one, after having won the Tour of Flanders in 2019 as week as De Brabantse Pijl and Gent-Wevelgem in 2018.

There will be six of the nine Women’s WorldTeams on the start line, with likely rivals to Bastianelli on the provisional start list including Trek-Segafredo’s Chloe Hosking, Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) as well as Hannah and Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM). Last year’s cyclo-cross World Champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Plantur-Pura) will also be joining the fray.