Simac Ladies Tour contenders – Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Balsamo and Cat Ferguson take on open stage race

The penultimate stage race of the Women's WorldTour season kicks off this Tuesday, with the six-day Simac Ladies Tour taking place in the Netherlands.

Owing to the Dutch terrain, the Simac Ladies Tour is one of the flattest stage races on the calendar, with plenty of sprint opportunities – and chances for opportunistic riders to try and upset the sprinters.

The GC will likely be decided by the stage 5 time trial and the cobbled sectors on stage 6, but with the TT only 10km long, it's not enough to rule out the sprinters, and plenty of the strong riders will be up there on this stage. That means that the GC could well be won by a rider who finishes consistently in the sprints and then rides well in the TT.

The other scenario, which often happens at Simac, is that one rider takes a chunk of time with a breakaway or attack and defends that time to take a GC win. It's hard to predict who that could be, with various strong opportunists on the start list.

The main favourite for the win will likely be Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who could conceivably win every sprint and go well in the TT, but she'll be up against riders like Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Cat Ferguson (Movistar) and Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL), who will be looking for opportunities to unseat her.

Before stage 1 gets underway across the border in Belgium on Tuesday, here are the riders who should be in contention to take home the win on Sunday.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)

SD Worx-Protime are not only the defending champions of Simac, but they've won the last five editions of the race, so they'll head to this year's edition looking to extend the streak that goes back to 2019. 2023 and 2024 champion Lotte Kopecky isn't here, so they'll look to Lorena Wiebes as their leader – though really most of the line-up could be a winner.

Wiebes will be looking at the five flat stages as five opportunities to win. There are a few Dutch 'climbs' thrown in, so the stages aren't all entirely flat – stages 3 and 4 are – but these rises won't be any kind of problem for a rider like Wiebes. When it comes to the sprint finishes, there is little that can get in the way of Wiebes, who is undoubtedly the fastest sprinter in the peloton. She comes here with a solid lead-out and it's hard to look past her as a winner of most of the stages, incidents notwithstanding. And she is a good time trialist in short efforts so shouldn't lose too much time there.

In terms of opportunists, SD Worx can look to Marta Lach and Blanka Vas as the kinds of riders who could go on the attack one day and take enough time to win the GC, or indeed chase down any rider who tries to do that. SD Worx are the strongest team here and have the history, so it seems highly likely that one of their number will take the win.

Elisa Balsamo & Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek)

SD Worx's main team rival, Lidl-Trek, also head to Simac with a number of options. Their sprinter will be Elisa Balsamo, who is typically a little more hardy than Wiebes, and can run her close in the sprints but doesn't often beat her. Harder conditions and a more explosive race could suit her, and Lidl-Trek will be looking to disrupt things as much as possible. She would only need one reduced group or to be on the right side of a split to take a win and some valuable time.

They have a good team to do that, with Lucinda Brand, Clara Copponi and Emma Norsgaard in their ranks, and they also have two strong time trialists in Riejanne Markus and Ellen van Dijk. Markus, a winner of a stage here previously, could prove to be a threat for the overall, as she is handy in aggressive situations, and should be one of the top riders in the time trial too. It will likely be Van Dijk's final time racing at home, so don't be surprised if we see her trying to chase some more success before retirement, too.

Cat Ferguson (Movistar)

Cat Ferguson is one of the youngest riders in the race, making her Simac debut as a first-year pro, but she's already one of the favourites and has earned the leadership spot at Movistar. As a sprinter and Classics-type rider, the stages in Simac are perfect for Ferguson, and she'll be chasing a stage win, but should be hoping to be consistently in the top five too.

Ferguson is the junior time trial world champion, but is yet to compete in an elite TT this year, so stage 5 will be an interesting test for her to see where she stacks up against the pros in the discipline. The prodigious rider has already taken two wins in her maiden season, and will certainly be looking at Simac as a chance to win again before the end of the season.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)

Ferguson's compatriot Zoe Bäckstedt is a few years older and is very much a serious contender for the overall win in Simac, the kind of rider with the perfect combination of sprinting ability, aggression, and a strong TT. She showed that earlier in the summer, winning the Baloise Ladies Tour, marking her first stage race victory and taking three stage wins along the way. Baloise is a lower-level, but a similar race to Simac in many ways, so that win bodes well for this week. She won't be able to match Wiebes in the sprints, but consistency across the week and a good TT could strike gold.

Bäckstedt is also backed up by a strong Canyon-SRAM team, including Chiara Consonni – another sprint option for the team and winner of the Tour de Pologne – Alice Towers, and Maike van der Duin. Bäckstedt's Baloise win and Consonni's title in Poland have made a good summer for Canyon, and they'll be trying to carry that momentum towards another top result.

Letizia Paternoster (Liv-AlUla-Jayco)

Letizia Paternoster is sometimes a rider who is overlooked when we talk about sprinters and all-rounders, but she's a really well-proven, versatile rider who could take a good overall result at Simac. Mainly a sprinter, but with a track background, Paternoster is also a notably strong time trialist, especially across shorter distances, which stage 5 offers at just 10km.

The question for Liv-AlUla-Jayco will be whether they work for sprints for Paternoster, or try to race more aggressively and opportunistically, as they have plenty of options for that with Georgia Baker and Jeanne Korevaar – Silke Smulders is noticeably missing from their lineup. Baker will be a good lead-out for Paternoster if things do end up in a sprint, and the Italian should be capable of top fives and top threes, which she could turn into a podium spot with a good TT.

Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL)

With Charlotte Kool departing for Fenix-Deceuninck with immediate effect this summer, Picnic PostNL are without a star sprinter for the end of the season, and will instead look to Pfeiffer Georgi as their leader in Simac, with Megan Jastrab also an option for the sprints. A lead-out rider for Kool and a Classics winner, Georgi is more of an all-rounder than a pure sprinter, but this could prove key in Simac, as she'll be able to cover any smaller moves and should have a good TT as well.

The Brit has had a mixed season coming back from injury, but did well on Saturday with a seventh at the Classic Lorient Agglomération, so she can hope for a good result in the Netherlands to close out the year.

Honourable mentions

• Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) – Former Thüringen Ladies Tour winner who is great at making an opportunity in a breakaway
• Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) – A strong sprinter and winner of the Tour of Britain Women in an FDJ line-up that features plenty of options
• Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) – Breakaway specialist and strong GC rider leading a UAE team searching for opportunities