The 2024 Tour de France Femmes begins with an international Grand Départ on August 12, with the flat stage from Rotterdam to The Hague expected to be a battle between the sprinters, as they target a prestigious stage victory and the first race leader's yellow.
The 124km stage in the Netherlands has barely a bump but it has some obstacles. Apart from a nervous field of 154 riders, there will be the road furniture in the urban areas and flat wind exposed terrain outside them.
The stage begins with a 40km loop to take the peloton through a newly built tunnel under the River Scheur twice before it continues through the tulip fields and urban areas as it winds its way toward the Hague.
Despite the flat terrain, there is one place to start gathering points for the mountains classification, a 1km 3.1% section at the halfway mark as the peloton works its way back up from below sea level as it emerges from the Maasdeltatunnel.
There are plenty of long straight sections toward the finale, with a sharp right about 3km from the finish and then only gentle curves for the teams of the sprinters to negotiate as they unfurl their sprint leadout.
There is bound to be plenty of competition for the optimum position as the finish line approaches, if the race comes down to the expected bunch dash.
The Dutch sprinters in particular are likely to have that little bit of extra fire as they sprint in front of a home crowd.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) are among the favourites from the Netherlands but there is also the ever present threat of Italy's Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek).
As the sprinters and their teams go all in for the first win and the first yellow jersey of the first ever Tour de France Femmes Grand Départ plays, others will be worried little about what position they finish in as long as it is one that doesn't lose them any time.
It may not be a day where the race is won for the overall contenders, but it can be lost, with crashes and echelons a threat that those in the race for yellow will be hoping doesn't unravel their Tour de France Femmes effort just as it begins.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage as it happens and more. Find out more.
-
'A big change to the team' – How signing of the season Franziska Koch reached new heights as vital domestique for Demi Vollering
German champion will prove essential as one of European Champion's supporting cast at Sunday's Tour of Flanders -
'High trees catch a lot of wind' – From intense media scrutiny to social media abuse, the Classics bring out the pressure of expectation in Belgium
Whether it's constant tactical questioning, boos on the roadside or abusive messages online, the Classics period can be an intense time, particularly for Belgian riders -
'I’m not going to wait for an attack' – Jasper Stuyven hopes to put Soudal-QuickStep’s classics campaign back on course at the Tour of Flanders
The Belgian team have struggled to make a significant impact in the cobbled Classics in recent years, but have a strong squad for Sunday’s Monument. -
'I deliberately got rid of my social media for two weeks' – Remco Evenepoel addresses drama of surprise Tour of Flanders debut and says he wouldn't be starting if victory wasn't possible
Belgian places himself below the favourites Pogačar, Van der Poel and Van Aert, but brims with confidence ahead of Sunday's race
