Date Early April Organiser Flanders Classics Discipline Road bicycle racing Region Flanders Edition 13 (2016) | Type One-day race Editions 14 (as of 2017) First winner Zulfiya Zabirova (RUS) First edition 2004 | |
Local name(s) Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen (Dutch) Most wins Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (NED)
Judith Arndt (GER)
(2 wins) Competition UCI Women's WorldTour (2016–) | ||
The Tour of Flanders for Women (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen) is the women's edition of the Tour of Flanders, an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in April.
Contents
History
The women’s Tour of Flanders has been held annually since 2004 on the same day as the men's race and was part of the UCI Women's Road World Cup until 2015. Since 2016, the race is included in the UCI Women's WorldTour, cycling's top-tier female elite competition.
From 2004 to 2011 the race ran over a 115 km course which followed the last 55 km of the men's race to finish in Meerbeke. Russian Zoulfia Zabirova won the inaugural edition. The 2011 edition featured three long flat cobbled sections – Paddestraat (2400m), Mater-Kerkgate (3000m) and Haaghoek (2000m) – and 10 hills, including the Molenberg, Eikenmolen, Muur-Kapelmuur and Bosberg.
Dutch rider Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel and Germany's Judith Arndt hold the record with two wins. American rider Coryn Rivera won the most recent race in 2017.
Route
Since 2012 the race starts and finishes in Oudenaarde. It is 153 km and has a similar finale as the men's Tour of Flanders, with many of the same hills, except for the Koppenberg. The first 80 km wind through the hills of the Zwalm region, before addressing the climbs in the Flemish Ardennes between Geraardsbergen and Oudenaarde.
In 2017 the race featured 12 climbs, including the Muur van Geraardsbergen, and five long flat cobbled sectors. The final 31 km, including Kruisberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, are identical to the men's finale.