Lotte Kopecky’s commanding victory at the 2026 Women’s Milan-San Remo opened the spring Classics season in style — and now the women’s peloton’s most exciting month of racing is just getting started. With Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and a field full of riders hungry to match Kopecky’s early statement, the 2026 women’s spring Classics have the potential to be the best in the event’s history.
The State of Women’s Cycling in 2026
Before diving into the racing, it’s worth pausing on how far women’s cycling has come. The UCI’s record 20% funding boost for the Women’s WorldTour in 2026 is the largest single-year increase in the event’s history. Prize money, media coverage, and team budgets are all at record highs. More importantly, the racing quality has risen to match the infrastructure investment — the 2026 Women’s WorldTour field features the deepest bench of talent the sport has ever seen.
What’s Next: The Women’s Spring Classics Calendar
- Ronde van Vlaanderen Femmes (Tour of Flanders Women) — April 6: The most prestigious women’s one-day race on the cobbled calendar, featuring the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg climbs
- Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift — April 12: The women’s version of the Hell of the North, which has been running since 2021 and has already established itself as one of the most dramatic races in women’s cycling
- La Flèche Wallonne Féminine — April 22: The Ardennes Classics begin, with the brutal Mur de Huy wall finish that rewards explosive climbers
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes — April 27: The oldest Monument on the women’s calendar, known as La Doyenne, featuring the Côte de la Redoute and Côte de Saint-Nicolas
Kopecky: The Woman to Beat
Lotte Kopecky enters the cobbled Classics as the overwhelming favourite. The SD Worx-Protime rider is the reigning Tour of Flanders champion, Paris-Roubaix Femmes champion, and now Milan-San Remo champion — a run of Monument dominance that has no precedent in modern women’s cycling.
What makes Kopecky so difficult to beat is her versatility. She can sprint, she can climb the short steep walls of Flanders, and she has the diesel engine to survive the cobbled attrition of Paris-Roubaix. There is genuinely no scenario — sprint finish, small group, or solo attack — where she becomes a losing bet.
The Challengers
Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) is the most dangerous rival. The 2023 Tour de France Femmes champion has the climbing ability to isolate Kopecky on the steeper Classics and has shown the tactical intelligence to control a race from behind.
Marianne Vos — despite being in the twilight of an extraordinary career — remains a genuine factor in any race with a sprint or reduced group finish. She has won virtually every major Classic multiple times and retains the tactical experience that younger rivals lack.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) is the strongest Ardennes candidate in the field. Her pure climbing ability over longer ascents makes the Ardennes Classics later in April her primary targets.
Pauliena Rooijakkers and Elisa Balsamo round out a group of riders capable of winning individual events in the right conditions.
Tour of Flanders Women 2026: The Big One
The Ronde van Vlaanderen Femmes on April 6 is the centerpiece of the women’s spring season. The 160+ km route through the Flemish Ardennes features the iconic Oude Kwaremont (2.2 km at 4%), Paterberg (0.36 km at 12.9%), and Wijnpers cobbled climb before the finale in Oudenaarde.
This is Kopecky’s home race — she races for a Belgian team, in front of Belgian crowds, on roads she has ridden hundreds of times. Her 2025 victory was dominant. Whether any rival has found the answer to her Flanders mastery is the defining question of the early April cobbled season.
What to Watch as a Fan
Women’s cycling’s broadcast situation has improved dramatically. Most major Women’s WorldTour events are now available on GCN+, Eurosport/discovery+, and FloBikes in the US. Tour of Flanders Women and Paris-Roubaix Femmes both receive full live broadcast coverage.
If you’re new to following women’s cycling, the spring Classics are the perfect entry point — the racing is aggressive, the parcours dramatic, and the stakes clear. No stage points, no general classification complexity. Just racing.
For those looking to ride Classics-inspired routes themselves, our guide to gravel cycling for beginners covers the bike handling and fitness base that makes cobbled and uneven-surface riding more enjoyable.
Key Takeaways
- Lotte Kopecky enters the spring Classics as overwhelming favourite after her Milan-San Remo victory
- Tour of Flanders Women (April 6) and Paris-Roubaix Femmes (April 12) are the twin peaks of the cobbled season
- Demi Vollering and Marianne Vos are the most credible challenges to Kopecky’s dominance
- The 2026 Women’s WorldTour’s record funding and broadcast deals mean more access and more fans than ever before
- Women’s spring Classics racing is at its most competitive and watchable level in history
