Vollering's first season back at the Ronde for FDJ delivered the win she had never managed here, with a committed long-range solo from the foot of the final Oude Kwaremont rather than a finale poker game. The squad's depth showed across the result sheet — Franziska Koch took tenth and Strade Bianche winner Elise Chabbey was inside the top fifteen — but the day was about a single, decisive acceleration that nobody could answer.
Cycling Results · Post-Race Analysis · Édition 2026
Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Women)
2026
Demi Vollering won her first Tour of Flanders, attacking from the foot of the final Oude Kwaremont with 18 km to go and soloing to Oudenaarde for FDJ United-SUEZ. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma) outsprinted Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) for second at 42 seconds, both well clear of a chase led home by four-time winner Lotte Kopecky. The 23rd edition was wrecked by crashes: pre-race favourites Marlen Reusser and Kim Le Court both broke bones in a pile-up before the Koppenberg, and Lorena Wiebes also abandoned.
Vollering wins her first Ronde with a long-range Kwaremont solo
OPENINGThe 23rd women's Tour of Flanders ran 164.1 km out-and-back from Oudenaarde over the same Flemish bergs as the men, with a tailwind forecast for the finale. Lotte Kopecky, the three-time champion, headlined on home roads; Demi Vollering returned to the Ronde for FDJ United-SUEZ for the first time as a rival rather than Kopecky's team-mate, and Marlen Reusser arrived in form after winning Dwars door Vlaanderen mid-week. The opening seventy mostly flat kilometres stayed together before the hill zone began at the Wolvenberg.
UNFOLDSThe edition was defined as much by crashes as by climbs. Cofidis lost Victoire Berteau to a broken radius in a crash with just over 80 km to go, and the decisive blow to the start list came on the nervous approach to the Koppenberg with just over 40 km remaining, where a mass pile-up took down both Reusser and AG Insurance-Soudal's Kim Le Court-Pienaar — Reusser with a fractured lumbar vertebra, Le Court with a wrist fracture, neither able to continue. Lorena Wiebes, caught in two separate crashes, also abandoned. The favourites' group thinned through the Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg and Kruisberg into the closing two climbs.
DECIDEDOn the final Oude Kwaremont, with roughly 18 km to go, Vollering launched a full-gas attack from the bottom of the climb and immediately opened a gap on what was left of the lead group. Nobody could match the acceleration; the advantage held over the top and grew on the Paterberg, where she stretched her lead toward half a minute with around 12 km to race.
FINALEBehind, Puck Pieterse briefly distanced Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on the Paterberg, but the Frenchwoman fought back to her on the run-in and the pair worked together to stay clear of the chase. Vollering soloed into Oudenaarde for her first Ronde; in the sprint for second, Ferrand-Prévot — runner-up here in 2025 too — came past Pieterse in the final 500 m to take the place. Kopecky led home the chase group at 1:04 for fourth, ahead of Bäckstedt and a UAE Team ADQ trio.
Where the race tilted
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Crash ends Reusser and Le Court's RondeA mass pile-up in the jostling for position before the Koppenberg took down pre-race favourites Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal). Reusser suffered a fractured lumbar vertebra, Le Court a wrist fracture requiring surgery; both abandoned on the spot. Reusser had won Dwars door Vlaanderen three days earlier.
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Vollering attacks from the bottomVollering went full gas from the foot of the final Oude Kwaremont and immediately opened a gap on the remnants of the lead group. No rider could follow the acceleration; the gap held over the cobbled top and the race was effectively decided there.
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Lead stretches past 25 secondsOver the Paterberg Vollering extended her advantage toward half a minute. Behind, Pieterse briefly dropped Ferrand-Prévot on the climb before the Frenchwoman rejoined on the flat, the two settling into the fight for second.
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Vollering solo; Ferrand-Prévot takes the sprint for secondVollering arrived alone for her first Tour of Flanders. Ferrand-Prévot, second here in 2025, came past Pieterse inside the final 500 m to take runner-up at 42 seconds; both finished clear of the Kopecky-led chase at 1:04.
Who pressed, who missed
Ferrand-Prévot was the strongest of the pursuers and the only rider to limit Vollering's damage, recovering after being briefly dropped by Pieterse on the Paterberg and then winning the two-up sprint for second in the final 500 m. It was a repeat of her 2025 runner-up finish — confirmation of her standing among the Ronde's very best, still chasing the win.
Puck Pieterse turned her cobbled-classics promise into a Monument podium, getting into the day's decisive front split and even briefly distancing Ferrand-Prévot on the Paterberg. She led out the sprint for second but was passed by the more patient Ferrand-Prévot in the closing metres, settling for third — a major result for the young Dutch rider and her team.
UAE Team ADQ produced the strongest collective ride of the day, placing Karlijn Swinkels (6th), Silvia Persico (7th) and Elisa Longo Borghini (8th) all inside the top eight from the first chasing group. Without a rider able to follow Vollering's Kwaremont move, the numbers translated into placings rather than a podium, but it underlined the squad's classics depth.
The three-time champion's home Monument unravelled. Lorena Wiebes, the sprint card, was caught in two crashes and abandoned, leaving Lotte Kopecky to ride the finale without her usual firepower around her. Kopecky made the chase group but had no answer to Vollering and won the sprint for fourth; Mischa Bredewold backed her up in ninth. For a team that had won this race three times in four years, fourth was a disappointment.
Reusser arrived as a genuine favourite on the back of a Dwars door Vlaanderen win three days earlier, then saw her Ronde end in the pile-up before the Koppenberg with a fractured lumbar vertebra. It was a brutal blow to a rider in the form of her life, ruling her out of the rest of the cobbled block.
How each story played out
Won her first Tour of Flanders with a long-range solo, attacking from the bottom of the final Oude Kwaremont with about 18 km to go and never being seen again. The gap opened instantly and grew over the Paterberg; she crossed in Oudenaarde 42 seconds clear. After winning here as Kopecky's rival for the first time, it was the missing Monument on a palmarès already full of one-day and stage-race wins.
- 18 kmAttacked from the foot of the final Oude Kwaremont, dropped the lead group
- 12 kmStretched the lead toward 30 seconds over the Paterberg
- Solo into Oudenaarde, 42 seconds ahead
The strongest pursuer and the only rider to keep Vollering's gap from ballooning. Briefly distanced by Pieterse on the Paterberg, she fought back on the flat run-in and then timed the two-up sprint for second perfectly, coming past inside the final 500 m. A second straight runner-up finish at the Ronde.
- 12 kmDropped by Pieterse on the Paterberg, rejoined on the flat
- Outsprinted Pieterse in the final 500 m for second
Made the decisive front move and even briefly dropped Ferrand-Prévot on the Paterberg, but couldn't shake her on the run-in. Led out the sprint for second from around 500 m and was passed late, taking third. A standout Monument result for the young Dutch all-rounder.
- 12 kmBriefly distanced Ferrand-Prévot on the Paterberg
- Led out the sprint for second, passed for third
The three-time winner, chasing a record fourth on home roads, made the front chase group but had no answer to Vollering's Kwaremont attack. With SD Worx hit hard by crashes — Wiebes out, others delayed — she rode the finale isolated and won the sprint for fourth, more than a minute down.
- Won the sprint for fourth from the chase group
Best of the three UAE Team ADQ riders in the top eight, taking sixth from the first chase group. Part of the squad's strongest collective showing of the cobbled spring.
Seventh, the middle of UAE Team ADQ's three-rider block inside the top eight. Solid classics ride without ever being able to bridge to Vollering.
The 2024 Ronde winner finished eighth, completing UAE Team ADQ's trio in the top eight. Active in the run-in but unable to match the day's best on the Kwaremont.
Ninth, backing up Kopecky after SD Worx lost Wiebes to crashes. The best support result on a difficult day for the team.
The Strade Bianche winner rode in support of Vollering and came home inside the top fifteen, part of FDJ's deep team effort behind the winning move.
Lidl-Trek's best finisher in thirteenth, present in the front of the race through the early hill zone but distanced once the climbs hardened.
Twelfth for EF Education-Oatly, finishing on the same time as Bredewold and Koch just behind the leading chase group — a strong classics ride at the front end of the race.
SD Worx's sprint and finale card never got to play. Involved in two separate crashes during the race, the Dutch champion abandoned with abrasions and bruising but no major injury, leaving Kopecky without her usual lead support.
Arrived as a top favourite after winning Dwars door Vlaanderen three days earlier, then crashed out in the pile-up before the Koppenberg with around 40 km to go. Movistar later confirmed a fractured lumbar vertebra, ending her cobbled campaign.
Crashes, abandons, controversy
marlen-reusser — crash, fractured lumbar vertebra
— crash, wrist fracture
— crash, broken radius
lorena-wiebes — involved in two crashes
Vollering completes her Monument set on the bergs as crashes batter the peloton
A crash-marred edition that the survivors will remember for the carnage as much as the racing: Reusser, Le Court and Berteau all left with fractures, and Wiebes with another spring abandon. At the front, the result was clean and decisive — Vollering's first Tour of Flanders, taken the hard way with a long solo from the canonical climb, and Ferrand-Prévot once again second. For SD Worx, the loss of Wiebes and a fourth-place finish for three-time champion Kopecky was a setback in the heart of the cobbled block.
Where this analysis comes from
- 🇬🇧 ProCyclingStats — Ronde van Vlaanderen WE 2026 result
- 🇬🇧 Cyclingnews — Tour of Flanders Women: Demi Vollering sails to victory with solo attack on Oude Kwaremont
- 🇬🇧 Domestique Cycling — Women's peloton left battered after crash-filled Tour of Flanders
- 🇬🇧 IDL Pro Cycling — Crash-hit Tour of Flanders Femmes: how are Reusser, Le Court, Wiebes and the others doing
- 🇬🇧 Wikipedia — 2026 Tour of Flanders (women's race)