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Women's Racing

Vollering Conquers Tour of Flanders Women with Devastating Kwaremont Solo

CYCLING LOOKOUT • 6 APRIL 2026

Demi Vollering delivered the defining performance of the 2026 women's spring season on Sunday, launching a devastating solo attack on the Oude Kwaremont with 18 kilometres remaining to win the Tour of Flanders Women by a commanding 42 seconds. The Dutch European champion's first victory at De Ronde erased years of near-misses and establishes her as the dominant force in women's one-day racing heading into the second half of the Classics season.

The race was aggressive from the gun, with SD Worx-Protime and Visma-Lease a Bike driving the pace through the early cobbled sectors. But it was on the penultimate ascent of the Oude Kwaremont — the 2,200-metre beast that has decided so many editions of the Ronde — where Vollering made her decisive move. Seated, composed, and riding with the kind of controlled fury that leaves rivals looking at each other rather than chasing, the FDJ-SUEZ leader simply rode away from the best women's field in the history of the race.

"I knew that the Kwaremont is the longest effort, and that suits me the most," Vollering said at the finish in Oudenaarde. "Everybody feels the fatigue already by then. I just pushed without looking behind, and when I finally turned off the cobbles and realised I was alone, that was the moment I knew I could win this race."

Behind Vollering, the battle for the remaining podium places was fierce. Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Premier Tech dropped Pauline Ferrand-Prevot on the Paterberg with a muscular acceleration that confirmed her growing credentials as a Monuments contender. But the French champion fought back on the run-in to Oudenaarde, and after the pair cooperated to hold off the chasing group, Ferrand-Prevot came past Pieterse in the sprint to take second place. Lotte Kopecky edged out Zoe Backstedt in the sprint for fourth, while a strong group containing Marianne Vos and Shirin van Anrooij rounded out the top ten.

The race was marred by a serious crash on the approach to the Koppenberg that saw Elisa Longo Borghini taken to Ghent University Hospital with concussion — the defending champion's spring now in serious doubt — and Marlen Reusser and Aurela Le Court both suffering fractures that end their Classics campaigns. The incidents added an element of sadness to what was otherwise a thrilling afternoon of racing and renewed calls for improved safety measures at pinch points on the Flemish parcours.

For Vollering, this victory completes a remarkable transformation from pure stage racer to Classics powerhouse. Her move from SD Worx-Protime to FDJ-SUEZ over the winter raised eyebrows, but the Dutch rider has repaid her new team's faith with a spring campaign that now includes this Flanders triumph alongside podium finishes at Strade Bianche and Gent-Wevelgem. With Paris-Roubaix Femmes just six days away, the question is whether Vollering will attempt to double up on the cobbles — or whether her focus shifts to the Ardennes, where her climbing abilities could yield further Monument glory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Kopecky, meanwhile, will be asking herself difficult questions after a fourth-place finish that extends a frustrating run of results in races where she has been the pre-race favourite. The Belgian triple world champion remains the most complete rider in women's cycling, but the margins at the very top have tightened to a degree that makes every tactical decision critical. Her focus now pivots fully to Paris-Roubaix Femmes on April 12, where the cobblestone terrain may suit her power profile even better than the hellingen of Flanders.

The Ronde van Vlaanderen has found its 2026 queen, and her name is Demi Vollering. In a season already defined by superlative performances across the men's and women's pelotons, her Kwaremont solo stands as one of the great rides of the spring — a moment when pure climbing power met perfect tactical execution on cycling's most famous cobbled roads.

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