Wiebes Makes It Four in a Row at Scheldeprijs Women — Untouchable Sprint Sets the Tone for Roubaix Femmes
Lorena Wiebes has won the 2026 Scheldeprijs Women for the fourth year in succession, completing an unprecedented sprint dynasty over the cobbled-suited Schoten finish and beating Charlotte Kool and Martina Fidanza in the bunch gallop. The result is a 13th win of the year for the dominant Dutchwoman and the perfect dress rehearsal three days before Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Saturday.
The 130-kilometre women's race rolled out of the Antwerp suburb of Schoten under bright spring conditions, the bunch swelled by every team chasing a final hit-out before the cobbles of northern France. With the new UCI ProSeries status this year and Paris-Roubaix Femmes looming on Saturday, no one wanted to spend a single watt more than they had to — a small early move never gained more than 90 seconds, and the inevitable bunch finish was teed up with five kilometres to race.
Picnic-PostNL set up the run-in for Charlotte Kool, but SD Worx-Protime were as ever a step ahead. Lotte Kopecky personally piloted Wiebes through the final right-hander on the Churchilllaan, and once the European champion launched her sprint with 200 metres to go nobody else came close. Kool grabbed second for Picnic-PostNL, with Italian veteran Martina Fidanza completing the podium for Lidl-Trek and Chiara Consonni narrowly edged out for fourth.
"Honestly, with what's coming on Saturday I just wanted a clean day on the bike," Wiebes said in the mixed zone. "But of course when you put a sprint in front of me I want to win it, and the team rode unbelievably to make sure I had no thinking to do in the final. Four in a row at Schelde — it's a race that means a lot to me." The win takes Wiebes past Marianne Vos and Kirsten Wild on the Scheldeprijs Women all-time list and makes her the sole record holder of the event after only six editions.
For Kool the second place is the latest entry in a frustrating ledger of near-misses behind Wiebes. The Picnic-PostNL sprinter has now finished runner-up to Wiebes at Scheldeprijs three times in five years and openly admitted afterwards that "Lorena's last 200 metres are simply on a different level". Picnic team manager Iwan Spekenbrink said the team would now turn its full attention to the rolling Bredene Koksijde Classic on Friday, leaving Roubaix Femmes to its specialists.
Wiebes will now switch off completely until Friday's full team recon of Carrefour de l'Arbre and Mons-en-Pévèle. SD Worx-Protime are targeting a historic Flanders-Roubaix double through team leader Lotte Kopecky, but Wiebes herself is no afterthought on the cobblestones — she finished third at Roubaix Femmes 12 months ago after the field regrouped behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's winning move, and her brutal sprint remains the team's plan B if the race comes back together.
The result also shows just how deep SD Worx-Protime's spring has been despite the Koppenberg crash that ended Wiebes' Tour of Flanders. Kopecky's blunt verdict after Flanders — that "the win was not in our reach" once Wiebes went down — gives way on Wednesday to the kind of crushing dominance that defined the team's 2025 season. With Marlen Reusser ruled out for two months, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's defence and Lotte Kopecky's record bid, the women's Hell of the North suddenly looks like a three-way duel — and SD Worx-Protime have just reminded everyone they have two of the cards.