Paris-Roubaix 2024 Women: The most important facts in brief
- Date: 6 April 2024
- Distance: 148.5 km, including 29 km of pavés
- Start: Denain
- Target: Roubaix, Velodrome André Petrieux
- Last year's winner: Alison Jackson
- Route, start list, TV broadcast & live stream
- To the race report of the women's race
- This is how Paris-Roubaix went: Re-live the race
- To the men's race report
The TOUR favourites by stars*
* Victoire Berteau, Elise Chabbey, Ellen van Dijk, Elisa Balsamo, Christine Majerus
** Alison Jackson, Pfeiffer Georgi, Letizia Paternoster, Emma Norsgaard, Chiara Consonni
*** Lorena Wiebes
**** Lucinda Brand, Marianne Vos
***** Lotte Kopecky
* The more stars a driver receives, the higher she is rated
Women's Paris-Roubaix 2024: Lotte Kopecky leads the field of favourites
Despite an unsatisfactory performance at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) will be the top favourite at the start of the women's Paris-Roubaix. After all, the world champion delivered a top result in Flanders with fifth place.
Her team still has two riders who are capable of competing for victory in Roubaix: Lorena Wiebes and Christine Majerus. However, the pavé of northern France has not been a good place for Dutch sprint specialist Wiebes so far. Her best result in three participations is 45th place. However, her current top form - three wins in her last five races - gives Wiebes three stars. Luxembourg's Majerus was already in a promising position in 2021, but then crashed. Femke Markus, who rode into the Roubaix race track with the leading group in 2023 and crashed in the final sprint, shares the same fate.
Lidl-Trek once again the big opponents of SD Worx - Protime?
In addition to SD Worx - Protime, one team in particular is likely to be strongly represented at the front on Saturday: "Lidl-Trek will be our big challenger as a team. They come to Paris-Roubaix with a lot of self-confidence," says Majerus on her team's homepage. And not without reason. Lidl-Trek played its trump cards perfectly at the women's Tour of Flanders last weekend. Shirin van Anrooij initially pulled away, but Elisa Longo Borghini came close in the final with Kasia Niewiadoma in tow. The Italian won the final sprint. However, she is not competing in Paris-Roubaix Femmes and is focussing on the Ardennes Classics. Van Anrooij is also missing. In addition, Elizabeth Deignan, a former winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes in the service of the US team, is out - she broke her arm during the Tour of Flanders. Nevertheless, Lidl-Trek has a strong squad at the start.
The North American team's strongest trump card is likely to be Lucinda Brand, who finished third on the podium in 2022. Ellen van Dijk, who recently returned from maternity leave, is also a rider who is familiar with Paris-Roubaix. Although the 37-year-old Dutchwoman is not the fastest finisher, Lidl-Trek still has Elisa Balsamo with them. The 2021 road world champion has already claimed four victories this spring, but is not the greatest pavé specialist, which is why Brand can be expected to do much better.
Marianne Vos wants to round off her career with victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes
But back to Christine Majerus. The Luxembourger from SD Worx - Protime has another rider on her list: "Marianne Vos is also a top favourite at the start." The grande dame of women's cycling already has 250 victories on her palmarès. Paris-Roubaix is not yet one of them. In 2021, the now 36-year-old Dutchwoman was already second. With victories at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen as well as fourth place at the Ronde, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider has earned four stars alongside Brand.
That brings us to the outsider tips. These include last year's winner Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale), who benefited from a long breakaway in 2023. So far this year, she has lacked top results.
Franziska Koch at the start for dsm-firmenich PostNL
Pfeiffer Georgi also gets two stars. The Brit is likely to lead PostNL in the dsm company. The Dutch also have the most promising option from a German perspective in Franziska Koch, who was already seventh in 2021. Back then, Koch finished one place behind Emma Norsgaard (Movistar). The 26-year-old Dane is the Spanish team's first choice this year.
Two Italians have also earned two stars: Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) and Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco). Both have recently achieved some top 10 results and are very strong sprinters.
Special race for Bäckstedt - home advantage for Berteau
From a Swiss perspective, we still have Elise Chabbey, who is likely to fly the flag for Canyon//SRAM Racing. The 30-year-old was fourth at Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2022. The German team also has Zoe Bäckstedt with them, who at 19 years of age is unlikely to make it to the front yet. Nevertheless, it will be a special race for her, as her father Magnus won the men's race 20 years ago.
Last but not least, a local hero: Victoire Berteau (Cofidis). The 23-year-old grew up near Troisvilles, the first sector of the men's race, and knows the course very well. With 14th place in the Tour of Flanders, she has shown that she has the legs to achieve a good result on Saturday. With home advantage, it might even be enough for more.
