Women's Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2024: The favourites - who will stop Kopecky?

Women's Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2024 - the most important facts in brief

• Date: Saturday, 24 February 2024, start 1:35 pm, finish ~ 5 pm
• Distance: 127 kilometres
• Start: Ghent, Target: Ninove
• UCI category: Women's World Tour
• History, track, TV broadcast & live stream
• To the race report of the women's race
• To the race report of the men's race

In 2023, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx - Protime) won as a soloist, 11 seconds ahead of a larger group. The first Belgian winner made her decisive attack at her home race on the Geraardsbergen wall. Who is in contention for victory this season? We have picked out a few candidates and do the favourites check. The more stars a rider gets, the higher she is rated.

The TOUR favourites by stars

* Emma Norsgaard, Chiara Consonni, Puck Pieterse, Kasia Niewiadoma, Elisa Longo Borghini

** Loes Adegeest, Pfeiffer Georgi, Silvia Persico, Elise Chabbey

*** Lorena Wiebes, Christina Schweinberger, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

**** Elisa Balsamo, Demi Vollering

***** Lotte Kopecky

Victory only possible via Kopecky

Anything other than a title defence would be a big surprise. The fact that Kopecky already won the Omloop last year is the least of the arguments in her favour. Rather, it is her early form, which has already at the UAE Tour has. The question seems to be rather: When will Kopecky, who extended her long-term contract with SD Worx - Protime until 2028 during the week, set herself apart from the rest of the field? Will she attack at the Muur, as she did last year, or will she try to go it alone a little earlier?

That would be entirely plausible, as SD Worx - as always - has several trump cards up its sleeve. However, it remains to be seen how well the one with the name Demi Vollering will perform. The 27-year-old has not yet competed in a race this season and has not yet measured herself against the competition. Entering a tough one-day classic like the Omloop straight away requires courage. At least when the race is directly for victory. But where Vollering competes, she usually wants to win. Nevertheless, she will be a serious dark horse at her season debut.

Balsamo and Wiebes for the Sprint case

The third ace at SD Worx is Lorena Wiebes. Like Kopecky, she has already struck at the UAE Tour, and when it came to the bunch sprint, she was more or less unrivalled. However, there won't be a pure bunch sprint in Ninove. Nevertheless, it is possible that a larger group will arrive together, perhaps if something goes wrong with Kopecky. Wiebes may not be able to climb with the very best, but she has proven in the past that she can survive more than motorway bridges. If she is there when the sprint for victory is on, she should be hard to beat.

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) will probably have the best chance of doing so. At her season debut, the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, she was able to sprint to two victories from a reduced peloton on highly profiled courses. The form is there. And the experience in Flanders too. In 2022, the Italian won both Gent-Wevelgem and Brugge-De Panne.

Ludwig and Schweinberger hope for loss of control

In case the races get a bit more chaotic, SD Worx loses control, Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) or Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) could be the beneficiaries. Ludwig has already been able to secure secured a stage in the uphill sprint at the Tour Down Under, dealt well with the short, but not quite so steep climbs.

Schweinberger's situation is similar to Vollering's. However, the Austrian, last season's discovery, proved what she is capable of in 2023 by finishing fifth at the tough, undulating World Championships in Glasgow. Last year, she finished eighth in the Omloop.

At best, the one- and two-star riders are likely to be outsiders. Although Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) was in good form at the Setmana Valenciana, finishing second overall, the short, steep climbs and cobblestones do not usually suit her. Her team-mate Elise Chabbey was also at the start in Spain and was able to achieve at least two single-digit results on the day. The profile should suit her quite well, but her legs would probably need to be a little better to finish at the front.

Reusser is out at short notice, what can Pieterse do?

In terms of form, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez) and Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) are not yet where they would like to be at the UAE Tour and should be in good shape for the Omloop. But maybe they are just missing a few kilometres of racing in their legs. Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) and Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) also took part in Arabia. They fall into the category of sprint hopefuls in the big group, but are probably not yet as far along as Wiebes or Balsamo.

The performance of Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) is eagerly awaited. The 21-year-old Dutchwoman is primarily active in cross-country and finished third in the women's race at the World Championships in Tabor at the beginning of February. If she still has a bit of juice left in her batteries after a long cross-country winter, she could be the surprise of the day. Last year, she only rode two road races at UCI level. One of them was the Strade Bianche, which she promptly finished in fifth place.

Marlen Reusser (SD Worx - Protime) also deserved several stars. She won the overall classification in Valencia ahead of Niewiadoma and has already proven her winning qualities in Flanders in recent years. However, she is suffering from the flu and will not be at the start.