{"id":588593,"date":"2026-04-06T06:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588593\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:45:10","slug":"five-questions-were-asking-after-the-womens-tour-of-flanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588593\/","title":{"rendered":"Five questions we’re asking after the women’s Tour of Flanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Five<\/p>\n

News & Racing<\/a><\/p>\n

There was much more to De Ronde than Vollering’s dominant performance.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the most anticipated races on the calendar, one of the most popular races among fans, and a race that always delivers a fantastic spectacle. Sunday\u2019s 2026 edition of the women\u2019s Tour of Flanders was no different, with Demi Vollering finishing off a terrific FDJ United-Suez team performance to win her first \u2018Ronde\u2019.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t already, be sure to check out Abby Mickey\u2019s breakdown of the race<\/a> and how it unfolded. Now, though, let\u2019s look at some of the defining moments and performances from the race, and address five questions that arise now that the De Ronde is over.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for Demi Vollering?<\/p>\n

Vollering was simply on another level on Sunday. She said after the race that she\u2019d earmarked the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont as the place to attack, believing that the longest, most sustained climb of the race would suit her best. It\u2019s hard to argue with that.<\/p>\n

As soon as the cobbles began, Vollering surged hard and immediately blew the race to pieces. Only a few riders could stay even remotely close, and by the top she already had a 19-second advantage which would only extend as she went over the Paterberg and continued on to the finish.<\/p>\n

De Ronde had been something of a bugbear for Vollering before this weekend. She\u2019d been excellent there in the past \u2013 four top-10s in five prior starts, including second behind then-teammate Lotte Kopecky in 2023 \u2013 but actual victory had proven frustratingly elusive. Winning on Sunday gives Vollering 60 career victories and crosses another top race off her ever-diminishing \u201cTo Win\u201d list.<\/p>\n

The question, then: what\u2019s next for the 29-year-old? What will be the next big race to fall?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vollering will race her beloved Ardennes Classics next \u2013 Amstel Gold, Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, and Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. While she\u2019ll obviously be hoping to win as many of them as she can (and who\u2019d bet against her taking at least one?) she has won all three before. And so if Vollering is as interested in breaking new ground as it seems like she might be, it\u2019s the Giro d\u2019Italia Women in May that\u2019ll be most fascinating to watch.<\/p>\n

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\n News & Racing<\/a>
\n Women’s Tour of Flanders<\/a>
\n Tour of Flanders<\/a>
\n Demi Vollering<\/a>
\n women’s cycling<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News & Racing There was much more to De Ronde than Vollering’s dominant performance. It\u2019s one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-588593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}