Ronde van Brugge Women LIVE: Sprinters to face-off on a windy day through West Flanders

The riders are entering the local circuit. It’s nearly time for some cobbles.

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We’re an hour in and the riders have covered 42 kilometres.

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Wiebes has said before the start that she is looking to see the race split up today in the crosswinds.

“Hopefully the crosswinds break things up and a small group rides to the finish for a sprint,” she said to the media before the start.

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The cobbled sector is 1.3km long, completely flat and dead-straight. The stones themselves are small and uniform, so this isn’t the toughest sector of cobbles you’re likely to see over the next couple of weeks.

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The riders are just entering the town of Beernem. There are 6km left until they enter the circuit and a further 8 until the first passing of the Brieversweg cobbled sector.

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Lorena Wiebes has removed her leg warmers. That either means that conditions are getting better, or she’s getting ready for things to kick-off in the wind.

There’s still no breakaway

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The Visma-Lease a Bike squad rolling to the sign-on area earlier.

The Dutch team has last year’s sixth-place rider in its line-up today, 22-year-old Nienke Veenhoven. Can she improve on that performance today?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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UAE Team ADQ’s Sofie van Rooijen returning to the peloton after a puncture.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The riders have completed 29 kilometres and are heading into the town of Wingene. After that, they will turn north into a headwind and towards the local circuit.

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It’s not currently raining on the course, but you can see the spray coming from Margaux Vigie’s back wheel here. Tough conditions out there today.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The bunch is still together and ticking along at over 45km per hour.

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One of the more eye-catching stories from the men’s race yesterday was the crash on the cobbled sector caused by a sitting climate protestor. Several riders came down in the incident.

The riders have less than 300 metres of elevation on the course today. There won’t be many flatter races than that all season.

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The peloton is all together at the moment

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The riders are through the town of Torhout and are now heading east.

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It’s 7 degrees celsius out there today, with the wind making it feel much cooler. Riders are dressed in full winter kit.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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An early mechanical issue for Femke Markus of SD Worx-ProTime. She will be a key helper for Wiebes later on.

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After that, the peloton will head east, which could mean an early chance for echelons.

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With 5km done, the riders are heading south towards the town of Torhout.

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The race is underway.

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Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo in high spirits at the start in the centre of Bruges. Can she challenge Wiebes today?

The riders are setting off. They will ride through Bruges behind the commissaire’s car before being unleashed at around 13:45 CET.

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Looking a bit deeper into the start-list today, let’s see who else could contend for the win.

Fenix-Premier Tech’s Charlotte Kool appears to be back on form this year after a difficult 2025. The two-time Tour de France Femmes stage-winner took the win at the FENIX-EKOÏ Omloop van het Hageland at the beginning of this month and scored a top-10 at Milan-San Remo.

Chiara Consonni is always there in the big sprints, but often doesn’t have the top-end speed to beat the quickest riders.

Georgia Baker is in a similar boat to Consonni and Liv-AlUla-Jayco will be hoping she can contend for a top-5 today.

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So what do the riders have to tackle out on the route today? It’s a pan-flat course, starting and finishing in Bruges, but that doesn’t mean that the race is absent of obstacles.

As evidenced by the men’s race yesterday, there are plenty of opportunities to split the race should the wind blow hard enough due to the many exposed sections of road.

There is also a cobbled sector that the riders will take on twice. The Brieversweg is 1.3km long and will be taken on with 90km to go and then 30km to go.

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Originally, Wiebes had planned to sit out the race today. However, after reigning Luxembourg national champion Marie Schreiber pulled out of the race, SD Worx-ProTime opted to replace her with the pre-eminent sprinter of this generation.

Wiebes missed out on fighting for the victory in San Remo on Saturday and seems keen to add another WorldTour win to her collection today.

“She is in good shape and was very keen to add the Bruges Cycling Classic to her calendar once it became clear that Marie Schreiber wouldn’t be fit in time. So we will try to defend her victory,” Sports Director Christian Kos said ahead of the race.