The spring and its string of one-day races rarely fails to deliver thrilling races, historic feats and magnificent surprises. Yet it’s still truly special when the world of cycling gets to witness a conquest as globally historic as that of Kim Le Court on Sunday 27 April.
Capping off a thrilling Classics campaign, the Mauritian rider from AG Insurance-Soudal Team powered to victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, thus becoming the first African athlete to win a UCI Women’s WorldTour Classic, three years after Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay first took Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields in the men’s field.
Getting the better of two Dutch stars – Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) – Le Court illustrated the depth of global talents in the elite of female cycling, bringing to the fore riders from many different backgrounds. She follows the tracks of her teammate and inspiration Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (RSA), winner of the Tour de Romandie Féminin (3 stages) in 2022.
“I saw a Mauritian flag on the course today,” the National Champion said. “I’m so proud and I’m so, so happy to finally win. I can’t believe it.”
Having initially broken through in mountain bike cross-country, the 29-year-old is still a fresh sensation in road cycling. Now, the whole world gets to enjoy a new champion, the latest on the list of winners of UCI Women’s WorldTour spring Classics this season.
A first for Claes before established names take over
It all started at the beginning of March, in Flanders. On the cobbles of the Omloop Nieuwsblad, Belgium’s Lotte Claes (Arkea-B&B Hotels Woman) broke away, resisted the peloton and got the better of Poland’s Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal) in a two-woman sprint to claim her first professional victory. The tone was set for a thrilling campaign.
From Belgium, the peloton of the UCI Women’s WorldTour headed to Italy for an intense sequence of one-day races. Vollering showed her strength at the Strade Bianche Donne, Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) shone on home roads to take her third Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) ruled in the first edition of Milano-Sanremo Donne after a finale marked by the UCI World Champion Lotte Kopecky’s (SD Worx-ProTime) sacrifice to reel in Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) inside the last kilometre.
Wiebes, a Dutch sprint queen with a knack for the cobbles, is the only rider with multiple victories this spring, backing up her Sanremo triumph with more successes, in Belgium: first at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, then in Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields. After three wins for Wiebes, it was Kopecky’s turn to fly high her rainbow jersey on the cobbled hills of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, where the Belgian icon claimed a historic third victory.
Ferrand-Prévot makes history
More history was yet to be written the following week on the cobbles of the Hell of the North, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma|Lease a Bike) becoming the first French rider to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. Only a few weeks into her first season since returning to the road after claiming Olympic gold in mountain bike last year, ‘PFP’ continues to break new ground as she gears up for a maiden participation in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift this summer.
In the French Grand Tour, she will face most of the stars who took on the hilly Classics to wrap up the spring. A very open Amstel Gold Race saw Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) claim her third UCI Women’s WorldTour one-day race victory, at 24 years of age. A few days later, it was a first for Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), more used to success in cyclo-cross and mountain bike competitions but also a stage winner in last year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
This varied cast of winners already highlights the diversity of champions in the UCI Women’s WorldTour. With Le Court ruling in Liège, nine riders from five different nations have claimed triumphs in the 11 one-day races of a historic spring campaign:
Omloop Nieuwsblad: Belgium’s Lotte Claes (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
Strade Bianche Donne: the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)
Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio: Italy’s Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Milano-Sanremo Donne: the Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
Classic Brugge-De Panne: the Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields: the Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
Ronde van Vlaanderen: Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift: France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma|Lease a Bike)
Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition: the Netherlands’ Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime)
La Flèche Wallonne Femmes: the Netherlands’ Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes: Mauritius’ Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal Team)
The UCI Women’s WorldTour continues with a series of three Spanish stage races - La Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es (4-10 May), Itzulia Women (16-18 May) and the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas (22-25 May).