CANYON//SRAM Racing’s roster for Gent Wevelgem on Sunday 24 March will be Zoe Bäckstedt, Chloé Dygert, Tiffany Cromwell, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka, Alice Towers and Maike van der Duin.

The parcours of the Women’s Gent Wevelgem starts in the city of Ieper, winding through the historic Flanders fields. The course is a mix of flat terrain, open roads exposed to wind, and short, sharp climbs. One of the standout sections of the parcours is undoubtedly the iconic Kemmelberg climb. This legendary cobbled climb has become synonymous with Gent Wevelgem. As the riders tackle this short but grueling ascent, the atmosphere will be electric, with fans lining the climb.

Tiffany says, “The change to the early part of the course won’t have a major impact on the race. The race is a little longer, that will have an impact on the fatigue levels and the sprint in the finish. But this race is always in two parts. The first flat part, where if there’s wind it’s hectic and you need to be on it from kilometre zero. But if there’s no wind, it’s a procession until the climbing circuit where the race blows apart. Groups are everywhere and pending the composition of the front it will or won’t come back together.”

“The race is always a long and hard race that requires concentration from start to finish. Often it comes down to a reduced bunch sprint but it tends to be a more powerful rider who can be successful. Or, it’s won by a team who takes advantage of the slight change of directions in the final 30km run when there’s crosswind to create a smaller selection or late breakaway.”

“GW is always known as the start of the ‘holy week’ of Belgium classics. It’s always a build up until GW, Flanders and Roubaix triple. With a couple mid-week races thrown in there. It’s the period everyone is trying to be in peak classics form.”

“I would rate my preparation as good in general. I haven’t had as much prep in Belgium as was originally planned thanks to the little bit of bad luck in my first two European races with crashes and my broken thumb. On the flip side, it’s meant I was actually able to take the time to have a really solid three-week block of training mostly at home to prepare before this busy period of racing. I felt strong in Binda. I was just unlucky with the crash later into the race that meant I wasn’t able to use my form to help the team when it really counted. But the positive is I felt good on the bike. And taking the confidence to know the form is there and can be used this weekend.”

“The teams goal is always to win. I think we have a really strong team. And some extra fire power for this kind of race with the return of Maike and Chloé to racing. They are really suited to a race like Gent Wevelgem and gives us powerful sprints cards for the final if needed. We have myself, Aga, and Alice as strong support and then Zoe can be another rider suited to this type of race. I’m confident with this group that we can target the victory.”

HOW TO WATCH

Gent Wevelgem starts at 13:15CET on Sunday, 24 March. The race can be followed on X with #GWwomen and #GW24. A live broadcast starts at 16:00CET on RTBF, VRT, L’Equipe, NOS, CzechTV, RTVS, SRG, TV2 Denmark, FloBikes, ESPN, Sky, SBS, Supersport, and Eurosport.

Facebook

Twitter