The women's Ronde is where Monument status meets cobbled precision, and where the spring's best all-rounders face a race that punishes hesitation.
The women's Ronde van Vlaanderen is a Monument first held in 2004, built around the same Flemish bergs and cobbled sectors that define the spring classics calendar. It sits at the heart of April's cobbled week, demanding both climbing punch and tactical sharpness.
From Judith Arndt and Annemiek van Vleuten to Elisa Longo Borghini and Lotte Kopecky, the winners list tracks the riders who defined Flanders racing in their era.
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This is the race that crowns the cobbled classics season for the women's peloton. The Ronde rewards riders who can keep making hard efforts after the rest of the field has started to fade, and it has become a Monument where victories reshape reputations. The winner list combines repeat champions and one-day specialists, which tells you how complete a rider must be to win here.
The women's Ronde compresses the decisive phase into a shorter window than the men's race, which means positioning errors cost more and recovery time is scarce. The route keeps reshaping the front group through repeated bergs until only a handful of riders remain with enough strength to contest the finale. Because the race reaches its critical sequence sooner, every approach to the major climbs carries extra weight, and a single moment of poor positioning can end a rider's chances before the final selection even begins. Winning usually requires combining climbing power with flawless road sense across the closing kilometers, where the strongest rider does not always prevail if they arrive at the wrong moment.
The long cobbled climb appears in the final circuits. The second passage is where the race breaks apart.
The steepest climb at 20%, just 400m long. Placed immediately after the Oude Kwaremont, it is the last real launchpad.
The women race uses many of the same hellingen as the men race, compressed into a slightly shorter distance that makes the climbing density equally severe.
After the Paterberg, roughly 13km of flat road remain. Winners attack on the climb and hold the gap to Oudenaarde.
Most recent winner: Lotte Kopecky (2025)
Lotte Kopecky attacked on the Paterberg and won solo in Oudenaarde, starting a run of three victories that would make her the race record holder.
Elisa Longo Borghini denied Kopecky a third consecutive win with a powerful late attack, proving the race is not yet a one-rider show.
Annemiek van Vleuten attacked from distance in wet conditions and won alone, a classic Ronde victory in the most challenging weather.
Three victories (2022, 2023, 2025) made the Belgian the record holder in the women Ronde. Kopecky has turned the Paterberg into her personal launchpad.
Won in 2021 with a classic solo attack. Van Vleuten proved the Ronde rewards aggression and long-range power.
Her 2024 victory showed that the race rewards the full range of cobbled classics skills, not just pure climbing.
Won the 2020 edition, demonstrating tactical intelligence on the Flemish cobbles in a career defined by classics success.
The hellingen of Flanders test the women peloton with the same cobbles and gradients that define the men Monument.
A 2.2km cobbled climb tackled twice in the finale. The second passage with 55km to go is where the race begins.
The steepest climb at 20%, just 400m long but decisive. The last launchpad before the flat run to Oudenaarde.
A brutally steep cobbled wall with gradients over 20%. One of the most feared climbs in Flemish cycling.
The modern finish town. The flat approach from the Paterberg makes it a solo rider race or a tactical sprint.
