Ronde van Vlaanderen Women 2026: Kopecky and Vollering headline the cobbled Monument

Ronde van Vlaanderen Women 2026 is still the definitive cobbled Monument because it asks every serious question at once: climbing, positioning, nerve, and the willingness to attack when the race is already under full stress. Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering remain the central names, but Elisa Longo Borghini, Marlen Reusser, Lorena Wiebes, and Marianne Vos keep the race from collapsing into a simple two-rider script.

The familiar late sequence around Oudenaarde still does the real sorting. Once the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg arrive in the final phase, the race stops rewarding passive riders. Kopecky is still the benchmark because she has proven she can control this Monument and still finish it off, but Vollering is the rider most likely to turn the Ronde into a harder climbing and acceleration test if the pace never relents.

Reusser and Longo Borghini are the most important tactical spoilers because both can force the selection earlier than the pure finishers would like. Wiebes becomes more dangerous the longer the favorites wait, while Vos stays relevant because she almost never misses the right move on these roads. The strongest preview read is that the Ronde should still be won by a complete classics leader rather than a rider hoping the race softens late.