The 26th edition of the premier Dutch stage race for women takes place in early October, as the 2024 Women’s World Tour draws near to its conclusion, and will once again play out across the primarily flat landscape of the Netherlands over six stages.
While last year’s route featured a fair bit of climbing with multiple ascents of the VAM-berg, allowing the then newly-crowned World Champion Lotte Kopecky, to excel on a more varied parcours, this year’s route is more suited to the fast women, with at least four of the six stages highly likely to end in a bunch sprint. There is just a short time trial and one slightly tougher stage to decide the overall general classification, and discover a successor to Kopecky.
The race takes place from Tuesday 8 October to Sunday 13 October.
The Route
Stage 1 – Tuesday 8 October – Gennep – Gennep (10.1km, ITT)
The first stage of this year’s race is a short time trial – just a shade too long to be classified as a Prologue, which the race has featured relatively consistently in past editions.
Beginning and finishing in the town of Gennep, in the north of the Limburg province, in the south-east of the Netherlands, the route is a relatively straightforward out and back course, heading south-east out of town before turning around just past the halfway mark and heading back to the finish line. At 10.1km, the effort will be long enough to divide the field into a GC order, with the fastest woman against the clock gaining the advantage, and the leader’s jersey, for the days ahead.
Stage 2 – Wednesday 9 October – Coevorden – Assen (157.1km)
Heading north for the first proper road stage of the race, and the longest of the week, stage 2 takes place in the province of Drenthe, a region known for its one-day race centred around the Col du Vam, or VAM-berg. The manmade ascent does feature in this year’s SIMAC Ladies Tour but only once, and coming after just under 40 kilometres of racing, the climb is not likely to have a major impact on the outcome of the stage, other than the possibility that it may provide a launchpad for breakaway hopefuls to escape.
Beginning in Coevorden and concluding in Assen, the stage is most likely to come down to a bunch sprint.
Stage 3 – Thursday 10 October – Zeewolde – Zeewolde (150km)
The race moves south-west into the central Flevoland region of the Netherlands for stage 3, a pan flat, circular route that begins and ends in the town of Zeewolde. It’s the second-longest stage of the week at 150km, but once again, with barely a ripple to contend with along the parcours, it’s almost certain to conclude in another bunch gallop for the line.
Stage 4 – Friday 11 October – Ede – Ede (122km)
Heading yet further south and west, the shortest stage of the week centres around the town of Ede, in the province of Gelderland. Taking place around a circuit that is repeated just under three times, while the parcours is not completely flat, there is still unlikely to be enough altitude gain to really separate the field.
Having said that, with repeated ascents of the short, punchy ramps along the circuit, and with an uphill finish to contend with, there may be the opportunity for a breakaway to steal the show, or even for some gaps to appear in the overall standings at the conclusion of the day.
Stage 5 – Saturday 12 October – Doetinchem – Doetinchem (141.8km)
It’s just a short hop east to Doetinchem for stage 5, which sees the peloton take on a circuitous route that’s almost completely flat for the first 84 kilometres, before a short series of ramps will disrupt the flow of the bunch for around 16km. From that point the race once again levels out as the bunch return to the first loop of the city. It’s more than likely to end with another bunch sprint.
Stage 6 – Sunday 13 October – Arnhem – Arnhem (147.7km)
The final stage of the race features more than double the altitude gain of any other day on the Tour, with over 1,100m of climbing on the menu, and it will likely prove to be the decisive day for the riders hoping to take away the overall prize.
Riding north out of Arnhem, the first 2.5 kilometres of the stage are uphill, which could see the battle for the breakaway kick off immediately. After that, the riders face more undulations, as they complete two circuits of a long loop, before they head onto a city circuit of around eight kilometres, which they will complete seven times in total, heading for the finish line.
Riders to Watch
With a flat parcours characteristic of the host nation, all eyes will be on the sprinters in the hunt for the next overall champion of the SIMAC Ladies Tour. Bonus seconds will be all important, however the first and final stages will are also likely to play a major role in deciding the overall victor, so skill against the clock and the ability to handle some climbing will be advantageous.
The headline act will be world champion Lotte Kopecky, who comes to the race having finished second in the gravel world championships at the weekend. Finishing in third at the same race, her teammate Lorena Wiebes joins her, meaning that once again, Team SD Worx-ProTeam will be the team to be, with more than one card to play at the race.
With the startlist yet to be finalised, there will be plenty more names in the mix, but for now, the key rivals to the Dutch team’s dominance will be Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, who bring two-time Tour de France stage winner Charlotte Kool, brimming with confidence after a strong summer and hoping to once again get the better of Wiebes and Kopecky.
Chloe Dygert has finished the season strongly, and will likely be the leader for Canyon//SRAM, while Riejanne Markus has proven herself capable in many different race situations, and will hope to finish well for Team Visma-Lease A Bike before she departs for Lidl-Trek next season.
Lidl-Trek themselves will hope Elisa Balsamo is back to her best to take on the fast women, while Ellen van Dijk will have her sights set on the time trial, and Elisa Longo Borghini will be looking to sign off her long stint at the American team in style.
And for Team Jayco-AlUla, Ruby Roseman-Gannon will hope to continue in the rich vein of form that saw her go deep with the best in the world at the road race in Zurich just last weekend.
Riders to watch (GC)
5-stars Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes
4-stars Charlotte Kool, Chloe Dygert
3-stars Ruby Roseman-Gannon
2-stars Elisa Balsamo
1-star Riejanne Markus
Summary
When – 8-13 October
Where – The Netherlands
What – 6-day stage race
TV Coverage – Eurosport, Discovery+
