RideLondon Classique 2023 Race Preview

Charlotte Kool has made a solid go of becoming the #1 sprinter in the peloton, although it will take more wins to knock Lorena Wiebes off her perch though. The head-to-head sprints have been encouraging though and the Dutch rider hasn’t lost one to Consonni this season. What remains to truly be known is how she stacks up against Elisa Balsamo. The pair has pretty much avoided each other, only contesting the same races that by and large don’t come down to a big sprint. If Kool can have the beating of Balsamo here, that will be another rival ticked off. Teammate Pfeiffer Georgi will probably support the sprint chances here but if the hills in Essex prove too much, she can step in and deliver a sprint or attack that might recreate her Brugge-De Panne victory this year.

Elisa Balsamo will be hoping to break her spell of 3 months without a win here at RideLondon Classique. She’s always come super close here but has been up against Lorena Wiebes, so has 4 podium results but no victories in the UK. It was a similar tale at Vuelta a Burgos where the Italian looked strong but not quite Wiebes strong. She will want to get one over the young pretender Charlotte Kool too. Teammates Lucinda Brand and Lizzie Deignan also bring powerful wildcard energy, with both more than capable of disappearing off the front on lumpy terrain. I assume they’ll be working for Balsamo in the large part but they’re strong cards to play.

Hopefully, Chiara Consonni is actually racing RideLondon Classique this year. The Italian suffered a crash in a normally quiet bit of racing that saw her run over by another team’s car and had to have reconstructive dental work on 4 teeth. At her best, she’s in the top tier of the current sprinters in the peloton and this race offered a chance to add to the win she took this year at Trofee Marten Wynants.

Uno-X certainly has plenty of options for the sprints here. The most in-form of which is probably Amalie Dideriksen. The Dane won at GP Eco-Struct, her first individual win since the Danish champs in 2021. Next best recently is Susanne Andersen, who was also 9th on a Vuelta Femenina stage. Normally I’d pick Maria Giulia Confalonieri but she hasn’t finished in the top 25 of a race since Gent Wevelgem 2 months ago despite opportunities. The other option is Elinor Barker, who I think we might see more in a break but she has been shown to be strong on hills this season and will be more used to the British roads than many.

After a solid Spring campaign that included top-10s at the Tour of Flanders, Gent Wevelgem, Nokere Koerse and Ronde van Drenthe, Anna Henderson went one better and took the opening leader’s jersey at the Vuelta Femenina. That was a few weeks ago and whilst she eventually lost it, her all-around ability still saw a GC finish of 27th. She won the QoM jersey here last year and almost took a stage win with a break on Stage 1. She’ll be outgunned in the sprints but will be prepared to roll the dice to win another way. Similarly, so will Karlijn Swinkels. Never afraid to get in a break, we saw her there at Navarra Elite Classics recently on her way to 5th place. Another rider like Henderson that is not afraid to attack and can finish quickly too.

BePink pulled out of Thüringen Ladies Tour citing injuries and illnesses. It might just be down to having a clash with RideLondon Classique or it might be that reason nonetheless. So it’s possible we see Silvia Zanardi who took a pair of top-10s last week at the Vuelta a Burgos or maybe even Valentina Basilico who is an Italian sprinter to keep an eye on.