Gent Wevelgem Women 2023 Race Preview

Trek Segafredo will be on a confidence high after another 1-2 finish at Trofeo Alfredo Binda last weekend. That race saw Shirin van Anrooij become a Women’s WorldTour winner for the first time and push the cyclocross star up another level on the road. She’ll probably take on a similar role at Gent Wevelgem Women for the team, going on the attack to take pressure off the team’s main shout in the sprint, Elisa Balsamo. The former World Champion was 2nd at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, winning the bunch sprint behind Van Anrooij. Last year’s winner here appears to be in good form and will hope for a hard race to drop as many sprinting rivals as possible. The wildcard is Elisa Longo Borghini who has been out with Covid recently – which has seen the Italian miss home country races Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

SD Worx appears to be bringing the major firepower again in Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes. The tactic of attacking hard with Plan A and then sprinting with Plan B has worked well for both SD Worx and Trek-Segafredo this season it has to be said. I sort of suspect that plan is tempered slightly at Gent Wevelgem where attacks seem to be fruitless in recent years. We might yet finally see the sight of Lotte Kopecky leading out Lorena Wiebes which feels somewhat of a cheat code when it comes to sprinting in the women’s peloton. You’d need some hypothetical form of Jolien d’Hoore leading out Kristen Wild to come close to that in a previous generation. Wiebes hasn’t won here yet, although it felt inevitable when she was 2nd in 2019. She’s a more developed rider now and should be the main contender.

As much as I’d like to tip Chiara Consonni, this is very much a Marta Bastianelli race for UAE Team ADQ. The Italian has 5 top-10 placings in a row finishing in Wevelgem. That includes a victory in 2018 but usually, she can be found just off the podium in around the 4th to 6th spots. That feels likely again because she has the form after a win at Le Samyn des Dames and podiums at Nokere Koerse, Omloop van het Hageland and Omloop het Nieuwsblad in her final season.

A big unknown at this year’s Gent Wevelgem Women is Charlotte Kool. Like it’s obvious she will sprint well but I’m not sure we’ve seen that she can crest hills like the Kemmelberg and remain in the front group yet. Her best result here in 3 editions is 61st last year and whilst things are different this year that Kool is a leader, it’s just an element of doubt. So things might fall on Pfeiffer Georgi to get a result for Team DSM. The Brit was 15th last year but is in some major form in 2023 so far. A strong UAE Tour Women that saw her finish 3rd on Stage 2 whilst leading out Kool has been backed up with 5th at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and 9th at Strade Bianche.

It kinda feels like an age since Lotta Henttala was a winner at Gent Wevelgem Women. Plenty has changed since 2017 when the Finn took the top step ahead of Jolien d’Hoore and Coryn Labecki. Her confidence will be high after 4 top-10s already this season.
Also to note though is that Henttala was a late withdrawal from Brugge – De Panne due to illness.
Gent Wevelgem Women also sees the return of Ally Wollaston to the road peloton. The Kiwi has been doing plenty of track racing since the NZ national champs in mid-February, coming after an early win at the Schwalbe Classic in Australia in January. She should be Plan B behind Henttala but will be ready to step into her shoes if anything happens to her.

12th in last year’s race is encouraging for Arianna Fidanza who is just starting to blow hot and cold in recent races. She will take 4th place at Omloop het Hageland and then crash out of Le Samyn des Dames and finish outside of the time limit at Strade Bianche. It’s similar with two good results afterwards but then falling behind at Nokere Koerse and a DNF at Trofeo Alfredo Binda means it’s hard to tip the Italian for more than a top-10 finish.

There’s no Marianne Vos on the Gent Wevelgem Women startlist, so Coryn Labecki looks to be the team’s fastest finisher. Her 3rd place in the 2017 edition stands out, especially as her next best result was 23rd in 2019. At her best, the American should be fighting for a top-10 spot here but struggled just a touch on the climbs at Trofeo Alfredo Binda at the weekend so could be a sprinter distanced on the tough climb of the Kemmelberg.

Young Belgian Shari Bossuyt was 24th last year and will be hoping to improve on that. Especially as Gent Wevelgem Women comes off the back of her first Elites level victory on the final day in the Tour de Normandie Féminin. That win, Canyon SRAM’s first for over 300 days, will hopefully galvanise the team going forward. Maike van der Duin is also a fun wildcard, her 3rd place at Ronde van Drenthe showed what she can do and she returns to the road after racing on the track at the Cairo World Cup recently. Both of them were in the front group at Classic Brugge – De Panne this week too. Kasia Niewiadoma will probably be looking ahead to the following weekend but you can never write off the Pole. Her best finish in 4 editions is only 19th, back in 2017.

FDJ-Suez is hard to pick a leader for but the tactics should write themselves. There’s Grace Brown for a flier, her sustained power is perfect for that long section back to Wevelgem from the Kemmelberg. There’s always a chance she repeats the manner of her Brugge-De Panne win in 2021. So if it comes to a sprint, the team will be backing Clara Copponi. The French rider was 10th in last year’s race but is another who has been heavily on the track since the Australian part of the season so her road form is unclear. Marta Cavalli has finished 5th and 10th at Gent Wevelgem Women in the past – 2019 & 2020 – but is a different rider now. Back then she was a rider with similarities to Vittoria Guazzini now but has gone in the climbing punch direction. 13th at Trofeo Alfredo Binda was encouraging as she finds her feet in the bunch again.