Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) are set to ride the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, April 6 in co-leader roles with Marianne Vos and Lotte Kopecky after spending time at altitude.
Neither rider initially had the Ronde on their Classics schedules. However, their respective teams have confirmed to Cyclingnews that they should both be at the start in Oudenaarde.
"Normally yes Pauline [Ferrand-Prévot] will race Flanders. She will arrive in Belgium on Thursday, the day after Dwars door Vlaanderen," said Visma women's DS Jan Boven to Cyclingnews before Gent-Wevelgem Women.
"Only Marianne [Vos] is back on Wednesday for Dwars door Vlaanderen," a race she won last season before finishing fourth at the Tour of Flanders four days later.
Boven was unsure if Ferrand-Prévot would be at the start of Paris-Roubaix a week later, with bigger goals for her at the Ardennes in late April, however, didn't rule out a debut on the hellish pavè of northern France.
"She's more a climber type but you never know with Pauline, she is from the MTB of course," said Boven with a smile. "But first we do Flanders. I think Marianne is OK, Pauline is on altitude now and it's all working out."
With Ferrand-Prévot also at the start, Visma will again have the same powerful pairing they utilised at Milan-San Remo to sprint to second and fourth, prior to the French rider's relegation.
This will make them one of the strongest outfits starting the Ronde, behind possibly only SD Worx-Protime. Vos has only won the Tour of Flanders once, in 2013, but has finished in the top six on six other occasions.
"We might not be on the best teams but close to them, and when you are with two leaders, you can play the game a bit more and help each other better in the final," continued Boven.
"Last year we saw a bit when Marianne lost alone in the final how a second leader would help, but having Pauline there will make us stronger for sure."
Having returned to do a full road season with Visma for the first time since 2018, after focusing mainly on mountain bike racing and winning several world titles in the process, Ferrand-Prévot has in just seven race days shown she is more than capable of competing with the world's best again. Her best result being third at Strade Bianche.
"She is a really special athlete and she improves every day," said Boven of the former road, MTB, gravel and cyclocross world champion.
"She will learn, but the ambition is really high – the goal is in three years to win the Tour de France. That's a big goal but you see she is really a leader and a special woman."
Anna van der Breggen quickly proved her level is high enough to compete with the best, finishing second only to Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) at Strade Bianche.
Despite her three season as a sports director, she will line up in Oudenaarde as one of several options for the Dutch team, behind two-time Tour of Flanders winner Lotte Kopecky and the in-form Lorena Wiebes.
"Anna is doing Flanders, no Dwars door Vlaanderen. She's training on Sierra Nevada at the moment," team sports manager Danny Stam told Cyclingnews.
"We hope for top shape but she will also need some time when she comes back and Flanders will not be the perfect shape as we also look a bit further," referring to the Ardennes where she dominated before retiring.
"We have a good squad for Flanders, we also have Lorena [Wiebes]. The chance is big that we go for Lotte but again we have like always a lot of cards to play and also Mischa, don't underestimate her. So I think closer to Flanders we always make a strategy and a plan but we'll work that out."
With Van der Breggen ending the first stint of her career in 2021 and Kopecky joining the team in 2022, the pair never crossed paths as teammates.
Stam, however, had no worries about the two collaborating well in races going forward as has been the case for former co-leaders at SD Worx-Protime.
"I think they never raced together also not in the past but I don't see issues with that," he said. "I'm pretty sure that it is going to be a great tandem with Lorena also an option. We see a great future there."
