Photo finish narrowly won by Lorena Wiebes (centre) edging out Elisa Balsamo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes edges out Elisa Balsamo to win Gent-Wevelgem Women 2024(Image credit: Getty Images)
Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek (left) congratulates race winner Lorena Wiebes of Team SD Worx-Protime after the photo finish(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The peloton charges to the finish in Wevelgem(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Grace Brown of FDJ-Suez surged to the front with 2km to go(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Shirin Van Anrooij of Lidl-Trek shows major effort on one of the many cobbled climbs(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Chloe Dygert (CanyonSRAM Racing) made the climb of the Kemmelberg in a front group in the US national champion's jersey(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Noemi Ruegg of EF Education-Cannondale battles on a cobble climb alongside Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Deceuninck rides in the Women's WorldTour young blue jersey at the front of the main group(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Emma Norsgaard of Movistar Team attacks (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The breakaway was eventually caught with 78km to go(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Lieke Nooijen of Visma-Lease A Bike, Amandine Fouquenet of Arkea-BB Hotels, Katia Ragusa of Human Powered Health, Julie Van De Velde of AG Insurance-Soudal Team and Giorgia Vettorello of Team Roland compete in the breakaway(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
World Champion Lotte Kopecky rides with teammate Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) on first half of race(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-SRAM Racing Team) competes during 171.2km one-day race(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The peloton during the 171.2km one-day race to Wevelgem(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The view of wind creating havoc with peloton (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) competes on early kilometres(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Coryn Labecki (EF Education-Cannondale) works her way through team cars(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Lotte Kopecky of Team SD Worx-Protime competes in the peloton(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Echelons forming in the peloton during windy conditions(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton passing through flat roads on first half of race(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
2024 Gent-Wevelgem Women race podium (L to R): Second-placed Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek, winner Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime and third-placed Chiara Consonni of UAE Team ADQ(Image credit: Getty Images / ERIC LALMAND / Belga / AFP)
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won Gent-Wevelgem Women in a photo finish, outsprinting Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) with a perfectly-timed bike throw after the final attacker, Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez), was brought back on the final kilometre. Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) took third place.
When world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) attacked on the final ascent of the Kemmelberg, only Wiebes and Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) could stay with her, but the three riders did not push their advantage, and the chasing peloton came back with s26km to go.
None of the attacks that followed on the run-in to Wevelgem lasted long, Lidl-Trek closing down most of them, and in the end, Kopecky led out Wiebes for a sprint victory.
“I am really happy to finally win it, it took a few years. The team did an amazing job, we tried to make it a hard race, and we succeeded, but it wasn’t hard enough. I made some mistakes in the sprint, but luckily it was just enough,” said Wiebes after taking her first Gent-Wevelgem victory in her sixth participation.
“I had a little bit of a premonition, but I couldn’t be 100% sure. Better not to celebrate than to celebrate too early,” Wiebes looked back on the sprint where neither she nor Balsamo knew who had won until they saw the photo-finish.
“It was a great lead-out. I had 100% confidence in Lotte. We have done great things already this season, and next week it will be for Lotte again,” Wiebes promised to repay the favour to her teammate in the Tour of Flanders.
How it unfolded
At 171.2 kilometres plus the neutral zone, this was the longest-ever women’s edition of Gent-Wevelgem and one of the longest Women’s WorldTour races so far. Seven climbs in the second half of the race including two different ascents of the Kemmelberg were the main difficulties, and strong westerly winds would also influence the race.
The break of the day consisted of Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal), Giorgia Vettorello (Roland), Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike), Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility), and Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), with Laura Molenaar (VolkerWessels) bridging to the front on her own. They had a maximum advantage of almost five minutes but were caught with 76km to go, before the start of the hill zone. Although the peloton had been blown apart on the wind-swept De Moeren, the groups quickly came back together.
Kopecky launched a first attack on the Baneberg, the second climb of the day, with Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), Consonni, Georgi, and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) following her and Wiebes, Marlen Reusser, Christine Majerus (all SD Worx-Protime) as well as Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) jumping across. However, the race was reset when the peloton caught up after a few kilometres.
On the first Kemmelberg ascent, Kopecky pushed on again with Pieterse, Wiebes, Georgi, and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) on her wheel. Lidl-Trek teammates Elisa Longo Borghini and Balsamo bridged after the descent, and the group briefly held a 34-second advantage on the peloton but was caught just before the second ascent of the Baneberg.
Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Cannondale) went solo between the Baneberg and Kemmelberg, being caught just before the start of the climb where Kopecky launched another attack on the steep cobbled road. This time, only Wiebes and Georgi could stay with her.
In a chase group of five, Longo Borghini and her teammate Shirin van Anrooij worked hard to make it to the front, bringing Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ), Marlen Reusser (SD Worx-Protime), and Pieterse along.
When the chase group caught the front trio, Swinkels attacked twice but was brought back by Reusser each time. Despite having three riders in a group of eight, SD Worx-Protime did not go all-in on this move, and with Lidl-Trek and DSM-Firmenich PostNL chasing in the peloton, the group was reeled in 26km from the finish.
In the streets of Ypres, Floortje Mackaij (Movistar Team) was the first to attack, and when she was caught, her teammate Emma Norsgaard made her first move. The Danish rider briefly had an eight-second gap before being brought back through the work of Lidl-Trek’s Van Anrooij and Ellen van Dijk.
Mackaij made another attempt to get away, but Van Dijk immediately closed the gap. With four kilometres to go, Norsgaard launched another attack but was reeled in at the three-kilometre mark.
After another brief move by Mackaij, Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) launched her move with 2.5km to go. She quickly got a gap and entered the final kilometre four seconds ahead of the peloton where Majerus, Eugenia Bujak (UAE Team ADQ), and Franziska Koch (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) took over from Van Dijk to catch Brown 500 metres from the line.
Georgi launched her lead-out but had Kopecky on her wheel, who took over with 300 metres to go, dropping off Wiebes 200 metres from the line. Balsamo came out of Wiebes’ slipstream on the last 100 metres and was briefly ahead, but Wiebes timed her bike throw perfectly to win the sprint.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
