88th Ronde van Vlaanderen/1st Women's Ronde van Vlaanderen - CDM

Belgium, April 4, 2004

At just 94 kilometres long, the women's Ronde van Vlaanderen is the shortest World Cup race and is barely over a third of the men's distance of 257 km. On the other hand, the women have to do nine climbs, which is half the number that the men do. However, only two of them are cobbled: the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg.

The race starts in Oudenaarde and finishes in Ninove, meaning that the first climb is encountered after only 29 km, while the remainder all fall between km 45 and km 83. The battle for position will be a key part of the race at the halfway point, when the Boigneberg, Foreest, Steenberg, Leberg, Berendries and Tenbosse all come in quick succession. There's a 10 km break between Tenbosse and the Muur, while the Bosberg features as the final climb after 83 km. The Belgian and Dutch riders will surely have the advantage on the narrow Flemish roads, although the other teams will presumably spend as much time as possible getting to know the parcours.

Women's Course Map

© Tom & Eddy Van Laere