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April 11 ^th 2025 - 17:52

Key points:

• The fifth edition of Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift brings the great classics specialists together again in Denain on Saturday. Last year's winner, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is once again the favourite, ready for battle in the ‘Hell of the North’ in her world champion's jersey.

• There will also be plenty of attention on Visma | Lease a Bike, whose team features the formidable duo of Marianne Vos, second in 2021 and fourth last year, and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, who has been impressive on her return to the road and was second at the Tour of Flanders behind Kopecky last Sunday.

• The neutralised start will be given at 1.00pm on Saturday. The 17 cobbled sections to be covered over the 148.5 km course, are expected to be particularly dry. The favourable wind conditions should produce a fast and closely contested race, which can be followed in full on the official event website and live on television from 2.40pm on France 3 (and the France TV app), as well as on Eurosport.

A TAILWIND ON THE COBBLES
The route of this year’s race is identical to that of 2024. It features the same 17 ‘pavé’ sectors, representing 29.2 km of cobblestones over a 148.5 km course. The sectors are expected to be particularly dry and the wind should be favourable to the riders. The average speed record set during the first edition, contested in muddy conditions (39.656 km/h), could therefore be broken. “The 40 km/h barrier could be smashed,” confirms Franck Perque, the race director. “It won't just be due to a tailwind. We've seen speeds continually increase, particularly with the evolution of equipment and training methods.” Wind speeds will be 20 km/h, with gusts of up to 40 km/h, the minimum required to trigger echelons, which may split the peloton as early as the 66 km asphalt section before the first cobblestones. “In this first part of the route there are changes of direction on wind-exposed sections,” explains Perque. “This could help with the forming of breakaways and encourage big teams to place riders at the front, something we haven't seen so far. Strategically, it's possible to create echelons during the first 50 km.”
 
KOPECKY AIMING FOR REPEAT SUCCESS
After finishing second in 2022, Lotte Kopecky took victory last year by beating a group of six top riders in a sprint finish. She was wearing the world champion's jersey on that occasion and was the clear favorite, which will be the same again for Kopecky at the start on Saturday in Denain. Can she repeat her success in the Andre-Petrieux velodrome? The Hell of the North is too unpredictable for anyone to make over-confident projections in advance. But more so than ever, all eyes are on the Belgian, as the leader of SD Worx-Protime has just set a new record for victories in the Tour of Flanders (3). She can continue to make history on Saturday by becoming the first rider to win Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift for second time in the famous velodrome, a double that Elizabeth Deignan (Lidl-Trek) and Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), winners in 2021 and 2023, also dream of achieving. Kopecky could also become the first rider to achieve a Flanders-Roubaix double in the same season. But she will not be the only leader in her team. Considered the best sprinter in the world, Lorena Wiebes will also be able to play her cards, especially in the event that the European champion finds herself in a group fighting for victory in the velodrome. Indeed, Kopecky herself looks ahead to Saturday, saying, “I would really like to achieve the double Tour of Flanders - Paris-Roubaix. But just as I'm not really concerned with records, I don't care if I would be the first to succeed. I just want to win. We are at the start with a strong team. In Paris-Roubaix, everything has to be right to win and then you especially can't have bad luck. The fact that we can play several cards is all the more important in a race like Paris-Roubaix.”
 
VISMA’S TWO STRONG LEADERS
For Visma | Lease a Bike they also head for the cobblestones with clear ambitions and with the fearsome pairing of 2021 runner-up Marianne Vos and in-form Pauline Ferrand-Prevot leading their assault on the rest of the peloton. For them both the top step of the podium in the velodrome is where they want to be, according to Sporting Director, Jan Boven: “Of course it is one of the most important races of the spring for us at Roubaix and with Marianne we have someone who will really fight for the win. We’re happy to have Pauline here, a French rider in a French race and we will fight for victory with both riders.” For Ferrand-Prevot, who became Olympic mountain bike champion at Paris 2024, she will be looking for the win after placing third at Strade Bianche and second at the Tour of Flanders, only being beaten in the sprint by Lotte Kopecky. Given her skill on the bike on unpaved sections, few would be surprised to see her triumph in Roubaix. Boven knows it will not be easy though, insisting “It's always hectic. It's a race with a lot of troubles! More or less when you can avoid the trouble you can be in the front, but also you need to have the horsepower. We did a recon on Wednesday, a lot of teams did it already and there is a lot of dust, but it's still pretty nice to ride on the cobbles.”
 
EMBRACE THE CRAZINESS AND GO FOR THE WIN
Another team arriving at Denain with a strong line-up is Lidl-Trek who have several contenders for the podium and potentially the win. At an event where the team has such a strong record, there is extra confidence in the ranks, ahead of the hellish challenge of the cobblestones. Sporting Director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg previews Saturday’s race positively, stating, “We like the race and I think the girls get more and more confident every year because they kind of know what's happening. I think there's less nervous energy around, but we know this race is a lot about the craziness and embracing it and not having bad luck. I think our strengths will be that we have a couple of really strong riders, and I think we can play that card.” Last year’s runner-up Elisa Balsamo, 2022 podium finisher Lucinda Brand and 2021 winner Elizabeth Deignan could all be protagonists and ultimately the victory is the target says Teutenberg, who adds, “We always come here with ambitions and we stood on the podium every edition so far except 2023, we have won twice (2021 with Deignan and 2022 with Elisa Longo Borghini, who is now at UAE Team ADQ) and Balsamo got second last year. We have people like Lucinda who's been on the podium before. Ellen (van Dijk) is always in the first group except when she crashed in the first edition. We have strong riders, so we for sure want to go for the win.”
 
FDJ-SUEZ: “TOTALLY CAPABLE OF GOING FOR VICTORY”
Following a massive recruitment effort this winter, including the arrivals of Demi Vollering and Juliette Labous, FDJ-Suez is the new team to watch in the peloton. While the team’s two big new recruits are not at the start this Saturday, as they focus on preparing for the Ardennes classics, the French squad arrives in Denain with a team “totally capable of going for victory or a podium finish,” assures Marie Le Net, who finished ninth last year. “Our team has evolved a lot this year, with some big names joining the ranks. That brings confidence. It's the whole team that has progressed and absorbed this positive energy.” The 25-year-old Frenchwoman cites the Dutchwoman Amber Kraak (fifth last year) and the Swiss rider Elise Chabbey (fourth in 2022), another key recruit of the off-season, as the two main leaders. Le Net states, “They are coming off a training camp at altitude, they are in good shape. Vittoria (Guazzini) is back in the game, she has strength. Then Jade (Wiel) and Dudu (Eugenie Duval, fourth in 2023) also know how to position themselves, which is the most important thing in Roubaix. We will be a team that will play a key role in this race.”
 
ECO-FRIENDLY TRAVEL TO THE RACE
Coming to the famous Roubaix velodrome without driving and needing to find a parking space is a great choice! Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift encourages spectators to travel to the race by train or other modes of public transport. Thanks to the partnership with TER Hauts-de-France, certain train tickets can be purchased half-price. To make life easier, a QR code has been created, which fans can scan to get the details of the easiest route and best mode of transport to reach Roubaix, or other key points on the course of the race, from their location. Orchies, Templeuve and Baisieux are amongst the towns on the route that can be reached by train.