The Flemish province of Oudenaarde will welcome its biggest sporting event on 2 April as the Tour of Flanders takes over once again.
The women’s race will start and finish in the Belgian city, with the riders setting out on a challenging 158km loop of the local climbs.
Now in its 20th year, the event brings one of the most demanding courses on the women’s WorldTour calendar, punctuated by the iconic ascents of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, which make up the race finale.
Below, you’ll find full details of the course, as well as a list of the riders who will take the start line.
Tour of Flanders 2023: route
Heading west out of Oudenaarde, the women’s peloton will have just 10km to ready themselves before they face the first of 13 hellingen – short, sharp ascents.
A period of calm should follow as they head north on a loop through the countryside, before crossing back through Oudenaarde and onto an unrelenting series of climbs; among them, the Koppenberg and Taaienberg, two of the event’s most famous cobbled kickers.
With around 17km to go, the race will move into its tried and tested finale. The riders will head up the 2.2km drag of the Oude Kwaremont, before tackling the final climb, the Paterberg, pitched at an eye-watering 13%.
It was on the latter that Lotte Kopecky broke free last year, together with Annemiek van Vleuten and Marlen Reusser. The Belgian, in her country’s national tricolour, went on to sprint to victory on the flat run-in to Oudenaarde, taking her biggest career win to date.
The finale’s the same this time round, too, with Kopecky no doubt hoping to repeat her success.
Tour of Flanders 2023: start list
Below are the teams who will compete in this year’s Tour of Flanders. The finalised list of individual riders taking part is not yet available, but will be added here as soon as it is shared.
AG Insurance – Soudal Quick-Step
Canyon-Sram
Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling
Cofidis
Duolar-Chevalmeire Cycling Team
EF Education-Tibco-SVB
FDJ-Suez
Fenix-Deceuninck
Human Powered Health
Israel Premier Tech Roland
Jayco AlUla
Jumbo-Visma
Lifeplus Wahoo
Liv Racing TeqFind
Lotto Dstny
Movistar
Parkhotel Valkenburg
Proximus-Alphamotorhomes-Doltcini
Team DSM
Trek-Segafredo
SD Worx
UAE Team Emirates
Uno-X Pro Cycling
Zaaf Cycling Team
