"In my head it gives a lot of freedom going into the Tour of Flanders": Kopecky confident and Vollering hungry as two of the biggest favourites gear up for Sunday

Sunday's women's Tour of Flanders shapes up as one of the most open editions in years, with a deep and talented field ready to fight over the Flemish roads. At the centre of it all, as so often, are Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering, two riders who know each other's strengths better than almost anyone, and who both arrive in excellent form.

It has not been a straightforward spring for Kopecky. The Belgian admitted she put enormous pressure on herself in the early weeks of the season, and the results were not coming as easily as she would have liked. Then came Nokere Koerse, and then Milan-Sanremo, and suddenly everything changed.

"In the beginning I was struggling, I don't know what it was. But winning Nokere Koerse and Sanremo really took away a lot of pressure that I put on myself, because I really just want to win races. In my head it gives a lot of freedom going into the Tour of Flanders," she said to Domestique.

Asked directly how her form compares to twelve months ago, the answer was unambiguous. "I'm just at the level I want to be. Normally that should be enough to win classics," Kopecky said. She was also quick to acknowledge that the women's peloton has never been deeper, naming FDJ United-Suez, UAE Team ADQ and Visma-Lease a Bike as teams who have raised the bar, and rattling off a list of genuine contenders including Demi Vollering, Marianne Vos, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Lorena Wiebes.

But she was not about to let that change her mindset. "I don't need to see myself as the top favourite. I know my qualities, I know my form, and that's enough. It's not going to influence my race."

On the tactical side, Kopecky knows that years of racing against the same rivals cuts both ways. "We know at certain moments how they think. But that's also the other way around, they know my strengths, they know how I think in racing."

Her approach on the day will come down to instinct. "You can be very strong, but if you waste your energy at the wrong moments, it's gone. Sometimes you're really excited, you want to go already, but you have to keep yourself calm."

And if she comes away without a fourth Ronde victory? "Yes, I would be disappointed. I train to win races. I realise that winning two classics in one season is really hard, and I'm happy I won Sanremo already. But of course I would be disappointed."

Demi Vollering skipped the Tour of Flanders in 2025, but she is back on Sunday and spoke after finishing second at Dwars door Vlaanderen about how she is approaching the race. "It is always nice to get confirmation, to feel the legs and see the others suffering," she said after that result, which came on the back of several weeks of training without racing.

What makes this edition particularly interesting for Vollering is the context. In her previous appearances at the Ronde, she has consistently raced in service of stronger teammates, such as Kopecky, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Anna van der Breggen. "In the past I always raced for teammates in the Tour of Flanders. I always had very strong teammates in that race who could do it just a little bit better than me," she admitted openly.

That is no longer the case. Vollering heads into Sunday as the undisputed leader of her team, and the curiosity about what she can do in that role is genuine, including her own. "I am very curious about how it will look on Sunday. I am looking forward to it with great confidence. I am ready for it." After five attempts and still no victory, this could be the year she finally finds out.