The 2024 Simac Ladies Tour will take place this year from October 8-13 in the Netherlands and cover 717.3 km over 6 stages. As one of the final events in the women’s WorldTour this season, teams will be looking to improve their standing in the UCI rankings before the season closes on Oct. 20. The only events remaining after the Simac Ladies Tour are the Tour of Chongming Island (Oct. 15-17) and Tour of Guangxi (Oct. 20) in China.
Past winners of this event include Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Christine Majerus, Annemiek van Vleuten, and Marianne Vos, who won the race four times, from 2009-2012.
This year’s tour will favor the sprinters and be to the advantage of defending champion Lotte Kopecky and her SD Worx-Protime team.
Stages: 2024 Simac Ladies Tour
Stage 1: Gennep – Gennep 10.1km – Individual Time Trial (Oct.8)
Stage 2: Coevorden – Assen 159.5km (Oct. 9)
Stage 3: Zeewolde – Zeewolde 144km (Oct. 10)
Stage 4: Ede – Ede 118.2km (Oct. 11)
Stage 5: Doetinchem – Doetinchem 139.2km (Oct. 12)
Stage 6: Arnhem – Arnhem 139.7km (Oct. 13)
Course Profile
The six stages are all quite flat, with only stage 6 coming close to being “hilly” with its 8.2km loop that features a 300 meter ramp at 4.7% that the riders will tackle 7 times. The other stages will likely be dominated by the sprint teams and time trial specialists. All the stages except for one (stage 2) are circuits that will start and finish in the same place. However, we shouldn’t be lulled into thinking that this is going to be a week of watching sprint finishes. The weather may play large role this year with wind gusts predicted to be 40-55 kph in the middle of the week for stages two, three, and four.
Stage 1: Gennep (10.1km – Individual Time Trial)
The course is a standard out and back time trial with the start and finish in the city center and the turn around at a roundabout. Riders will travel east, then head south before hitting the turnaround for the return to the finish.
It’s a fast course for the time trial specialists like Chloé Dygert (Canyon//SRAM), Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), and Anna Henderson (Visma|Lease a Bike). Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) should do well also, as she showed last year in winning the 7.7km time trial. And Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
Stage 2: Coevorden – Assen (159.5km)
This 154.8 km stage, which is the only point-to-point stage, starts in the south in Coevorden and zig-zags north to the finish in Assen. It could prove to be decisive not only because of its length, but more so because of the weather forecast, which predicts wind gusts up to 45 kph from the south. Crosswinds may hit the the peloton immediately in the first 75 kilometers, with the first 20 km taking the riders west, right into a potential cross-wind. They will then turn north and most likely have a tailwind for approximately 15 km before they turn east into what may be another crosswind for 25-30 km, this time coming from their right. The second half of the race, approximately 70 km, could be a mixture of 30 km of tailwind, followed by 35 km of crosswinds to the finish in Assen.
Riders will hit one climb at 40 km, the Col du Vam (.5km/4%), which is a man-made col on top of a former landfill.
If the weather forecast is accurate, strong riders who can handle crosswinds should do well on this stage. That would be the Dutch and Belgian riders, especially Kopecky and her SD Worx-Protime teammates.
Stage 3: Zeewolde – Zeewolde (144km)
Stage 4: Ede – Ede (118.2km)
More rain is predicted in the forecast for stage 4 with winds gusting up to 40 kph. Riders will complete 3 loops of a 40 km circuit starting and finishing in Ede. There are a few small rollers, but nothing of any significance, and only amounting to about 350 meters total of elevation gain. An ideal stage for the sprinters if the weather cooperates. If it does, look for the sprinters Lorena Wiebes, Charlotte Kool, and Elisa Balsamo to be in the thick of things.
Stage 5: Doetinchem – Doetinchem (139.2km)
The peloton will start and finish in Doetinchemfrom, with 80 kilometers of flat roads before they hit anything challenging. Better weather should arrive for the weekend and make this stage more straightforward. After 80 km the riders will encounter a series of climbs that might be ideal for attacks. The first being the Peeskesbult, 900 meters at 4%-4.9%, followed by the tamer climbs, Mengelenberg, Muur van Zeddam and Rijsberg. But any attacks that are successful here are very likely to be swallowed up in the remaining flat 40 km to the finish. For a breakaway to succeed it will take some luck and a combination of strong and committed riders.
Stage 6: Arnhem – Arnhem (139.7km)
This stage starts with two laps of a large loop of around 45 kilometers, before the peloton transitions onto an 8.2 km loop they will tackle 7 times. The only opportunity on this smaller loop for attackers will be a 300 meter ramp at 4.7% in Arnhem. If the racing is fast in the first 90 km, riders might be successful launching attacks from this ramp, but it is more likely to end up in sprint. Look for stronger riders to try and break things up and and for sprinter teams to try and hold things together.
Riders to Watch
At glance, the Simac Ladies Tour is a sprinter’s race this year. While in previous years the stages traversed more challenging terrain, like the Valkenburg, it is not so this year, and its likely that many teams will be thinking of only taking care of their sprinters. What may upset these kinds of plan is the weather, which is forecast to be quite windy on stages 2, 3, and 4. If the weather splinters the peloton into echelon-chasing groups, we may have some very exciting racing on hand.
Riders to watch for the overall GC this year will be defending champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), along with teammate Lorena Wiebes, and possibly Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), if conditions are challenging.
Sprinters to watch for: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), and Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL), and Chiara Consonni (UAE-ADQ), Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco).
In the time trial and possible windy stages look for these riders to be at the front of the action: Chloé Dygert Canyon//SRAM), Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), Anna Henderson (Visma|Lease a Bike), Riejanne Markus (Visma | Lease a Bike) and, of course, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime).