The first running of the

Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen), is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as t ...

, a women's

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

in Belgium, was held on 4 April 2004. The race started in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...

and finished in

Meerbeke Meerbeke is a village in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Ninove. This rural community is located along the Dender River on the western border of what is known as "Pajo ...

, taking in nine climbs and covering a total distance of . It was the fourth round of the 2004 UCI Women's Road World Cup. Russian

Zulfiya Zabirova Zulfiya Khasanovna Zabirova (russian: Зульфия Хасановна Забирова; born 19 December 1973) is a Russian professional cycle racer who won the gold medal in the time trial event in the 1996 Olympics and later, in 2002, won th ...

won the race after an attack on the

Muur van Geraardsbergen The Muur van Geraardsbergen (English: ''Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont'', French: ''Mur de Grammont'') is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hil ...

, at 16 km from the finish.

Race summary

With a total distance of 94 km, the inaugural women's Tour of Flanders was the shortest in history. The peloton was thinned out in the early stages by repeated attacks by

Leontien van Moorsel Leontien Martha Henrica Petronella Zijlaard-van Moorsel (born 22 March 1970) is a Dutch retired racing cyclist. She was a dominant cyclist in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games and holding the hour record f ...

Hanka Kupfernagel Hanka Kupfernagel (born 19 March 1974 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a retired Germany, German professional cycle racer. During most of her career her primary focus was cyclo-cross racing, however, she has also won major road, track and mountain bike ...

and

Mirjam Melchers Maria Wilhelmina Johanna "Mirjam" Melchers-Van Poppel (born 26 September 1975 in Arnhem, Gelderland) is a female former racing cyclist from the Netherlands, married to former sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel. She was one of the leading cyclists in ...

. In

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; french: Grammont, ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen prop ...

, 16 km from the finish,

surged clear on the Muur. Zabirova never held more than 15 seconds over a three-woman group but maintained her solo effort to the finish, two weeks after claiming victory in the

Primavera Rosa The Primavera Rosa was an elite women's professional one-day road bicycle race held between 1999 and 2005 in Liguria, Italy as part of the UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup. The race was a female version of Milan–San Remo being organised on the ...

. At four seconds, German

Trixi Worrack Beatrix "Trixi" Worrack (born 28 September 1981) is a German former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2021. The winner of the 2003 German National Road Race Championships, Worrack's career highlights in ...

won the sprint for second place ahead of van Moorsel and Melchers. Russian

Olga Slyusareva Olga Anatolyevna Slyusareva (russian: Ольга Анатольевна Слюсарева) (born 28 April 1969 in Chervonyi Donets, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian professional racing cyclist. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in the p ...

won the field sprint for fifth place, 1' 20" later.

Result

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of Flanders for Women, 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

2004 UCI Women's Road World Cup