The 2023 Paris–Roubaix Femmes (officially Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift) was a
French road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...
one-day race that took place on 8 April 2023. It was the 3rd edition of
Paris–Roubaix Femmes and the 11th event of the
2023 UCI Women's World Tour
The 2023 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that included twenty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2023 in women's road cycling, 2023 women's cycling season. It was the eighth edition of the UCI Women's World T ...
.
The race was won by Canadian rider
Alison Jackson of
EF Education–Tibco–SVB in a sprint finish, after the
break
Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:
Time off from duties
* Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
* Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
stayed away from the chasing peloton behind.
Route
Starting in
Denain
Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...
, the race finished on the velodrome in
Roubaix
Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...
after covering , with of cobblestones, spread out over 17 sectors – including the famed
Carrefour de l'Arbre
Carrefour de l'Arbre, officially Pavé de Luchin, is a 2.1 km Sett (paving), cobbled road in the municipalities of Camphin-en-Pévèle, Baisieux, Baisieux-Sin and Gruson, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Nord department of Northern France. The lo ...
and the
Mons-en-Pévèle
Mons-en-Pévèle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Population
Heraldry
See also
*Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
T ...
– both ranked at "five stars" in difficulty. The women covered the same final 17 sectors as the
men's race.
The route was around longer that than the last edition, using additional roads south of the start in Denain prior to the cobblestone sectors, which are similar to previous editions.
Organisers noted they consider it "too dangerous" to include the five star cobbled sector
Trouée d'Arenberg
The Trouée d'Arenberg or Tranchée de Wallers-Arenberg (English: ''Trench of Arenberg'') is a 2.3 km long cobbled road in the municipality of Wallers in Northern France, in the Nord (French department), Département Nord. The road's offic ...
due to its proximity to the start in Denain, but they also noted that they "do not rule out that we will pass through ... in the future".
File:Paris-Roubaix femmes 2023 part1.png, A loop south of the start in Denain
Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...
before heading north
File:Paris-Roubaix 2017 part4.png, Route from Orchies
Orchies (; ) is a commune in the department of Nord in the Hauts-de-France region of French Flanders, northern France. Its inhabitants are called Orchésiens.
Orchies is the biggest town of the Pévèle. It is especially known for its ''Mus� ...
to finish in Roubaix
Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...
, similar to previous editions
Teams
23 teams took part in the race. All 15 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited, and were joined by 8 UCI Women's Continental Teams. The two best 2022 UCI Women's Continental Teams (
Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling
Ceratizit Pro Cycling (UCI code: CTC) is a professional List of UCI Women's Teams, women's cycling team, based in Kempten, Germany, which competes in elite road bicycle racing events such as the UCI Women's World Tour.
History
The team was founde ...
and
Lifeplus Wahoo) received an automatic invitation, and the other six teams were selected by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the race.
UCI Women's WorldTeams
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UCI Women's Continental Teams
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Race summary
Prior to the race, media tipped
Lotte Kopecky
Lotte Kopecky (; born 10 November 1995) is a Belgian road and track Cycle sport, racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam , and the UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, 2023 and 2024 UCI Elite Women's W ...
() for the win, following her victory at
Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races:
* Tour of Flanders (men's race)
The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...
the previous week. Other contenders included defending champion
Elisa Longo Borghini
Elisa Longo Borghini (born 10 December 1991) is an Italian professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam .
During her career, Longo Borghini has won the 2024 Giro d'Italia Women, Giro d'Ita ...
(),
Marianne Vos
Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam .
After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior c ...
(),
Pfeiffer Georgi () and
Elise Chabbey
Elise Chabbey (born 24 April 1993 in Geneva) is a Swiss road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed as a slalom canoer in the K-1 event, finishing 20th in the heats, failing to ...
().
The race was held in dry conditions, however some roads were wet after previous days of heavy rain. Starting from
Denain
Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...
, a 18 woman
breakaway formed within the first of the race, prior to live television coverage being available – which was subsequently criticised. By the time the first
pavé
A sett, also known as a block or Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarry, quarried Rock (geology), stone used in Road surface, paving roads and walkways. Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provide ...
sector was reached, the break was around 6 minutes ahead of the peloton.
The time between the peloton and breakaway gradually fell. Vos suffered a mechanical, and fell behind the peloton.
On the
Mons-en-Pévèle
Mons-en-Pévèle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Population
Heraldry
See also
*Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
T ...
sector of pavé with remaining, Kopecky attacked from the peloton, with key riders such as Longo Borghini, Pfeiffer Georgi and Chabbey joining Kopecky to form a chase group of key contenders.
However, with around remaining, Longo Borghini crashed on the Pont-Thibault à Ennevelin sector of pavé, taking out Kopecky and others in the chasing group.
Sanne Cant
Sanne Cant (born 8 October 1990) is a Belgian former Cycle sport, racing cyclist, who last competed in cyclo-cross for UCI Cyclo-cross Crelan–Corendon, and in road cycling for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's Continental Team . Cant's cousin Loes ...
() suffered severe wounds to her head in the crash, later requiring stitches to her face at a hospital in
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
. The crash delayed the group – allowing Vos to catch them – but the gap to the breakaway gradually fell over time over the remaining kilometres.
By the time the
Carrefour de l'Arbre
Carrefour de l'Arbre, officially Pavé de Luchin, is a 2.1 km Sett (paving), cobbled road in the municipalities of Camphin-en-Pévèle, Baisieux, Baisieux-Sin and Gruson, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Nord department of Northern France. The lo ...
pavé sector was reached, the gap to the break had fallen to under a minute. As the now six-rider breakaway group entered the
Roubaix Velodrome
The Roubaix Velodrome (officially Vélodrome André-Pétrieux) is a velodrome in Roubaix, Nord, France. It was opened in 1936 and has hosted the finish of the one-day " monument classic" cycling race Paris–Roubaix since 1943, and the Paris–Ro ...
with a kilometre to go, the gap to the chasing group was around 10 seconds.
Alison Jackson () won a sprint finish of the breakaway riders, holding off the chasing group who finished 12 seconds back.
Kopecky took the leaders jersey of the
UCI Women's World Tour
The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. , the tour includes 27 events in Europe, Asia and Oceania – with one-day races such as Strade Bianche Donne and Paris–Roubaix Femmes, stage races such as Wo ...
, after winning the sprint of the chasing group.
Jackson later explained that "we were being chased down pretty hard in that last 5km" and that "it's the biggest win of my career and a dream come true". described the win as the biggest in their history. Second and third place riders
Katia Ragusa () and
Marthe Truyen () both expressed surprise at their results – with Truyen saying "it feels like a victory".
Result
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2023 Paris-Roubaix (women's race)
Paris–Roubaix Femmes
Paris–Roubaix Femmes
Paris–Roubaix
Paris–Roubaix Femmes