THE BORDERLINE CLASSIC OF DE BRABANTSE PIJL

A hybrid team for a hybrid race – Ricarda Bauernfeind, Justyna Czapla, Rosa Klöser, Nastya Kolesava, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka, and Wilma Aintila line up for Friday’s De Brabantse Pijl, a parcours that calls for a blend of both Classics force and climbing strength.

For Wilma, this will be her first race back since the UAE Tour in early February, after a hand fracture sidelined her through her favoured Flandrien classics.

“The past couple of months have, of course, been different. It was my first bigger injury, and it’s been tricky in many ways, with lots of hospital check-ups and each week being quite different. I’m lucky and happy that it hasn’t stopped me from training too much, and I’ve been able to stay active in different ways.

“At first, I was going out for walks, runs, and even did some ice skating. That really helped to keep my body moving when I couldn’t be 100% on the bike.

“In the beginning, my rides were low intensity, then I started short efforts on Zwift which helped keep things going. I also did some training sessions on the velodrome and I could gradually build up to riding outside – starting short and extending the ride everyday, while still keeping the intervals on the home trainer.

“Week by week, I’ve increased the load. The last few weeks, I’ve been able to go back outdoors, which I’m really happy about – going fully back to training, but carefully when the fracture was not 100% healed. I decided not to do the biggest classic races, even if I was able to be 100% outdoors and do the training as planned.

“Mentally and physically I’m feeling really good. I’m going nicely into the race on Friday, and I have been training pretty well the last weeks. With the decision to not race, it was not because I wasn’t able to train – it was about keeping safe and not crashing again on the hand. Now I’m looking forward to racing again and hoping the shape is there. Of course, it’ll be tricky mentally to jump straight back into the peloton when others have been racing for months. It will probably take a bit of time to get into the race routine, but I will, and I’m handling it with a calm mind.”

De Brabantse Pijl acts as both a metaphorical and physical link between the Spring Classics of Flanders and those in Wallonie – an event that straddles both geographical and topographical boundaries. The route weaves across the border between the two regions, where the terrain is undulating rather than truly hilly, and the cobbles are less rugged.

Beginning in the small Flemish Brabant village of Lennik, the peloton traces a mix of suburban lanes and main roads over rolling terrain during the opening 52 kilometres towards Overijse. In the past, there’s typically been a drag race down a wide, gradual descent before a sharp 150-degree turn into the Herstraat cobbles (0.7km at 4%). In the interest of safety, these cobbles no longer mark the entrance to the 3.5 laps of the finishing circuit around Overijse.

The peloton will also skip the decisively steep and twisted Moskesstraat cobbles (0.5km at 8.8%) before the first passage of the finish line, although they’ll still preview all other key points on the loop — including the leg-sapping Holstheide climb (1km at 5.3%) and the visually iconic S-Bocht (1.3km at 3.9%). As the name suggests, the S-Bocht snakes its way out of Overijse, delivering the peloton to the elevated finish line as the gradient begins to level out. More often than not, this final climb is too sheltered and fast for anyone to establish a race-winning gap.

De Brabantse Pijl is a curious race — one that cannot be definitively placed into a single course category. That sense of ambiguity has only grown in recent years, especially with the removal of the savage Hagaard climb from the finishing circuit in 2024, and a steady reduction in distance: from 141km in 2023, to 135km in 2024, and now 126km – certainly a reversal of the distance trend typically seen in women’s racing.

The intended effect is a race that’s less attritional but more explosive, with a larger group likely to enter the final lap around Overijse still in contention. While the finale may be more forgiving, the race still features 19 climbs scattered throughout the lead-in and finishing circuit — more than enough to ensure that non-climbers won’t simply have success handed to them.

HOW TO FOLLOW

De Brabantse Pijl | 1.Pro | Friday April 18 | 125.7km | 1448m elevation | Start 11:25 CET – fastest finish 14:37.

Live coverage begins at 12:30 CET on Eurosport, Discovery Plus, TNT Sports, FloBikes, and via a non-geoblocked livestream from Proximus Pickx.

Stay updated on X with #DPB25 and #DPBwomen, and follow CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto’s social channels for the latest team updates.