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April 17, 2026
11th De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne WE 2026 🇧🇪 (1.Pro) WE – Lennik – Overijse : 125,7 km
A UCI Women’s ProSeries arrow through the Flemish hills,
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April 17, 2026
11th De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne WE 2026 🇧🇪 (1.Pro) WE – Lennik – Overijse : 125,7 km
A UCI Women’s ProSeries arrow through the Flemish hills, De Brabantse Pijl WE is where the Ardennes’ first real test separates the contenders from the pretenders. The route, a relentless mix of short, punchy climbs and technical descents, doesn’t just test legs—it exposes them, with ascents like the S-Bocht van Alsemberg and Hagaard forcing riders to attack or be dropped. The peloton fractures early, and the final circuits around Overijse become a tactical chess match, where every acceleration is a gamble and every descent a dare. For puncheurs, it’s a chance to shine; for climbers, a brutal lesson in pacing. The finish isn’t just a sprint—it’s a judgment day, where the strongest emerge not just with a win, but with the confidence to dream bigger. Here, the road decides who’s ready for the Classics.
20-year-old Célia Gery (FDJ United-SUEZ) surprised the favourites to take her first professional victory at De Brabantse Pijl Women 2026, launching an early sprint before narrowly pipping Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) to the line in Overijse on Friday.
A two-rider break of Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) led until the final 1.4km after the former had been part of two early breakaways and the latter had bridged across in the final 30km.
But they stopped cooperating after Van der Breggen failed to drop her Dutch compatriot over the final time up the Moskesstraat climb and what had been around a minute advantage quickly evaporated approaching the final S-Bocht climb to the line.
SD Worx were still well-positioned with numbers, with both Bredewold and Lotte Kopecky being options for the final sprint. But as the group swelled into the final few hundred metres, Gery took her moment and surged off the front, looking back several times as she did it, but with enough power to just hold off the charging Dutch rider. Silvia Persico (UAE ADQ) was third on the day.
I began my sprint really far from the finish, but it was good, so I’m really happy. The girls did a really good job to close the gap to those in front, so I’m really proud of them,” said Gery at the finish.
“They did a huge amount of work. Franzi Koch told us before the race that we can win with all of the riders today, which is amazing for a team. It was a perfect finish for me; we have a great team with riders helping each other out at every race.
“I tried to get on the wheels of the sprinters, but saw a gap on the left. My DS even told me to go a bit later. It was close, but enough.”
How it unfolded
Racing kicked off early on Friday morning at the women’s Brabantse Pijl from Lennik, with 125km and three laps of a punchy finishing circuit separating the field from the line in Overijse.
A 10-rider breakaway formed after around 25km of racing, with Alexandra Volstad (EF Education-Oatly), Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance-Soudal), Carina Schrempf(Fenix-Premier Tech, Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek), Appleton Talia Appleton, Ella Wyllie (both Liv AlUla Jayco), Daniela Hezinová (Picnic PostNL), Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels) getting up the road, but they only led the race for the next 30km.
Determined to stay ahead, Adegeest attacked once more when the bigger group were caught, and Dijkstra countered and bridged the gap to make it a leading duo in front heading into the final 50km.
Over the first top reps up the Moskesstraat (0.5km at 8.2%), SD Worx-Protime began to put the pressure on, with Lotte Kopecky pulling on the front on the lower slopes both times up.
They were attacked by Paris-Roubaix winner Franzi Koch with 28km to go, but when the pace lulled, Kopecky’s teammate Anna van der Breggen then launched a powerful counter move. She quickly rode solo across to the leaders, making it a trio in the lead with the peloton around a minute in arrears with 23km to race.
UAE ADQ’s Silvia Persico tried valiantly to bridge across solo in response to Van der Breggen’s move, and got within 16 seconds of the leaders, but her efforts just came too late and she soon went backwards.
The peloton had plenty of firepower in it and it swelled in numbers after the climbs, but with Lidl-Trek and SD Worx both having a rider up the road, not everyone was working to try and bring racing back together for a potential sprint.
Van der Breggen pressed on over the final time up the Moskesstraat, and while Dijkstra quickly faded and got dropped, the former World Champion was unable to distance Adegeest. Behind, the current rainbow jersey Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly) was among the riders upping the pace, reducing the deficit to 38 seconds.
Cooperation in front started to fail with neither Van der Breggen nor Adegeest wanting to do the lion’s share of the work, and the counter-attacks continued to be launched in the group behind from UAE, even with SD Worx and Lidl-Trek marking them closely.
Liv AlUla Jayco took control behind, and into the final 4km, Van der Breggen and Adegeest had just 13 seconds of a lead left to defend. They were caught with 1.4km to go and the buildup to the final sprint began.
SD Worx and Lidl-Trek still had numbers, but with the line in sight, it was FDJ’s Celia Gery who took off early and surprised them all, beating Mischa Bredewold and Silvia Persico to the line in Overijse.
Results :
 WE </strong> - Lennik - Overijse : 125,7 km
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A UCI Women’s ProSeries arrow through the Flemish hills, De Brabantse Pijl WE is where the Ardennes’ first real test separates the contenders from the pretenders. The route, a relentless mix of short, punchy climbs and technical descents, doesn’t just test legs—it exposes them, with ascents like the S-Bocht van Alsemberg and Hagaard forcing riders to attack or be dropped. The peloton fractures early, and the final circuits around Overijse become a tactical chess match, where every acceleration is a gamble and every descent a dare. For puncheurs, it’s a chance to shine; for climbers, a brutal lesson in pacing. The finish isn’t just a sprint—it’s a judgment day, where the strongest emerge not just with a win, but with the confidence to dream bigger. Here, the road decides who’s ready for the Classics.
20-year-old Célia Gery (FDJ United-SUEZ) surprised the favourites to take her first professional victory at De Brabantse Pijl Women 2026, launching an early sprint before narrowly pipping Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) to the line in Overijse on Friday.
A two-rider break of Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) led until the final 1.4km after the former had been part of two early breakaways and the latter had bridged across in the final 30km.
But they stopped cooperating after Van der Breggen failed to drop her Dutch compatriot over the final time up the Moskesstraat climb and what had been around a minute advantage quickly evaporated approaching the final S-Bocht climb to the line.
SD Worx were still well-positioned with numbers, with both Bredewold and Lotte Kopecky being options for the final sprint. But as the group swelled into the final few hundred metres, Gery took her moment and surged off the front, looking back several times as she did it, but with enough power to just hold off the charging Dutch rider. Silvia Persico (UAE ADQ) was third on the day.
I began my sprint really far from the finish, but it was good, so I'm really happy. The girls did a really good job to close the gap to those in front, so I'm really proud of them," said Gery at the finish.
"They did a huge amount of work. Franzi Koch told us before the race that we can win with all of the riders today, which is amazing for a team. It was a perfect finish for me; we have a great team with riders helping each other out at every race.
"I tried to get on the wheels of the sprinters, but saw a gap on the left. My DS even told me to go a bit later. It was close, but enough."
<strong>How it unfolded</strong>
Racing kicked off early on Friday morning at the women's Brabantse Pijl from Lennik, with 125km and three laps of a punchy finishing circuit separating the field from the line in Overijse.
A 10-rider breakaway formed after around 25km of racing, with Alexandra Volstad (EF Education-Oatly), Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance-Soudal), Carina Schrempf(Fenix-Premier Tech, Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek), Appleton Talia Appleton, Ella Wyllie (both Liv AlUla Jayco), Daniela Hezinová (Picnic PostNL), Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels) getting up the road, but they only led the race for the next 30km.
Determined to stay ahead, Adegeest attacked once more when the bigger group were caught, and Dijkstra countered and bridged the gap to make it a leading duo in front heading into the final 50km.
Over the first top reps up the Moskesstraat (0.5km at 8.2%), SD Worx-Protime began to put the pressure on, with Lotte Kopecky pulling on the front on the lower slopes both times up.
They were attacked by Paris-Roubaix winner Franzi Koch with 28km to go, but when the pace lulled, Kopecky's teammate Anna van der Breggen then launched a powerful counter move. She quickly rode solo across to the leaders, making it a trio in the lead with the peloton around a minute in arrears with 23km to race.
UAE ADQ's Silvia Persico tried valiantly to bridge across solo in response to Van der Breggen's move, and got within 16 seconds of the leaders, but her efforts just came too late and she soon went backwards.
The peloton had plenty of firepower in it and it swelled in numbers after the climbs, but with Lidl-Trek and SD Worx both having a rider up the road, not everyone was working to try and bring racing back together for a potential sprint.
Van der Breggen pressed on over the final time up the Moskesstraat, and while Dijkstra quickly faded and got dropped, the former World Champion was unable to distance Adegeest. Behind, the current rainbow jersey Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly) was among the riders upping the pace, reducing the deficit to 38 seconds.
Cooperation in front started to fail with neither Van der Breggen nor Adegeest wanting to do the lion's share of the work, and the counter-attacks continued to be launched in the group behind from UAE, even with SD Worx and Lidl-Trek marking them closely.
Liv AlUla Jayco took control behind, and into the final 4km, Van der Breggen and Adegeest had just 13 seconds of a lead left to defend. They were caught with 1.4km to go and the buildup to the final sprint began.
SD Worx and Lidl-Trek still had numbers, but with the line in sight, it was FDJ's Celia Gery who took off early and surprised them all, beating Mischa Bredewold and Silvia Persico to the line in Overijse.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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