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Women’s Tour of Flanders attracts one million viewers in Flanders

Numbers show how Flanders Classics and KPMG are #ClosingTheGap

Women’s Tour of Flanders attracts one million viewers in Flanders

Vilvoorde,7th of April 2026 – With her victory in the Tour of Flanders, Vollering earned €20,000. That’s the same amount as the men’s winner for the fifth time. Moreover, nearly one million viewers in Flanders watched the Dutch rider win her first Tour of Flanders. Thanks to support from KPMG, Flanders Classics continues to push for equality between men and women in road cycling – and the numbers speak for themselves.

978,472

That is the number of viewers who watched the women’s race finale on Sunday on VRT, corresponding to a 78% market share. The men’s race drew just under 1.4 million viewers.

Since 2020, Flanders Classics has scheduled the finish of the women’s Tour of Flanders immediately after the men’s. With a primetime finale, the organizer saw viewership for its women’s races increase fivefold between 2019 and 2026. This contributes to one of the main objectives of the Closing The Gap project: increasing media visibility. The absolute viewing record was reached in 2023, with an average of 1.030.099 viewers.

20,000

This is how much both Vollering and Pogacar earned with their victories in yesterday’s Tour of Flanders. Prize money for women increased from €21.750 (in 2020) to €207,600 (in 2026). Since 2023, prize money has been equal across all Flanders Classics races.

6

It’s not just the number of Flanders Classics races that have a women’s equivalent. Since 2026, Flanders Classics has ensured that all its spring classics are organized at the same level for both men and women. By steadily investing in category upgrades over the past years, Flanders Classics now features four UCI WorldTour and two UCI ProSeries races for both men and women on its spring calendar.

3,300,000

The amount invested in women’s cycling since the launch of Closing The Gap in 2020. This includes, among other things, a 179% increase in starting fees.

+86%

In Closing The Gap, Flanders Classics will focus on youth development in the coming years. Growing women’s cycling further internationally also means helping to build it from the grassroots up. With rapid professionalisation, there is a need for a strong and sustainable inflow of young talent. This is the reason why Flanders Classics has been making structural investments in its youth programme for several years now, with four youth days:

> 10.05.2026 | In Flanders Fields Youth Day - In Ypres

> 24.05.2026 | Tour of Flanders Youth Day

> 18.07.2026 | Ronde van Limburg Youth

> 26.08.2026 | Vlaamse Druivenkoers Overijse

The result? In 2022, at the first Tour of Flanders Youth Day, the girls U17 and U19 rode together due to the lower number of entries. But for the upcoming fifth edition, no fewer than 45 girls U19 teams have applied, of which only 25 can be accepted. It’s a clear signal of growth and potential.

Extension of the partnership

Flanders Classics and KPMG in Belgium are extending their collaboration for another 3 years, confirming their joint commitment to sustainable and equal women’s cycling. The Closing The Gap programme was introduced in 2020 with clear ambitions and now, six years later, both KPMG and Flanders Classics look forward to future achievements.

Tomas Van Den Spiegel, CEO of Flanders Classics: “Step by step, we have made targeted investments in the sport, and we can now see that sporting quality, media coverage and commercial development are leading to tangible growth in visibility, value and international appeal. The evolution in the youth categories is a clear signal of growth and potential. In this way, we are also doing our bit to close the gap, not only at the professional top but also at the grassroots level.”

Stefanie Pauwels, partner at KPMG Belgium: “We are proud of what we have achieved together within the Closing the Gap project. Here we see how investments in the careers of young female riders are already having an effect in the short term – in the long term, we will see an even more visible, systematic, and cross-generational impact in cycling. That is why we continue this collaboration with conviction, to keep investing in gender equality, for now and for the future.”