KPMG and Flanders Classics continue to build the future of women’s cycling
Flanders Classics and KPMG in Belgium are extending their collaboration within the Closing The Gap project, confirming their joint commitment to sustainable and equal women’s cycling. With the category upgrades of Dwars door Vlaanderen and Scheldeprijs, all women’s races will ultimately reach the same competition level as their male equivalents in 2026. Not only has the professional peloton benefited from the FLCS Women project in recent years, but a doubling of registrations among girls has also been recorded at the Tour of Flanders Youth Day. Building on this momentum, the collaboration will continue over the next three years.
What started in 2020 as an ambitious multi-year action plan has today become a structural pillar within the Flanders Classics organisation. The Closing The Gap programme was introduced in 2020 with clear ambitions and now, six years later, both KPMG and Flanders Classics look back on the collaboration and achievements with pride.
Stefanie Pauwels, partner at KPMG in Belgium: “We are proud of what we have achieved together within the Closing the Gap project. As an employer, educator, partner and client advisor, we understand that we play a crucial role in promoting equal pay, transparent compensation and equal opportunities for women. And we realize that the race is not yet finished, on the course and in the business world. That is why we are continuing this collaboration with conviction, to keep investing in gender equality, so that everyone can race with the same tailwind.”
Tomas Van Den Spiegel, CEO of Flanders Classics: "This extension is a confirmation of the fantastic collaboration we have built with KPMG in the meantime, which is something of which we can be particularly proud. It underlines that with KPMG we have the right partner on our side. It also proves that we have found each other in the values we hold close to our heart, in which equality naturally comes first. With the support of KPMG and our other partners, we can now proudly look back on our investments in women’s cycling.”
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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
New milestone
The contract extension coincides with major new sporting milestones. For example, Dwars door Vlaanderen will be included in the UCI Women's WorldTour from 2026, while the Scheldeprijs will make the move to the UCI Women’s ProSeries. As a result, all of the Flanders Classics spring races that have both men’s and women’s events are now in the same UCI category. This means that the organiser is achieving an ambition that dates from 2020.
Step by step, the category upgrades of recent years, as well as those of 2026, have strengthened the international establishment of our Flemish classics on the women’s calendar. Moreover, the sporting value is increasing, which in turn attracts more top teams. And finally it once again increases media coverage of women’s cycling, which is the basis of the Closing The Gap project.
Tomas Van Den Spiegel: “In other words, it is further professionalising women’s cycling at the highest level. Since 2020 and the launch of this project, we have very consciously taken a leading role in that process. We are therefore extremely grateful to KPMG and our other partners for supporting us in this multi-year plan. 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.”
Closing The Gap in numbers
- Flanders Classics has already invested €3.3 million in the Closing The Gap project by 2026, with the support of its partners.
- Start fees increased by 179% between 2020 and 2026.
- 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.
- The number of girls participating in the Tour of Flanders Youth Day has nearly doubled (+86.1%) since its launch in 2022.
- Viewing figures for the Tour of Flanders Women Elite increased fivefold between 2019 and 2026. The biggest increase occurred between 2019 and 2020; since then, the women have finished after the men.
- The absolute viewing record was reached in 2023, with an average of 1.030.099 viewers.
- The contract with VRT/Sporza runs until 2031. This agreement guarantees that the spring classics, for both men and women, will continue to be broadcast live on Sporza in the coming years.
Additional focus on youth
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 Ieper
- 24.05.2026 | Tour of Flanders Youth Day
- 31.05.2026 | Omloop Nieuwsblad U23
- 18.07.2026 | Ronde van Limburg Youth Day
- 26.08.2026 | Vlaamse Druivenkoers Overijse
Tomas Van Den Spiegel: “Here too, we are witnessing a very positive development. In 2022, at the first Tour of Flanders Youth Day, the girls U17 and U19 cycled 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 we can accept only 25. It’s 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: “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.”
