Tour of Flanders 2024 Women Live: Vos in the break but Kopecky struggling as the rain intensifies

The Wolvenberg isn't too far away now for the field, the first big climb of the day. The peloton set off under grey skies in Oudenaarde and conditions haven't imporved yet. About 12 Degrees Celsius out there, intermittent drizzle and breezy conditions to conquer today, but no cross winds fortunately.

We have live pictures now, showing that five rider breakaway riding well together at the moment.

The peloton is starting to motor now, and the gap has reduced to those leading five. It's under three minutes, nothing to worry about just yet - especially considering the calibre of riders in the peloton today.

We've heard from Kopecky, who is chasing that third win here. But Vos has to be watched, she has been in electric form so far this season and has looked unstoppable when she senses victory.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the men's race too - which has been full of non-stop drama from word go. They set off first and will finish before the women - and have been battling drizzle, crashes galore and all sorts of breaks so far.

She's one of the favourites, and is chasing a third straight title in the Tour of Flanders. Let's here from the Belgian:

So, that break has a steady gap to the peloton of just over three minutes, with two riders in between - Camilla Ranes and Josie Nelson. They haven't been making inroads on that break - hovering a minute behind for quite some time now.

There was a big crash earlier on not far out of the neutral zone, which did impact Kopecky. She has continued, but Marlen Reusser (SD Worx-Protime), Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) and Monica Greenwood (Coop-Repsol) all abandoned.

The peloton did come back together after that one, but then a break of five riders got clear.

That break consisted of: Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), Gladys Verhulst-Wild (FDJ-Suez), Elena Pirrone (Roland), Josie Talbot (Cofidis) and Mieke Docx (Lotto-DSTNY).

The men’s field has been decimated from that awful crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen which took out Wout van Aert amongst others, but the women’s field is pretty much as strong as it can be today.

Defending champion Lotte Kopecky is here, so is Marienne Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini and Elisa Balsamo. Shirin van Anrooij - who has impressed all the way through the Spring Classics so far this season – is also here, as was Lizzie Deignan, note the past tense.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the women’s Tour of Flanders. We won’t waste time with too much preamble, as the riders have long since set off and are well under way on the 163km course today. They have started and will finish in Oudenaarde, via some interesting climbs and a fair few cobbled sections of road.