Lotte Kopecky wins her third round of Flanders, this time as a world champion

Lotte Kopecky won the Tour of Flanders for the third time on Sunday. The Belgian did that for the first time in the colors of the rainbow jersey as a world champion. In a sprint in the Oudenaarde finish place, she was too strong for Ferrand-Prévot, Lippert and Niewiadoma. The four ended for the competition for more than a minute.

The foursome was on the Oude Kwaremont, with eighteen kilometers to be driven, drove away from an already thinned peloton. Kopecky first followed that climb the pace of the French Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma-Lease A Bike), but took over the initiative halfway through the old Kwaremont.

On the final climb, the extremely steep Paterberg, Tour winner Kasia Niewiadoma and Liane Lippert tried to unload the Belgian top favorite with a fast pace. But the world champion was able to follow without any problems. In the last kilometer, climbing specialist Niewiadoma tried to get away from the other three, without success. Kopecky finished it on behalf of her team SD Worx Protime, pointing to her muscles when she crossed the finish line.

« I didn’t have the best legs in the beginning, but it went better and better as the course progressed, » Kopecky said afterwards in an interview. She also said that after the old Kwaremont she had faith that the foursome would reach the finish line. The Dutch contribution in Flanders was small, partly because Demi Volling did not appear at the start. Anna van der Breggen has been driving her first round of Flanders since her return to the service of Kopecky. The best Dutch was Ellen van Dijk in eight place.

To share

Mail the editors