Belgian Lotte Kopecky made her dream come true on Saturday by winning her first Paris-Roubaix after a suspenseful finale and an explosive sprint.
Published on: 04/06/2024 – 7:15 p.m.
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She had always dreamed of it, she did it! The Belgian Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) won her first Paris-Roubaix women’s race on Saturday April 6 by winning after a small group sprint at the Roubaix velodrome.
This is the first victory in Roubaix for a Belgian, men and women alike, since that of Philippe Gilbert in 2018. And it sounds like sweet revenge for the reigning world champion who experienced her share of bad luck on the Queen classics, a race she says she has always dreamed of.
“That was the goal of my season”
It is also a relief for his team, the overpowering SD Worx, who had missed the boat during the first three editions of the Hell of the North.
“Paris-Roubaix was very high on my wish list. I’m happy, it was the objective of my season”, she relished after lifting the trophy, a heavy cobble rewarding both her tenacity and its finish.
Lotte Kopecky was in a group of six riders, including three Dutch (Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Amber Kraak), at the entrance to the Roubaix velodrome. She initially found herself locked up and at one point thought she would experience new disillusionment.
But the multiple world champion on the track managed to find the fault on the outside to overwhelm and bring everyone up on the outside to win one of the most beautiful victories of her career and win in front of the Italian Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and the British Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM).
In addition to her road world title won last year in Glasgow, the 28-year-old Flemish woman has already won the Tour of Flanders and the Strade Bianche several times and finished second in the last Tour de France.
But she dreamed of finally adding to her list the Queen of the classics who had always escaped her in recent years, sometimes through bad luck.
39 victories on his record
“At one point I told myself that things could go wrong, but you have to stay calm in these moments and my experience as a track rider helped me,” said Lotte Kopecky.
The other three members of the group, all Dutch (Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Amber Kraak), finished just behind. The first Frenchwoman, Victoire Berteau, finished eighth, ahead of Marie Le Net, both 28 seconds behind.
In addition to her road world title won last year in Glasgow, Lotte Kopecky has already won the Tour of Flanders and the Strade Bianche several times. She now has 39 victories in her career and also finished second in the last Tour de France.
But she was missing a success in Roubaix and she was all the more revengeful on Saturday as she had just been defeated in the Tour of Flanders where a slowdown in the Koppenberg had deprived her of a hat-trick last Sunday.
“In recent days, my team has lifted my spirits and given me a lot of confidence. The girls kept making me laugh to relax me. They helped me believe in it,” she insisted. .
Now it’s time for the Ardennes before turning to the Paris Olympics where the most complete rider in the peloton will aim for both road and track gold.
With AFP
