Thursday, September 7, 2023 at 3:08 PM
A double blow for Lotte Kopecky in the Simac Ladies Tour. The Belgian turned out to be the fastest in Leuven, for his own people, in the 7.1-kilometer time trial. Kopecky managed to complete the course two seconds faster than Riejanne Markus. The young British Zoe Bäckstedt finished third. Annemiek van Vleuten did not get further than 24th place in the last time trial of her career.
A first in the Simac Ladies Tour! Today, for the first time in the history of the Dutch cycling race, a stage was organized on… Belgian soil. For the first Belgian stage ever, the peloton was a guest in Leuven. Not for the finish of a ride-in-line, but as a backdrop for a short time trial of 7.1 kilometers. In the 2021 World Cup city, a short circuit awaited the riders, with start and finish in the city center and along the way the Keizersberg (450 meters at 6%), Hoge Berglaan (200 meters) and the 250 meters ascending Vital Decosterstraat ( at 3.5%) as slopes.
Daniek Hengeveld set the fastest time of the first starters. The still only 20-year-old Dutch from Team dsm-firmenich clocked a time of 9:40 and turned out to be a lot faster than, among others, Neve Bradbury (9:58), Eva Buurman (10:01) and Femke de Vries (10:01). 09). In other words, Hengeveld was allowed to take a seat in the hot seat, but had no illusions. The real time trial guns had yet to come.
First target time in the name of Howe
The first rider to dive under Hengeveld’s time was Georgie Howe. The 29-year-old rider, riding for Jayco AlUla, managed to complete the course no less than 22 seconds faster (9:18 to 9:40). This turned out to be a first serious target time. The British Elinor Barker and the Australian Anya Louw then managed to settle between Howe and Hengeveld, but ended up at eight and nine seconds. One after the other rider bit the teeth on Howe’s time, but the Australian could not count herself rich yet.
Van Vleuten in her last time trial – photo: Cor Vos
The danger eventually came from her own team Jayco AlUla, as Georgia Baker was very fast on the road. That was also apparent at the finish line, because Baker managed to dive under the time of her teammate Baker by one second, so that another Australian now took the lead. Not for long, because not much later Christina Schweinberger from Austria set the fastest time on the tables. With a time of 9:12, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider was three seconds below Baker’s time.
Van Vleuten does not do it, Kopecky lashes out
The cycling fans present in Leuven then eagerly awaited the entry of Annemiek van Vleuten, but the Movistar rider had to settle for a distant place of honor in her last time trial. With 9:28, the retiring Van Vleuten remained far from first place. Zoe Bäckstedt, on the other hand, drove a hell of a time trial and the British multi-talent set a new target time at the finish with 9:10. Her compatriot Anna Henderson (by a few hundredths) just missed this sharp time, just like Demi Vollering: 9:14.
And what about SD Worx’s next topper, Lotte Kopecky? Of course, the Belgian did not ride in her rainbow jersey today, but in the Belgian tricolore as reigning national champion against the clock. And Kopecky showed in Leuven that she also has something to offer in the time trial field. What’s called: with 8:59 she pulverized Bäckstedt’s time, and thus made a shot at the stage victory. Kopecky, however, had to wait a while for confirmation, because with Riejanne Markus, Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Balsamo and Charlotte Kool, a few more clappers followed.
Riejanne Markus just before the start – photo: Cor Vos
Stage and leader jersey for Kopecky
Markus came very close to Kopecky’s time in her Dutch champion jersey, but ended up with two seconds (9:02). Wiebes conceded eighteen counts to Kopecky, while Balsamo had to give up more than half a minute to the Belgian. And Kool? The Dutch was the last to set an end time, but did not come close to winning. Kool lost more than half a minute over a distance of 7.1 kilometers and must also hand over the leader’s jersey to Kopecky.
The Belgian therefore hits a double blow and now has a lead of two seconds on Markus in the standings. Wiebes is the provisional number three at 13 seconds from her Belgian teammate, the British women Henderson and Bäckstedt complete the top-5. Vollering is provisionally sixth, Van Vleuten’s name can be found in nineteenth place. The leader of Movistar is already 34 seconds behind.
2023-09-07 13:08:00
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