Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) attacked solo on the final climb to take victory on the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
The Belgian burst out of the bunch 9.6km from the finish after her teammate Marlen Reusser had controlled the peloton on the climb, reducing it to just a handful of favourites. Nobody was able to follow her, and she soloed to the line to win by a comfortable margin of 41 seconds.
Lorena Wiebes completed a one-two for SD Worx by winning the sprint for second ahead of Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), in a group of about 20 that included all of the top GC favourites.
“On the final climb I had the feeling that I had something left, and I just went," Kopecky said. "I thought probably someone would follow, but nobody could follow. Once I was at the top I knew it was motley downhill, or slightly dragging down. If I could keep my power, they could not catch me back.”
She reached the top with a lead of only a few seconds ahead of a nine-woman chasing group, but after she committed and they struggled to organise, she expanded that lead on the downhill run-in to the finish.
Her teammate Wiebes was one of the riders to rejoin that group during the run-in having missed the cut on the climb, and her struggles gave Kopecky the go-ahead to attack.
“We had two strategies actually,” explained Kopecky. “If Lorena [Wiebes] could get over the climb then we should go for Lorena in the bunch sprint. But I also had the chance to go myself. I’m happy they gave me this chance, and I’m also very happy for the team, SD Worx, that I could finish it off like this.”
The result continues what has been an exceptional 2023 for SD Worx. Remarkably, this is their 49th win of the season, and yet another one-two having done the same at races like Amstel Gold, the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche.
“It’s amazing. In the team, we’re also laughing about it, we don’t really understand it ourselves. In so many races we’ve been one-two. This year we just have a super-strong and super-good team together, and it’s really nice to race like this.”
It was a largely uneventful stage until that decisive final climb. Marie-Morgane Le Deunff (Arkéa-Samsic) and later Typhaine Laurance (Lifeplus Wahoo) both got up the road for a bit in solo breakaways, but neither lasted long, and with 78km to go the race was altogether.
Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT) was the next to try 45km from the finish, but she too was reeled in 15km later.
After Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) won the intermediate sprint in the peloton, the pace started to pick-up on the approach to the climb, with Lidl-Trek doing most of the work.
SD Worx then took over on the climb itself, and, after a powerful turn from Marlen Reusser, Kopecky launched her race-winning attack.
She’ll now have the honour of wearing the yellow jersey tomorrow. “I think it will be something special,” a delighted Kopecky said at the finish “and I really look forward to it.”
TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES 2023 STAGE 1 RESULT CLERMONT-FERRAND > CLERMONT-FERRAND
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx 03h 04’ 09”
2. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx at 41”
3. Charlotte Kool (Ned) Team dsm-firmenich at
4. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma both at st
5. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep at 43”
6. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx
7. Tamara Dronova-Balabolina Israel Premier Tech Roland
8. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) DFJ-SUEZ
9. Mavi García (Esp) Liv Racing TeqFind
10. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek all at s.t
TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 1
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx 03h 03’ 59”
2. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx at 45”
3. Charlotte Kool (Ned) Team dsm-firmenich at 47"
4. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma both at 51"
5. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep at 53”
6. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx
7. Tamara Dronova-Balabolina Israel Premier Tech Roland
8. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) DFJ-SUEZ
9. Mavi García (Esp) Liv Racing TeqFind
10. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek all at s.t
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