The fans watching the revived women's race at Milan-San Remo will have seen Lotte Kopecky's exceptional display of teamwork that led to her SD Worx-Protime teammate Lorena Wiebes winning the Italian Monument in a reduced group sprint along the Via Roma in San Remo.
"I think almost every win is, most of the time, thanks to someone on our team," Kopecky told the press at the finish line after she produced a massive effort to bring back late-race attacker Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) in the closing kilometres, so that Wiebes could have a chance to sprint for the victory.
But what the World Champion said she would like everyone watching to understand, is that almost every victory of the season comes down to the support of a team.
"In the beginning, we have helpers like Elena Cecchini or Femke [Gerritse], who help with positioning, and these things cost a lot of energy. It is something people [watching the race] do not see," she said.
"They see the last two kilometres where I am pulling for Lorena, but they do not see what the other teammates have done in the beginning and it is important to mention."
Kopecky and Wiebes were both favourites to win the revived Monument, which offered the women's peloton a 156km route from Genoa to San Remo. The course saw the peloton compete along the scenic coastline before tackling the iconic Cipressa and Poggio climbs, which were always likely to decide how the finale played out.
In the end, a reduced group formed over both Cipressa and then the Poggio, but Longo Borghini stole away from the field after the hectic descent off the Poggio, and it all but appeared that she had won the race, until TV footage panned to the chasing group led by Kopecky, to bring the Italian rider back for her teammate Wiebes to sprint.
SD Worx-Protime played the final perfectly with Wiebes taking the victory ahead of Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly).
"It was a nice race. It was a very fast race with a tailwind and it was a nice race and a nice final," Kopecky said, noting that she didn't think a breakaway could succeed given the strong tailwind out along the coastline.
"The top riders, at the moment, are pretty much at the same level. It makes it harder for one rider to stand out. I think we stood out today. "With the tailwind, the speeds were high and that made it pretty hard for a breakaway to go out. But it was a nice race."
Kopecky made some significant changes to her programme this year with a season's start – and focus – on Milan-San Remo before she turns to a selection of Spring Classics ahead of her role as a GC contender at the Tour de France. She is clearly in top form and satisfied with her performance, and she was able to help with her teammate's victory.
"I'm very satisfied. It was my first race, so it was a little bit to see how I felt in the race. The goal was to win the race with the team and in the final, we executed it perfectly," she said.
Kopecky has already won three Monuments, twice at the Tour of Flanders and once at Paris-Roubaix. Asked if she thought she could win Milan-San Remo in the future, now that she has experienced it firsthand, she replied, "I think it is a race I'm able to win one time, yes."
