Kopecky solos to second straight Belgian women's road title

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Lotte Kopecky (Liv Racing) prolonged her Belgian title with a solo ride to the victory in Waregem after attacking 8km from the finish.

Julie Van de Velde (Jumbo-Visma) grabbed the silver medal with a late solo effort. Alana Castrique (Lotto Soudal) won the peloton sprint for the bronze medal at 20 seconds behind Kopecky.

Just like last year, Kopecky was able to claim the double at the Belgian National Championships with the victory in the time trial and the road race.

“I hoped for it but it was quite the task to actually do it. I didn’t feel good in the first hours of the race and hoped I would get better. I didn’t mix in with the attacks, realizing that I would have to go all in with a late attack. I timed it well,” Kopecky told Sporza in the post-race interview.

She’s taking over the role of leading lady in Belgian women’s cycling, with Jolien D’hoore soon waving the sport goodbye. Kopecky remained humble, however.

“Well, I’m sure there’s other women doing great things in other disciplines,” Kopecky said.

The race was decided at the Holstraat climb, the backside of the more famous cobbled Nokereberg climb, just under 10km from the finish. A long solo attempt from Ann-Sophie Duyck came to an end when Shari Bossuyt (NXTG) blasted by with only nine riders chasing her down.

“The plan was to set the pace on the first part of the climb up the Holstraat with me going full gas on the second part,” Kopecky said. "I realized that Jolien was very strong. In the final lap the pace was high because Shari Bossuyt was up the road and Jolien had to spend some energy. I saw she was going through a difficult moment. I told myself to keep calm until we reached the top and then go all in."

None of the nine chasers was able to join the move and Kopecky quickly collected a bonus of 13s. A second group of eleven riders bridged up with the chase group but Kopecky kept increasing her lead.

“I didn’t know how far behind they were. With 3km to go I saw the gap was half a minute and then I knew it was in the pocket,” Kopecky said.

When asked why she didn’t bank on her sprint, Kopecky explained she felt that a solo move had a bigger chance of success.

“No, I wasn’t confident that I would win the sprint so I tried to see what the better options were to get the title. It was the best decision.”

Just before the final kilometre, Julie Van de Velde jumped away from the peloton. The 28 year-old rode a strong race but was unable to respond to Kopecky’s move. She did manage to keep the peloton at distance and capture a well-deserved second place.

Castrique won the peloton sprint and was delighted with the resulting third place, lifting her arms in the air. Shari Bossuyt was fourth, Nathalie Bex fifth and Jolien D’hoore concluded her final Belgian championship race on the road with a sixth place.

Young Julie De Wilde was seventh ahead of Marion Norbert-Riberolle, who recently swapped the French nationality for a Belgian passport. Valerie Demey worked hard for Lotte Kopecky in the build-up to the final climb and she still managed to get a top-10 result for herself, finishing just ahead of Kiona Crabbé.