Unstoppable Kopecky claims third Nationals’ title in Belgium in bunch sprint

Lotte Kopecky claimed her second Belgian Nationals’ gold this week as she followed up Thursday’s victory in the time trial with a win in Sunday’s road race. 

Widely tipped for victory beforehand, Kopecky had already taken the road race title in 2020 and 2021. And as she made that a National Road Champion’s hat-trick with a comfortable bunch sprint victory, she proved her status as top favourite was more than justified.

Second in the 134 kilometre course starting and finishing in the West Flanders town of Izegem was Marthe Goossens (AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep) and Kelly Druyts (Duolar-Chevelmaire) took third.

However, after closing down several late attacks then having ample fuel left in the tank for a bunch sprint, from the time trial to the road race, Kopecky’s dominance in this year’s Belgian Road Nationals was clear.

Kopecky’s tenth victory of 2023 also finally enables her to put her considerable disappointment after losing the 2022 Championships - to the point where she memorably described it as “the most annoying race on the calendar “ -  behind her for good.

This time round, “the race went much better than I expected,” Kopecky said.

“Each time a kilometre ticked by, I felt pleased. I couldn’t react to everything, so I had to choose my battles. Sometimes I thought  'Shit, now I'm going to have to do it myself again' It was a bit of a gamble."

"You also lose part of your strength for the sprint through those kinds of efforts, but I felt like I had control over the race."

Fenix-Deceuninck and AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep did try to test Kopecky's strength during the race itself But no matter how serious the attack, even without teammates, the Belgian star managed to shut them down and into the final kilometres, the main group was still together.

Then when it came down to the bunch sprint in Izegem, Kopecky was still so sure of herself she did not hesitate to lead out the dash for the line from the front.

Kopecky said she did not risk making her final move too early, opting to wait until 200 meters before the line.

“I no longer had any doubts. Now I can go to the Tour de France with this jersey,” she said, “I'm really looking forward to it."

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