European Championships: Lotte Kopecky wins elite women's time trial
Ellen van Dijk second, Christina Schweinberger third in 31.2km race against the clock from Heusden-Zolder to Hasselt
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) added the European time trial title to her bulging palmarès, speeding to victory on home ground in Hasselt ahead of Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands).
The reigning Belgian time trial champion completed the 31.2km course in a time of 39 minutes at an average speed of 47.984kph to claim her first-ever European title.
Along the way, she led at both intermediate checkpoints, extending her lead as the race went on.
Van Dijk took the silver medal at a deficit of 44 seconds, while Christina Schweinberger (Austria) rounded out the podium with bronze a further 19 seconds back, 1:03 behind Kopecky.
“In this case, I have to thank my coach who drew up a pace plan at the Olympic Games and here,” Kopecky said after her win. “It is a very realistic plan, but those numbers were easily achievable. I still had some reserve myself, so it was a very nice time trial where I could ride the power that was set.
“I gained time at every intermediate point, so that was good for the morale along the way. The decisive part was definitely between 10 and 15km with a headwind. You could make a big difference there.”
The 28-year-old’s win marks the second gold of the Championships for the home nation following Alec Segaert’s triumph in the U23 men’s time trial earlier in the day and the result breaks a three-year streak by Swiss rider Marlen Reusser, who didn’t take part.
Norway’s Katrine Aalerud was the quickest of the early runners, recording a time of 40:25 to take over the hot seat from Mieke Kröger (Germany) by 24 seconds. She’d only last in the provisional lead for a matter of minutes, however, with Van Dijk coming through to set the quickest time at both checkpoints and the finish.
The Dutchwoman was the 15th starter of 27 competitors and had won the title four times in a row between 2016 and 2019. Her time held strong as the next several riders, including Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria), Lisa Klein (Germany), and Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Poland) crossed the line.
Vittoria Guazzini (Italy) was the sixth-last woman to finish, taking over second place in the process with a time of 40:10, but she wouldn’t stay on the podium as the late runners came to the line.
Kopecky’s time at the first checkpoint – 13:25 – was three seconds up on Van Dijk, an advantage she extended to 15 seconds at the second checkpoint. By the finish, she had added 29 seconds to that lead to take over the hot seat.
Only Riejanne Markus (Netherlands) and Schweinberger remained out on the course by that point, though both lagged over a minute behind Kopecky. Markus’ time of 40:06 saw her briefly take over the bronze medal position before Schweinberger raced home just two seconds up to secure the final spot on the podium behind Kopecky and Van Dijk.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.
Most Popular
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'I didn't have super legs' - Mathieu van der Poel still chasing World Championships form
Dutchman's aggression animates European Championships road race -
Tadej Pogačar confirms favourite status for Zürich World Championships with masterclass in Montréal
Slovenian to quickly fly back to Europe for final two weeks of preparation before road race rainbow chase on September 29 -
Back-to-back wins for Andrew Strohmeyer at C2 round of Virginia's Blue Ridge Go Cross
Kerry Werner second, Marcis Shelton third in Fallon Park -
'It's worth it to try because that's the way to win' - Matteo Jorgenson ruins legs trying to follow Pogačar at GP Montréal
'I was trying to win the race and didn't have the legs after that' says American in final race before World Championships