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World champion Lotte Kopecky scooped overall victory in the final second of racing at the Simac Ladies Tour Sunday, winning the last stage into Arnhem and, with it, taking a time bonus which elevated her from third to first overall.
The gripping final day saw the Belgian profit from the work of her SD Worx-Protime team. Those riders drove the pace in the finale to bring back the impressive breakaway rider Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) within shouting distance of the finish line.
Kopecky received a strong leadout from teammate Lorena Wiebes, with this effort finally overhauling Smulders with an agonizing 20 meters to go.
The 2024 @ladiestour ended with a heartbreakaway. After a 40 km solo attack, Silke Smulders was caught by the peloton right on the finish line where Lotte Kopecky launched by Lorena Wiebes won the stage and the GC. Epic finale.#SLT2024pic.twitter.com/QAnq37RctP
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) October 13, 2024
“When I crashed yesterday I didn’t really think that I could have these legs today,” she said. “Today was just a masterpiece of teamwork, that is the only thing I can say.
“We got the call from the car that we go for the sprint and try to take the bonus seconds, because it was pretty hard to get out. The team did everything they could to close the gap. It was really close, but it was just enough.”
A nail-biting finale
Smulders had attacked solo 39km from the end and rode powerfully, maintaining a solid advantage over the peloton.
Kopecky had crashed on Saturday and while she didn’t lose any time as a result, she wasn’t sure how she would feel Sunday.
She had started the final stage eight seconds behind race leader Franziska Koch (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and three behind stage one winner Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM Racing). This made the ten second time bonus for the win absolutely crucial.
With her legs better than she expected, the SD Worx-Protime squad put in a long chase to give her a chance of overall victory. This greatly reduced the gap to Smulders, with the remaining seconds erased via the strong leadout by Wiebes.
The Dutchwoman then backed off, making sure her teammate could take the victory and the resulting top time bonus.
Wiebes rolled across the line second with Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) third. Kock and Bäckstedt were outmaneuvered in the final and finished eighth and 12th respectively, losing the time bonuses for the first three places on the stage.
Kopecky ended the six day WorldTour race two seconds ahead of Truyen and seven in front of Bäckstedt. The overall victory and her stage win boost her season tally to 16 UCI wins.
She paid tribute to her teammate Christine Majerus, who rode hard on what was her final day of competition.
“Christine is an amazing rider, she is an amazing team player,” Kopecky said of the retiring Dutchwoman. “But next to that, she is an amazing persona and somebody who we will miss next year.”
What might have been: three riders rue near misses
Kopecky’s performance aside, three young riders will head home simultaneously encouraged and disappointed with how things panned out.
Smulders pulled out an extraordinary ride. She would have been a deserved winner of the final stage had the peloton stalled even briefly.
“I am proud of my effort,” she said. “I think I was super strong and I almost, almost made it so I have to be really happy with that.
“They caught me on the line. But I actually didn’t think I could go so far alone when I started it. So I am really proud of my effort and also of the team.”
She received the most combative rider award. She also shared overall victory in the Queen of the Mountains classification with teammate Jeanne Korevaar.
Koch went within two seconds of beating the world champion and has shown a clear return to form. She will rue losing yellow but also take great encouragement from the race.
So too Bäckstedt. She is just 20 years of age, but won the opening time trial and led the race until the end of stage four. She ended up 7 seconds off overall victory despite her entire team exiting the race by the end of stage two due to illness and injury.
These included the American Chloé Dygert, who fractured her nose when she walked into a door prior to stage one. She finished 10th in that TT but did not start the following day.
Bäckstedt knows that she might have won overall had her team enjoyed better luck. Still, like Smulders and Koch, she rode at a very high level. They will head into the off-season with strong morale.
