Lotte Kopecky attacks out of ‘boredom’ but SD Worx play it cool at Gent-Wevelgem

Lotte Kopecky ultimately ended up as a lead-out woman at Gent-Wevelgem, but she was a persistent probing presence, launching accelerations throughout the race. The reason? Boredom.

The opening hour of the race apparently wasn’t interesting enough for the world champion, who was the first to get things moving at the first whiff of wind in the exposed swamplands of De Moeren.

She later attacked repeatedly on the climbing section of the course, before slotting back in to set up the sprint victory for her SD Worx teammate Lorena Wiebes.

“I just wanted to test the legs a bit,” Kopecky said of her early forays.

“I had a good feeling and there was a lot of wind, but actually it still was quite boring… then you just want to start racing.”

Once the peloton had regathered itself for the climbing loops south of Ypres, Keopecky continued in a similar vein, ripping the bunch apart with a vicious attack on the Baneberg with 60km still to go and then acting as the arch-aggressor on both ascents of the crucial Kemmelberg climb.

However, for all the damage they did to the peloton, they were half-hearted blows. SD Worx had already decided to play the sprint card of Wiebes, and so any selections that were made were not fully acted upon.

“It would indeed have been nice if we could ride away with a small group,” Kopecky admitted, but with only the smallest hint of regret.

“I am happy with how the race went today. I knew that Gent-Wevelgem was a big goal for Lorena and I am happy that I was able to contribute to that.”

Read more: Gent-Wevelgem – Lorena Wiebes defeats Elisa Balsamo in photo-finish sprint

Tactical question marks

Kopecky’s and SD Worx’s tactics did raise some question marks. After the first ascent of the Kemmelberg, Kopecky and Wiebes were clear in a group of seven. After the second ascent, the pair were clear in a trio, which became an eight-rider group, which also contained a third teammate, the reigning Gent-Wevelgem champion Marlen Reusser.

On both occasions, however, the team decided not to go all-in. It might have been seen as a gamble to sacrifice the numerical advantage while bringing the in-form Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) back into the equation, but the strategy was clear in the eyes of the riders.

“We decided to go for the sprint, so we ourselves would not attack the group, we would just try to control,” Reusser argued. "There were still 30km to go, so it not possible for us to make a pace and control. We would just follow the attacks and see if the group would come back.”

Kopecky added: “Balsamo and [Charlotte] Kool [were not there, so the other riders from Lidl-Trek and DSM served as disruptors. Lidl-Trek had a lot of confidence because of Balsamo's victories at Trofeo Binda and Brugge-De Panne] and this was reflected in the way they raced.”

In any case, SD Worx won the race with Wiebes, with Kopecky rolling out the carpet with lead-out duties that we’ve seen from her in other major races such as the Tour de France Femmes.

“It's a different feeling than winning yourself, but it's still a nice feeling to be able to do this for Lorena,” Kopecky said.

“She has improved enormously on the short efforts and that even gives her more chances of winning in races such as Gent-Wevelgem or even the Amstel Gold Race.”

As for her own shape a week out from her attempt on a third straight Tour of Flanders title, she might not have been able to stretch the legs to the fullest extent but was encouraged nonetheless.

“I also felt good,” she said “I have gained confidence here for next week's Tour of Flanders.”