Lotte Kopecky on Paris-Roubaix win: 'Today was exactly as we planned'

In triumphing in front of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm-firmenich PostNL) on the concrete slabs of the Roubaix Velodrome, world champion Lotte Kopecky became the first Belgian winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and no doubt lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

A week after falling below expectations at the Tour of Flanders, the SD Worx-Protime leader was honest that the pressure was starting to tell in the days before Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

"I tried to stay as calm as possible actually but after Sunday the feeling was just not what I wanted it to be," she said in her post-race conference on Saturday evening.

"Luckily I have really good friends and a really good team behind me who tried to keep me calm, give me confidence and over the last two days, we have laughed about so many things."

Read more: Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift – Lotte Kopecky sprints to a narrow victory in the velodrome

Those laughs will no doubt come in abundance over the coming week, as SD Worx-Protime toast to their first victory at the Queen of the Classics, ridding themselves of a losing streak that they were keen to shake off. With a narrative of failure starting to build ahead of the race – owing to their dominance over much of the Women's WorldTour calendar in recent years – the Dutch superteam responded in resounding fashion on Saturday afternoon.

This year's race was less selective than in previous years, but positioning is an ever-important stepping stone to success in Paris-Roubaix and through Kopecky, SD Worx-Protime did not put a foot wrong. The reigning world champion was never far from the front and at any moment a dangerous attack drifted off the front of the bunch, her rainbow-striped skinsuit could always be seen present and accounted for.

After three cracks at the whip, Kopecky and her squad finally mastered the cobbles of northern France at the fourth time of asking.

"It was exactly as we planned, we hoped to try and stay out of trouble in the first 60km, then be good in front in the first three sectors and we knew that afterwards, there was crosswinds," Kopecky explained.

"Lorena [Wiebes] and me were there always, so that was already the good thing. Then before the sector where I attacked for the first time, there was still Elena Cecchini with me who tried to position me."

With Cecchini's job performed to exception, Kopecky muscled her way into a plethora of potential race-winning moves in the final 50km. The elite group that finally made its efforts stick consisted of Kopecky, Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Amber Kraak (FDJ-SUEZ), with Balsamo and Georgi later bridging across.

It was a disappointment for Wiebes to have missed the move, perhaps, but her absence allowed Kopecky to play her cards in the finale.

Calmness pays off for Kopecky in the six-up sprint

© Getty Images

Kopecky was ecstatic after crossing the line in Roubaix after a well-timed sprint delivered her first Paris-Roubaix title

At the beginning of her career, Kopecky was an elite-level sprinter. Owing to her roots and her fast finish, the 28-year-old was always tipped to challenge in the Classics some time down the line.

Her first major Classics victory came at the 2021 Les Samyn des Dames and a year later, Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders followed. As her prowess in the Classics and Grand Tours has blossomed, her sprint has naturally waned.

Up against Vos in a six-rider group, then, Kopecky could be forgiven for conserving some of her energy, in the hopes that Wiebes might join the group from behind and offer SD Worx-Protime a better shot in the race to the line, on paper at least.

"I knew I wanted to go there and see what happened, but of course going with Marianne was not ideal and for me, when I was with Marianne, then I would always play the card of Lorena," she admitted.

"We were really gambling on her to come back but once you come on the velodrome, you just need to be confident and believe in yourself that you are capable of winning it."

Read more: Mixed feelings for Marianne Vos after missing Paris-Roubaix Femmes podium

Turning onto the Roubaix Velodrome with both Vos and Balsamo part of the six-rider group, Kopecky was up against two of the peloton's quickest finishers and as such, the importance of her own race craft grew all the larger.

"I knew that Marianne and Elisa would fight against each other," she admitted. "The other side of the track was headwind and they had to start the sprint pretty early, so I just tried to stay calm, see what I had to do and start sprinting on the right moment. It was a pretty long sprint but that was also in my advantage I think."

As the six riders rounded the final bend, it soon became clear that Kopecky had timed her jump to perfection. With 200m to go, the world champion fired up her engine, darted around the outside of Georgi and set up a drag race between herself, Vos and Balsamo on the final straight.

There, Kopecky stormed past her tiring opponents and roared to the first Paris-Roubaix victory of her career, becoming the first reigning world champion to triumph in the Queen of Classics since Peter Sagan in 2018.

"I think World Championships last year is of course still for me the biggest thing I have achieved, but winning this Paris-Roubaix in this special jersey comes pretty close," she said.

With her press conference drawing to a close, Kopecky signalled for the start of the celebrations that she has longed for all spring. The Tour of Flanders would have been nice, but Paris-Roubaix Femmes was always the dream for the Belgian.

"It is almost 7pm so I just hope we can get some nice food and have some good time with the team together and just really enjoy this moment."

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