SD Worx continue destroying all in their path at Spring Classics
After sealing victory at the Tour of Flanders, her second in as many years, Lotte Kopecky told the press that she would afford herself just one day off the bike, before ramping up her preparations for Paris-Roubaix.
“We can go to Roubaix with confidence,” the Belgian said in her winner’s press conference. “Not thinking that we will win the race for sure, I will never do that. It’s a whole new day, a whole new race, and everyone gets a new chance.”
Some people’s chances, though, are better than others. In Flanders, Kopecky proved once again that she, and her team, are a level above the rest of the peloton.
For a period in the race, SD Worx counted three of the four riders in the leading group, with UAE Team ADQ’s Silvia Persico joining as an uninvited guest.
When the time came to shake Persico off, Kopecky did so with relative ease. The reigning champion chose the Oude Kwaremont as her launchpad, accelerating beyond the Italian on the slippery cobblestones before stretching out the gap towards the line.
“Going into this race, everyone said I was [the] favourite,” she said afterwards. “[In] every article already I had the five stars so I mean that was kind of a pressure, but I knew I was surrounded by a super-strong team at SD Worx and that helps to get the pressure off.”
Another one-two
If victory seemed sealed from the outset, then onlookers knew a fourth one-two was not far off for SD Worx. This time, the roles reversed from Strade Bianche, with Kopecky’s team-mate Demi Vollering crossing the line in second. The Dutchwoman’s assessment of the race was short, simple, but devastatingly accurate. “We are so very good together,” she said.
Come Paris-Roubaix, then, and few preview writers will be looking beyond the team’s Classics star Kopecky. She came second last year, a runner-up to Elisa Longo Borghini, who soloed clear with 30km to go.
The Italian has struggled with illness in recent weeks, contracting Covid-19 in the run-up to Flanders, and trained by doing town-sig
