Lotte Kopecky raced to an impressive solo win in the Danilith Nokere Koerse one-day race in Belgium on Wednesday March 15th, with Lorena Wiebes completing Team SD Worx’s triumph with a second place. Team SD Worx’s race plan was clear from the start – make the course hard! Lotte Kopecky showed the most activity, soloing to a very handsome and meaningful victory just days after her eldest brother passed away.
“I was tremendously strong,” said Lotte Kopecky after her second win of the season. “It seemed like we were riding in pairs. Nice that with Team SD Worx we finished on one and two again.”
Lotte Kopecky went on the attack as early as Tiegemberg-Vossenhol. Anna Henderson joined her in the break, but the duo was caught. Team SD Worx continued to colour the race and again Lotte Kopecky went on the attack. She was briefly joined by Aude Biannic and Eleonora Gasparrini, but after the cobbles of Wannegem-Lede, no one could follow Kopecky’s pace, after which she rode solo to victory.
“Not much was going through my head during my solo. The past few days weren’t easy, but there’s no point in letting my head hang down and sitting at home on the sofa. Last week I decided to ride Nokere Koerse, I didn’t want to deviate from that. Somehow it was nice to join the team on Tuesday, laugh a bit and try to think as little as possible about what happened. I am someone who needs to be able to take my mind off things. That worked out well.”
Kopecky proved to be unstoppable in the race. “I wanted to make the most of it today, I wasn’t thinking about winning beforehand. I didn’t want to spare myself today. That way I could still let myself off a bit. I was tremendously strong. I hope I was able to make my brother proud.”
After her second place finish, Lorena Wiebes said, “I tried to start early because I know a long sprint is possible here. It’s super nice that Lotte succeeds me as winner. With the team, we get one and two again, it can’t get any better. This fifth consecutive win for the team is the perfect start to the season.”
