Belgian Women’s Champion victorious in Tour of Flanders
The Belgian women’s cycling champion Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) won Sunday’s Women’s Tour of Flanders race. Wearing her Belgian Champion’s Jersey she was first across the finishing line ahead of the Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team Women) and another Dutch women, her SD Workx teammate Chantal van den Broek.
The SD Workx team played their numbers well in the final stages of the race. They had Chantal van den Broek attack with 11 kilometres to go, forcing Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) to close the gap with Kopecky. Van den Broek-Blaak did a large portion of the work in the run-up to the finishing line, while Kopecky succeeded in beating Van Vleuten in the sprint.
Speaking after her win Lotte Kopecky told journalists that "It's quite overwhelming. I am very thankful to my teammates; this victory is not only for me but for them. Chantal was fantastic”.
The Belgian Women’s Champion added that she had been quietly confident of victory as she went into the sprint. "I know that normally I am faster than Annemiek, but she is also fast after a hard race. You cannot be too confident. But when she couldn't drop me on the climbs, I knew that I could trust myself. Thanks to Chantal who kept riding, so I could win the sprint.”
