The second in the last Tour de France won, on Sunday in Glasgow, the right to wear the rainbow jersey for the coming year.
Like a fish in water. Lotte Kopecky won the road race of the world championships, Sunday August 13, on the Glasgow circuit. The Belgian managed to isolate herself up front with the Dane Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig six kilometers from the finish, then to attack her in a raidillon a terminal later. A major performance for last year’s vice-world champion, who left with the big favorite sign.
Before raising her arms, the second in the last Tour de France had been put under pressure by the Dutch, Demi Vollering and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten. With 35 kilometers to go, the latter accelerated to force Kopecky to roll, which had the effect of reducing the main group to seven units behind the leading woman, the Swiss Elise Chabbey. Victim of a mechanical problem at the start of the last lap, “AVV” was ultimately unable to play for the win. While Demi Vollering pulled away to clinch second place, beating Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in the sprint.
Like Remco Evenepoel in the men’s time trial, Lotte Kopecky broke a curse by becoming the first Belgian road world champion in 50 years. The fourth overall after Nicole Vandenbroeck (1973), Marie-Rose Gaillard (1962) and Yvonne Reynders, winner four times (1959, 1961, 1963, 1966). The SD-Worx rider also won her seventh career rainbow jersey (six track titles).
The sick French women
The tricolor clan has not been varnished by fate. Unable to follow the best when the big maneuvers started, the first Frenchwoman, Juliette Labous, only finished 16th at 4’34”. “I was doing pretty well but we didn’t have success today: half the squad was sick”she explained in the mixed zone after the race.
26th at 8’26”, Audrey Cordon-Ragot a “vomit on the bike” And “[n’arrivait] not to take gels” out of disgust. Enough to feed the regrets of coach Paul Brousse on arrival. “It’s not an ideal context. I have three of them throwing up on the bus. We were decimated by a virus or poisoning eating“, he announced. After two weeks in Scotland, the British food of which they complained lightly before the race was probably fatal to the French women.