As reigning world champion, Lotte Kopecky is a favorite for the ladies’s highway race within the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday, however the Belgian is hoping that the Dutch crew with Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Demi Vollering will take management of constructing the race.
The Olympic format mixes the very best riders from across the globe relatively than bringing all the prime riders on the earth, lots of whom come from conventional European biking nations. Attrition implies that the important thing closing circuits of the race in Paris may have eradicated most of the 96 starters earlier than they attain the ending circuits and hit the important thing climb of Montmarte.
Kopecky, talking to Wielerflits, is not certain how the race will play out however expects her commerce teammates and Dutch rivals to be among the many prime favourites and the strongest crew within the 158km race.
“It will likely be a little bit of a matter of seeing how the remainder will race,” Kopecky says of the lumpy first 100km earlier than the race reaches the Paris circuit. “I do not consider us to essentially make that race onerous from the beginning and primarily to see what the remainder needs to do first.”
With Justine Ghekiere, Julie Van de Velde and Margot Vanpachtenbeke becoming a member of Kopecky within the Belgian crew, she recognised that their quartet won’t be of the identical stage as her Dutch rivals however she’s assured in each her crew and her potential to work any situation.
“I do not suppose the extent of my teammates is that unhealthy. I’m fairly satisfied that they nonetheless have the qualities to be within the ultimate, relying on how the match goes. And in the event that they’re gone, it is as a result of the race was actually robust and so they needed to work actually onerous. It could be good if I might nonetheless have just a few of them within the ultimate.”
Belgium is among the 5 groups that certified to have 4 riders within the race alongside Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, and Great Britain. The subsequent 5 nations within the rating get three spots, the are two for locations 11-20, after which one apiece for nations ranked 21-45. The crew steadiness and sizes add one more variable to a situation already loaded with them.
“It’s not a brilliant tough course, however it will likely be a gruelling race as a result of it is onerous to regulate. A gruelling race is in precept to my benefit, however there are different riders who will likely be pleased with this,” Kopecky instructed Wielerflits.
There have been comparisons between the Paris course and that of the Glasgow World Championships the place Kopecky dominated within the ultimate to win the rainbow jersey. The key query of how decisive the Montmartre climb will likely be “relies upon a bit on how tough the race has already been,” whereas Kopecky additionally pointed to the truth that whereas it’s a climb that fits a number of riders it’s an apparent level for the peloton to be on excessive alert as effectively.
In Tokyo, the Dutch crew made a giant mistake in letting Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria) get an enormous lead along with her solo assault and got here away disillusioned. Kopecky hopes they will not make the identical error in Paris.
“I hope they’ll management as a result of they do have one of many prime favourites of their ranks,” Kopecky mentioned. “Somewhere they should take some accountability. We noticed how issues might go mistaken in Tokyo, which was a fantastic disgrace for them. If crucial, we can even talk very effectively amongst ourselves, however I don’t intend to burn out teammates initially of the race.”
Nor will Kopecky be focusing solely on Lorena Wiebes, who is anticipated to be her essential challenger.
“I’ve a number of property to win the race, and that’s to my benefit. I don’t profit from one situation, there are a number of attainable. On the opposite hand, it will likely be an unpredictable race and I can’t say way more about it,” Kopecky mentioned.
“I hope that the items of the puzzle will fall into place. But sure, that’s what [Elisa] Longo Borghini, [Kasia] Niewiadoma and Vos will suppose. They are the principle contenders subsequent to Wiebes, however I feel that there are a selection of outsiders, equivalent to Kim Le Court or Grace Brown. They may also pull off a shock.”
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