All the items appeared to have fallen into place for SD Worx-Protime on the opening stage on the Tour de Romandie Féminin, however when it got here proper right down to the end line, World Champion Lotte Koepcky wasn’t quick sufficient to beat Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and was compelled to accept second place in Lausanne.
“You at all times wish to win! Of course, you are a bit upset if you’re this near profitable. On the opposite hand, I feel we rode a really strong race at the moment, so we will go into tomorrow’s stage with confidence,” mentioned SD Worx’s sports activities director, Danny Stam, after the stage.
After an energetic exhibiting on the rolling stage with the group’s Christine Majerus and Femke Markus being a part of an enormous breakaway, defending general champion Demi Vollering then carried out a near-perfect led out for Kopecky on the ultimate climb to the end solely to come back up one place wanting the stage victory.
Stam mentioned the aim was for Vollering to attempt to cut back the entrance group to a extra manageable area measurement on the ultimate climb to present Kopecky a better likelihood of profitable.
“The plan at the moment was to skinny out the main group as a lot as attainable by setting a excessive tempo on the ultimate climb after which dash with Lotte Kopecky,” Stam mentioned.
“When the massive breakaway fashioned, we had Christine Majerus and Femke Markus up there. That was good, however ideally, we might have had one other rider who will get over the climbs higher.”
Majerus and Markus have been among the many riders dropped on the final labeled climb of the day, Mont-Pèlerin, placing the group on the again foot. Kopecky herself set the tempo for a part of the climb, and Vollering attacked excessive and into the descent to maintain the pace excessive.
The the rest of the break was caught on the descent, and Majerus then went on the assault once more, forcing the opposite sprinters’ groups to chase till she was caught early on the 3km ending climb.
Vollering then led out Kopecky properly, however the World Champion misplaced to Balsamo on the ultimate metres. “Lotte began properly however went just a bit bit too early. Overall, the primary stage went as we had hoped, we’re solely missing the victory,” Stam mentioned.
“Balsamo was capable of hold on in the course of the climb; that was robust by her and unlucky for us.”
After the stage 1 disappointment, the group desires to make amends on stage 2. Finishing with an extended and arduous climb to Vercorin, that is the stage Vollering has circled because the day to make the distinction and attempt to defend her 2023 general victory.
“Tomorrow is a really completely different day. It will probably be a tricky stage, particularly with the ultimate ten-kilometre climb at a median of 8%. It’s clear that we’ll attempt to play Demi Vollering’s card, however you’ll be able to by no means predict a race upfront,” Stam mentioned.