Paris-Roubaix for the women looked slightly different than for the men. The biggest difference is that the ladies, unlike the men, did not have to drive through the dreaded Wallers Forest and therefore did not have to take the much-discussed chicane. The riders covered approximately 148 kilometers this afternoon.
Lotte Kopecky said she was “in for a day of ramming”. Together with the Dutch Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), the world champion fulfilled the status of top favorite. Round winner Elisa Longo Borghini and her teammate Shirin van Anrooij were not there.
It was the ladies from Lidl-Trek who immediately moved on to the second cobblestone section. Lucinda Brand started the thinning for more than seventy kilometers, the ladies from DSM-firmenich PostNL and SD Worx-ProTime followed in the wake of the Dutch. However, the first real acceleration came from Kopecky herself. On the cobblestone section Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières, the world champion accelerated sharply and created even more separation. Vos had to come back from the background, but just like Wiebes, Balsamo, Christina Schweinberger and Pfeiffer Georgi.
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Ten kilometers further there was some commotion. Kopecky dropped out of the peloton – initially for an unclear reason – and asked the team car for a wrench. The world champion’s handlebars were loose and Kopecky had to fix them himself while cycling. However, that problem was quickly resolved, because on the Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée stretch she once again separated the peloton. This time only three other riders could follow: Schweinberger, Georgi and Vos.
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However, the foursome did not want to continue together and had those released come back. Once again in a large group, new mother Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) took her chances several times, but it was the French Jade Wiel who created a gap. The FDJ-Suez rider got a lead of half a minute, but she was caught again at the start of the last twenty kilometers.
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However, as usual, the decision fell on Camphin-en-Pévèle and the mythical Carrefour de l’Arbre, two incredibly tough cobblestone sections deep in the final. Kopecky once again unleashed her devil on the four-star strip, Vos took the lead on the Carrefour. Both ladies, together with Van Dijk and Amber Kraak, ensured an even greater thinning and easily outpaced Georgi and Balsamo.
However, Kopecky did not want to go to the track in Roubaix with Vos and did little head work to get her teammate Wiebes to return. Balsamo and Georgi took advantage of this to return, but the chasing group with the winner of Gent-Wevelgem fell short. Kopecky ultimately had to win the sprint herself against her five fellow escapees.
It seemed that Kopecky would not even get a full sprint, because the world champion had to sit at the very back of the group. Vos ducked inside at Balsamo, while Kopecky rushed past everyone at the top. With her long strokes she also blasted past Balsamo and Vos and ultimately won by a bicycle length.
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© Getty Images
Rash
The results of the fourth Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Saturday over 148.5 kilometers from Denain to the velodrome in Roubaix.
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel/SD Worx) 148.5 km in 3u47:13
(gem. 39,214 km/u)
2. Elisa Balsamo (Ita)
3. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr)
4. Marianne Vos (Down)
5. Amber Kraak (Ned)
6. Ellen van Dijk (Ned) at 0:06
7. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) 0:28
8. Victoire Berteau (Fra)
9. Marie Le Net (Fra)
10. Kimberley Pienaar (Mau)
…
20. Marthe Truyen (Bel) 1:05