Following up on their stage sweep of Itzulia Women and RideLondon Classique, SD Worx-Protime came into the Tour of Britain planning to win all four stages. They succeeded on the first three days, with Lotte Kopecky taking the first two and Lorena Wiebes sprinting to victory in the third, but the fourth stage was won by Liv AlUla Jayco’s Ruby Roseman-Gannon in a massive upset to the Dutch team.
At the end of the race, Kopecky won the overall by 17 seconds over Anna Henderson of the Great British national team and 34 seconds ahead of her teammate Christine Majerus.
How it happened
- Kopecky won the opening stage, but she had to wait for confirmation of the result after a photo finish between the world champion and Letizia Paternoster of Liv AlUla Jayco. The two sprinted from a nine-rider breakaway group also containing Lizzie Deignan, Anna Henderson, and Pfeiffer Georgia.
- The breakaway went with 40 km remaining in the stage, and with top riders from the top teams, they were able to stay away from the peloton without much fight.
- Deignan and Henderson both tried to get away before the sprint, without success.
- Kopecky won again on Friday, this time from a two-rider move with Henderson. They rode clear of the rest of the peloton on the Category 1 climb of Horseshoe Pass and rode together to the line, although briefly spent time attacking each other in the final 20 km.
- Liv AlUla Jayco and DSM-Firmenich PostNL could not bring the pair back before the line, and 20 seconds after the leaders, Wiebes won the reduced bunch sprint for third.
- The third stage was the only reduced bunch finish of the race, won by Wiebes thanks to SD Worx-Protime’s flawless lead-out. With just over a kilometre to go they had most of the team on the front, with Christine Majerus and Babara Guarischi leading Kopecky into the finale. In the end, it made the difference when Paternoster started the sprint for Georgia Baker, Wiebes still had Kopecky in front of her sprinting faster most lead-outs on the best day.
- The fourth stage was an aggressive one, made more dramatic by the weather. The women raced in horrendous conditions but it didn’t stop the British national team, DSM-Firmenich PostNL and Liv AlUla Jayco from trying to take the stage from SD Worx-Protime.
- Deignan spent much of the day off the front solo and gained a good amount of time before she was eventually reeled back in by the peloton.
- Liv AlUla Jayco’s Paternoster, who sat third overall before the stage, suffered a rear-wheel puncture with 4 km to go leaving the Australian team without a plan. Luckily, Roseman-Gannon was up there in the finale and was able to snatch the stage out from under the nose of SD Worx-Protime.
- In the sprint, Kopecky had a slight gap on her teammate Majerus, but sat up for her teammate to sprint past her. Wiebes could be seen cheering on from behind and the Luxembourg champion celebrated mere meters too early.
Stage-by-stage results
Stage 1: 🥇 Lotte Kopecky, 🥈Letizia Paternoster, 🥉 Pfeiffer Georgi
Stage 2: 🥇 Lotte Kopecky, 🥈 Anna Henderson, 🥉 Lorena Wiebes
Stage 3: 🥇 Lorena Wiebes, 🥈 Charlotte Kool, 🥉 Georgia Baker
Stage 4: 🥇 Ruby Roseman-Gannon, 🥈 Christine Majerus, 🥉 Lorena Wiebes
Final GC Top 10
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Quote of the day
I wasn’t just going to give it to Kopecky on a plate.
Lizzie Deignan on Team GB’s stage 4 tactics
Brief analysis
- A bad day for Lifeplus Wahoo turned into a story of support within the peloton when the British team woke up before the second stage to find their bikes stolen.
- The win by Roseman-Gannon comes on the heels of a strong team performance at Volta a Andalucia Ruta Del Sol. The team won three of the four stages and swept the overall podium with Mavi Garcia, Silke Smulders and Ella Wyllie. Her win was also a nice full circle moment after Paternoster celebrated winning the first stage only to find Kopecky had taken it in a photo finish.
- The peloton will turn their attention now to the Tour de Suisse that starts on Thursday, June 15th. The race includes three hilly road stages and one individual time trial and will feature last year’s winner Marlen Reusser, Canyon-SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma and more top climbers as they prepare for the Giro d’Italia in July.
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