AG Insurance-NXTG dominated the opening stage of the Tour de Feminin, securing the top five positions in the 12.6-kilometre time trial. The stage began and ended at the square in Krásná Upa, a municipality in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic.
Julia Kopecky led the charge, finishing with a top time of 18 minutes and 23 seconds. She was closely followed by teammates Maud Rijnbeek, Lore De Schepper, Mirre Knaven, and Febe Jooris. This outstanding performance means the team now holds the leader’s jersey, the points jersey, the mountain jersey, and the youth jersey.
Sports director Christian Kos was elated with the team’s results. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5! This is incredible. From the start, I knew we had a very strong team that could perform very well on this terrain in this race. They are so evenly matched that I decided yesterday to draw lots for some of the starting positions because it was so close for me. And yes, for it to actually be this close, with us taking the top five positions, is truly incredible. At the same time, it’s going to be a tough week. It’s now up to us to repeat this performance in the coming days. But I come to this race with ambitions and a very strong team, so we are going to fight for it.”
Winner Julia Kopecky expressed her satisfaction and confidence following her victory. “We started this time trial with fairly high ambitions, and I think the whole team did. We knew we were all well-prepared at the start. For me specifically, I had also focused on preparing for time trials. So yes, winning here gives me a lot of satisfaction and also confidence for the upcoming races and the Czech Championship, which I have also set my sights on.”
Kopecky also highlighted the challenge posed by the course. “The race was really tough because it started uphill right away, with a two kilometre climb. That made the pace very difficult, but it went very well for me personally and I think for the other ladies as well. The second part was super tough because it went up and down, but I managed to hold on well to the finish. And yes, with the top 5 all in positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Margot in twentieth place, I think we can be super satisfied. We are all really looking forward to the coming days.”
2024 Tour de Feminin stage 1 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
