Lotte Kopecky won again at the 2024 Tour of Britain Women. The Belgian world champion took a sprint finish victory against British rider Anna Henderson after a tough 140.2km stage with 1,570m of climbing.
The race started smoothly in Wrexham. The peloton stayed together until Franziska Koch attacked about 30km in. Koch rode solo and built a big lead, reaching over three minutes ahead by the first Queen of the Mountains (QOM) at Eyton Hill, 88km into the race.
Koch’s lead shrank as the peloton sped up, catching her by the second QOM at Horseshoe Pass. Here, Kopecky made her move, attacking with 27km to go. Only Henderson could follow. They worked together to build a 40-second lead over the chasers.
Lizzie Deignan, who took third on the climb, kept her Queen of the Mountains jersey and said, “We knew there’d be two pretty difficult climbs today, and I knew that I would have a good shot defending the jersey, and I thought, ‘well, I’ve got it now, let’s try to keep it’.”
Entering the final kilometre in Wrexham, Henderson tried to outpace the world champion but couldn’t match Kopecky’s power. Kopecky crossed the finish line first, with Henderson close behind. The chasing group, led by sprinter Lorena Wiebes, finished 20 seconds later, with Wiebes taking third place.
Kopecky was happy with the race and her 2nd win in a row: “It couldn’t have gone better, I am really happy with today’s race. It was nice to get Anna with me in the break today, and I wasn’t prepared to try something after the longer climb. I knew what the finish would look like, and I didn’t panic, and it’s been another really good day for our team.”
Anna Henderson was pleased with her performance and recovery from injury, saying, “I am really happy, bittersweet I think. I was super happy to go with Lotte and be on par with her physically up the climb. But being that close to the win, I am disappointed but happy with my second race back after breaking my collarbone.”
Heidi Franz finished second in the first QOM, and Charlotte Kool contested intermediate sprints with Kopecky.
Franziska Koch won the Combativity Award for her efforts at the front. Even though she was caught, her solo ride set an exciting tone for the day.
Looking ahead to stage three, which starts and ends at the Golden Gates of Warrington Town Hall, Deignan said, “I think tomorrow should be a sprint, and I would expect that now that Lotte is comfortably in the lead, they’ll probably go for Wiebes in the sprint. I mean, she’s the fastest in the world, and it will be up to the rest of us to try to upset that plan, I guess.”
With Kopecky holding the lead in the general classification, the team looks strong, while Henderson, now wearing the Best of British jersey, aims to challenge in the next stages.
2024 Tour of Britain Women Stage 2 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
All photo credits: SWPix
