Lotte Kopecky has once again demonstrated her dominance in the Belgian Road Championships, securing her sixth consecutive title in the elite women’s time trial in Binche. “It is always nice to renew the Belgian title,” Kopecky shared with Wielerflits after her victory.
The multi-discipline World Champion from SD Worx-Protime tackled the 19.3km course with a time of 25:57, outpacing runner-up Marthe Goossens by 43 seconds and third-placed Marion Norbert Riberolle by 44 seconds.
Kopecky described the course as both pleasant and tough. “It was a nice course in itself, with good road conditions. But it was also very difficult,” she noted. “There were some difficult parts: headwind, slightly ascending. So yes, it was a very nice time trial course. You could make the biggest difference in the second part of the course. The first part was very fast, with a number of descending parts, which made it difficult to really gain time. But the second part was really the most difficult.”
Race breakdown
The time trial in Binche featured a 19.3km lap, with eleven riders on the start list. Kopecky, starting last, clocked the best time at the first intermediate point, leading Goossens by a narrow margin of six seconds. Fleur Moors held the third-best time at this stage.
Kopecky extended her lead in the latter part of the course, finishing 43 seconds ahead of Goossens. Norbert Riberolle finished just one second behind Goossens, claiming the bronze medal.
Marthe Goossens, reflecting on her performance, stated, “It was a tough race, and I gave it everything. Lotte was just on another level today.”
Marion Norbert Riberolle, narrowly missing out on silver, said, “It was very close, but I’m happy with my performance. This course really pushed us to our limits.”
With her sixth title, Kopecky now stands alone in the record books, surpassing Ann-Sophie Duyck, who won five consecutive titles from 2014 to 2018. “It starts to feel like a lot,” Kopecky said with a laugh. “But it remains very nice to become Belgian champion.”
2024 Belgian National Time Trial Championship Women result
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