After winning La Classique Morbihan (Sofia Bertizzolo) last Friday, Liv Racing was at the start of the 102 kilometre Grand Prix du Morbihan Féminin on Saturday. Lotte Kopecky sprinted with a depleted peloton for the win. Our Belgian road champion didn’t come further than fourth place. Italian rider Chiara Consonni took the victory in Grand-Champ.
The race in Brittany (France) started early. Before nine o’clock the riders were already on their bikes, in 5 degrees Celsius and fog. A local, hilly circuit of 14.6 kilometres awaited the riders. This had to be done seven times in total.
“We had agreed to start the race calmly but sharply. The first laps we would not do anything ourselves, but we would anticipate if necessary. Unfortunately we missed out when a group of six riders from strong teams escaped. That forced us to chase,” says team manager Hugo Brenders.
After five laps, the leading group, which had a maximum lead of 1 minute and 45 seconds, was caught up by Liv Racing. In the remaining two laps, attacks rained down. “We wanted to keep Lotte Kopecky as fresh as possible for the sprint. But that was quite difficult. In the final sprint, our best was gone after all our efforts. A second successive victory was unfortunately not possible.”
Photo credits: Cor Vos