Ready when it counts: Kopecky keeps her cool and wins Tour of Flanders for the third time

The women started the second Monument of the year in Oudenaarde under the glorious Flemish sun. The start was chaotic, with several crashes disrupting the opening phase. Puck Pieterse was one of the unlucky ones, but she could continue. Eventually, seven ladies emerged from the chaos and formed a leading group. This group included Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance - Soudal) and Britt de Grave (DD Group Pro Cycling).

With a maximum lead of 7 minutes, these ladies made the race interesting, but with 100 kilometers to go, the peloton picked up the pace. This meant that things became nervous again, and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Noemi Rüegg (EF Education - Oatly) crashed, but Elisa Longo Borghini suffered the worst. The defending champion was the favorite but had to abandon the race. Just before the Eikenberg, the race exploded for the first time. Franziska Koch (Picnic PostNL) and Eva van Agt (Visma | Lease a Bike) tried to anticipate but were unsuccessful. It was time for the Koppenberg, where the percentages would make a difference.

Pieterse increased the pace there, together with Lotte Kopecky. The world champion looked strong and reduced the peloton to about thirty women. This meant that Marianne Vos (Visma) and Blanka Vas (SD Worx) had difficulty. Her teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot fared better but still had to close the gap when Amber Kraak got in front of her just before the Taaienberg. After that climb, Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) and Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) managed to break away, but on the Oude Kruisberg, the group came back together.

The group of favorites was still large, which caused an extremely nervous intermediate phase. Several riders, including Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Chloé Dygert (Canyon // SRAM), and Ellen van Dijk, wanted to anticipate with the Oude Kwaremont in sight, but about twenty of us went for the finish. Ferrand-Prévot accelerated, and only Kopecky, Liane Lippert, Letizia Paternoster, and Kasia Niewiadoma could follow. However, Paternoster had to let them go when the world champion accelerated, leaving four riders.

The chasers were not far behind, so anything was still possible at the foot of the Paterberg. Lippert was the strongest there but could not break away from anyone on the last slope. The chasers had to close the gap in the last stretch towards Oudenaarde in about 20 seconds. Pieterse received help from Reusser, Anna van der Breggen, and Anna Henderson. It was a beautiful spectacle, with both groups keeping each other at bay.

However, whoever reaches the top of the Paterberg first is usually the strongest. That was also the case now: the first four worked together excellently and slowly but extended their lead. They seemed confident, but the actual game began in the final kilometer. Kopecky was pushed into the lead, and Niewiadoma made a break in the final meters. The world champion neutralized the move by attacking first. No one could get past her, and so Kopecky, pointing to her biceps, took her third title in Flanders.