Wiebes ("I'm the leader"), Vos, and Vollering must collaborate against eager Kopecky: "lessons learned from Tokyo"

The women's road race at the Olympics is set to be a fierce battle between a strong Dutch team on one side and the formidable Lotte Kopecky on the other. On Friday, the key figures from both countries looked ahead to the race that will unfold on Sunday.

That we’ll have a new winner after Anna Kiesenhofer’s victory in Tokyo 2021 seems certain. The Austrian won in Japan due to a huge mistake by TeamNL, who were unaware that there was still one early breakaway rider ahead. Annemiek van Vleuten did finish second, but she was more than a minute behind the surprising unknown who took the gold. Kiesenhofer will defend her title on Sunday, but normally a different rider will be on the top step in Paris.

World champion Kopecky is clearly the standout name. The Belgian finished fourth in 2021 but has made significant strides since then. This led to her winning the world title in Glasgow in 2023, and she also finished second in the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 and recently narrowly second behind Elisa Longo Borghini in the Giro Donne. She also won the Tour of Flanders in 2022 and 2023, and has previously triumphed in Strade Bianche. The classic parcours in Paris seems perfect for this all-rounder.

After a crash in the individual time trial, her chances for a medal in that event are gone, but in an interview with HLN, she is highly motivated for medal chance two on Sunday. "In my mind, I’m already fully focused on the road race. It’s a very nice course. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. It’s not a super tough course, but it will be a grueling race because it’s hard to control. A draining race is generally in my favor, but there are other riders who will be pleased with this as well. In the preliminary laps, it will be a wait-and-see how the rest race. We don’t intend to make the race hard from the start. It would be nice to have a few fellow countrywomen in the final. My advantage is that, thanks to my sprint, I’m not dependent on one specific scenario. There are different possibilities. But it will definitely be unpredictable. Hopefully, the pieces will fall into place."

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The competition for Kopecky will mainly come from the strong teams that have multiple cards to play. Longo Borghini represents Italy strongly, but Netherlands, with Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos, Demi Vollering, and Ellen van Dijk, is undoubtedly the team to beat. According to Vollering, there is a clear role distribution within TeamNL after the Tokyo debacle. "There are always chances; it remains a race. The biggest goal is a gold medal for the Netherlands. We have multiple plans," she said to Sporza. "A plan to get rid of Kopecky? Lotte also has to deal with the Dutch, because we have Lorena."

Wiebes is the fastest woman when it comes to sprinting, and since a sprint from a larger group in Paris is considered quite realistic, Wiebes claims she is the team leader. It's not surprising, considering she mentioned to De Telegraaf that she has had the goal of winning gold since Paris was assigned to the Games. "It's still quite strange: all year you ride together, and now she might be my biggest competitor," she says about Kopecky. And regarding the role distribution: "We have multiple assets, which is our advantage. I have a good relationship with Demi and Marianne. In fact, Marianne was partly the reason I started cycling. She was always a role model for me."

A nice compliment for Vos, who can be positioned somewhat between Wiebes and Vollering. If Wiebes is not in the front for some reason, Vos is the fastest. "We’ve learned from Tokyo and made a clear plan towards Paris. The role distribution is very clear, which is reassuring. Kopecky features in all our scenarios. We know she is in form, and she is one of the big favorites."