Lotte Kopecky is in little question concerning the process she has on her palms if she needs to beat the Dutch assault – led by Demi Vollering – in at the moment’s girls’s World Championship highway race, and defend her title. However the Belgian predicts that the orange crew may came upon by their very own private ambitions.
“They’re beginning with a really sturdy crew, however it has already been proven a number of instances that they don’t at all times get alongside properly,” she informed media in Zurich. “You see that on paper there may be one clear chief, however there are additionally others who’re eyeing the world title. There are a number of girls within the Dutch crew who can and need to win.”
Kopecky, who has been profitable all 12 months lengthy, together with Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix, dismisses the dangerous day she skilled on final weekend’s time trial, the place she was fifth behind winner Grace Brown, and says she can be beginning the race with whole confidence.
“We’ve got to start out with the utmost confidence that it’s potential to increase my world title. It gained’t be a straightforward process, however it’s potential,” she mentioned, including: “The final two days I’ve been feeling nice on the bike once more, though I had a extremely dangerous day within the time trial on Sunday.”
For Demi Vollering, who goes into the race as many individuals’s prime favorite, Kopecky’s feedback don’t concern her. The pair are on the verge of now not being teammates, with Vollering departing SD Worx-Protime on the finish of the season.
“Lotte ought to positively hold pondering that,” she informed Dutch outlet Wielerflits. “I’ve a variety of confidence in my team-mates that we’re going to make it an amazing race. It’s thrilling, there are some new ladies that I’ve not ridden with as team-mates earlier than. However they’re straightforward ladies, I get alongside properly with them.”
Her Dutch team-mate Puck Pieterse added: “It’s good that Demi can also be within the crew, everyone knows that she is in nice form. It provides confidence to the remainder of the crew that she can also be prepared and takes on that function.”
Kopecky and Vollering is perhaps the favourites for the occasion, however the pair have been much less dominant this season that final, regardless of selecting up 28 wins between them. There are a lot of different riders to think about, from Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma, winner of the Tour de France Femmes final month, to Olympic highway race victor Kristen Faulkner (USA). Add in Elisa Longo Borghini, who has had gained of her finest seasons, profitable the Tour of Flanders and the Giro d’Italia Girls, and it isn’t only a Dutch-Belgian battle. In what is perhaps her final race, Australia’s Grace Brown can also be one ot watch.
The ladies’s World Championships highway race begins on Saturday September 27 at 12.47 native time (11.47am UK time). It options 2,250m climbing metres over its 154km distance, a lot of which is taken up by 4 hilly laps to the south of Zurich. The end line is within the metropolis centre. Click on right here to seek out out extra.
