All of the items appeared to have fallen into place for SD Worx-Protime on the opening stage on the Tour de Romandie Féminin, however when it got here proper all the way down to the end line, World Champion Lotte Koepcky wasn’t quick sufficient to beat Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and was pressured to accept second place in Lausanne.
“You at all times need to win! In fact, you are a bit upset in case you are this near successful. Then again, I believe we rode a really stable race at this time, so we are able to go into tomorrow’s stage with confidence,” stated SD Worx’s sports activities director, Danny Stam, after the stage.
After an energetic exhibiting on the rolling stage with the workforce’s Christine Majerus and Femke Markus being a part of a giant breakaway, defending general champion Demi Vollering then carried out a near-perfect led out for Kopecky on the ultimate climb to the end solely to return up one place wanting the stage victory.
Stam stated the aim was for Vollering to attempt to scale back the entrance group to a extra manageable area measurement on the ultimate climb to offer Kopecky a better probability of successful.
“The plan at this time was to skinny out the main group as a lot as doable by setting a excessive tempo on the ultimate climb after which dash with Lotte Kopecky,” Stam stated.
“When the large breakaway fashioned, we had Christine Majerus and Femke Markus up there. That was good, however ideally, we’d have had one other rider who will get over the climbs higher.”
Majerus and Markus have been among the many riders dropped on the final categorised climb of the day, Mont-Pèlerin, placing the workforce on the again foot. Kopecky herself set the tempo for a part of the climb, and Vollering attacked excessive and into the descent to maintain the pace excessive.
The rest of the break was caught on the descent, and Majerus then went on the assault once more, forcing the opposite sprinters’ groups to chase till she was caught early on the 3km ending climb.
Vollering then led out Kopecky properly, however the World Champion misplaced to Balsamo on the ultimate metres. “Lotte began properly however went just a bit bit too early. General, the primary stage went as we had hoped, we’re solely missing the victory,” Stam stated.
“Balsamo was in a position to dangle on through the climb; that was sturdy by her and unlucky for us.”
After the stage 1 disappointment, the workforce desires to make amends on stage 2. Ending with a protracted and exhausting climb to Vercorin, that is the stage Vollering has circled because the day to make the distinction and attempt to defend her 2023 general victory.
“Tomorrow is a really totally different day. It will likely be a troublesome stage, particularly with the ultimate ten-kilometre climb at a mean of 8%. It’s clear that we’ll attempt to play Demi Vollering’s card, however you may by no means predict a race upfront,” Stam stated.
