Paris-Roubaix Femmes: Kopecky Breaks Through in Velodrome Sprint

Team SD Worx-Protime’s Lotte Kopecky extended her career haul of Cycling Monuments to three and snapped a string of near-misses this year in the cobbled classics by taking the final sprint in the velodrome to win the 2024 Paris-Roubaix. While Kopecky came in as a top favorite and looked like the strongest rider in the winning breakaway between her, Visma-Lease-a-Bike legend Marianne Vos, DSM-Firmenich’s Pfeiffer Georgi, Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo and FDJ’s Amber Kraak, Kopecky had to contend with Trek’s two-rider dynamic, as Balsamo had the benefit of a massive day from teammate Ellen van Dijk constantly pressuring the leaders with strong attacks and accelerations. But Kopecky kept her cool, knowing that she had the speed advantage and that Balsamo had shown weakness in the final cobbles secteurs. She easily came through the center of the group charging to the line for the win, with Balsamo taking second on the left side, ahead of Georgi and Vos.

Results:

1. KOPECKY Lotte, Team SD Worx – Protime, 3:47:13
2. BALSAMO Elisa, Lidl – Trek
3. GEORGI Pfeiffer, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
4. VOS Marianne, Team Visma | Lease a Bike
5. KRAAK Amber, FDJ – SUEZ
6. VAN DIJK Ellen, Lidl – Trek, 0:06
7. WIEBES Lorena, Team SD Worx – Protime, 0:28
8. BERTEAU Victoire, Cofidis Women Team
9. LE NET Marie, FDJ – SUEZ
10. (LE COURT) PIENAAR Kimberley, AG Insurance – Soudal Team

Denain – Roubaix 148.5 km

Two days of Roubaix-ing, can you get better than that?

Expected finish time: 17:20-17:45 CEST

Queen of the Queen of the Classics: Marianne Vos

Somewhere deep inside i hve the sense Kopecky will pull off the win just the way it seemed inevitable a few weeks ago. But I also can’t shake the impression from last week that she is on a downward trajectory, not an upward one. So who might be there to pounce…….

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