After three stage wins by Lorena Wiebes at the RideLondon Classique Lotte Kopecky continued the winning streak of the SD Worx - Protime team in Great Britain at the start of the 2024 Women's Tour of Britain.
Paternoster cheers, Kopecky wins
The Belgian relegated Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) to second place in a photo finish in the sprint of a leading group of nine riders. Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) came third. There was initially a lot of confusion after the finish. Paternoster threw his arms in the air in celebration. However, the finish photo a few minutes later revealed that Kopecky was in front by a wafer-thin margin.
"When we crossed the finish line, Letizia threw her hands up in the air. But I said to myself: 'I'm not sure that I won, but I'm also not sure that she won'. It took a while before we knew who the winner was," said Lotte Kopecky in the official winner's interview.
Tour of Britain Women 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 1
- Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) 4:04:18
- Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:00
- Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Elizabeth Deignan (Great Britain) +0:00
- Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team) +0:00
- Anna Henderson (Great Britain) +0:00
- Victorie Guilman (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93 WE) +0:00
- Christine Majerus (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:00
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:00
- Lucy Lee (DAS - Hutchinson - Brother - UK) +3:49
The current standings in the overall standings
- Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) 4:04:06
- Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:03
- Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:07
- Elizabeth Deignan (Great Britain) +0:12
- Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team) +0:12
- Anna Henderson (Great Britain) +0:12
- Victorie Guilman (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93 WE) +0:12
- Christine Majerus (Team SD Worx - Protime) +0:12
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:12
- Lucy Lee (DAS - Hutchinson - Brother - UK) +4:01
How the 1st stage of the 2024 Women's Tour of Britain went
The women's Tour of Britain 2024 kicked off from east to north through Wales. Josie Talbot (Cofidis) initially broke away after the start. However, her endeavour alone at the front was quickly doomed to failure. In the very undulating middle section of the stage, there were several counterattacks from the peloton, but all of them were caught again before the race-deciding group of nine riders broke away on the climb to the second mountain classification of the day, Ty'n y Llidiart (2nd category).
Nine riders set themselves apart
They were joined by Lotte Kopecky and Christine Majerus (both Team SD Worx - Protime), Letizia Paternoster and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (both Liv AlUla Jayco), Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team), Anna Henderson and Elizabeth Deignan (both Great Britain) and Victorie Guilman (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93 WE). The group harmonised well and quickly extended their lead to almost three minutes - in the end it was almost four minutes.
Majerus from Luxembourg led the group onto the finishing straight in the coastal town of Llandudno, which has a population of 20,000. Her team-mate Kopecky opened the sprint around 150 metres before the finish. Only Paternoster was able to stand up to the world champion. The Italian track specialist came up to the same height and initially thought she had won the stage. But a few minutes later, the finish photo brought certainty: Lotte Kopecky was the winner of stage 1 of the 2024 Women's Tour of Britain.
