Lotte Kopecky finishes second in the final classification of the Giro d'Italia Women

Lotte Kopecky finishes second in the final classification of the Giro d'Italia Women

"A bit sour, but should be proud"

14/07/2024

Lotte Kopecky finished second in the general classification of the Giro d'Italia Women. The world champion did what she could to still take the overall win, but was finaly unable to distance herself from Elisa Longo-Borghini, who won the Giro d'Italia to her name. Kopecky tanked confidence from this successful Tour of Italy, with one stage win, three second places, winner of the points jersey and second in the overall classification."I rode a good Giro, but when you come so close to the overall win, second place is a bit sour," Kopecky said.

Linked race Giro D'Italia Women - Linked cyclists Lotte Kopecky - Gekoppelde ploegleiders: Anna van der Breggen Danny Stam

Lotte Kopecky: "Today was not so nice. It was quite a tricky ride with a nice finale. It was hard to control, everyone was trying to get into the breakaway, which of course is their right. My teammates did what they could, at the end Niamh Fisher-Black gave 200% to get everything back together. We tried everything to still win the general classification, but it ended up being second place. There is no shame at all in losing to Elisa Longo-Borghini. She is a rock solid cyclist."

"Finishing second in a grand tour is a good achievement. That I am the first Belgian woman ever on the final podium of the Giro? That's nice, but when you come so close to the overall victory, you also just want to win. So it feels a bit sour. But I have to look at the bigger picture. I came here to prepare for the Olympics. I am in excellent form. I get a lot of confidence from this. I just have to be proud of my team and myself."

Sports manager Danny Stam: "This has been a successful Giro d'Italia Women for Team SD Worx-Protime. We can look back very satisfied. We came to Italy for stage wins. Because we wanted to use this round as preparation for the Olympics, we had few classification ambitions. We finished the Giro second in the final classification, with two stage wins, three podium finishes and the red points jersey. Then you can indeed speak of a success."

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