Photo finish designates Kopecky as winner

Photo finish designates Kopecky as winner

World champion wins first stage in Tour of Britain after millimetre sprint

06/06/2024

Immediately after the finish, the winner was not yet known. For that, the jury first had to carefully study the photo finish. Although Letizia Paternoster was convinced of her victory, Lotte Kopecky doubted whether the Italian had judged correctly. The photo finish brought clarity and showed that the Team SD Worx-Protime world champion had won the first stage of the Tour of Britain by a few millimetres.

Linked race Tour of Britain Women - Linked cyclists Lotte Kopecky Elena Cecchini Christine Majerus Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak Lorena Wiebes Barbara Guarischi - Gekoppelde ploegleiders: Danny Stam

Kopecky later said: “I made a few mistakes in the sprint. With the line in sight, I knew I could only do one thing: only with the best possible jump was victory still possible. I saw Letizia beyond the finish line raising her arm in the air. At that moment, I wasn't sure I had won, but I wasn't sure she had won either. It took quite a long time for the judges to come up with the results. It's also nice to win this way."

Kopecky got ahead in hilly stage with a lot of headwind on the final climb with a group of nine riders. "That was a strong group. I was happy that my teammate Christine Majerus was in it because she did a fantastic job for me. When you go to the finish with two riders from a team, you know the others are going to play a game. I thought it was a nice final, in which Majerus did a good job of setting me off for the sprint."

In addition to the stage win, Kopecky also took the lead in the overall and points standings of the Tour of Britain.

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