SD Worx has played their cards well in the opening six stages at the Tour de France Femmes, but the battle for the overall title is about to kick off between overwhelming favourites and rivals Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten as the race heads into the iconic ascent of the Tourmalet on Saturday.
Lotte Kopecky, who has led the race since her late-race attack that netted her the win on stage 1 in Clermont-Ferrand, will now turn her attention to supporting Vollering in the battle for the yellow jersey.
"[Me] taking the yellow jersey into the Tourmalet was, for sure, not the plan. But we had one goal, and that is to try to win the Tour de France with Demi," Kopecky said in the post-race press conference after stage 6 in Blagnac.
Kopecky has had a remarkable Tour de France Femmes winning the opening stage and finishing second into Mauriac, third into Montignac-Lascaux, fourth into Albi and third into Blagnac.
"I'm happy to have two stage wins and spend the whole Tour de France, so far, in yellow. For the team, it's been a nice Tour de France already," Kopecky said.
"Hopefully, tomorrow, we can help Demi as much as possible, and hopefully, she has the legs to finish it off on the Tourmalet. I hope she gains a lot of time and that the stupid 20 seconds [penalty for drafting] from yesterday will not decide this Tour de France."
Vollering heads into the Col du Tourmalet stage after a tumultuous few days at the Tour de France Femmes that saw her finish second on stage 4 into Rodez, where she thought she had won. But a gap on the uphill climb combined with her second-place time bonus meant she also gained a valuable eight-second on Van Vleuten.
However, she lost that advantage when the race jury docked her 20 seconds for drafting off the team car after a flat tire on stage 5 into Albi. SD Worx director Danny Stam was later removed from the race for dangerous driving and his inappropriate comments to the commissaires panel.
Kopecky said that she was surprised to learn that Stam had been removed from the race and that his absence in the team car could affect the team's performance.
"I heard it this morning, and I was a bit surprised. Yesterday we already got the 20 seconds. For us, it feels like everyone is looking at us, and if they can try to punish us, they are doing it," Kopecky said, noting that it's not worth worrying about a final decision.
"It's sad not to have Danny in the car anymore because he's a really valuable member of the team. Neither I nor the other riders can change anything about it. This morning we were actually trying to make as many jokes as possible and try to laugh at it, but we can't change anything about it, so we try not to waste energy over it."
Anna van der Breggen: We know Annemiek, it's not going to be easy
The team's second director Anna van der Breggen, said earlier in the week that Kopecky's position in the yellow jersey has helped take some of the pressure off Vollering ahead of the Tourmalet.
"We have been clear about the goal of who is taking yellow in the end. It's nice that we also have the yellow jersey now with Lotte, but it's not our main goal for her to keep the yellow jersey," Van der Breggen said.
"Lotte also knows the goal for the team; we have one goal. Lotte likes that she is still in yellow; we all like it, but as long as we can keep it like that, it's perfect [ahead of the Tourmalet]. You can see that Lotte is enjoying riding in it."
Van der Breggen competed for years against Van Vleuten and knows better than anyone what it takes to beat the reigning world champion in the mountains.
Vollering had a remarkable spring winning the three Ardennes Classics and has beaten Van Vleuten on some of the major climbs this season, notably the Lagos de Covadonga at La Vuelta Femenina. She appears to have closed some of the performance gap that set them apart at last year' 's Tour de France Femmes, where Vollering finished second and 3:48 behind Van Vleuten in the overall classification.
Although Van Vleuten had a sub-par spring campaign, she came back to win La Vuelta Femenina in May and Giro d'Italia Donne in July.
"With Annemiek, you never know. Sometimes she is way better when she is at important races than she is during the season. There is a lot of pressure on this race," Van der Breggen said.
"I would not focus too much on asking how good Annemiek is; we just try to do our own plan and see who is there and who is not there."
Van der Breggen said Vollering must stay focused if she wants to beat Van Vleuten in the mountains.
"Demi knows how Annemiek rides and that you always need to be focused. Annemiek is strong, and she has more experience, but that's racing. Being good yourself and having trust are the most important in this. After a season that Demi has had and what she has shown in the races, she can have it," Van der Breggen said.
"The most important thing for Demi is to stay focused, and it won't be easy. You know Annemiek, it's not going to be easy because she also has a big goal in this Tour de France."
