Belgian star Lotte Kopecky may have enjoyed her best season yet in 2023 but she was unable to add to her successes at Saturday's UEC Road European Championships in the face of Dutch team strength on the Col du VAM.
The 27-year-old has racked up 14 wins this year, including the Tour of Flanders, two Belgian titles and the World Championships road race, but she had to settle for bronze at her season closer as Mischa Bredewold and Lorena Wiebes snatched up the top two placings on home ground.
Kopecky made do with a bronze medal behind the solo Bredewold, completing an SD Worx 1-2-3 at the 129.6km race. Afterwards, she said that there was nothing more to be done against the strongest team in the race.
"I looked around and saw that there were three Dutch women riding around me. Then I knew enough," she told Het Nieuwsblad after the race.
"I might have responded to Mischa, but Mischa would never have teamed up with me and if we were caught then the next Dutch rider wouldn't have worked. None of that mattered.
"So, I chose to do as little as possible, save my legs and gamble on my sprint in the hope that everything would still come together. But it didn't. The Dutch team played it perfectly this time."
Kopecky came to the line at the head of the remains of a fractured peloton on the closing climb, getting pipped to silver by Wiebes to make it a Dutch 1-2 at the finish.
The pair crossed the line at our seconds down on Bredewold, who had raced 10km solo for her win, and Kopecky said losing out on the second-placed sprint made not catching the winner a bit easier to stomach.
"It eases the pain a bit," she said. "Of course, I would have preferred to win but a podium finish is always nice. Just because I'm at the start somewhere these days doesn't mean I win.
"I know Mischa well and she's just a very strong rider. For a moment I still hoped that someone would move on very quickly on the very last climb of the VAM mountain. Maybe we could have gotten her back, such a long solo is unbearable, but that didn't happen. No surprise. Such an effort as on the VAM mountain suits Mischa perfectly.
"My teammates were attentive during every attack," she added, praising her Belgian squad, which coalesced around her leadership. "They also lasted a very long time on the Col du VAM. I am really pleased and proud of what they have done. You can see that we continue to make progress year after year."
Now, Kopecky has closed her 2023 account with a 28th podium spot, a list that stretches all the way to her Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win and which includes second places at the Tour de France Femmes, Amstel Gold Race, and Strade Bianche.
Her SD Worx team, meanwhile, has dominated the year, picking up 62 wins. Kopecky said that people shouldn't expect quite the same level of domination every year, however.
"I have to admit that I am happy that it is over," she said of the season. "It has been very long, very gruelling, but also very beautiful. Ultimately, I was able to recharge myself race by race, but now it can be over.
"However, I do hope that everyone realizes how exceptional this year has been. For myself and for my SD Worx team. This really shouldn't be the standard."
