Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) lived up to the label as overwhelming favourite, winning the Copenhagen Sprint in convincing fashion ahead of Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike).
The early breakaway never had a gap of more than 1:46 minutes and was reeled in before the finishing circuit. Silje Antvorskov (Danish national team) lit up the final with a solo attack but was caught with 14.5km to go, and from there on, the sprint trains took over.
Wiebes launched her sprint off the wheel of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) 250 metres from the line, and nobody had any reply to her acceleration. As the Dutch champion pulled several bike lengths ahead, Kool edged out Veenhoven in the sprint for second place.
“I’m really happy. The team worked hard all day, that’s an extra motivation to finish it off in a good way,” Wiebes thanked her teammates.
SD Worx-Protime controlled the race almost from start to finish, including on the city-centre circuit.
“There was one rider in the break, and we controlled it, it was good to stay in the front that way. The sprint is always a bit hectic, finding a way where I had the space to go, and then I just went,” she described the final.
After being disqualified on stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia Women, Wiebes was happy to return with a victory.
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“It’s always nice to come back this way after some disappointment. It gave me extra motivation for today,” Wiebes finished.
Breakaway caught ahead of furious sprint finale
From the start in front of Roskilde Cathedral, the 156km race went north along the Roskildefjord before turning inland in Frederikssund to wind its way through North Zealand, featuring three intermediate sprints along the way.
With 36.9km to go, riders entered the city-centre circuit in Copenhagen, and after crossing the finish line for the first time with 30.9km to go, three laps remained to the almost-inevitable bunch sprint. It started to rain early in the race, though the sun came out again in the final.
A breakaway of seven riders formed within the first half hour as Olympia Norrid Mortensen (Danish national team) and Senne Knaven (Citymesh-Customm) were joined by Andrea Casagranda (Vini Fantini-BePink), Maira Jasch (Rembe Rad-Net), Solbjørk Minke Anderson (EF Education-Oatly), Ida Krickau Ketelsen (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes), and April Tacey (Hitec Products-Fluid Control).
It was clear that the sprinters’ teams in general and SD Worx-Protime in particular were wary of letting the break get too far ahead, with the gap staying below a minute for a long time before reaching a maximum of 1:46 minutes with 58km to go.
Minke Anderson, the only WorldTour rider in the break, won all three intermediate sprints, earning herself a trip to the podium and a stay in the Tivoli amusement park. Knaven, Jasch, and Krickau crashed in a roundabout 62km from the finish, and while Knaven and Jasch could return to the front group, Krickau dropped back to the peloton.
The peloton at the Copenhagen Sprint (Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton picked up the chase for real as it was weaving its way through the Copenhagen suburbs, catching the remaining six escapees in Valby, 40.6km from the finish. A counterattack was quickly neutralised, and the first lap of the city-centre circuit was uneventful until Antvorskov launched her solo move on Nørrebrogade.
The 21-year-old was never more than nine seconds off the front but held her gap for exactly a full lap before being caught. With 11km to go, Kool suffered a mechanical and had to change bikes. She was 23 seconds behind when crossing the finish line with one lap remaining, but made her way back and was then piloted to the front by her team.
In the final kilometres, the various sprint trains jostled for position, and in the end, it was Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) who led the peloton onto the final kilometre and through the last turn onto the finishing straight with her teammates Clara Copponi and Balsamo on her wheel. Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) brought Kool alongside, but when the British champion swung off, Wiebes launched her sprint and pulled ahead to win.
The bunch sprint at the Copenhagen Sprint (Image credit: Getty Images)
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
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